City Council Regular Meeting · Monday, December 1, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. SPECIAL BUSINESS

Swearing in of City Council Position No. 6 ID 1924

Conduct Oath of Office · 5 min

Recognition of Mayor Pauly & Councilmember Hall ID 1926

10 min

Informational Update: Asset Management System Update Hear Presentation ID 1930

5 min

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Accounts: Payables and Payroll of Dec. 1, 2025, $4,819,915.28 ID 1802

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.5–22

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 1:02:30 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

Finance Department P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 PH: 425-837-3050 www.issaquahwa.gov

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, Nov. 10, 2025

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.23–30

▶ Watch from 1:02:36 Open packet at p.23 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR b) 11-10-25 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers November 10, 2025 MINUTES 135 E. Sunset Way

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, Nov. 17, 2025

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.31–36

▶ Watch from 1:02:42 Open packet at p.31 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR c) 11-17-25 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers November 17, 2025 MINUTES 135 E. Sunset Way

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Informational Update: Issaquah Climate Action Plan Implementation Update ID 1880

Carried 6-0

Receive Report · packet pp.37–63

Topics: Climate

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Dec 6, 2021

▶ Watch from 1:02:48 Open packet at p.37 ↗

Staff report:

The Office of Sustainability is providing this update to City Council on the 2025 implementation status of the Issaquah Climate Action Plan and priorities for 2026.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Informational Update: 2025 Q3 Grant & Contract Report ID 1895

Carried 6-0

Receive Report · packet pp.65–72

▶ Watch from 1:02:54 Open packet at p.65 ↗

Staff report:

The Q3 2025 grant and contract

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Informational Update: Review of Appointments ID 1943

Carried 6-0

Receive · packet pp.73–74

Topics: Boards & Commissions

▶ Watch from 1:02:59 Open packet at p.73 ↗

Staff report:

Review the current Lodging Tax Advisory Committee membership to satisfy the annual review requirement.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Amending IMC 5.04, Business & Occupation Taxes AB 9058

Carried 6-0

Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.75–98

Topics: Land UseBudget

▶ Watch from 1:03:05 Open packet at p.75 ↗

Staff report:

During the 2025 legislative session, the Legislature enacted Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5814 which expands the definition of retail sales to include services such as advertising services, live presentations, information technology services, custom website development services, investigation, security, armored car services, temporary staffing services, sales of customer software and customization of prewritten software. Such services were subject to sales tax effective October 1, 2025. The changes to state law need to be reflected in the business and occupation tax model ordinance. The deadline for cities to update their business and occupation tax ordinance is January 1, 2026.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Rainier Trail Dog Park Project AB 9067

Carried 6-0

Award Bid; Authorize Funding · packet pp.99–105

Topics: ParksBudget

▶ Watch from 1:03:11 Open packet at p.99 ↗

Staff report:

The Rainier Trail Dog Park project includes transforming a temporary dog park, located along the Rainier Trail near the Community Center, into a permanent dog park including a new ADA accessible pathway, fenced in off-leash area separated for small and large dogs, two double gated entries, a concrete plaza area, drinking fountains, and seating options. The 2023 project concept is attached as Exhibit C.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

2026 Salary Ordinance AB 9068

Carried 6-0

Adopt Ordinance · packet pp.107–124

Topics: Land Use

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 21, 2025

▶ Watch from 1:03:17 Open packet at p.107 ↗

Staff report:

The Administration recommends adoption of the 2026 Salary Ordinance including revised salary schedules for Non- Represented; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Teamsters No. 763 representing Public Safety Telecommunicators.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

King County Flood Control n/a District Cooperative Watershed Management Riparian Habitat Restoration at Squak Valley Park South) AB 9097

Carried 6-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.125–136

Topics: ParksWater

▶ Watch from 1:03:23 Open packet at p.125 ↗

Staff report:

City Attorney Review Rachel Turpin City Attorney Review Date: November 10, 2025

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Cooperative Purchasing Interlocal Agreement with the City of Everett AB 9098

Carried 6-0

Authorize · packet pp.137–140

▶ Watch from 1:03:29 Open packet at p.137 ↗

Staff report:

The City of Everett is a public agency that provides for interlocal cooperative purchasing solutions with other public agencies in the interest of cooperatively sharing resources for mutual benefit. They have a broad range of competitively- awarded contracts for supplies, materials, equipment and services, which compliments and may provide better value than those available through other purchasing channels.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

6. REGULAR BUSINESS

Acres of Diamonds Affordable Housing Covenants AB 9079

Carried 6-0

Authorize · 30 min · packet pp.141–162

Topics: Housing

▶ Watch from 1:03:35 Open packet at p.141 ↗

Staff report:

Compassion House is the prior owner of the properties located at 250/252 and 260/262 SE Andrews Street. Between 2005 and 2006, the City agreed to waive $21,101 in development fees incurred when Compassion House developed 250 SE Andrews Street into a duplex to be used as transitional housing. In exchange, Compassion House agreed to record a 30 year restrictive covenant against the property, requiring that it be used for affordable housing for thirty years. Similarly, in 2012, the City agreed to waive $51,993.53 in development fees incurred by Compassion House when it converted 260/262 SE Andrews into another transitional housing duplex. A thirty year affordable housing restrictive covenant was recorded against that property in 2020.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh

Absent: Reh

E-Motorcycle & E-Bicycle Ordinance AB 9087

Adopt Ordinances · 30 min · packet pp.163–194

Topics: Land Use

▶ Watch from 1:22:20 Open packet at p.163 ↗

Staff report:

There are dangerous trends nationally, regionally and locally emerging from unsafe or illegal e-motorcycle and e-bicycle use. Issues in Issaquah include minors riding e-motorcycles and e-bicycles dangerously on the road or with pedestrians, exceeding the speed limit, riding dangerously fast in parks and on trails, and more.

City Council Vacancy Process, Council Position No. 2 AB 9089

Approve · 45 min · packet pp.195–209

Topics: Boards & Commissions

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Feb 10, 2025

▶ Watch from 1:41:05 Open packet at p.195 ↗

Staff report:

Councilmember Zach Hall has submitted his resignation effective Dec. 31, 2025, due to his appointment to the Washington State House of Representatives.

9. GOOD OF THE ORDER

Upcoming Council Meetings

▶ Watch from 2:44:24

4037 segments .txt ↗

0:05 ↗ Welcome everyone. I call the December

0:07 ↗ 1st city council meeting to order.

0:10 ↗ Council member Ray has been excused has

0:12 ↗ an excused absence this evening. Council

0:14 ↗ member Ray's term does end on December

0:16 ↗ 31st and I was really excited to have

0:19 ↗ the chance to thank Council Member Ray

0:21 ↗ for his service at our November

0:23 ↗ services, Safety, and Parks Committee

0:24 ↗ meeting. So, as a reminder, we continue

0:27 ↗ to have a remote aspect to our meetings

0:29 ↗ and both staff and members of the public

0:31 ↗ may be participating in tonight's

0:33 ↗ meeting remotely via WebEx. So, the next

0:36 ↗ item on our agenda this evening is the

0:38 ↗ pledge of allegiance and I invite you to

0:39 ↗ join.

0:43 ↗ I pledge algiance to the flag of the

0:46 ↗ United States of America and to the

0:49 ↗ republic for which it stands. One nation

0:52 ↗ under God, indivisible, with liberty and

0:56 ↗ justice for all.

0:59 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:02 ↗ So, we did just have an election and the

1:05 ↗ next item of business this evening, we

1:07 ↗ will be swearing in for city council

1:09 ↗ position number six. Council position

1:12 ↗ number six became vacant in January of

1:14 ↗ this year when Victoria Hunt was

1:16 ↗ appointed to the state legislature. The

1:18 ↗ city council then appointed Kelly Jiang

1:20 ↗ to position number six in February.

1:23 ↗ Kevin Nichols ran for position number

1:25 ↗ six in the general election and won. He

1:28 ↗ will now serve the remainder of Victoria

1:29 ↗ Hunt's unexpired term through December

1:32 ↗ 31st, 2027.

1:34 ↗ Because the community has now elected

1:36 ↗ someone to fill this vacant position,

1:38 ↗ he's being sworn in early and the other

1:41 ↗ council members who were elected at the

1:43 ↗ November general election will be sworn

1:45 ↗ in after their terms begin on January

1:47 ↗ 1st. So, I'm going to invite Kevin over

1:49 ↗ to the lectern here and we will do the

1:51 ↗ oath of office.

2:07 ↗ >> So, please raise your right hand and

2:09 ↗ repeat after me. I state your name. I,

2:13 ↗ Kevin Nichols,

2:14 ↗ >> having been duly elected

2:15 ↗ >> having been duly elected

2:16 ↗ >> to the city of Isiqua

2:18 ↗ >> to the city of Isqua

2:19 ↗ >> council position number six

2:20 ↗ >> council position number six

2:22 ↗ >> term expiring December 31st, 2027

2:25 ↗ >> term expiring December 31st, 2027

2:28 ↗ >> do solemnly swear

2:29 ↗ >> do solemnly swear

2:30 ↗ >> that I will faithfully and impartially

2:32 ↗ >> that I will fa faithfully and

2:33 ↗ impartially

2:34 ↗ >> discharge the duties of this office

2:36 ↗ >> discharge the duties of this office

2:38 ↗ >> as prescribed by law

2:39 ↗ >> as prescribed by law

2:40 ↗ >> and to the best of my ability and do the

2:42 ↗ best of my ability.

2:43 ↗ >> And that I will support and maintain

2:45 ↗ >> And that I will support and maintain

2:46 ↗ >> the Constitution of the United States

2:48 ↗ >> the Constitution of the United States

2:50 ↗ >> and the Constitution and laws of the

2:52 ↗ state of Washington

2:53 ↗ >> and the Constitution and laws of the

2:54 ↗ state of Washington

2:55 ↗ >> and all local ordinances

2:56 ↗ >> and all local ordinances.

2:57 ↗ >> Congratulations.

2:58 ↗ >> Thank you.

3:06 ↗ >> So Kevin will be participate seated and

3:09 ↗ participating in tonight's meeting.

3:12 ↗ This one.

3:30 ↗ This one for the clerk.

3:35 ↗ And this one for you. Congratulations.

3:41 ↗ Get a picture.

3:44 ↗ >> We should get a picture with it.

3:46 ↗ >> You want to come up?

3:49 ↗ >> There you go.

4:15 ↗ Take a break.

4:26 ↗ So, there's a lot of recognition

4:27 ↗ tonight. The next item on the agenda is

4:30 ↗ ID 1926, the recognition of myself and

4:35 ↗ council member

4:37 ↗ and council member Hall. Zach, do you

4:40 ↗ want to join me over there so I can talk

4:42 ↗ about you first?

4:45 ↗ Fine.

4:54 ↗ >> So, this is very fun and exciting for me

4:56 ↗ to get to talk about Zach. I'm going to

4:59 ↗ talk a little about his service and then

5:01 ↗ some personal memories I have of working

5:04 ↗ with him. So, Zach sat on Isiqua City

5:08 ↗ Council position number two for 5 years,

5:10 ↗ 2025 through 2020 through 2025. He

5:14 ↗ served as deputy council president

5:15 ↗ during that time, the planning,

5:17 ↗ development, and environmental council

5:19 ↗ committee chair, and the east side fire

5:22 ↗ and rescue board. There are nine or ten

5:25 ↗ other meetings that Zach attended

5:27 ↗ regularly throughout the region to make

5:29 ↗ sure that Isiqua was at important tables

5:31 ↗ where important decisions were being

5:33 ↗ made about our community.

5:36 ↗ So, I'm very pleased to present council

5:39 ↗ member Hall with a plaque from the city

5:42 ↗ in gratitude for his six years of

5:44 ↗ service to our city council and to thank

5:47 ↗ him for all the time, energy, and effort

5:50 ↗ he put into his work to ensure that we

5:53 ↗ continue to provide the highquality

5:54 ↗ services that the Isiqua community

5:56 ↗ expects. As many of you may know, Zach

5:59 ↗ and I first met nine years ago while he

6:02 ↗ was completing his studies at the

6:03 ↗ University of Washington and looking for

6:06 ↗ some public sector work. That feels like

6:07 ↗ a long time ago, doesn't it? Yeah, it

6:09 ↗ does. He was my campaign manager in 2017

6:12 ↗ in my first run for mayor as well as

6:15 ↗ Representative Ken's campaign manager a

6:17 ↗ year or so later. Zach then joined

6:20 ↗ Representative Ken as a legislative aid

6:22 ↗ in Olympia and when that work was

6:24 ↗ complete threw his head in the ring for

6:26 ↗ an Isiqua city council member position.

6:28 ↗ During his service in Isiqua he also

6:31 ↗ completed his mers in public

6:32 ↗ administration. Is it Foster School?

6:35 ↗ >> The Evans School.

6:36 ↗ >> The Evans School. I knew I had it wrong.

6:38 ↗ At the Evans School at the University of

6:41 ↗ Washington, a degree that significantly

6:43 ↗ deepened his understanding of local

6:45 ↗ government and public sector work.

6:48 ↗ While I am sad he is leaving our city

6:51 ↗ for now, I know that there are

6:53 ↗ opportunities for her him here anytime

6:56 ↗ he desires to work locally again.

6:59 ↗ Council member Hall has served as one of

7:01 ↗ the most humble council members I have

7:03 ↗ ever met. Recently, when talking about

7:06 ↗ what humble leadership means as a at a

7:08 ↗ candidate forum, I referenced several

7:11 ↗ traits and I will share those with you

7:13 ↗ now with regard to Zach's service to

7:15 ↗ this community.

7:17 ↗ Humility and political leadership

7:19 ↗ includes admitting mistakes,

7:22 ↗ actively listening to the community and

7:24 ↗ staff members, giving credit to others,

7:28 ↗ seeking and accepting feedback, and

7:30 ↗ collaborating to solve problems. A

7:33 ↗ humble public servant maintains an open

7:35 ↗ mind, fosters a culture of continuous

7:38 ↗ improvement and mutual respect, and

7:40 ↗ demonstrates that true leadership stems

7:43 ↗ from service and selfaware awareness

7:46 ↗ rather than personal ego.

7:48 ↗ It means prioritizing the community's

7:51 ↗ needs by honing your listening skills

7:53 ↗ versus speaking at constituents so that

7:56 ↗ you're able to distill the community's

7:59 ↗ collective concerns and issues. It means

8:01 ↗ assuming you don't know what you don't

8:03 ↗ know yet and therefore asking lots and

8:06 ↗ lots of questions is important.

8:09 ↗ Over many coffee shop meetings, Zach and

8:12 ↗ I have discussed and debated a policy

8:14 ↗ development process over and over again.

8:18 ↗ Rather than picking an idea and working

8:21 ↗ around to describe what problem it might

8:23 ↗ solve, we talked about allowing enough

8:26 ↗ time to define the problem, collect the

8:28 ↗ data, and examine the many alternative

8:31 ↗ ideas that you need to use criteria to

8:34 ↗ evaluate to contrast and compare these

8:36 ↗ ideas so that they can be evaluated and

8:39 ↗ proposed for implementation. also that

8:42 ↗ outcomes are the true measure of success

8:44 ↗ and ensuring that there are measurable

8:47 ↗ established measurements established to

8:49 ↗ ensure that those desired benefits are

8:51 ↗ achieved by this community.

8:54 ↗ This is the process. Zach also has a

8:57 ↗ copy.

8:59 ↗ However, I have to give him the new one

9:01 ↗ because it's been modified a little bit

9:03 ↗ based on one of our last coffee

9:05 ↗ conversations. But it's a it's a process

9:08 ↗ that allows you to really be that voice

9:10 ↗ for your community, to really dig in and

9:12 ↗ really understand what would make a

9:14 ↗ difference. It requires a great deal of

9:18 ↗ humility and patience to create policy

9:20 ↗ this way. And Council Member Hall has

9:22 ↗ always brought both both of these traits

9:24 ↗ to the table to complete his work in a

9:27 ↗ manner that is thorough, thoughtful,

9:30 ↗ well vetted, and measurable to ensure

9:32 ↗ our community is getting the outcomes

9:34 ↗ they deserve. Council member Hall, you

9:37 ↗ will be truly missed, not only in this

9:39 ↗ room, but at all the other tables

9:41 ↗ throughout our region where you

9:43 ↗ represented our council and our

9:45 ↗ community. You have demonstrated over

9:47 ↗ and over again what a community leader

9:50 ↗ and humble public servant can do to help

9:52 ↗ their communities thrive. Thank you for

9:55 ↗ all your service, my friend.

10:10 ↗ Are you ready?

10:11 ↗ >> Sure.

10:11 ↗ >> Here we go.

10:14 ↗ >> That was our recreation.

10:16 ↗ >> Appreciate it.

10:18 ↗ >> Thanks.

10:27 ↗ >> I also have some thoughts uh to share

10:30 ↗ about you. Um,

10:32 ↗ well, it's certainly my honor to speak

10:34 ↗ about Mayor Paulie um tonight. Um, I

10:37 ↗ won't be as well, I'll just say I'm not

10:40 ↗ sure if I'm completely deserving of all

10:42 ↗ those very nice remarks. I appreciate

10:44 ↗ that. Um, I won't be as um I don't have

10:48 ↗ as much to say because we have a lot of

10:49 ↗ opportunities to thank you for your

10:51 ↗ incredible service to Isqua in the

10:53 ↗ coming days. I know there's a big event

10:55 ↗ that everyone should come to. When is it

10:56 ↗ the 8th? Is that right? to celebrate

10:59 ↗ everything about you and I hope that we

11:01 ↗ see a lot of community there as well.

11:02 ↗ But I did want to say this, Mary Lou's

11:05 ↗ time as mayor has had an incredible

11:08 ↗ impact on our city. There's no doubt

11:09 ↗ about that. She now she will be the

11:11 ↗ first person to admit that she couldn't

11:13 ↗ have done any of it without the help of

11:15 ↗ many, many others. But progress starts

11:18 ↗ with the tone set by our leaders. I

11:20 ↗ think we can all agree on that. And what

11:21 ↗ I find most remarkable about the tone

11:23 ↗ that you have set, Mary Lou, is

11:25 ↗ consistency.

11:27 ↗ You have this reflex, this instinct to

11:29 ↗ step out of however you might feel about

11:31 ↗ a particular issue and ask, "What does

11:34 ↗ the community want?"

11:36 ↗ No issue too big or too small to put

11:39 ↗ community at the center of decision-m.

11:41 ↗ That's the tone that you set during your

11:43 ↗ time as mayor. That focus, that

11:45 ↗ commitment you brought with you into the

11:46 ↗ mayor's office is the very foundation of

11:48 ↗ our government. Now, the questions that

11:50 ↗ we ask as a council that staff ask when

11:53 ↗ they're producing memos and engaging

11:54 ↗ with community stems from your

11:56 ↗ leadership and the tone that you set

11:58 ↗ around that. And to me, beyond your more

12:01 ↗ obvious and visible achievements, I

12:03 ↗ think of the Bergsma acquisition. I

12:06 ↗ think of the strategic plan, guiding the

12:08 ↗ city through a pandemic. Um, bringing in

12:11 ↗ new leaders and professionalizing our

12:13 ↗ workforce. That's your legacy. asking

12:16 ↗ what does the community want and how do

12:17 ↗ we bring them into the process. So on

12:20 ↗ behalf of the city of Isiqua and the

12:22 ↗ Isqua city council, it's an honor to

12:24 ↗ present you with this plaque and to

12:26 ↗ thank you for your many, many years of

12:28 ↗ service to the Isqua community.

12:43 ↗ Very funny.

12:45 ↗ No, thank you. Very nice.

12:50 ↗ >> Yeah, that's a great

13:05 ↗ fun. And again, in all seriousness,

13:08 ↗ thank you, Council Member Hall. We

13:09 ↗ expect great things from you heading up

13:11 ↗ to the state legislature.

13:14 ↗ Um, we are going to take a short recess

13:17 ↗ because we know we have many family

13:18 ↗ members in the room that may not be

13:20 ↗ staying for all the really thrilling,

13:22 ↗ enticing work items that we have coming

13:24 ↗ up. So, we'll take a 5m minute recess

13:27 ↗ and uh then we'll get back here at about

13:29 ↗ 7:20. Thanks.

21:12 ↗ Okay, everyone. I think we are back on.

21:17 ↗ Yes, thank you, Tim. Um, so thank you

21:19 ↗ for taking a little recess. That's

21:21 ↗ helpful for those that didn't want to

21:23 ↗ stay for the rest of the information.

21:25 ↗ We're going to move into the next item,

21:27 ↗ which is ID 1930. It's anformational

21:31 ↗ update on the asset management system

21:33 ↗ update and Deputy City Administrator

21:35 ↗ Andrea Leonard is coming to the lectern.

21:38 ↗ Welcome, Andrea. Thank you, Mayor Polly.

21:40 ↗ Good evening, city council. I'm Andrea

21:42 ↗ Leonard, deputy city administrator, and

21:44 ↗ with me here tonight, we have a bunch of

21:47 ↗ staff to help present the next item. Um,

21:50 ↗ I'd really just like to call a couple of

21:52 ↗ you up to the podium since we won't all

21:54 ↗ fit cramped behind here. So, if uh Gus,

21:57 ↗ Brian, and Roma could come up, please.

22:00 ↗ Uh these are folks who've been working

22:03 ↗ very hard, very long hours on this

22:05 ↗ project, which is the asset management

22:07 ↗ project. And um here tonight, thanks

22:11 ↗ guys. here tonight. I wanted to provide

22:13 ↗ anformational update on where we are

22:15 ↗ with our asset management program and uh

22:19 ↗ also celebrate the completion of the uh

22:23 ↗ launch of our policies and software for

22:25 ↗ this program. And so uh starting off,

22:28 ↗ can we have all of the staff who are

22:30 ↗ here tonight who helped uh support this

22:32 ↗ program, who worked many hours on this

22:34 ↗ uh project, could you please stand and

22:37 ↗ just show us who you are? THANK YOU.

22:46 ↗ THANK YOU GUYS. Uh so this particular

22:50 ↗ project, these updates to our asset

22:52 ↗ management program is something that's

22:53 ↗ highlighted in the strategic plan under

22:56 ↗ the infrastructure goal. It calls out

22:57 ↗ this work specifically to develop and

23:00 ↗ implement an organizationwide asset

23:03 ↗ management policy program and financial

23:06 ↗ plan to ensure sound stewardship of city

23:08 ↗ assets. After three years and hundreds

23:12 ↗ of hours of work from over 200 staff

23:15 ↗ members, in addition to the staff being

23:17 ↗ recognized tonight, we have done just

23:20 ↗ that.

23:21 ↗ Before this effort, every department had

23:24 ↗ a different approach to managing and

23:26 ↗ maintaining assets. Uh policies guiding

23:29 ↗ this work were few and far between and

23:31 ↗ also differed among departments. So with

23:34 ↗ this effort, we brought all of the

23:36 ↗ departments, public works, parks, admin

23:39 ↗ services, including facilities and

23:42 ↗ finance under the same set of policies

23:44 ↗ and the same new software system called

23:47 ↗ Cardigraph.

23:49 ↗ The system takes our asset management

23:51 ↗ work out of our heads, stray post-it

23:54 ↗ notes around the office and random

23:56 ↗ spreadsheets into one system, one

23:59 ↗ GISbased system that is integrated with

24:03 ↗ our C clicks fix program and our

24:05 ↗ financial system

24:07 ↗ so we can better plan and prepare for

24:09 ↗ the cost of maintenance and adjust our

24:11 ↗ maintenance approach to the actual needs

24:13 ↗ of the city through robust data that

24:16 ↗ just wasn't available to us before.

24:18 ↗ This has been a large project to change

24:20 ↗ how we do business. Now that we have one

24:23 ↗ set of policies and one software tool,

24:25 ↗ we can continue to find more

24:27 ↗ efficiencies and better manage the

24:29 ↗ public assets. Here is a little video

24:32 ↗ I'd like to show which highlights a few

24:34 ↗ of the benefits we're already seeing.

24:42 ↗ The asset management software called

24:44 ↗ Cardigraph over the last four years was

24:46 ↗ a major focus by all departments

24:48 ↗ throughout the city particularly public

24:49 ↗ works, parks and facilities to better

24:52 ↗ manage their assets and track expenses

24:55 ↗ and hours put into the maintaining those

24:57 ↗ assets.

25:09 ↗ So with Cardigraph, we'll be able to

25:11 ↗ track our equipment costs, labor costs.

25:14 ↗ I mean, we'll be able to track

25:15 ↗ everything down to, you know, the leaf

25:17 ↗ blower, the mower, even the rechargeable

25:20 ↗ batteries that we use for our equipment

25:22 ↗ to know how much um we're using those

25:25 ↗ pieces of equipment and how much the

25:26 ↗ true costs are for maintaining our city

25:29 ↗ parks. Another way we're using

25:30 ↗ Cardograph in the aftermath of the bomb

25:32 ↗ cyclone is we've tracked all of our

25:34 ↗ storm damage with the trees um that were

25:37 ↗ damaged during the storm and obviously

25:40 ↗ there's still stumps out there. So we

25:41 ↗ have all those stumps on a GIS layer now

25:43 ↗ that we'll be able to input into

25:45 ↗ cardograph

25:47 ↗ identify them and then move forward with

25:49 ↗ creating work orders and tasks to remove

25:51 ↗ those stumps and then replant trees um

25:53 ↗ as we continue into this fall.

25:56 ↗ Cardigcraft's an extremely powerful tool

25:59 ↗ and we've been able to use it to augment

26:01 ↗ our flushing program and water

26:03 ↗ operations. Uh flushing is done on a

26:06 ↗ routine basis to freshen up water in uh

26:09 ↗ lowflow areas of the system. Uh

26:11 ↗ previously that was all done on paper

26:14 ↗ and all the data was collected and put

26:16 ↗ into an access database. uh now we're

26:18 ↗ able to use uh you know the power of GIS

26:21 ↗ to both uh optimize our routing um and

26:25 ↗ figure out areas of the system where CIP

26:27 ↗ projects have improved flow uh and we

26:31 ↗ can also trend um and analyze trends on

26:34 ↗ the the data that we collect um uh

26:36 ↗ concerning water quality parameters. So

26:38 ↗ it's been a really really easy way for

26:40 ↗ us to reduce the time that we're

26:42 ↗ spending on it and uh improve the

26:44 ↗ efficacy of the program overall.

26:47 ↗ This year during salmon days we were

26:48 ↗ able to use cardigraph to to track our

26:51 ↗ time, materials, labor. Um, in the past

26:54 ↗ we never really had that option. We

26:55 ↗ would kind of just use Excel

26:57 ↗ spreadsheets, do our best to guesstimate

27:00 ↗ time and and the equipment cost. So this

27:03 ↗ year was really nice. We were able to

27:05 ↗ capture the true cost of equipment

27:06 ↗ because those are all um inputed into a

27:10 ↗ cardograph and track our labor materials

27:12 ↗ and get a real accurate cost of how much

27:15 ↗ our department spent for salmon days.

27:18 ↗ >> I've enjoyed being a part of the process

27:19 ↗ and I'm very appreciative that the city

27:21 ↗ entrusted us to help them with this

27:24 ↗ journey. Um it is a very large change.

27:26 ↗ It's a it's a change in from the way

27:28 ↗ things have always been done to being

27:31 ↗ able to go to a new modernized system

27:33 ↗ and a way of managing assets that is

27:36 ↗ really going to allow the city to be

27:37 ↗ able to plan the work that they're doing

27:39 ↗ to be able to track that work and um and

27:42 ↗ report on it. So that way you can show

27:44 ↗ the community all the great things that

27:46 ↗ all of your staff are able to do. One of

27:49 ↗ the big aspects that we identified as we

27:51 ↗ went through this process is that yeah,

27:54 ↗ if we're going to select a unified piece

27:55 ↗ of software, then we should move

27:58 ↗ together as a a unit as a as as the city

28:01 ↗ to do that work. And so, you know,

28:05 ↗ public works was had their own

28:06 ↗ management system uh called how and then

28:10 ↗ parks uh was doing it just via

28:13 ↗ spreadsheets for the most part as was

28:15 ↗ facilities. So we kind of had um

28:18 ↗ different systems going on that weren't

28:20 ↗ compatible with each other and weren't

28:22 ↗ compatible with our new system. So we

28:24 ↗ all identified change management as as

28:27 ↗ something that we should focus in as

28:30 ↗ well as implementing this software so

28:32 ↗ that we move together unified into the

28:35 ↗ future with this piece of software.

28:40 ↗ So that video gave a few examples of

28:42 ↗ some of the benefits we're already

28:43 ↗ seeing from this work. And the reason

28:44 ↗ why we wanted to bring this update

28:46 ↗ before you tonight is because it is work

28:48 ↗ that has impacted all the city

28:50 ↗ departments. Big changes for us and

28:53 ↗ doing things very differently and has

28:55 ↗ been largely invisible to you and to

28:57 ↗ members of the public over the past

28:58 ↗ several years. So we wanted to take this

29:00 ↗ opportunity to uh thank you city council

29:03 ↗ for placing this as a priority on the

29:05 ↗ strategic plan for the budget to do this

29:07 ↗ work, the staffing to do this work

29:09 ↗ because we do believe it's delivering

29:11 ↗ great benefits already. So, thank you

29:13 ↗ very much also to the staff who've

29:14 ↗ worked tirelessly over the past few

29:16 ↗ years to make it happen and um improve

29:19 ↗ the way that we do business. Are there

29:21 ↗ any questions?

29:24 ↗ I am not seeing any questions, but if

29:26 ↗ you could get the staff to stand again,

29:28 ↗ I would just love to express all of our

29:30 ↗ gratitude again for this. I think

29:32 ↗ Council Member Hall said it really well,

29:34 ↗ this absolute professionalization of our

29:36 ↗ operations and such a big and heavy

29:38 ↗ lift. I would love for our staff to

29:39 ↗ stand up and we give you a round of

29:40 ↗ applause again. Thank you so much.

29:56 ↗ >> Thank you.

29:56 ↗ >> Thank you, Andrea.

29:58 ↗ Next item on our agenda this evening is

30:00 ↗ audience comments. And members of the

30:02 ↗ public may address the council at this

30:04 ↗ time, both in person or virtually. Those

30:06 ↗ who signed up in advance to make

30:07 ↗ comments will be called on first. And if

30:09 ↗ you're joining us virtually and would

30:10 ↗ like to make comments, raise your

30:12 ↗ virtual hand or send our host a chat

30:14 ↗ message. If you're on the phone, press

30:16 ↗ star three. If you join by computer or

30:18 ↗ smartphone, look for a hand icon. And if

30:20 ↗ you're in the room and you did not sign

30:22 ↗ up, I will ask for other speakers before

30:24 ↗ closing this portion of the meeting.

30:25 ↗ City clerk, has anyone signed up to

30:27 ↗ speak for general audience comments?

30:29 ↗ Yes. So if you're making comments this

30:31 ↗ evening, you're invited to address the

30:33 ↗ council regarding matters that are

30:35 ↗ directly related to sequest programs,

30:37 ↗ projects, services, or events. Comments

30:39 ↗ related to political campaigns are not

30:41 ↗ permitted. I guess I could have dropped

30:42 ↗ that line. Please direct comments to the

30:45 ↗ whole council and not individuals. And

30:47 ↗ while this is not a question and answer

30:49 ↗ session, we will follow up with you if

30:51 ↗ needed. When you are recognized, uh if

30:54 ↗ you are virtual, please unmute your

30:55 ↗ microphone. If you're in the room,

30:57 ↗ please step up to the lectern in the

30:59 ↗ center of the room. There is a button on

31:00 ↗ the base that allows you to turn on the

31:02 ↗ microphone and you will see a red light.

31:04 ↗ State your name, address, and

31:06 ↗ relationship to the city. Speak clearly

31:08 ↗ and pause frequently and please limit

31:10 ↗ your comments to 5 minutes. If you're

31:12 ↗ attending virtually and you do not

31:13 ↗ respond after your name or phone number

31:15 ↗ is called or your connection is lost

31:16 ↗ unexpectedly, the meeting will need to

31:18 ↗ proceed and you're encouraged to enjoy

31:20 ↗ rejoin us if you can. Personal attacks,

31:22 ↗ obscene language, derogatory remarks,

31:24 ↗ and disruptive behavior will not be

31:26 ↗ permitted. Public comments, written and

31:29 ↗ verbal, are an important aspect of the

31:30 ↗ public process, and the city takes

31:32 ↗ comments seriously. We thank you all for

31:34 ↗ taking the time to address us. City

31:36 ↗ clerk, do you want to call up the first

31:38 ↗ person on the list? Yes, Joan Wallace,

31:40 ↗ who's joining us virtually. Welcome,

31:42 ↗ Joan.

31:43 ↗ >> Thank you.

31:45 ↗ Good evening, everyone. My name is Joan

31:48 ↗ Wallace. I reside at 532354th

31:53 ↗ Avenue Southeast in Belleview.

31:56 ↗ And the reason I'm speaking to you

31:58 ↗ tonight, even though this is Isiqua,

32:01 ↗ is that I serve on the board of

32:03 ↗ directors of Acres of Diamonds and I am

32:06 ↗ chairing their capital campaign.

32:09 ↗ So before I get into my remarks

32:13 ↗ regarding Acres of Diamonds, I'd first

32:16 ↗ like to thank all of you for your

32:18 ↗ service. I come from a family that has

32:22 ↗ long been involved in community and

32:25 ↗ public service. Uh and I personally have

32:29 ↗ co-chared five different

32:31 ↗ uh Belleview City Council campaigns in

32:35 ↗ the past.

32:36 ↗ My son Kevin served two terms on the

32:39 ↗ Belle City Council and also was deputy

32:41 ↗ mayor. So I know firsthand what it takes

32:45 ↗ to do what you're doing. All the hours

32:49 ↗ of doorbelling and campaigning and then

32:52 ↗ you're the lucky dog that caught the

32:54 ↗ fire truck and now you get to sit and

32:57 ↗ listen to people like me when you have

32:59 ↗ this full schedule of things to get

33:01 ↗ done. So I will uh move forward quickly

33:06 ↗ with the comments that I have to make

33:08 ↗ regarding the subject at hand.

33:12 ↗ So

33:13 ↗ I know that you like me are in very

33:17 ↗ concerned about homelessness

33:20 ↗ and its growth in our greater Seattle

33:24 ↗ area.

33:26 ↗ And I wanted to share with you why I

33:29 ↗ chose the mission of serving on the

33:31 ↗ board of directors of Acres of Diamonds

33:34 ↗ and attempting to raise 12.5 million

33:37 ↗ dollars.

33:39 ↗ First of all, as a woman of faith, I

33:41 ↗ believe I'm called to help people find a

33:44 ↗ better path.

33:46 ↗ And like you, I'm concerned about the

33:48 ↗ growing homeless situation.

33:51 ↗ I can't fix this problem, but by helping

33:56 ↗ raise 12.5 million dollars, I can help

33:58 ↗ 24 more families find a real path to

34:01 ↗ success.

34:03 ↗ And that little bit is important to me

34:06 ↗ cuz it's something that I can do.

34:10 ↗ Acres of Diamonds is really a special

34:12 ↗ place because it treats people with

34:16 ↗ dignity, compassion, and respect.

34:20 ↗ We raise the bar for these young moms

34:22 ↗ and inspire them to find the courage to

34:26 ↗ learn, to change, and to succeed.

34:30 ↗ All of us have had the experience of

34:32 ↗ having someone in our lives who believe

34:36 ↗ in us. And when these young woman women

34:39 ↗ come to Acres of Diamonds with their

34:41 ↗ little ones, they have a whole team of

34:45 ↗ people who believe in them and give them

34:49 ↗ the tools they need and watch them go

34:52 ↗ forward with confidence and success and

34:56 ↗ and become successful.

34:59 ↗ Acres of diamonds a little different

35:01 ↗ because it's not about heads and bids.

35:04 ↗ It's about creating lasting generational

35:08 ↗ change.

35:09 ↗ My prayer is that every child who comes

35:13 ↗ under our roof will never again

35:16 ↗ experience homelessness, violence, or

35:19 ↗ trauma.

35:20 ↗ And the results of our program speak for

35:22 ↗ themselves.

35:24 ↗ 5 years after graduation,

35:27 ↗ 92% of our families are still sober and

35:32 ↗ self-sufficient.

35:34 ↗ I want to thank you again for your

35:37 ↗ service to the Isiqua community and I

35:40 ↗ know that you too care about the

35:42 ↗ underserved

35:43 ↗ because you are here tonight doing what

35:46 ↗ you're doing. Thanks again.

35:49 ↗ >> Thank you Joan. Um city clerk the next

35:52 ↗ person on the list. Yes, DC Goodman.

36:09 ↗ So, don't cut me off because I got the

36:11 ↗ all clear from from

36:14 ↗ city administrator Bob Bob Koitz about

36:16 ↗ the topic that is on the agenda tonight,

36:18 ↗ which is a recognition. Good evening.

36:20 ↗ Um, good evening, Mayor Py and u Mayor

36:23 ↗ Elect Mullet. A hearty congratulations

36:25 ↗ to you and council and congratulations

36:28 ↗ to council member Hall for your next

36:29 ↗ chapter. That's very exciting. So, this

36:32 ↗ is a very momentous night. I'm excited

36:34 ↗ to be here tonight. We are honored to

36:36 ↗ celebrate um a one-of-a-kind public

36:38 ↗ servant, which is our own mayor Paulie.

36:41 ↗ Um as this is her last council meeting

36:44 ↗ as mayor,

36:46 ↗ her dedication to serving our community

36:48 ↗ is truly remarkable.

36:50 ↗ She and her husband Carl brought their

36:52 ↗ young family here from Canada in 1993.

36:55 ↗ And just one year later, Mary Lou was

36:57 ↗ appointed to the development commission

36:59 ↗ where she served for 19 years until 2013

37:03 ↗ when she was elected to the city council

37:05 ↗ and then in 2017 she was elected mayor.

37:09 ↗ But her public service began way before

37:11 ↗ 1994.

37:13 ↗ In her earlier career, she was a civil

37:15 ↗ engineer working for public works

37:17 ↗ engineering um and an environmental

37:19 ↗ consultant in Canada public servants as

37:22 ↗ well and including time when she was a

37:25 ↗ student. So all told, Mayor Polly has

37:28 ↗ spent about 40 years in public service,

37:33 ↗ which is shocking since she's only 39. I

37:35 ↗ don't know how that happens.

37:37 ↗ Anyway, 31 of those years have been

37:39 ↗ right here in Isiqua. 31 years. Just

37:42 ↗ think about that. That's a long time. I

37:43 ↗ think that's pretty incredible. And what

37:45 ↗ I find most incredible is Mayor

37:47 ↗ Pauliey's embrace of public service in

37:50 ↗ its purest form. She maintains the

37:53 ↗ highest standards and ethical

37:54 ↗ principles, honesty, integrity,

37:58 ↗ transparency, and humility. She serves

38:01 ↗ the common good above personal ambition,

38:04 ↗ politics, pettiness, and self. Her

38:09 ↗ heart's greatest passion is to help

38:11 ↗ others. And both her heart and her home

38:15 ↗ are always open and always full.

38:18 ↗ Even during her off hours, Mayor Polly

38:21 ↗ is consumed by being the best public

38:23 ↗ servant she can possibly be. She loves

38:26 ↗ this work. You know, she absolutely

38:28 ↗ loves this work. You can tell. You can

38:30 ↗ see it. We've all experienced it. When

38:32 ↗ you're with Mayor Paulie, she is

38:34 ↗ engrossed in conversations with people

38:36 ↗ 247.

38:38 ↗ Engaging with people is not a check the

38:40 ↗ box part of the do job. She doesn't do

38:42 ↗ this because she has to. Mayor Polly

38:45 ↗ talks to people because she loves to.

38:48 ↗ You know this is true. I'm sure you've

38:51 ↗ experienced this as well because she is

38:53 ↗ often running late because she cannot

38:56 ↗ tear herself away from conversations

38:59 ↗ about our community and local issues

39:01 ↗ because she enjoys it so much. I

39:03 ↗ experienced that tonight. By the way,

39:07 ↗ public service to Marylu is not about

39:09 ↗ sitting in a chair, holding a position,

39:12 ↗ being efficient, having a title, or

39:15 ↗ simply making decisions. It's about

39:17 ↗ truly loving the people and truly loving

39:20 ↗ the community you serve through passion,

39:23 ↗ empathy, dedication, actions, and

39:26 ↗ conduct. And she does it authentically

39:29 ↗ because she means it.

39:32 ↗ to borrow a a current movie song phrase.

39:37 ↗ Because our community knew you, because

39:40 ↗ we all knew you through your public

39:43 ↗ service and your friendship, we have

39:45 ↗ been changed for good.

39:50 ↗ So from the bottom of my heart, I want

39:52 ↗ to thank you, Marylu, for your service

39:53 ↗ to Isakqua. It means a lot to all of us.

39:57 ↗ Now, at the end of this month, you are

39:58 ↗ going to be discharged and ordered to

40:01 ↗ spend more time with your family and

40:03 ↗ friends because they miss you and you

40:06 ↗ deserve it. I want to say

40:07 ↗ congratulations again. Thank you. Cheers

40:10 ↗ to you, Mayor Lou. I love you.

40:21 ↗ Thank you. Um, city clerk, who's next?

40:24 ↗ Nancy Davidson.

40:34 ↗ Good evening. I'm Nancy Davidson. I am a

40:36 ↗ resident in Oldtown, Isiqua, 405

40:38 ↗ Southeast Bush. And I too here want to

40:40 ↗ echo um Stacy's comments because I'm

40:44 ↗ here also to thank Mary Lou for her

40:46 ↗ service. I want to thank you for your

40:48 ↗ over 30 years of commitment to the

40:50 ↗ residents, businesses, and visitors to

40:51 ↗ the city of Isiqua. Your leadership,

40:54 ↗ thoughtfulness, caring, and commitment

40:56 ↗ to the city has been unmatched.

40:58 ↗ She has thoughtfully dealt with

41:00 ↗ significant growth as a member of the

41:01 ↗ development commission, council member,

41:03 ↗ and since 2017 as the mayor. She has

41:06 ↗ stewarded our community's financial and

41:08 ↗ environmental resources, dealing with

41:10 ↗ budget surpluses and shortfalls,

41:13 ↗ environmental challenges such as

41:14 ↗ flooding, bomb cyclones, pandemics, and

41:18 ↗ other issues that have fa been faced in

41:20 ↗ her term as the mayor. all while leading

41:22 ↗ the city thoughtfully and carefully. The

41:25 ↗ one true area I really appreciate about

41:27 ↗ Mayor Paulie is her leadership and her

41:30 ↗ commitment to communication.

41:32 ↗ As mayor, she has worked to improve

41:34 ↗ communication with residents and

41:36 ↗ businesses. A true challenge to the

41:38 ↗ community since we have recent since we

41:39 ↗ lost the Isquel Press and that continued

41:42 ↗ effort to try and communicate with its

41:44 ↗ residents businesses is duly noted. It's

41:47 ↗ a challenge. Finally, at one point in

41:49 ↗ time, I was too on the city council with

41:52 ↗ a vision to complete a crossing of I90

41:55 ↗ at what is now the underpass known as

41:57 ↗ 4th Avenue Northeast. I ran for election

42:00 ↗ to try and get that built. I'm truly

42:02 ↗ proud that you finally got that work

42:04 ↗ completed. It took a while, but it took

42:06 ↗ a lot of money, but I want to thank you

42:08 ↗ for actually seeing that vision that I

42:10 ↗ ran in 19, no, it was 2001 to get

42:14 ↗ completed. So, Mayor Pi, thank you for

42:16 ↗ all you have done for this community. I

42:19 ↗ wish you the best as you and your family

42:21 ↗ moved to try to figure out what's next

42:22 ↗ in your life and go be happy. Enjoy

42:25 ↗ life. Thank you.

42:26 ↗ >> Thank you.

42:28 ↗ >> Thank you, Nancy. It's very kind. Um,

42:31 ↗ city clerk, who's next up? Michelle

42:34 ↗ Winterstein.

42:41 ↗ Good evening, council members and mayor

42:44 ↗ Paulie and I thank you for your service

42:46 ↗ as well. But I am here to actually speak

42:48 ↗ about a different issue. Um, I

42:51 ↗ appreciate the opportunity to speak

42:53 ↗ about the e motorcycle and ebicycle

42:56 ↗ ordinance AB9087.

43:01 ↗ I want to start by saying sorry I'm

43:03 ↗ Michelle Winterstein. I'm a resident of

43:05 ↗ Isiqua 655 Mount Logan Drive.

43:09 ↗ Um, I want to say I share your concern

43:14 ↗ for safety in our parks, trails, and

43:17 ↗ streets. Reckless riding, whether by

43:20 ↗ minors or adults, can put pedestrians

43:23 ↗ and other users at risk.

43:26 ↗ We all want safe, welcoming public

43:28 ↗ spaces.

43:30 ↗ But the ordinance before you takes too

43:32 ↗ broad of an approach. It punishes all

43:35 ↗ ebike riders for the actions of a few.

43:39 ↗ In effect, it stereotypes us, assuming

43:42 ↗ that because some riders behave

43:44 ↗ dangerously, everyone with an electric

43:47 ↗ assist bike should be restricted. And

43:50 ↗ that's not fair.

43:52 ↗ Most ebike riders are responsible. Many

43:55 ↗ of us use pedal assist bikes for

43:58 ↗ commuting, recreation, or mobility

44:00 ↗ support with or without using our pedal

44:04 ↗ assist on our bike. I'm one of them. I

44:09 ↗ ride the Rainineer Trail to and from

44:10 ↗ work.

44:12 ↗ It's my safe, reliable route. If this

44:16 ↗ ordinance bans class one and class 2

44:19 ↗ bikes from trails like the rainier

44:22 ↗ trail, I would be forced to ride on the

44:25 ↗ street with cars and trucks and I don't

44:28 ↗ feel safe riding in traffic. So I would

44:32 ↗ be more likely to drive and that means

44:36 ↗ more congestion, more emissions,

44:39 ↗ fewer people choosing healthy,

44:41 ↗ sustainable transportation options.

44:45 ↗ For those whose only option is a long

44:47 ↗ bike commute on the Reineer Trail, for

44:49 ↗ example, or other areas around, um

44:54 ↗ you're forcing them to be on the roads

44:56 ↗ when they could be on the trail safely.

45:01 ↗ Um, in addition to riding on the trail,

45:03 ↗ my office is right on the Rainineer

45:05 ↗ trail and I look over the trail all day

45:09 ↗ long and I watch people cross the street

45:11 ↗ and there are many bike riders who are

45:14 ↗ unsafe.

45:15 ↗ They ride too fast. Most of them are e-

45:18 ↗ motorcycles

45:21 ↗ and many of them are younger minors or

45:25 ↗ young adults. Um,

45:28 ↗ so what you're doing is your bike

45:30 ↗ profiling. You're treating all riders of

45:34 ↗ electric bikes as dangerous when only a

45:38 ↗ minor minority are misusing the

45:41 ↗ technology. It's a collective punishment

45:44 ↗ and it undermines the very goals of

45:46 ↗ safety and accessibility.

45:49 ↗ We already have tools to address unsafe

45:51 ↗ behavior. speeding, reckless riding, and

45:54 ↗ endangerment are enforceable under

45:56 ↗ existing codes. Targeted enforcement

46:00 ↗ against violators, would solve the

46:03 ↗ problem without stripping rights from

46:05 ↗ responsible users. And education

46:08 ↗ campaigns, especially for minors and

46:10 ↗ their guardians,

46:12 ↗ could make a real difference.

46:15 ↗ Council members, safety is essential,

46:18 ↗ but fairness is too. Please don't close

46:22 ↗ our trails to those who use ebikes

46:24 ↗ responsibly.

46:26 ↗ Revise this ordinance so it targets

46:28 ↗ unsafe behavior directly instead of

46:31 ↗ stereotyping an entire group of riders.

46:36 ↗ Let's protect our parks and our trails

46:38 ↗ without pushing riders into more

46:40 ↗ dangerous situations on our streets.

46:43 ↗ Thank you.

46:44 ↗ >> Thank you, Michelle. City Clerk, is

46:46 ↗ there anyone else who has signed up to

46:47 ↗ speak?

46:50 ↗ Yes, Paul Winterstein.

46:52 ↗ >> Welcome, Paul.

46:58 ↗ >> Good evening, Mayor Paulie, council

46:59 ↗ members. My name is Paul Winterstein. I

47:02 ↗ live at 655 Mount Logan Drive here in

47:04 ↗ Isiqua.

47:08 ↗ I'm going to talk about Agenda Bill 9087

47:10 ↗ as well. But first, uh, congratulations,

47:13 ↗ Zach. Thanks for your service. I know

47:15 ↗ you're going on to great things. Thank

47:17 ↗ you. Also, Mayor Paulie, I know you're

47:19 ↗ going on to even greater things. And I

47:21 ↗ just got to say, you guys ran a heck of

47:22 ↗ a campaign in 2017.

47:27 ↗ Uh hopefully most of you saw my email

47:29 ↗ from yesterday evening, so I don't want

47:31 ↗ to go over that into detail, but I was I

47:33 ↗ proposed an amendment to agenda bill

47:35 ↗ 9087. And um was really appreciative

47:38 ↗ this morning when I got a very

47:40 ↗ thoughtful reply. I know that my request

47:42 ↗ was taken seriously and given serious

47:44 ↗ consideration. And so I do appreciate

47:47 ↗ getting that response. Um so um um and

47:50 ↗ I'm so what I'm going to do is respond

47:52 ↗ to the response that I got. Um

47:56 ↗ it did that response did suggest that

47:59 ↗ the amend my proposed amendment makes it

48:02 ↗ clear that this ordinance is not really

48:05 ↗ about unsafe riding. It's it's about

48:07 ↗ stopping electric bicycles altogether.

48:10 ↗ The administration in their response

48:12 ↗ says enforcement will be difficult

48:14 ↗ because officers can't tell from afar

48:16 ↗ whether a motor is on.

48:19 ↗ But that misses the point. If an officer

48:22 ↗ observes someone riding unsafeely,

48:25 ↗ speeding, weeding through pedestrians,

48:28 ↗ or endangering others, that behavior is

48:31 ↗ already visible. The officer doesn't

48:34 ↗ need to know whether the motor is on.

48:37 ↗ They need to sight the rider for unsafe

48:39 ↗ operation. That's how we enforce every

48:42 ↗ other traffic law, by observing

48:44 ↗ behavior, not by guessing at equipment.

48:48 ↗ The administration also suggested that

48:50 ↗ the motor use is fluid and hard to

48:52 ↗ prove. That may be their impression, but

48:55 ↗ it's not accurate. Riders can and do

48:58 ↗ choose whether to use the motor.

49:00 ↗ Penalizing someone who has chosen to

49:02 ↗ ride responsibly with the motor off is

49:05 ↗ unfair and inconsistent with the city's

49:07 ↗ stated goal of addressing unsafe

49:10 ↗ operation.

49:11 ↗ The ordinance as written criminalizes

49:14 ↗ the presence of a motor rather than the

49:16 ↗ misuse of that approach punishes

49:19 ↗ responsible riders while failing to

49:21 ↗ address the real problem unsafe riding.

49:24 ↗ If the city's goal is safety, then the

49:26 ↗ ordinance should focus on behavior,

49:29 ↗ speeding, reckless riding, and

49:31 ↗ endangering pedestrians, regardless of

49:33 ↗ whether the bicycle is electric or not.

49:36 ↗ I urge you to reconsider the ordinance.

49:38 ↗ Please refocus it on unsafe operation,

49:42 ↗ not on the mere presence of a motor.

49:45 ↗ That would give police the tools they

49:46 ↗ need, protect pedestrians and trail

49:48 ↗ users, and avoid penalizing residents

49:51 ↗ who are riding safely. Thank you.

49:54 ↗ >> Thank you, Paul. City Clerk, is there

49:56 ↗ anyone else that has signed up to speak

49:58 ↗ this evening?

49:58 ↗ >> Yes. Corby Castler. Welcome, Corby.

50:05 ↗ >> Good evening, Madame Mayor, Council

50:07 ↗ members, um, Mayor Elect Mullet, and the

50:09 ↗ audience. Today, I'm going to encourage

50:11 ↗ you to shop, and I want you to shop

50:14 ↗ small. And if you haven't been to the

50:15 ↗ holiday shop at Historic Shell, then

50:18 ↗ you're missing out on all the creations

50:19 ↗ that 30 different artists are selling.

50:22 ↗ and they're selling at a great rate.

50:23 ↗ It's been packed. It's been really a

50:25 ↗ beautiful thing to see people come

50:26 ↗ downtown, shop before and after the

50:28 ↗ theater, but I really encourage you to

50:30 ↗ go and take a look at all the different

50:32 ↗ one-of-a-kind items that you might be

50:33 ↗ able to get for a gift. Second, if you

50:36 ↗ haven't seen Lazy Boy parking lot

50:38 ↗ filled, you would have wanted to drive

50:40 ↗ by yesterday during the historically hip

50:42 ↗ author fair. We had 30 authors there

50:45 ↗ selling their books in the the store and

50:48 ↗ the store manager said he'd never seen

50:50 ↗ his parking lot so filled before. So it

50:52 ↗ was great to see boning of things

50:55 ↗ happening in downtown. Um it's a plain

50:57 ↗ old Saturday and Sunday during the

50:59 ↗ holidays and people are coming out in

51:01 ↗ droves. So really encourage you to be

51:03 ↗ among them. Thank you.

51:05 ↗ >> Thank you Corby. City Clerk, is there

51:07 ↗ anyone else has signed up to speak? No

51:09 ↗ one else has signed up to speak. We do

51:11 ↗ have a few folks with us virtually, but

51:13 ↗ I don't see any virtual hands raised.

51:15 ↗ Just looking to see. Oh, Mariah. Hi

51:17 ↗ there. Oh, and Kelly. Okay, Mariah

51:20 ↗ followed by Kelly.

51:29 ↗ Oh, I'm good. Now I have to find my

51:32 ↗ notes.

51:34 ↗ So, hello Mayor and Council, uh, staff,

51:38 ↗ administration, and Mayor Elect Mullet.

51:41 ↗ I'm really happy to be here tonight, and

51:43 ↗ I would love to just talk about a couple

51:45 ↗ of things. I'd like to talk about Mayor

51:48 ↗ Paulie and thank her and also Zach Hall.

51:52 ↗ Uh, so, Mayor Paulie, and I'm going to

51:55 ↗ talk personally here. I want to thank

51:59 ↗ you for three things. I want to thank

52:01 ↗ you for your leadership, your

52:03 ↗ mentorship, and your friendship. Your

52:06 ↗ passion for Isiqua and your love for

52:09 ↗ this city and this community has been

52:11 ↗ inspiring uh to me for years, and I know

52:16 ↗ it inspires so many. Your leadership for

52:20 ↗ this city has been steadfast. You've

52:22 ↗ been an amazing leader to this whole

52:25 ↗ amazing city of Isiqua team. leading our

52:29 ↗ city, balancing growth, balancing the

52:32 ↗ budget, stewarding the environment,

52:35 ↗ developing really impactful

52:38 ↗ partnerships, guiding us through

52:40 ↗ emergencies, who could have seen the

52:42 ↗ kinds of things that were coming your

52:44 ↗ way, COVID and the bomb cyclone,

52:48 ↗ uh, and just adding, uh, advocating for

52:52 ↗ isqua through the legislature and

52:56 ↗ working tirelessly

52:58 ↗ ly sorry throughout the region day and

53:03 ↗ night and I I just know how much you've

53:06 ↗ done. Um caring and listening to our

53:10 ↗ diverse community I think is really

53:13 ↗ number one. Um, I think that your

53:16 ↗ ability to really stop and listen to

53:20 ↗ everyone who's speaking to you is is

53:24 ↗ really been amazing and it's been

53:26 ↗ amazing to watch and it just instills

53:29 ↗ trust uh across the board. Um, that's

53:34 ↗ not just a personal comment, but from

53:37 ↗ what I hear from others as a mentor when

53:40 ↗ I started on city council, you were an

53:42 ↗ amazing mentor to me, and I know that

53:45 ↗ you and Stacy and I will always fondly

53:47 ↗ remember our time on Landon Shore and

53:50 ↗ the laughs that we had.

53:53 ↗ And you've been an amazing mentor to so

53:55 ↗ many. You're always encouraging people

53:59 ↗ to to run for office and you're

54:02 ↗ inspiring people to believe in

54:05 ↗ themselves and that that is so

54:07 ↗ impactful. you shined as a city council

54:10 ↗ leader and I watched you evolve as you

54:14 ↗ became mayor and then had the

54:16 ↗ opportunity to work with you uh while

54:18 ↗ you were mayor uh when I was on

54:22 ↗ leadership and just I've learned so much

54:25 ↗ from you and I know everyone around you

54:28 ↗ has learned so much from you and now as

54:32 ↗ you're leaving I just want to thank you

54:34 ↗ and now I'm just honored to call you my

54:37 ↗ And

54:40 ↗ one more thing,

54:42 ↗ your amazing impact

54:45 ↗ is felt now. It's been felt for decades.

54:49 ↗ And all of the seeds that you've planted

54:53 ↗ are going to grow into a tall,

54:56 ↗ beautiful, foundational tree in Isiqua.

55:01 ↗ Thank you,

55:03 ↗ Zack.

55:06 ↗ Zack Hall. Oh, in 2019, after four years

55:10 ↗ on council, I made a difficult um

55:13 ↗ heart-wrenching decision not to run in

55:15 ↗ the upcoming election. And I was so

55:17 ↗ concerned about who was going to take on

55:20 ↗ council uh position number two. And I'm

55:24 ↗ so glad that it was you, that it was

55:26 ↗ Zach Hall. After long conversations with

55:29 ↗ Zach, I knew that you were the person

55:33 ↗ for the role and I was just taken. I

55:36 ↗ remember being very taken at the time

55:39 ↗ with your knowledge, your profound

55:41 ↗ profound knowledge of all of the issues

55:43 ↗ that were happening. It was really

55:45 ↗ astounding

55:47 ↗ and just your absolute care. You I could

55:51 ↗ tell how passionate you were, but I

55:53 ↗ could tell that it was just more than

55:56 ↗ that. it was how much you really really

55:58 ↗ cared about this community and then you

56:01 ↗ stepped in right while co was getting

56:04 ↗ started and it a lot of really complex

56:07 ↗ issues and and I watched you know as as

56:11 ↗ you worked your way through so much of

56:13 ↗ that um and I just was very very

56:16 ↗ impressed and you've really worked to um

56:20 ↗ balance a sustainable isqua our quality

56:23 ↗ of life you've been an advocate for the

56:25 ↗ environ enironment, voting for

56:27 ↗ infrastructure, working again across so

56:30 ↗ many different projects, and now moving

56:33 ↗ to the House of Representatives. I I'm

56:36 ↗ really happy that you're going to be our

56:39 ↗ representative in Olympia, and I know

56:41 ↗ that you'll be advocating um you'll

56:44 ↗ continue to advocate for Isaqua, and I

56:47 ↗ just want to thank you for your service.

56:49 ↗ Thanks everybody.

56:50 ↗ >> Very kind, Mariah.

56:52 ↗ Um city clerk, is there anyone else? Oh,

56:54 ↗ sorry, Kelly, come on up. I was going

56:57 ↗ back to the list, but we're in the room

56:58 ↗ now. Welcome.

57:00 ↗ >> Great. Um, well, I'm here as a just

57:02 ↗ random member of the public tonight. Um,

57:04 ↗ but I'll be back up there uh in uh not

57:07 ↗ too long. Um, so I'm here to talk about

57:09 ↗ two topics tonight. The first one is the

57:11 ↗ Acres of Diamonds situation and the

57:13 ↗ second one is the e- motorcycle

57:14 ↗ ordinance. Um, so first of all, uh, I

57:17 ↗ just wanted to mention that deputy

57:18 ↗ council president D. Michelle and I had

57:19 ↗ the opportunity to tour the Acres of

57:21 ↗ Diamonds facility up in Duval. um a

57:24 ↗ couple months ago and it was a really

57:26 ↗ great experience. It's I mean they have

57:29 ↗ a facility that um provides the

57:32 ↗ wraparound services that these um

57:34 ↗ formerly unhoused women and their

57:36 ↗ children need to actually get back on

57:37 ↗ their feet and get on a path to you know

57:39 ↗ employment, finding um permanent

57:42 ↗ housing. And so it's actually like a

57:44 ↗ typically women and children are there

57:46 ↗ for like one to two years. And so having

57:48 ↗ seen that program and how it really

57:50 ↗ works with that group setting and you

57:51 ↗ know we saw where they were going to

57:52 ↗ build the new facility that would

57:53 ↗ actually have on-site child care which

57:55 ↗ is a huge issue for these women because

57:57 ↗ a lot of times you know they have to get

57:58 ↗ jobs elsewhere and the child care

58:00 ↗ provided on site will also you know be

58:02 ↗ trauma-informed for those children. So I

58:04 ↗ think it's a really great project and we

58:06 ↗ have an opportunity to um be able to

58:09 ↗ help uh move that forward. I know you

58:11 ↗ know when I originally heard about this

58:12 ↗ project there were a lot of concerns

58:14 ↗ that I and others had. for example, you

58:16 ↗ know, removing an affordability covenant

58:18 ↗ is not something where we want to set

58:19 ↗ that as a precedent. Um, and but

58:22 ↗ ultimately where I came to on this was

58:25 ↗ that it's it's going to result in a net

58:28 ↗ increase in affordable housing

58:29 ↗ throughout the region and also where

58:31 ↗ they're able to kind of have a more

58:32 ↗ centralized um space to provide those

58:34 ↗ services like on-site child care,

58:36 ↗ counseling, etc. So, I think it makes a

58:38 ↗ lot of sense. There's also, you know,

58:39 ↗ concerns about the fees uh that were

58:42 ↗ waved, such as the permit fees, um the

58:44 ↗ low-inccome heat pump retrofit, and the

58:46 ↗ fact that the final agreement now, you

58:47 ↗ know, requires them to essentially pay

58:49 ↗ us back for that, I think is great. And

58:51 ↗ also the um whole escrow account where

58:53 ↗ basically the money um that if they sell

58:56 ↗ these properties at full market rate,

58:57 ↗ the money is basically locked up in this

59:00 ↗ account until they actually have raised

59:01 ↗ enough money to break ground. So, it's

59:03 ↗ not like we could end up in a situation

59:05 ↗ where they take the money and don't do

59:06 ↗ what they said. So overall, I think um I

59:08 ↗ want to give a huge kudos to the

59:10 ↗ administration and especially our city

59:11 ↗ attorney for working through all of

59:12 ↗ those details and I'm in full support of

59:15 ↗ um moving forward with that project. Um

59:17 ↗ on e- motorcycles, so um I recently had

59:20 ↗ the opportunity to talk to hundreds

59:22 ↗ possibly thousands of voters in Isiqua

59:24 ↗ and e- motorcycles was like top of the

59:26 ↗ list. It's like number one concern

59:28 ↗ traffic, number two e- motorcycles and

59:30 ↗ it's not something that's in the

59:31 ↗ community survey so it wasn't in there.

59:33 ↗ Um, so I think that, you know, passing

59:36 ↗ local legislation addressing e-

59:38 ↗ motorcycles is really important and I

59:40 ↗ think what we have at this point is

59:42 ↗ generally reasonable. Um, however, I do

59:45 ↗ think um, it's good that in uh, our

59:48 ↗ state legislative agenda, we've included

59:49 ↗ that we want to push for more state

59:51 ↗ action. And one of the things that's

59:52 ↗ been done in other states is basically

59:54 ↗ saying, you know, going actually going

59:56 ↗ after the manufacturers for deceptive

59:57 ↗ marketing. So if there's something at

59:58 ↗ the state level then the attorney

1:00:00 ↗ general can actually go after companies

1:00:01 ↗ like Siron for you know advertising

1:00:04 ↗ these as ebikes when they are e-

1:00:05 ↗ motorcycles. Um so I fully support all

1:00:08 ↗ of our legislative efforts at the state

1:00:09 ↗ level. I do agree with some of the

1:00:11 ↗ concerns that have been raised

1:00:13 ↗ particularly on section um

1:00:16 ↗ 10.48.030

1:00:18 ↗ which is the authority to limit class

1:00:20 ↗ one or two electric assisted bicycle

1:00:22 ↗ use. Um, so which basically says the

1:00:24 ↗ parks and community services director is

1:00:26 ↗ authorized to prohibit use of class one

1:00:28 ↗ or two electric assisted bicycles within

1:00:30 ↗ city-owned parks or open space. I think

1:00:33 ↗ that I personally have a lot of

1:00:35 ↗ questions on when that would be allowed

1:00:37 ↗ to be used. So I would encourage the

1:00:39 ↗ council to discuss whether or not at

1:00:40 ↗ this juncture it makes sense to strike

1:00:42 ↗ that. I'm someone who also rides an

1:00:44 ↗ ebike. Um, I don't have that much fear

1:00:48 ↗ of riding near cars, although I do

1:00:49 ↗ appreciate being able to be on the Renew

1:00:51 ↗ Trail safe from cars when that's an

1:00:53 ↗ option. Um, and so I think, you know, if

1:00:55 ↗ the real concern right now is the e-

1:00:57 ↗ motorcycles, I think, you know, also

1:00:59 ↗ offering the parks director like

1:01:01 ↗ unilateral discretion to ban um, ban

1:01:05 ↗ class one and two ebikes is a bit out of

1:01:07 ↗ scope for this specific discussion. So,

1:01:08 ↗ I would recommend considering striking

1:01:10 ↗ that. Um, but ultimately I think you

1:01:13 ↗ know what we've seen in a lot of other

1:01:15 ↗ cities is that when they've addressed e-

1:01:17 ↗ motorcycles, they've also just like

1:01:19 ↗ fully banned ebikes and we're not doing

1:01:21 ↗ that in this case. So I think that's

1:01:22 ↗ very good. Other things that we've seen

1:01:24 ↗ in other cities are things like, you

1:01:26 ↗ know, restricting the speed limit on

1:01:27 ↗ sidewalks to 5 miles an hour, which also

1:01:30 ↗ uh restricts runners because most people

1:01:32 ↗ run faster than 5 miles an hour. So I

1:01:33 ↗ think overall, you know, what we're

1:01:35 ↗ doing here is fairly balanced and um I'm

1:01:37 ↗ looking forward to hearing the full

1:01:38 ↗ discussion tonight. So, thank you.

1:01:41 ↗ >> Thank you, Kelly. Is there anyone else

1:01:43 ↗ in the room or city clerk, anyone else

1:01:45 ↗ online that would like to comment?

1:01:46 ↗ Anyone else in the room? Well, thank you

1:01:49 ↗ all for your comments. We heard a lot of

1:01:52 ↗ embarrassing comments tonight for

1:01:54 ↗ Council Member Hall and I, but I

1:01:56 ↗ appreciate that you took the time to

1:01:58 ↗ talk about how we may have impacted our

1:02:00 ↗ community and the work that we do. So,

1:02:03 ↗ that was that was very, very kind. And

1:02:05 ↗ also, thanks for coming in and talking

1:02:06 ↗ about the ebicycles as well. all e

1:02:08 ↗ motorcycles e bicycles because that will

1:02:10 ↗ be an item for tonight. So, thank you

1:02:12 ↗ all for doing that. Um, appreciate it

1:02:14 ↗ and Corby, thank you for coming in and

1:02:15 ↗ talking about the uh available fun stuff

1:02:18 ↗ in Oldtown during Christmas as well. Um,

1:02:22 ↗ as a reminder, folks can write uh their

1:02:24 ↗ city council at any time at city council

1:02:26 ↗ atquawwa.gov.

1:02:28 ↗ And we are going to move on to the

1:02:30 ↗ consent calendar. Um, I don't have any

1:02:33 ↗ remarks on the consent calendar items,

1:02:34 ↗ but I will ask city clerk to address one

1:02:36 ↗ update that has been made to the

1:02:38 ↗ calendar.

1:02:39 ↗ Thank you, mayor. Uh, city council, you

1:02:41 ↗ received an email before the meeting

1:02:43 ↗ that has a corrected version of the

1:02:45 ↗ ordinance that accompanies item I on the

1:02:47 ↗ consent calendar, the 2026 salary

1:02:50 ↗ ordinance. We noticed some minor errors

1:02:52 ↗ in exhibit A, the non-representative

1:02:54 ↗ salary schedule that was included in the

1:02:56 ↗ packet. So with approval of the consent

1:02:59 ↗ calendar, uh we we have put before you

1:03:02 ↗ this corrected version of the ordinance

1:03:04 ↗ that was distributed prior to the

1:03:06 ↗ meeting. Thank you.

1:03:09 ↗ Are there any committee chairs or chair

1:03:11 ↗ designs who would like to report on any

1:03:12 ↗ of the consent calendar items? Not

1:03:15 ↗ seeing any indication. Uh the consent

1:03:18 ↗ calendar was distributed to council in

1:03:20 ↗ advance and if authorized the items on

1:03:22 ↗ the consent calendar will be considered

1:03:24 ↗ together and approved by one motion.

1:03:26 ↗ Have the payables and payroll been

1:03:27 ↗ reviewed?

1:03:28 ↗ >> They have. They have.

1:03:30 ↗ >> Thank you. Does any council member

1:03:31 ↗ desire to remove any item from the

1:03:33 ↗ consent calendar and consider it under

1:03:35 ↗ regular business? Not seeing any

1:03:37 ↗ indication. Uh can we get a motion?

1:03:40 ↗ >> Council president.

1:03:41 ↗ >> I move we approve the consent calendar

1:03:44 ↗ as

1:03:45 ↗ amended.

1:03:47 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:03:48 ↗ >> Second.

1:03:50 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded. All those

1:03:52 ↗ in favor signify by saying I.

1:03:54 ↗ >> I. Those opposed.

1:03:57 ↗ That carries 6 and0. We're going to move

1:04:00 ↗ into regular business. This is AB9079

1:04:03 ↗ Acres of Diamonds Affordable Housing

1:04:04 ↗ Covenants. And the request before

1:04:07 ↗ council this evening is to authorize.

1:04:10 ↗ Um, city attorney Rachel Bender Turpin

1:04:12 ↗ is up at the D at the podium to speak to

1:04:15 ↗ us. Welcome, Rachel.

1:04:17 ↗ >> Thank you. Thank you for having me this

1:04:19 ↗ evening. Me get this started.

1:04:28 ↗ Okay.

1:04:31 ↗ Thank you. Uh before you this evening is

1:04:34 ↗ a memorandum of understanding between

1:04:36 ↗ the city of Isiqua and Acres of

1:04:38 ↗ Diamonds.

1:04:43 ↗ The purpose of this discussion is to

1:04:45 ↗ seek your authorization for the mayor to

1:04:47 ↗ execute this memorandum of

1:04:49 ↗ understanding, which as you've heard

1:04:50 ↗ about a little bit this evening, um,

1:04:53 ↗ thanks to council member Jen's very nice

1:04:55 ↗ overview, would release some affordable

1:04:58 ↗ housing restricted covenants that are

1:05:00 ↗ recorded against two transitional

1:05:02 ↗ housing properties in the city.

1:05:05 ↗ There's a little bit of background um on

1:05:07 ↗ this item that I want to go over. uh has

1:05:10 ↗ kind of a lengthy history, so bear with

1:05:12 ↗ me. But back between 2005 and 2006, the

1:05:16 ↗ city council agreed to wave

1:05:17 ↗ approximately um $21,000 in permit and

1:05:21 ↗ other development fees in exchange for

1:05:24 ↗ development of um the property that's

1:05:27 ↗ located at 250 uh 252 Southeast Andrews.

1:05:31 ↗ has the slash in its uh in its title

1:05:34 ↗ because it's a duplex and that's how the

1:05:36 ↗ addressing works for duplexes. Uh which

1:05:39 ↗ were going to be developed into

1:05:40 ↗ transitional housing by a nonprofit

1:05:43 ↗ called Compassion House which um in

1:05:46 ↗ exchange agreed to record a 30-year

1:05:49 ↗ restrictive covenant against the

1:05:51 ↗ property restricting its use to

1:05:53 ↗ affordable housing at a a very low um

1:05:56 ↗ income level.

1:06:00 ↗ Then in 2012, the city council again

1:06:03 ↗ agreed to wave permit and other

1:06:05 ↗ development fees uh for another property

1:06:09 ↗ owned by Compassion House, this time in

1:06:11 ↗ the amount of um approximately $52,000.

1:06:16 ↗ This was also developed into a duplex

1:06:19 ↗ for use as transitional housing. And

1:06:21 ↗ once again, a 30-year um restrictive

1:06:24 ↗ covenant was recorded against the

1:06:26 ↗ property. however, didn't get recorded

1:06:27 ↗ for several years. So, it wasn't

1:06:29 ↗ recorded until 2019.

1:06:33 ↗ Then, Acres of Diamonds came on the

1:06:35 ↗ scene. They acquired both properties

1:06:37 ↗ from uh Compassion House in 2019, I

1:06:42 ↗ believe, and they have been operating

1:06:44 ↗ them as transitional housing. Acres of

1:06:47 ↗ Diamonds is a local nonprofit, as you've

1:06:49 ↗ heard about this evening. They provide

1:06:51 ↗ housing to um transitional housing, but

1:06:54 ↗ long-term transitional housing to uh

1:06:57 ↗ unhoused women and their children. And

1:07:00 ↗ they also provide related services like

1:07:02 ↗ counseling, job training,

1:07:04 ↗ trauma-informed child care, and other

1:07:07 ↗ services that are intended to empower

1:07:09 ↗ their participants to um get help and

1:07:13 ↗ become self-sufficient and re-enter um

1:07:16 ↗ the workplace on their their own. Their

1:07:19 ↗ primary facility is located in Duvall.

1:07:21 ↗ It currently serves 18 family units.

1:07:28 ↗ Acres is in the process of developing a

1:07:31 ↗ new facility, the family renewal home,

1:07:34 ↗ which will add 24 units. So, it will

1:07:36 ↗ more than double their current um

1:07:39 ↗ capacity to serve. And it will be um it

1:07:43 ↗ will also have a a onsite daycare, which

1:07:46 ↗ is a really big asset. As you've heard,

1:07:48 ↗ the project is located in Duvall where

1:07:50 ↗ the organization is is located and it's

1:07:55 ↗ estimated to cost approximately $12

1:07:57 ↗ million.

1:07:58 ↗ Uh, Acres has already raised, I believe

1:08:01 ↗ it's up to $6 million at this point. um

1:08:05 ↗ in cash and matching gifts from um

1:08:08 ↗ charitable folks around the region. And

1:08:12 ↗ they plan to bake to break ground when

1:08:14 ↗ they get to 8.75 million, which is 70%

1:08:18 ↗ of their of their um goal, which is a

1:08:21 ↗ pretty typical number um to hit when you

1:08:25 ↗ would break ground because often more

1:08:27 ↗ funds come in the farther along in the

1:08:30 ↗ process you are. you're more eligible

1:08:32 ↗ for various grants and things when

1:08:33 ↗ you've shown that you're actually

1:08:35 ↗ working on the project.

1:08:39 ↗ The proposed

1:08:41 ↗ um has several terms to it. Under it,

1:08:43 ↗ the city would agree to release the

1:08:45 ↗ affordable housing restricted covenants

1:08:48 ↗ so that these properties can be sold for

1:08:50 ↗ their highest um fair market value.

1:08:53 ↗ right now with the restricted covenants

1:08:54 ↗ on them because they can only be used as

1:08:58 ↗ transitional housing, it's going to

1:09:00 ↗ severely impact the ability to to sell

1:09:03 ↗ them at at market rate. So, this would

1:09:06 ↗ allow um Acres of Diamonds to receive

1:09:08 ↗ the the best possible prices for these

1:09:10 ↗ homes. In exchange, Acres would

1:09:14 ↗ reimburse the city for the wave fees at

1:09:16 ↗ today's values. So we took the amount of

1:09:19 ↗ of wave fees in the past and we applied

1:09:21 ↗ an inflation factor to them to get what

1:09:23 ↗ it would be at current value. They would

1:09:26 ↗ also reimburse the city for uh the heat

1:09:29 ↗ pumps that were installed at the

1:09:31 ↗ properties through the city's low-income

1:09:33 ↗ heat pump installation program so that

1:09:35 ↗ the city can then reinvest those funds

1:09:38 ↗ into additional heat pump installations

1:09:40 ↗ in the city.

1:09:43 ↗ They would also agree that the city

1:09:45 ↗ would continue to be a priority

1:09:47 ↗ community for placement of um graduates

1:09:50 ↗ from the family renewal home project

1:09:53 ↗ or program. And they would agree that

1:09:56 ↗ the proceeds from the sale, which we

1:09:58 ↗ estimate to be approximately $2 million,

1:10:01 ↗ would be held in a restricted account

1:10:04 ↗ and not release 2 acres of diamonds

1:10:07 ↗ until they get to $6.75 million um in

1:10:10 ↗ funding and can break ground and

1:10:13 ↗ actually use that money to to get to

1:10:15 ↗ work. If they don't proceed with the

1:10:18 ↗ family renewal program in three years,

1:10:21 ↗ then the parties would meet and confer

1:10:24 ↗ to decide how to best use those funds to

1:10:27 ↗ support uh women and children in the

1:10:29 ↗ region.

1:10:31 ↗ So, the options before you this evening

1:10:32 ↗ are to authorize the mayor to execute

1:10:34 ↗ theou and the release documents that go

1:10:36 ↗ along with it. In that case, the

1:10:39 ↗ properties would be sold and invested

1:10:40 ↗ into the family renewal home. or you

1:10:43 ↗ could decline to execute theou and

1:10:45 ↗ release documents in which case the uh

1:10:48 ↗ restricted covenants would remain in

1:10:49 ↗ place for the remainder of their term

1:10:52 ↗ and the properties can only be sold at

1:10:54 ↗ afford as affordable housing which would

1:10:57 ↗ likely reduce their sales prices.

1:11:00 ↗ The administration is recommending

1:11:03 ↗ moving forward with this proposal and I

1:11:05 ↗ am here to answer any questions that you

1:11:07 ↗ might have.

1:11:09 ↗ >> Thank you Rachel. Council questions.

1:11:14 ↗ Well, there was a lot of good

1:11:15 ↗ information in there. I'm not seeing any

1:11:17 ↗ questions. Um, I'd be looking for a

1:11:19 ↗ motion.

1:11:21 ↗ Council President,

1:11:24 ↗ I move to authorize the mayor to exe

1:11:27 ↗ execute the memorandum of understanding

1:11:29 ↗ between the city and acres of diamonds

1:11:31 ↗ and the related restrictive covenant

1:11:33 ↗ release documents attached there too.

1:11:37 ↗ >> Second.

1:11:38 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there

1:11:39 ↗ any council discussion? Council

1:11:41 ↗ president,

1:11:43 ↗ >> thank you. Despite there being no

1:11:45 ↗ questions up here on the dis, I know

1:11:47 ↗ this has gone through a long process and

1:11:49 ↗ so I wanted to take a moment to

1:11:51 ↗ appreciate the fact that when this first

1:11:55 ↗ came up for us, I was rather concerned

1:11:58 ↗ with the idea. Um, I'm very protective

1:12:01 ↗ of our affordable housing in the city of

1:12:03 ↗ Isiqua. And while I very very much

1:12:07 ↗ respect Acres of Diamonds as an

1:12:08 ↗ organization, I think they've done

1:12:10 ↗ wonderful work. Um, my job and my role

1:12:14 ↗ here is to be protective of Isiqua, both

1:12:17 ↗ our city finances and the benefits that

1:12:20 ↗ um, our residents um, get through deals

1:12:24 ↗ that we have made about affordable

1:12:26 ↗ housing. So, um, I wanted to recognize

1:12:29 ↗ the great work that went into

1:12:31 ↗ understanding the benefits that these

1:12:35 ↗ organizations throughout the years had

1:12:37 ↗ received from the city in exchange for

1:12:39 ↗ providing the affordable housing. um as

1:12:42 ↗ well as you know just all of the

1:12:45 ↗ conversations that had to happen in us

1:12:48 ↗ saying well we don't want to give this

1:12:51 ↗ up until there really is a project that

1:12:56 ↗ is viable um and thus is going to end up

1:13:00 ↗ resulting in more affordable housing in

1:13:02 ↗ the region. So very much appreciate the

1:13:05 ↗ work that has gone into that. I will be

1:13:07 ↗ supporting this this evening um because

1:13:09 ↗ of that intense work because I know we

1:13:12 ↗ are not just saying yes to any option

1:13:15 ↗ that came across us but rather being

1:13:18 ↗ protective of the benefits that our um

1:13:21 ↗ our residents receive. Thank you.

1:13:23 ↗ >> Thank you deputy council president.

1:13:26 ↗ Uh, I think Council President Walsh

1:13:29 ↗ summarized that very well, so I won't

1:13:30 ↗ repeat what she had to say, but I I did

1:13:33 ↗ want to say as well that uh was very

1:13:36 ↗ appreciative of the tour that uh Council

1:13:38 ↗ Jen and I received. Uh very very

1:13:41 ↗ informative. Um I do think that uh

1:13:44 ↗ transitional housing that provides the

1:13:46 ↗ kind of wraparound services that uh

1:13:48 ↗ Diamond Acres of Diamonds provides is

1:13:52 ↗ the real answer. And I'm not surprised

1:13:54 ↗ at all at that 92%

1:13:56 ↗ uh rate of uh people who remained house

1:13:59 ↗ after they've been through your program.

1:14:00 ↗ So um it's uh been a a very good journey

1:14:05 ↗ in terms of communications and

1:14:07 ↗ information that was provided freely and

1:14:10 ↗ openly and I just appreciate all the

1:14:12 ↗ work that went into this including our

1:14:14 ↗ uh city uh attorney's work. So thank you

1:14:17 ↗ so much and I also will be supporting

1:14:19 ↗ this.

1:14:20 ↗ >> Any other comments from council?

1:14:23 ↗ Council Mertz,

1:14:26 ↗ >> thank you. Um, I just I think that this

1:14:29 ↗ document is particularly well done in

1:14:31 ↗ terms of the lens of what is the

1:14:35 ↗ community uh investment and what is the

1:14:40 ↗ proposed community benefit. And while

1:14:43 ↗ the benefit in the near term uh won't be

1:14:46 ↗ into our community, by pulling back the

1:14:50 ↗ our uh the benefit that had been

1:14:53 ↗ received on this, I think it it really

1:14:56 ↗ uh makes it an easier conversation to

1:14:58 ↗ have with the public. And so if we have

1:15:00 ↗ any more like this in the future, that

1:15:02 ↗ this lens of of what benefit was given

1:15:05 ↗ versus uh what public benefit results, I

1:15:08 ↗ think is a wonderful lens and makes for

1:15:10 ↗ good policy. Thank you. Any other

1:15:12 ↗ council comments?

1:15:15 ↗ Um, I got to get this right. Council

1:15:18 ↗ member Nichols.

1:15:20 ↗ >> Thank you. Um, I want to say so first

1:15:23 ↗ off, I think affordable housing in Isqua

1:15:25 ↗ is critical and anytime we're

1:15:26 ↗ considering modifications to affordable

1:15:28 ↗ housing covenants that will reduce

1:15:29 ↗ affordable housing in the city, we need

1:15:31 ↗ to analyze those very carefully. Um,

1:15:34 ↗ however, I'm really impressed with the

1:15:35 ↗ work the staff has done here to come up

1:15:36 ↗ with a good compromise. Um, I also think

1:15:39 ↗ that the context here is important as

1:15:40 ↗ well. we've had as a community 20 out of

1:15:43 ↗ the 30 years of this intended agreement

1:15:44 ↗ have now materialized. Um and now we

1:15:47 ↗ have an opportunity be to be a part of

1:15:49 ↗ something even bigger and better. Um I

1:15:51 ↗ do think there's a lot that we can do as

1:15:53 ↗ a city uh to help with the housing

1:15:54 ↗ affordability both locally and

1:15:56 ↗ regionally and that this is a good

1:15:57 ↗ example of one of those types of things

1:15:59 ↗ and that this will will directly benefit

1:16:01 ↗ Isiqua residents. um

1:16:06 ↗ people will not have to be a a Isqua

1:16:08 ↗ residents will be able to benefit from

1:16:09 ↗ this whether they live uh

1:16:12 ↗ even if they are not in the city of

1:16:14 ↗ Deval for example where this is intended

1:16:15 ↗ to go. So I think that's really

1:16:16 ↗ important to keep in mind and that uh uh

1:16:21 ↗ building something bigger and better

1:16:22 ↗ using these funds is is ultimately the

1:16:24 ↗ best use of this this land and this

1:16:26 ↗ resource as a community. So I'll be

1:16:28 ↗ happy to vote yes and uh I appreciate

1:16:30 ↗ all the work that went into this. Thank

1:16:32 ↗ you, Council Member Joe.

1:16:34 ↗ >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I'm happy to

1:16:36 ↗ support uh this agenda bill this

1:16:38 ↗ evening. Uh, just want to make sure that

1:16:42 ↗ uh we as a council and we as a city

1:16:44 ↗ understand that under the comp plan, um,

1:16:47 ↗ for 30% AMI and below, we need 1668

1:16:51 ↗ units by 2044.

1:16:54 ↗ Uh, 30 to 50% AMI, we need 868 units by

1:16:57 ↗ 2044.

1:16:59 ↗ 50 to 80% AMI, the low income, we need

1:17:02 ↗ 460 units. So if we are giving up four

1:17:05 ↗ units here,

1:17:07 ↗ uh it would seem that we would need to

1:17:09 ↗ add four units to those numbers as we go

1:17:13 ↗ forward. So, I would encourage us to

1:17:15 ↗ think about u being a little bit more

1:17:17 ↗ aggressive as we talk with ARCH and as

1:17:19 ↗ we look for other opportunities for um

1:17:22 ↗ partnering partnering with other

1:17:23 ↗ nonprofits to get the numbers that we

1:17:25 ↗ need uh to comply with our comprehensive

1:17:28 ↗ plan goals. Thank you.

1:17:30 ↗ >> Thank you. Any other comments?

1:17:33 ↗ Okay. Well, Rachel, I just want to say

1:17:35 ↗ well done. um a very complicated one-off

1:17:38 ↗ type situation where um I think what

1:17:42 ↗ you've worked out is the very best plan

1:17:44 ↗ that we could have going forward. So,

1:17:46 ↗ fantastic work.

1:17:47 ↗ >> Well, thank you. Acres of diamonds was a

1:17:49 ↗ pleasure to work with the whole time as

1:17:50 ↗ well.

1:17:50 ↗ >> That's so nice.

1:17:53 ↗ Um so, it has been moved and seconded to

1:17:55 ↗ authorize the mayor to execute the

1:17:57 ↗ memorandum of understanding between the

1:17:58 ↗ city and acres of diamonds and the

1:18:00 ↗ related restricted covenant release

1:18:02 ↗ documents attached there too. All those

1:18:04 ↗ in favor signify by saying I.

1:18:07 ↗ >> I.

1:18:08 ↗ >> Those opposed. That carries six and no.

1:18:11 ↗ Congratulations. And again, Rachel,

1:18:13 ↗ thank you very, very much. So, we're

1:18:15 ↗ going to move into the next item, which

1:18:18 ↗ has already been talked about this

1:18:19 ↗ evening as well, which is AB9087,

1:18:22 ↗ e motorcycle and ebicycle ordinance. And

1:18:25 ↗ the task before council this evening is

1:18:27 ↗ to adopt the ordinances. Let's start by

1:18:29 ↗ inviting please Chief Schwan to come up

1:18:32 ↗ and present this item. Welcome, Chief.

1:18:48 ↗ Thank you, Madame Mayor. Council,

1:18:51 ↗ as you know, tonight we're here to talk

1:18:53 ↗ about AB98 or 9087 e- motorcycles and

1:18:56 ↗ ebicycle ordinance.

1:19:00 ↗ I'm here to present the administration's

1:19:02 ↗ proposed ordinances to better regulate

1:19:04 ↗ ebike and e- motorcycle definitions, the

1:19:06 ↗ use, and the penalties for violations.

1:19:13 ↗ So this is achieved through two related

1:19:15 ↗ ordinances.

1:19:16 ↗ The first is a proposed new code section

1:19:19 ↗ defining and reg um regulation use of e-

1:19:22 ↗ motorcycles and ebikes. The second

1:19:25 ↗ cleans up the existing empoundment

1:19:27 ↗ chapter to modernize it allowing for

1:19:29 ↗ impounding of e- motorcycles and

1:19:31 ↗ allowing for officers to use discretion

1:19:33 ↗ and allow e- motorcycles or ebikes to be

1:19:35 ↗ picked up at the police station within

1:19:37 ↗ certain parameters.

1:19:41 ↗ We recommend authorizing both ordinances

1:19:44 ↗ as presented. The ordinances presented

1:19:46 ↗ today were supported by services,

1:19:48 ↗ safety, and parks committee.

1:19:56 ↗ We began discussing discussing the need

1:19:58 ↗ for these ordinances due to the

1:20:00 ↗ prevalence and visibility of ebikes and

1:20:02 ↗ e- motorcycles in the Isiqua,

1:20:04 ↗ particularly dangerous and illegal

1:20:06 ↗ behavior. While there is national

1:20:09 ↗ increase in popularity and ambiguity of

1:20:12 ↗ ebikes, there are some dangerous trends

1:20:14 ↗ emerging and the region um that they are

1:20:17 ↗ seeing in Isiqua as well and the other

1:20:19 ↗ local jurisdictions around us. Ebikes

1:20:22 ↗ can provide motor assistance to up to 28

1:20:24 ↗ mph which is faster than many pedal

1:20:27 ↗ bikes go. And the e- motorcycles and

1:20:29 ↗ ebikes or dirt bikes are also gaining

1:20:33 ↗ popularity. These vehicles can go much

1:20:35 ↗ faster than 28 mph

1:20:37 ↗ and both e- motorcycles and ebikes have

1:20:40 ↗ large youth ridership. This poses

1:20:43 ↗ several issues. Younger riders are less

1:20:45 ↗ likely to be aware of the rules of the

1:20:47 ↗ road and operate these vehicles at

1:20:50 ↗ higher speeds than pedal bike only,

1:20:53 ↗ leading to danger for riders and

1:20:56 ↗ drivers. All of this results in more

1:20:58 ↗ dangerous interactions between riders

1:21:00 ↗ and drivers, pedestrians, and parks and

1:21:03 ↗ trail users.

1:21:08 ↗ At the summer or the September 30th

1:21:10 ↗ services, safety and parks committee

1:21:12 ↗ meeting, the administration provided an

1:21:14 ↗ overview of these issues in Isiqua and

1:21:17 ↗ the committee was in support of the

1:21:19 ↗ administration's recommendations to

1:21:21 ↗ develop a local ordinance and with

1:21:24 ↗ definitions, usage and penalties to

1:21:26 ↗ support state action on defining and

1:21:28 ↗ regulating e- motorcycles and education

1:21:31 ↗ for parents and minors. The committee

1:21:33 ↗ also strongly supported means to ensure

1:21:35 ↗ officers to have the tools they need.

1:21:39 ↗ The ordinance proposed today are one of

1:21:41 ↗ the tools that they will help

1:21:42 ↗ enforcement and the education by IPD.

1:21:47 ↗ We returned to the committee on November

1:21:48 ↗ 18th with the proposed ordinances which

1:21:51 ↗ the committee supported with two

1:21:52 ↗ adjustments.

1:21:54 ↗ correcting the scope of the parks

1:21:55 ↗ director's authority and reducing the

1:21:57 ↗ monetary penalty for ebike infractions

1:22:00 ↗ to ensure the penalties and tailored to

1:22:02 ↗ the gravity of the infractions.

1:22:13 ↗ These are the goals the administration

1:22:15 ↗ used to craft the ordinances. They are

1:22:17 ↗ based on committee feedback and IPD and

1:22:19 ↗ parks needs. Number one, ensure officers

1:22:22 ↗ have tools needed to make stops,

1:22:24 ↗ education,

1:22:26 ↗ um, and issue infractions as needed.

1:22:30 ↗ Consistency and clarity on where ebikes

1:22:32 ↗ and e- motorcycles can be operated, and

1:22:34 ↗ tailor penalties to better educate

1:22:36 ↗ guardians and riders themselves.

1:22:43 ↗ The first ordinance creating a new

1:22:44 ↗ section of the code for e- motorcycles

1:22:46 ↗ and ebikes has the following definition.

1:22:49 ↗ We propose that an e- motorcycle is a

1:22:52 ↗ motorcycle powered in full or in part by

1:22:55 ↗ electricity and that does not have

1:22:58 ↗ operable foot pedals or exceeds 750

1:23:01 ↗ watts or the motor continues to assist

1:23:05 ↗ even when it exceeds 28 mph.

1:23:08 ↗ The definition is written this way to

1:23:10 ↗ ensure it captures e- dirt bikes and

1:23:12 ↗ ebikes that are modified beyond the

1:23:14 ↗ capabilities listed in the current RCW.

1:23:26 ↗ The definitions for ebikes are derived

1:23:28 ↗ from RCW. Class one ebikes only provides

1:23:32 ↗ motor assistance when the riders pedals

1:23:35 ↗ and or the riders pedal and stops

1:23:39 ↗ providing assistance at 20 mph. Class 2

1:23:43 ↗ ebikes have a motor that can power the

1:23:45 ↗ ebikes without pedaling and is also

1:23:48 ↗ capped at 20 mph.

1:23:51 ↗ Class 3 ebikes only provides motor

1:23:53 ↗ assistance when pedaling, but it

1:23:55 ↗ provides assistance up to 28 mph.

1:24:03 ↗ Proposed requirements for operation.

1:24:06 ↗ The proposed ordinance has numerous

1:24:09 ↗ requirements for the operation of e-

1:24:10 ↗ motorcycles drawn from RCW. The issues

1:24:14 ↗ we most commonly see are noted on the

1:24:16 ↗ slide. Miners under the age of 16 and

1:24:19 ↗ operating without registration, license

1:24:21 ↗ plate, lensure or endorsements.

1:24:25 ↗ Ebikes are subject to less regulation

1:24:28 ↗ because we don't want to widely

1:24:29 ↗ discourage use. But other portions of

1:24:32 ↗ code and RCW have provisions for safety,

1:24:35 ↗ including requirements for helmets and

1:24:37 ↗ that you must be 16 or older or um for

1:24:40 ↗ class 3 ebikes, which are the ones

1:24:42 ↗ capable of going faster than the motor

1:24:44 ↗ for motor assistance.

1:24:52 ↗ Assuming a rider meets all of the

1:24:54 ↗ criteria we just discussed,

1:24:57 ↗ their bike or e- motorcycle is allowed

1:24:59 ↗ as outlined in the table above.

1:25:03 ↗ As you can see, e- motorcycles are

1:25:04 ↗ allowed only on the street, while class

1:25:07 ↗ one and two ebikes are allowed most

1:25:09 ↗ places, similar to regular pedal bikes.

1:25:13 ↗ Class 3 ebikes are allowed on streets

1:25:15 ↗ and the sidewalk if no alternative path

1:25:18 ↗ is provided, but cannot be on pedestrian

1:25:20 ↗ paths, shared use paths, park trails,

1:25:23 ↗ and city parks.

1:25:26 ↗ These recommendations were developed by

1:25:28 ↗ looking at where King County parks allow

1:25:30 ↗ different classes of ebikes and our

1:25:32 ↗ surrounding jurisdictions as well as

1:25:34 ↗ other cities.

1:25:36 ↗ What we propose here is largely similar

1:25:38 ↗ to Seamish and Belleview's code.

1:25:41 ↗ I'd like to see if um Director Jeff

1:25:44 ↗ Watley would like to come up now and

1:25:46 ↗ address the issue regarding um

1:25:51 ↗ preventing or discouraging people on the

1:25:53 ↗ parks as was mentioned earlier.

1:25:58 ↗ >> Thanks, Chief. Uh good evening,

1:25:59 ↗ everyone. Jeff Watling, parks and

1:26:00 ↗ community services director. Um glad I'm

1:26:03 ↗ here tonight. uh I wasn't planning on

1:26:05 ↗ staying for this but uh really want to

1:26:07 ↗ provide some clarity and I think this

1:26:08 ↗ table is a great place to to show that

1:26:12 ↗ um it is our intent and was our intent

1:26:15 ↗ as we drafted this with administration

1:26:17 ↗ that we allow class one and class 2

1:26:19 ↗ ebikes throughout our parks and trail

1:26:21 ↗ system um uh just like we encourage um

1:26:25 ↗ any other bikes. Um the prohibition

1:26:28 ↗ language that you see in there is

1:26:29 ↗ similar to the prohibition language that

1:26:31 ↗ um King County has and a number of other

1:26:33 ↗ jurisdictions. That prohibition is

1:26:35 ↗ intended to be extremely extremely rare.

1:26:37 ↗ Um and in many cases that prohibition is

1:26:40 ↗ probably not just for class one, class 2

1:26:42 ↗ ebikes, but for bikes in general. Uh we

1:26:44 ↗ have some forested trails within our

1:26:46 ↗ park system where bikes aren't allowed.

1:26:49 ↗ um here on the valley floor. Uh the new

1:26:52 ↗ improvements to pedestrian park. We want

1:26:54 ↗ to see how that space is being used that

1:26:57 ↗ it could it could be a possibility um as

1:27:00 ↗ a gathering space that we want all

1:27:02 ↗ bikers to dismount uh their bikes. And

1:27:04 ↗ so we would have a prohibition. Again,

1:27:06 ↗ the intent isn't to prohibit solely

1:27:09 ↗ class one and class 2 bikes, uh, ebikes,

1:27:12 ↗ uh, but this ordinance to at least give

1:27:15 ↗ consistency where we are doing a

1:27:16 ↗ prohibition, um, of bike use, um,

1:27:19 ↗ throughout the system. But that's meant

1:27:21 ↗ to be extremely rare. We know the value

1:27:23 ↗ of of Isqua's parks um, and trail system

1:27:26 ↗ is really meant for connectivity. That's

1:27:27 ↗ the vision of that system. Um, and

1:27:29 ↗ providing an alternative way to get

1:27:31 ↗ around. um specifically pointing out the

1:27:34 ↗ Reineer Trail, that would be a shared

1:27:36 ↗ use path that um class one and class two

1:27:39 ↗ ebikes would be strongly encouraged to

1:27:41 ↗ be used. Um and um just wanted to to

1:27:44 ↗ give that clarity and again I think the

1:27:46 ↗ table certainly points out um intent.

1:27:56 ↗ >> We're going to take a question from

1:27:57 ↗ Council Marts. Actually, it was for uh

1:28:00 ↗ it was for Director Wilding. Sorry.

1:28:02 ↗ >> Come on back up, Jeff. So, I'm looking

1:28:05 ↗ at the um draft minutes from the

1:28:08 ↗ services, safety, and parks committee,

1:28:10 ↗ and I have that we did um the chief was

1:28:15 ↗ correct about the the general um sense

1:28:18 ↗ of the body, but we did it said the

1:28:20 ↗ proposed ordinance. We recommended that

1:28:22 ↗ it be amended to state that parks

1:28:24 ↗ director can only prohibit ebikes use on

1:28:26 ↗ city parks, trails, and pla uh city city

1:28:31 ↗ park trails, parks, and plazas, but not

1:28:34 ↗ sidewalks, pedestrian pathways, or

1:28:36 ↗ shared use paths. That is not the

1:28:38 ↗ language that's in front of us today.

1:28:40 ↗ Um, was did the administration reject

1:28:43 ↗ our request?

1:28:45 ↗ >> No, I I I don't believe so. That I it's

1:28:49 ↗ probably not a question for me. I know

1:28:50 ↗ the intent I listened into that

1:28:52 ↗ conversation. You're absolutely right.

1:28:54 ↗ The intent was understanding the parks

1:28:56 ↗ director probably shouldn't have

1:28:57 ↗ authority to make decisions on right of

1:29:00 ↗ way.

1:29:02 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:29:04 ↗ >> Please do.

1:29:04 ↗ >> Um you see pedestrian pass include Oh,

1:29:07 ↗ sorry, pardon. Jillian straw management

1:29:09 ↗ analyst. Thank you. Um you see

1:29:11 ↗ pedestrian pass included there. Um in

1:29:13 ↗ part because there might be some

1:29:14 ↗ pedestrian paths that intersect with or

1:29:16 ↗ cross over with our parks. Um, and we

1:29:19 ↗ wanted to to give the ability to to

1:29:21 ↗ regulate that to our parks director.

1:29:23 ↗ That was a change that was made after

1:29:24 ↗ the meeting with services, safety, and

1:29:26 ↗ parks. We had a minute to look into it

1:29:27 ↗ further. But sidewalks should not be

1:29:29 ↗ included in that.

1:29:31 ↗ >> So,

1:29:32 ↗ >> and sidewalks are not included. It was

1:29:34 ↗ the it was the pedestrian pathways and

1:29:36 ↗ shared use paths that I was specifically

1:29:39 ↗ referring to.

1:29:40 ↗ >> Thank you. Okay,

1:29:42 ↗ >> Chief.

1:29:44 ↗ >> Oh, uh, Council Member Nichols.

1:29:48 ↗ also potentially enough. Um

1:29:56 ↗ so my question is uh does the parks

1:29:58 ↗ department have the authority to ban

1:30:00 ↗ bikes in general? So not ebikes just but

1:30:03 ↗ bikes overall um on

1:30:06 ↗ trails, pedestrian paths, etc. at the

1:30:08 ↗ moment.

1:30:10 ↗ >> Yeah, we we are able to sign a

1:30:11 ↗ prohibition of bikes, let's say on our

1:30:14 ↗ synthetic turf fields at Central Park.

1:30:16 ↗ Um or again, there are certain forested

1:30:18 ↗ trails within um Park Point and

1:30:22 ↗ Tradition Plateau where bikes are not um

1:30:25 ↗ not allowed

1:30:26 ↗ >> and and would that prohibition include

1:30:28 ↗ ebikes and motorcycles?

1:30:30 ↗ >> Yes.

1:30:31 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you.

1:30:32 ↗ >> Yes.

1:30:34 ↗ >> Thank you, Jeff. Just stay up there.

1:30:38 ↗ Okay, Chief, do you have more slides to

1:30:40 ↗ go through? Yes. Thanks.

1:30:43 ↗ Thank you.

1:30:46 ↗ An item that came up in the September

1:30:47 ↗ meeting is speed, particularly for off-

1:30:51 ↗ streetet use. This will be a topic of

1:30:53 ↗ discussion next year with park staff and

1:30:55 ↗ park board as they develop a dedicated

1:30:58 ↗ park portion of the code.

1:31:02 ↗ Um, regarding the proposed empoundment

1:31:04 ↗ and penalty options, the proposed

1:31:06 ↗ ordinances address empowment and

1:31:08 ↗ penalties as well. The second ordinance

1:31:10 ↗ proposed would allow ebikes and e-

1:31:12 ↗ motorcycles to be picked up at the

1:31:13 ↗ police station likely the same day as

1:31:15 ↗ the stop is what our goal is. This

1:31:18 ↗ accounts for scenario where for example

1:31:20 ↗ an IPD officer makes a stop where they

1:31:23 ↗ cannot allow the minor to ride on e

1:31:25 ↗ motorcycle e- motorcycle or ebike home

1:31:28 ↗ after the stop but the guardian can come

1:31:31 ↗ pick it up soon thereafter. This could

1:31:33 ↗ be a useful education tool another

1:31:35 ↗ opportunity for us to communicate with

1:31:37 ↗ the guardians rather than impounding

1:31:39 ↗ straight to a tow lot. Uh and that's

1:31:41 ↗ where it's limited to contact between

1:31:43 ↗ the officer and the guardian at that

1:31:44 ↗ point. Plus, it incurs a large amount of

1:31:47 ↗ fees comparatively.

1:31:49 ↗ The change to the IMC allows for

1:31:51 ↗ officers and flexibility to have the e-

1:31:53 ↗ motorcycle or ebike be picked up at the

1:31:55 ↗ station, but does not mandate that uh

1:31:58 ↗ this approach be used. There are also

1:32:00 ↗ penalties separate from an impounding

1:32:02 ↗ charge uh from a tow company. The table

1:32:05 ↗ on the slide lists the penalties for

1:32:07 ↗ infractions. Ebikes have a lower penalty

1:32:09 ↗ because e- motorcycles pose a much

1:32:12 ↗ larger issue and increased danger

1:32:15 ↗ compared to the ebikes themselves.

1:32:22 ↗ The city council if uh city council

1:32:24 ↗ approved a legislative policy manual

1:32:26 ↗ that directs the administration to

1:32:28 ↗ support changes to the state level

1:32:30 ↗ around this issue. We will also continue

1:32:32 ↗ to monitor the issue and develop

1:32:34 ↗ outreach and education.

1:32:41 ↗ We're recommending the two ordinances

1:32:43 ↗ are adopted today

1:32:45 ↗ is what we brought forth to the council

1:32:47 ↗ and open for questions.

1:32:49 ↗ >> Thank you, Chief. I'm going to first go

1:32:50 ↗ to Council Member Marts as the chair of

1:32:52 ↗ the services safety and parks committee

1:32:55 ↗ meeting. And is there anything you'd

1:32:57 ↗ like to summarize about the committee's

1:32:58 ↗ recommendation on this item?

1:33:00 ↗ >> Sure. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh the

1:33:01 ↗ services, safety, and parks committee

1:33:03 ↗ met on November 18th here in chambers.

1:33:06 ↗ Uh on this item, the committee did

1:33:08 ↗ recommend the ordinances be brought to

1:33:10 ↗ the full uh city council at this

1:33:13 ↗ meeting. Uh we recommended the proposed

1:33:16 ↗ ordinance changes that we already

1:33:17 ↗ discussed. Um, we recommended penalties

1:33:20 ↗ for ebikes and e- motorcycle violations

1:33:22 ↗ to be different and that the code to

1:33:25 ↗ closely match neighboring jurisdictions

1:33:26 ↗ regulations uh which is the language in

1:33:29 ↗ front of you today. Um,

1:33:32 ↗ in public comment, we had um somebody

1:33:34 ↗ from the local sales of uh electric

1:33:39 ↗ bicycles speaking in favor of the

1:33:41 ↗ proposed ordinances and clear messaging,

1:33:43 ↗ education, and signage regarding ebike

1:33:45 ↗ usage and restrictions. Uh in addition

1:33:48 ↗ uh we stress the importance of local

1:33:50 ↗ constituency in ebike regulation uh

1:33:53 ↗ local const consistency I'm sorry in

1:33:56 ↗ ebike regulations and the need to

1:33:58 ↗ include ebike regulation in the city's

1:33:59 ↗ legislative agenda for the state

1:34:01 ↗ legislature. Um ensuring regulations are

1:34:04 ↗ communicated and education offered to

1:34:06 ↗ the public. Uh care taken to balance the

1:34:08 ↗ public's need for e bike transportation

1:34:11 ↗ with safety. Um and thanks to the staff

1:34:13 ↗ for working on this item.

1:34:15 ↗ >> This concludes my report. Thank you. And

1:34:16 ↗ now we'll go to council questions.

1:34:22 ↗ >> I am not seeing any questions. Would uh

1:34:25 ↗ council member Marts, would you care to

1:34:26 ↗ make a motion?

1:34:29 ↗ >> Yes, I would. And um boy oh boy, got it

1:34:34 ↗ up to

1:34:35 ↗ >> Got it up there. We Okay, thank you.

1:34:37 ↗ We've been struggling with these

1:34:38 ↗ monitors over here. They weren't

1:34:39 ↗ actually on a few minutes ago, so

1:34:42 ↗ they're working now. Uh

1:34:44 ↗ uh I propose adopting ordinance number

1:34:49 ↗ >> 3129

1:34:51 ↗ >> adopting chapter 10.48 48 of the Isiqua

1:34:53 ↗ Municipal Code to regulate the use of

1:34:55 ↗ electric assisted bicycles and electric

1:34:57 ↗ motorcycles and adopt ordinance number

1:35:00 ↗ >> 3130

1:35:01 ↗ >> amending chapter 10.34 of the Isiqua

1:35:04 ↗ municipal code abandon unauthorized and

1:35:07 ↗ junk motor vehicles to modernize the

1:35:09 ↗ chapter authorizing impound without

1:35:11 ↗ notice for vehicles operated illegally

1:35:13 ↗ and authorizing in-person notice of

1:35:15 ↗ impound and notice by first class mail.

1:35:18 ↗ >> Second.

1:35:19 ↗ >> Thank you. It's been moved and seconded.

1:35:21 ↗ How about council discussion?

1:35:24 ↗ Council member Nichols, then deputy

1:35:26 ↗ council president.

1:35:27 ↗ >> So, I'm going to need some help with

1:35:28 ↗ this, but uh my intent here is to offer

1:35:32 ↗ a motion to

1:35:35 ↗ strike 10.48.30

1:35:37 ↗ and 10.48.40A.

1:35:40 ↗ Um the context there is these are the um

1:35:44 ↗ authorities that that give basically

1:35:48 ↗ give the parks director the authority to

1:35:50 ↗ uh ban class one and class 2 ebikes on

1:35:53 ↗ city-owned parks, open space or

1:35:55 ↗ pedestrian pathways, shared use paths or

1:35:57 ↗ park trails within them. Um and 10.48.4A

1:36:02 ↗ is referencing back to 10.48.30. So I

1:36:05 ↗ think it's also relevant to include

1:36:07 ↗ those both. Uh my comment is um

1:36:10 ↗ >> Oh, let's get a second.

1:36:11 ↗ >> Oh, sorry.

1:36:12 ↗ >> It's been second. Second. There we go.

1:36:14 ↗ It's been seconded. And um

1:36:17 ↗ have a comment. I also want to have

1:36:19 ↗ staff talk about what removing that

1:36:21 ↗ language does to the director as well.

1:36:24 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:36:25 ↗ >> So,

1:36:25 ↗ >> go ahead.

1:36:26 ↗ >> Comment first.

1:36:26 ↗ >> Sure.

1:36:27 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so yeah, my my

1:36:29 ↗ commentary is uh my my question to uh

1:36:32 ↗ the director was intended to get at

1:36:35 ↗ whether the uh the parks department

1:36:37 ↗ already has the authority to remove

1:36:39 ↗ bicycles from areas where bicycles

1:36:40 ↗ should not be utilized. I I think

1:36:42 ↗ there's it's it's very reasonable to not

1:36:44 ↗ have bicycles be allowed everywhere.

1:36:45 ↗ There there are places where they could

1:36:47 ↗ clearly not be safe. Um I see class one

1:36:51 ↗ and class 2 ebikes as essentially

1:36:53 ↗ equivalent to bicycles in almost every

1:36:55 ↗ way. They have speed limitations. Um, as

1:36:57 ↗ a regular class one ebike user, um, I

1:37:01 ↗ would see myself as in the same category

1:37:03 ↗ as any other bicyclist. Uh, and I think

1:37:05 ↗ that we should be very careful and, uh,

1:37:10 ↗ judicious about any sort of ban that we

1:37:12 ↗ place on ebikes because they are a key

1:37:14 ↗ part of our mobility framework for the

1:37:16 ↗ future. Um, and they have a great deal

1:37:17 ↗ of utility. Um, so with that, I I would

1:37:20 ↗ I would urge caution in

1:37:23 ↗ preemptively banning them from places or

1:37:26 ↗ preemptively allowing the ban of ebikes

1:37:29 ↗ separate from bicycles um on in any area

1:37:33 ↗ at all. Um, and that would include, as

1:37:36 ↗ was brought up in public comment, the

1:37:37 ↗ Rainer Trail is a good example of that.

1:37:39 ↗ Um, and that we should be treating class

1:37:41 ↗ one and class 2 ebikes essentially

1:37:43 ↗ equivalent to any other bicycle. Class 3

1:37:46 ↗ ebikes uh and e- motorcycles I think are

1:37:48 ↗ of in a different category. They can go

1:37:50 ↗ much faster. Um they don't necess class

1:37:51 ↗ 3 ebike does not necessarily require any

1:37:53 ↗ pedaling at all. They have a throttle

1:37:54 ↗ that can make the thing go up to 30 mph

1:37:56 ↗ basically. Um it's and in e- motorcycles

1:37:59 ↗ I think are also a very different

1:38:00 ↗ category. So, I think um the work that

1:38:03 ↗ staff did to harmonize this uh ordinance

1:38:06 ↗ with other jurisdictions for class 3

1:38:08 ↗ ebikes as well as e motorcycles makes a

1:38:10 ↗ great deal of sense and is the the

1:38:12 ↗ primary safety consideration that's at

1:38:14 ↗ work here. Uh but I I I would uh

1:38:17 ↗ appreciate some discussion on

1:38:21 ↗ removing the uh restrictions on class

1:38:23 ↗ one and two ebikes separate from

1:38:25 ↗ bicycles alone.

1:38:26 ↗ >> So, I'm I'm assuming our lawyer would

1:38:29 ↗ like to comment on on that. I just want

1:38:31 ↗ to clarify that I don't believe there is

1:38:33 ↗ anything in the IMC currently that does

1:38:35 ↗ authorize the director to ban bicycles

1:38:38 ↗ generally from various parks or trails.

1:38:41 ↗ It they are not allowed on various parks

1:38:43 ↗ and trails, but director Watling is not

1:38:46 ↗ aware of the history behind how that

1:38:49 ↗ came about. So that may have been a

1:38:50 ↗ council decision years ago. It may have

1:38:53 ↗ been something that a director did years

1:38:56 ↗ ago. So, um it's but it's not something

1:38:59 ↗ that is in the code right now. So,

1:39:02 ↗ >> so in terms of a couple of questions

1:39:03 ↗ that were asked, if pedestrian park were

1:39:05 ↗ to be a no bicycle zone, that would just

1:39:07 ↗ mean dismount and walk your bike through

1:39:08 ↗ it. It doesn't mean you can't go on it.

1:39:10 ↗ It just means you can't ride it,

1:39:12 ↗ >> right? Um and then the second part of

1:39:14 ↗ the question was, does this uh as

1:39:17 ↗ currently written represent uh equate

1:39:21 ↗ bicycles with class one and class two?

1:39:24 ↗ I believe that I mean I think did we add

1:39:27 ↗ a definition of bicycle Jillian? Do you

1:39:29 ↗ remember? No, we already have one that

1:39:31 ↗ we didn't so we didn't have to. Um it

1:39:34 ↗ doesn't equate them for purposes of

1:39:38 ↗ other IMC provisions.

1:39:42 ↗ Other IMC provisions regarding bicycles

1:39:45 ↗ would apply because these are types of

1:39:47 ↗ bicycles. So bicycles is the big

1:39:49 ↗ umbrella. Exactly.

1:39:51 ↗ >> Mhm.

1:39:53 ↗ these these specific provisions to class

1:39:55 ↗ one bicycles, class 2 would not apply to

1:39:58 ↗ all bicycles. They would be specific to

1:40:00 ↗ the electric bicycles. Does that make

1:40:02 ↗ sense? Think

1:40:03 ↗ >> so. Um so let's do some comments or

1:40:06 ↗ questions. Council President, Council

1:40:07 ↗ Member Hall.

1:40:09 ↗ So, I'm tempted to agree with um this

1:40:13 ↗ concept because I think anything that we

1:40:16 ↗ are looking at as a way to limit class

1:40:19 ↗ one and class 2 electric assisted

1:40:23 ↗ bicycles um should just run under a

1:40:27 ↗ general bicycle provision. Um, and so I

1:40:32 ↗ I don't see the use of this. If we do

1:40:35 ↗ have a lack of the ability for the parks

1:40:40 ↗ director to limit bicycle use, then

1:40:43 ↗ let's take that on as some other

1:40:45 ↗ ordinance. Um, but as far as I can see,

1:40:49 ↗ I think I was going to make a similar

1:40:52 ↗ motion. Um, so unless somebody can

1:40:55 ↗ create a reason why this needs to be in

1:40:59 ↗ here, I think this actually takes away

1:41:01 ↗ from our emphasis on limiting e

1:41:05 ↗ motorcycle use um in this way.

1:41:08 ↗ >> Council member Hong,

1:41:11 ↗ >> thanks. Yeah, just that I'm getting Did

1:41:13 ↗ you want to looks like maybe you were

1:41:15 ↗ wanting to respond to something first?

1:41:16 ↗ >> Well, I just wanted to also make a

1:41:18 ↗ comment then.

1:41:19 ↗ >> Yes. then we would be one of the the

1:41:21 ↗ shop owner that sells the ebikes in the

1:41:23 ↗ area did comment at say services safety

1:41:26 ↗ is that one of the issues that they have

1:41:29 ↗ is the inconsistency from one

1:41:31 ↗ jurisdiction to the other and by

1:41:33 ↗ changing that I'm just putting it out

1:41:35 ↗ there that we would be different than

1:41:37 ↗ those that are um in those other

1:41:38 ↗ jurisdictions and the reason that

1:41:40 ↗ becomes problematic is let's say some of

1:41:43 ↗ the trails all run together in the

1:41:44 ↗ different jurisdictions whether it be

1:41:46 ↗ King County or into Belleview or those

1:41:47 ↗ different locations The problem then

1:41:49 ↗ there in lies with us having something

1:41:51 ↗ different. Where does that stop? Where

1:41:54 ↗ what how do they sometimes know what

1:41:56 ↗ jurisdiction they're in versus not? So,

1:41:58 ↗ I just wanted to make sure that that was

1:42:00 ↗ a comment that was brought up by the

1:42:01 ↗ shop owner. Um they love the extra

1:42:03 ↗ education piece and that was whenever

1:42:05 ↗ there are those trails or where they can

1:42:07 ↗ and cannot but sometimes when they run

1:42:10 ↗ together it makes it really difficult.

1:42:11 ↗ So, I just wanted to make sure that was

1:42:12 ↗ also aware. It'd be interesting to hear

1:42:14 ↗ from any of the three committee members

1:42:16 ↗ as well that consistency seemed to be

1:42:18 ↗ important.

1:42:20 ↗ Council

1:42:20 ↗ >> Marks.

1:42:21 ↗ >> Yeah. I just want to ask the chief. I

1:42:22 ↗ want to understand better. If we strike

1:42:25 ↗ 10.48.30

1:42:27 ↗ and 10.48.040A.

1:42:30 ↗ How is that different from Belleview or

1:42:32 ↗ Seamish? What where's the inconsistency?

1:42:36 ↗ >> Because consistent the mayor's right.

1:42:38 ↗ Consistency was a big part. We wanted to

1:42:40 ↗ simplify things such that particularly

1:42:42 ↗ children um who are involved in riding

1:42:44 ↗ these bicycles have really clear

1:42:46 ↗ regulatory guidance from our city.

1:42:49 ↗ >> Yeah. Jillian Straw, management analyst.

1:42:51 ↗ So this is a portion that we really

1:42:52 ↗ borrowed heavily from the King County

1:42:53 ↗ park system in order to kind of align

1:42:55 ↗ the two park systems that are really

1:42:57 ↗ active in our in our city. So this is

1:42:59 ↗ one of those alignments with a different

1:43:00 ↗ jurisdiction, not necessarily a city.

1:43:03 ↗ Um, I believe that Belleview also has

1:43:05 ↗ provisions in their code allowing their

1:43:07 ↗ parks director to uh ban bicycles or

1:43:10 ↗ ebicycles on certain parks and trails.

1:43:12 ↗ Part of the reason that you see these

1:43:14 ↗ two provisions included 030 and 040A is

1:43:18 ↗ because we don't have a comprehensive

1:43:20 ↗ parks code chapter yet. Um, when that's

1:43:23 ↗ created, things like these powers and

1:43:25 ↗ regulatory authority will be de

1:43:27 ↗ delegated there. In the meantime, we

1:43:28 ↗ wanted to have the ability to create

1:43:30 ↗ that alignment with other jurisdictions

1:43:32 ↗ and be really consistent in that way.

1:43:34 ↗ So, likely this is something that might

1:43:35 ↗ come back before the council um when

1:43:37 ↗ there is a parks code created um to pull

1:43:40 ↗ that into the park system and make it

1:43:42 ↗ really easy for folks to find there.

1:43:45 ↗ >> I think deputy council president and

1:43:47 ↗ then council member Hall or deput Oh,

1:43:50 ↗ were you next? Okay. Council member

1:43:52 ↗ Hall,

1:43:53 ↗ >> go ahead.

1:43:55 ↗ Council member Hall, Council President,

1:43:56 ↗ Deputy Council President,

1:43:57 ↗ >> you're first.

1:43:58 ↗ >> Yeah.

1:43:59 ↗ >> Um Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Going back to

1:44:01 ↗ my um question, although it does sound

1:44:03 ↗ like we need to talk to those pesky

1:44:05 ↗ legislators. So, um

1:44:07 ↗ >> um um I'm getting kind of confused over

1:44:10 ↗ the different classes. So, um there's

1:44:13 ↗ been some discussion up here about like

1:44:15 ↗ one and two. Are we equating that with

1:44:16 ↗ bikes? But class 2 is the one that you

1:44:19 ↗ can ride without pedaling, right? Class

1:44:21 ↗ 3, you still have to pedal. Isn't that

1:44:24 ↗ right? At least that's how it's written

1:44:25 ↗ in the current presentation

1:44:27 ↗ uh and in the code. Isn't that right? Um

1:44:29 ↗ the difference is class 3 goes to 28 m

1:44:33 ↗ an hour and it has a speedometer. Isn't

1:44:36 ↗ that right? So is that like the

1:44:41 ↗ the edge there that makes class 3 more

1:44:43 ↗ dangerous or prohibited in these

1:44:45 ↗ particular zones? In our the

1:44:46 ↗ administration's opinion,

1:44:47 ↗ >> the speed specifically is what makes it

1:44:49 ↗ more dangerous is because the class 3es

1:44:51 ↗ go a faster speed and have higher

1:44:53 ↗ wattage and that essentially is what

1:44:56 ↗ changes that big difference and jumps

1:44:58 ↗ that.

1:44:59 ↗ >> Okay.

1:44:59 ↗ >> So,

1:45:00 ↗ >> but you are correct that class 2 can

1:45:02 ↗ operate without being pedled.

1:45:05 ↗ >> Okay. Okay. Thank you.

1:45:09 ↗ >> Um, council president, deputy council

1:45:11 ↗ president or I'll let you two decide.

1:45:15 ↗ I'll just go quickly. Um, I looked at

1:45:18 ↗ Belleview's code, um, at least what's

1:45:21 ↗ references off of their ebike and

1:45:24 ↗ electric motorcycle safety page, which

1:45:27 ↗ references their Belleview BCC 3.43.160,

1:45:33 ↗ um, which designates it's unlawful to

1:45:36 ↗ ride, propel, drive, or direct any

1:45:38 ↗ motorized vehicle over through any park.

1:45:41 ↗ So, that's how they handle it. not

1:45:43 ↗ specific to something that is class one,

1:45:46 ↗ two, or three. Um, just as a note, I'm

1:45:49 ↗ still looking up King Counties.

1:45:52 ↗ >> Deputy Council President.

1:45:54 ↗ >> So, part of the discussion that we had

1:45:57 ↗ uh that evening, um, I had just

1:46:00 ↗ participated in East Side uh,

1:46:02 ↗ transportation partnership and, uh, we

1:46:05 ↗ were working on our legislative

1:46:07 ↗ priorities. Um and really the only new

1:46:10 ↗ thing that was added this year because

1:46:12 ↗ it is a short session was um uh urging

1:46:16 ↗ the legislature to step up and make some

1:46:19 ↗ general rules um because the um interest

1:46:22 ↗ there among the 21 cities that uh

1:46:27 ↗ participate in that particular

1:46:29 ↗ organization was to have consistency

1:46:32 ↗ across the east side. So that again is

1:46:35 ↗ as as the chief said um the trails tend

1:46:39 ↗ to run in and out of different

1:46:40 ↗ jurisdictions and it makes it really

1:46:42 ↗ difficult if there's no consistency

1:46:45 ↗ which there isn't right now. Um so using

1:46:49 ↗ uh this ordinance to make ourselves

1:46:52 ↗ consistent with the parks with the King

1:46:54 ↗ County parks with Belleview and so other

1:46:57 ↗ uh adjacent um jurisdictions I think is

1:47:01 ↗ an important point. Uh we obviously need

1:47:04 ↗ to do something about the umbrella

1:47:07 ↗ legislation uh so that the parks

1:47:10 ↗ director knows knows what authority he

1:47:13 ↗ has or he or she has. But uh uh I that

1:47:17 ↗ that was a big part of our discussion um

1:47:20 ↗ at the committee meeting was the

1:47:23 ↗ consistency and the importance of the

1:47:25 ↗ enforcement ability to enforce across

1:47:28 ↗ jurisdictions.

1:47:29 ↗ Um, we've heard from our parks director

1:47:32 ↗ that the need for banning uh bikes would

1:47:36 ↗ be assessed prior to that happening and

1:47:40 ↗ it looks or it sounded to me as though

1:47:43 ↗ um they're not looking to ban except in

1:47:46 ↗ exceptional uh situations

1:47:49 ↗ uh and otherwise they would like to

1:47:51 ↗ encourage the use of ebikes and all

1:47:54 ↗ kinds of bikes. So, um I'm inclined to

1:47:57 ↗ think that uh consistency uh if we can

1:48:01 ↗ be consistent with our adjacent

1:48:03 ↗ jurisdictions that that would be helpful

1:48:06 ↗ to the enforcement.

1:48:08 ↗ >> Thank you. Um additional com and can I

1:48:11 ↗ just check in with council member Joe?

1:48:13 ↗ He hasn't had a chance. And then I'll go

1:48:15 ↗ to council Marts.

1:48:17 ↗ >> Thank you. Um I just wanted to know if

1:48:19 ↗ the uh parks director did put a

1:48:22 ↗ restriction on a particular segment of

1:48:25 ↗ the trail system. Uh is there an appeal

1:48:27 ↗ process? In other words, uh you know, if

1:48:31 ↗ council decides something, there's an

1:48:33 ↗ appeal process perhaps to the superior

1:48:34 ↗ court. Is there an appeal process

1:48:36 ↗ administratively? Would it go to the

1:48:38 ↗ administration or would it go to city

1:48:40 ↗ council? Was there any discussion about

1:48:43 ↗ um that type of process? I'm gonna throw

1:48:46 ↗ that one at Rachel.

1:48:49 ↗ If it's an administrative decision to

1:48:51 ↗ ban in a certain location, is there a

1:48:53 ↗ process for administration appeal of a

1:48:56 ↗ decision by the parks director?

1:48:58 ↗ >> There is no formal administrative appeal

1:49:00 ↗ process in the code for that. Um the

1:49:03 ↗ appeal process would be to come to your

1:49:05 ↗ legislators and complain that you were

1:49:09 ↗ unhappy about it and then you know the

1:49:11 ↗ council clearly has uh authority to cut

1:49:14 ↗ parks budget and do other things that

1:49:16 ↗ would greatly impact the parks director.

1:49:18 ↗ So I imagine that he would uh would

1:49:21 ↗ reverse decisions if if council took

1:49:24 ↗ great

1:49:26 ↗ >> Okay. And then my follow-up question for

1:49:28 ↗ the parks director would be um what

1:49:31 ↗ criteria would he use to uh make a

1:49:34 ↗ decision for banning on a particular

1:49:36 ↗ segment of u trails? Um what type of

1:49:40 ↗ factors would he consider um in his

1:49:43 ↗ decision-m

1:49:52 ↗ >> hi Jeff Watling said parks director

1:49:56 ↗ Um great question about criteria. I

1:49:59 ↗ would again go back to um intent in

1:50:03 ↗ recognizing this language that it would

1:50:05 ↗ be extremely rare circumstances. So I

1:50:07 ↗ think these criteria would be um is

1:50:11 ↗ there a path or a trail that has um is

1:50:15 ↗ is meandering through a congregation

1:50:18 ↗ space um or a space where um within our

1:50:22 ↗ parks where we're intending people to

1:50:23 ↗ gather. And so, um, speed would become

1:50:27 ↗ that much more of a of a conflict. Um,

1:50:31 ↗ there are not too many situations where

1:50:33 ↗ that exists, um, in in our town. Um, so,

1:50:39 ↗ um, yeah, that's that's probably the

1:50:41 ↗ biggest one. Speed speed and conflict of

1:50:44 ↗ uses, avoiding that.

1:50:47 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you. And um one of the

1:50:50 ↗ criteria we use for you know putting a

1:50:51 ↗ stoplight up or stop sign would be the

1:50:54 ↗ number of accidents on a particular

1:50:56 ↗ segment of road. Um would we be keeping

1:50:59 ↗ those type of stats with either our

1:51:02 ↗ police department or parks department so

1:51:03 ↗ that we could kind of um make those

1:51:06 ↗ decisions with a little bit of knowledge

1:51:07 ↗ and and information?

1:51:11 ↗ >> Can I

1:51:12 ↗ I would say that for we could keep those

1:51:15 ↗ stats. Uh I think it would be based on

1:51:17 ↗ if we get complaints uh in certain

1:51:19 ↗ areas. I think there would be also a

1:51:21 ↗ collaboration with the parks director

1:51:23 ↗ and the police department before that

1:51:25 ↗ decision typically would be made to

1:51:28 ↗ understand why there or if there had

1:51:30 ↗ been more of a dangerous or danger

1:51:32 ↗ factor um in that specific area before

1:51:35 ↗ it would be banned. And we wouldn't

1:51:36 ↗ enforce something like that unless it

1:51:38 ↗ was posted and um conversations were had

1:51:41 ↗ as well.

1:51:43 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you very much. appreciate

1:51:45 ↗ the information.

1:51:45 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Joe, Council

1:51:46 ↗ Member Mertz, and Council Member Hall.

1:51:48 ↗ >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, what a what

1:51:51 ↗ a Gordian knot. Um, we have So, my

1:51:55 ↗ primary concern is public safety. These

1:51:58 ↗ are powerful new technologies in the

1:52:01 ↗ hands of our most vulnerable and least

1:52:03 ↗ sophisticated residents, our kids. So,

1:52:07 ↗ um, by that metric, I think that you've

1:52:12 ↗ got on the one hand, you've got the

1:52:15 ↗ issue of consistent trails, um, at the

1:52:18 ↗ edges of our city. At the other, you

1:52:20 ↗ have the idea that class one and class 2

1:52:24 ↗ electric bicycles be treated like other

1:52:27 ↗ bicycles. And I think tonight at 8:53

1:52:33 ↗ um if I have to choose between those two

1:52:35 ↗ options, I think I choose the that

1:52:38 ↗ electric bicycles class one and class 2

1:52:40 ↗ should be treated like other bicycles.

1:52:42 ↗ So, uh, I believe I'm going to support

1:52:44 ↗ this amendment this evening and then if

1:52:46 ↗ we want to have a discussion about where

1:52:48 ↗ we regulate bicycles, I just want the

1:52:50 ↗ simplest regulatory environment for our

1:52:53 ↗ kids so that as they use these new

1:52:55 ↗ technologies, um, they have the ability

1:52:57 ↗ to be uh, good, safe residents. Thank

1:53:00 ↗ you,

1:53:01 ↗ >> Council Member Hall, you took your

1:53:02 ↗ microphone down.

1:53:04 ↗ >> Um,

1:53:06 ↗ yeah, I was going to ask a general

1:53:08 ↗ question, but then I remembered we're in

1:53:09 ↗ we're in an amendment right now. So, can

1:53:11 ↗ we actually clarify the amendment

1:53:12 ↗ language again?

1:53:13 ↗ >> Sure. It's uh amend the ordinance to

1:53:15 ↗ delete section 10.48.030

1:53:18 ↗ and subsection 10.48 04

1:53:22 ↗ A regarding class 1 and two electric

1:53:24 ↗ assisted bicycles.

1:53:26 ↗ >> Okay. Thanks.

1:53:27 ↗ >> Any other comments or questions on the

1:53:29 ↗ amendment?

1:53:32 ↗ Deputy Council President.

1:53:35 ↗ Uh oh, this is probably a silly

1:53:37 ↗ question, but if we remove this language

1:53:39 ↗ and there's no other language, are we

1:53:42 ↗ taking uh the park director's ability to

1:53:46 ↗ restrict bicycles everywhere away?

1:53:55 ↗ I don't think he has any authority to

1:53:57 ↗ restrict bicycles anywhere all already

1:54:00 ↗ under the code. How they were restricted

1:54:02 ↗ in the past, I don't know. There's no

1:54:04 ↗ code authority for that. So you would be

1:54:08 ↗ taking away his authority to restrict

1:54:11 ↗ electric assisted bicycles. He doesn't

1:54:14 ↗ have any authority to restrict other

1:54:16 ↗ bicycles.

1:54:18 ↗ >> City administrator.

1:54:22 ↗ >> It is amazing the number of communities

1:54:24 ↗ that are having these discussions. I

1:54:26 ↗ mean the numbers are astonishing. Um we

1:54:30 ↗ are dealing with past practice. the

1:54:32 ↗ parks director, every parks director

1:54:34 ↗ around America uh has been able to put

1:54:37 ↗ signs up on parks and trails when there

1:54:39 ↗ have been specific instances uh that

1:54:41 ↗ needed to be addressed and they haven't

1:54:43 ↗ required city council action, haven't

1:54:44 ↗ required committee action. It has just

1:54:46 ↗ been an administrative process. Um the

1:54:49 ↗ world has gotten more complicated. Those

1:54:51 ↗ administrative processes uh are not as

1:54:53 ↗ reliable and for the circumstances we're

1:54:56 ↗ facing. And so I think at this point the

1:54:58 ↗ parks director will continue to put up

1:55:00 ↗ signs when he thinks there's a problem.

1:55:03 ↗ Uh as has been mentioned a few times, uh

1:55:05 ↗ one of the things that the city attorney

1:55:07 ↗ has identified is the need for a parks

1:55:09 ↗ uh code within the the municipal code.

1:55:12 ↗ And so as we work on that in the next

1:55:14 ↗ year or so, we'll be able to address

1:55:16 ↗ some of this stuff. Um but again I think

1:55:19 ↗ we're we're at this crossroad of what

1:55:22 ↗ has been just sort of administrative

1:55:24 ↗ practice uh to keep everybody playing

1:55:26 ↗ okay uh becoming something more than

1:55:29 ↗ that. So I think at this point if the

1:55:31 ↗ council wants to take away that language

1:55:33 ↗ from the ordinance that's fine. Uh I

1:55:35 ↗ think the administration we just need to

1:55:37 ↗ move on with this. We need to continue

1:55:39 ↗ to be able to uh to the best of our

1:55:41 ↗ ability working with our partners and

1:55:43 ↗ staff and parks and police uh to keep

1:55:46 ↗ the peace quite honestly with all of

1:55:48 ↗ this. There's lots happening at the

1:55:50 ↗ state level. There's things happening at

1:55:52 ↗ the national level. Uh we will be back

1:55:54 ↗ and talk some more about this. Uh but

1:55:56 ↗ but again I think this evening if you

1:55:58 ↗ take away that specific authority uh

1:56:01 ↗ know that the parks director is going to

1:56:03 ↗ continue to do his job and if all of a

1:56:05 ↗ sudden we have bikes ripping up

1:56:07 ↗ playfields he will put up signs there uh

1:56:10 ↗ and we will all visit him in park

1:56:12 ↗ director jail if there if there is a

1:56:15 ↗ problem.

1:56:15 ↗ >> Well and just to be clear it wouldn't be

1:56:17 ↗ illegal for him too either. I mean he

1:56:20 ↗ can has authority to regulate parks to

1:56:23 ↗ some extent. The problem is it would

1:56:25 ↗ just create enforcement issues for

1:56:27 ↗ tickets and things like that. So you can

1:56:29 ↗ we could put up signs that say don't

1:56:30 ↗ ride your bike here. But if there's a,

1:56:33 ↗ you know, he something that says you

1:56:36 ↗ won't ride a if we have a law that says

1:56:37 ↗ you won't ride a bike in areas marked to

1:56:40 ↗ not ride bikes. If there wasn't some

1:56:43 ↗ sort of process to establish that, then

1:56:45 ↗ it becomes a

1:56:47 ↗ evidentiary issue for trying to pursue

1:56:50 ↗ those tickets. you could still do it, I

1:56:52 ↗ guess, as um you know, a deterrent, but

1:56:55 ↗ you know, and I will say that that

1:56:57 ↗ delegating that authority to the parks

1:56:59 ↗ director is certainly a best practice

1:57:03 ↗ throughout communities, but it is

1:57:05 ↗ something that could be easily addressed

1:57:07 ↗ in the parks code that we are working on

1:57:09 ↗ >> which we commit to doing uh because uh

1:57:12 ↗ we are learning from other communities

1:57:14 ↗ that people are latigious in these

1:57:16 ↗ matters and people have feel they have

1:57:17 ↗ god-given rights to operate motorized,

1:57:20 ↗ non-motorized partially motorized

1:57:22 ↗ vehicles and how dare a city uh do this.

1:57:26 ↗ Um, as you know, I took a few days off.

1:57:28 ↗ I caught up on some reading. There's an

1:57:30 ↗ article in the Economist magazine about

1:57:32 ↗ this and the article said that people

1:57:35 ↗ were engaging in communities when they

1:57:37 ↗ were land owners and now people are

1:57:39 ↗ engaging in their communities because of

1:57:41 ↗ ebikes. that people are more

1:57:44 ↗ attuned to their rights today with this

1:57:47 ↗ sort of thing than they were about quiet

1:57:50 ↗ enjoyment of property. Um, and so this

1:57:52 ↗ is all changing. Appreciate everybody's

1:57:54 ↗ work on this. I I think at this point

1:57:56 ↗ though, Madame Mayor, members of the

1:57:57 ↗ council, uh, if you'd like to have the

1:58:00 ↗ amendment be voted on, if it's removed,

1:58:02 ↗ we will move forward and do our best to

1:58:05 ↗ regulate this moving forward.

1:58:08 ↗ >> Any other comments or questions?

1:58:11 ↗ Okay. So I will reread the amendment

1:58:13 ↗ that has been moved and seconded. Amend

1:58:14 ↗ the ordinance to delete section

1:58:16 ↗ 10.48.030

1:58:18 ↗ and subsection 10.48.048A

1:58:20 ↗ regarding class 1 and two electric

1:58:22 ↗ assisted bicycles. All those in favor

1:58:24 ↗ say I.

1:58:25 ↗ >> I.

1:58:27 ↗ >> All those opposed. That passes 6 and0.

1:58:30 ↗ And back to the main motion. Is there

1:58:32 ↗ any additional council discussion?

1:58:35 ↗ >> Okay. Seeing none, it's been moved and

1:58:38 ↗ seconded to adopt ordinance number 3129.

1:58:41 ↗ adopting chapter 10.48 of the Isiqua

1:58:44 ↗ Municipal Code to regulate the use of

1:58:46 ↗ electric assisted bicycles and electric

1:58:48 ↗ motorcycles and to adopt ordinance

1:58:51 ↗ number 3130 amending chapter 10.34 of

1:58:55 ↗ the Isiqua Municipal Code abandoned

1:58:58 ↗ unauthorized and junk motor vehicles to

1:59:00 ↗ modernize the chapter authorizing

1:59:02 ↗ inbound without notice for vehicles

1:59:04 ↗ operated illegally and authorizing

1:59:06 ↗ in-person notice of impound and notice

1:59:08 ↗ by first class mail. All those in favor

1:59:10 ↗ signify by saying I.

1:59:12 ↗ >> I.

1:59:13 ↗ >> Those opposed. That carries unanimously.

1:59:16 ↗ Six and no. The next item of business on

1:59:19 ↗ regular business. Thank you all tonight.

1:59:21 ↗ Thank you for that Jillian

1:59:24 ↗ and Chief and Jeff. Uh I'd like to move

1:59:27 ↗ on to AB9089

1:59:30 ↗ city council vacancy process council

1:59:32 ↗ position number two. The ask before

1:59:35 ↗ council tonight is to approve. Uh, and

1:59:38 ↗ I'm going to have city clerk Tisha Gizer

1:59:40 ↗ to present this item. Welcome, Tisha.

1:59:46 ↗ Thank you.

1:59:57 ↗ Give me just a moment here.

2:00:01 ↗ Okay.

2:00:04 ↗ Feels like a big one to follow. Um, so

2:00:06 ↗ Tisha Gizer, city clerk, I'm here to

2:00:08 ↗ talk to you about the city council

2:00:10 ↗ vacancy process for council position

2:00:12 ↗ number two.

2:00:15 ↗ Council position number two is looking

2:00:17 ↗ very for Lauren right now.

2:00:20 ↗ Um, so uh tonight I have a couple things

2:00:23 ↗ to to run by you and get your feedback

2:00:24 ↗ on. And we do have a proposed motion as

2:00:27 ↗ well. So like to get your feedback on a

2:00:29 ↗ proposed timeline. Uh like your quick

2:00:32 ↗ review of the application questions.

2:00:35 ↗ Would like to know if you have any

2:00:36 ↗ specific outreach you'd like us to do.

2:00:38 ↗ And then uh we'll be talking briefly

2:00:40 ↗ with you and would like to hear any

2:00:41 ↗ input you have on the verbal

2:00:43 ↗ presentations and the question and

2:00:45 ↗ answer session that are a standard part

2:00:48 ↗ of our vacancy process. So just as a

2:00:51 ↗ reminder, you have 90 days to fill the

2:00:53 ↗ vacancy. Um those 90 days would start

2:00:56 ↗ January 1st as uh council member Hall

2:00:59 ↗ gave notice of his vacancy effective

2:01:01 ↗ December 31st.

2:01:03 ↗ Uh there is a process in the city

2:01:06 ↗ council rules of procedure that covers

2:01:08 ↗ many aspects of filling a vacancy and

2:01:11 ↗ the council did recently amend uh

2:01:13 ↗ aspects of that process in May of this

2:01:16 ↗ year after receiving some feedback and

2:01:18 ↗ and going through the experience with

2:01:20 ↗ council position number six in January

2:01:23 ↗ and February of last year. Uh so again,

2:01:28 ↗ we heard from council member Hall at the

2:01:30 ↗ I believe the November 10th council

2:01:31 ↗ meeting of his plans to resign his seat

2:01:33 ↗ due to his being appointed to serve in

2:01:36 ↗ the state legislature. Uh the person who

2:01:39 ↗ was appointed to fill his position

2:01:41 ↗ could serve immediately um and they

2:01:44 ↗ would stay in office until the

2:01:46 ↗ certification of the 2027 general

2:01:49 ↗ election.

2:01:52 ↗ So, uh, I put together a proposed

2:01:54 ↗ timeline which is on your screen here

2:01:56 ↗ for filling the vacancy. A couple of

2:01:59 ↗ things to note about this timeline. It's

2:02:01 ↗ more, uh, aggressive than usual. Uh,

2:02:05 ↗ this is because with uh, new terms

2:02:08 ↗ starting for council members, our mayor,

2:02:10 ↗ we have an important meeting scheduled

2:02:11 ↗ for the council on January 31st, which

2:02:14 ↗ is the first city council retreat. Also,

2:02:17 ↗ typically the council president makes

2:02:18 ↗ their appointments in January and the

2:02:21 ↗ sort of newly formed standing committees

2:02:24 ↗ sort of start functioning in February

2:02:25 ↗ with their new membership. So, getting

2:02:27 ↗ someone on board in January seems that

2:02:29 ↗ it would offer some value um to that new

2:02:33 ↗ new person to be able to relatively

2:02:35 ↗ seamlessly join the council. So, because

2:02:37 ↗ of that, this is a faster timeline of

2:02:40 ↗ note. The application period has

2:02:42 ↗ typically been closer to 7 weeks and in

2:02:44 ↗ this uh timeline would be four. Another

2:02:47 ↗ note here is that uh one of the

2:02:50 ↗ questions I have for you tonight is if

2:02:51 ↗ you want a special event scheduled as

2:02:53 ↗ part of this process. Usually that's

2:02:54 ↗ been a meet and greet or an elected

2:02:57 ↗ information elected officials

2:02:59 ↗ information session which is something

2:03:00 ↗ that mayor Paulie provided leadership on

2:03:02 ↗ last year and many council members

2:03:04 ↗ attended and there was excellent turnout

2:03:07 ↗ and that event was offered uh similar to

2:03:09 ↗ as is proposed sort of midway through

2:03:11 ↗ the vacancy process maybe a little on

2:03:14 ↗ the earlier side. Uh council leadership

2:03:16 ↗ did uh share with staff that they would

2:03:18 ↗ like to see a similar event this year.

2:03:20 ↗ So I have slotted it in uh for next

2:03:23 ↗ Saturday at Gibson Hall.

2:03:26 ↗ Uh one other thing of note before

2:03:28 ↗ getting your feedback. I would like to

2:03:29 ↗ stop and get your feedback on the four

2:03:32 ↗ elements of the process that uh I need

2:03:35 ↗ direction on tonight. So we'll be

2:03:37 ↗ pausing here in a minute to hear from

2:03:38 ↗ you. Um but another note here that these

2:03:41 ↗ um this schedule uses the your regular

2:03:44 ↗ meetings in January that we'll be

2:03:46 ↗ sharing with you at the January 5th

2:03:48 ↗ council meeting when we share the uh

2:03:50 ↗ 2026 calendar. The one exception is that

2:03:53 ↗ January 26 meeting which I uh thought

2:03:56 ↗ might be a useful um kind of release

2:03:59 ↗ valve if you needed some more time to

2:04:01 ↗ work through this. So with that uh I'd

2:04:04 ↗ appreciate hearing any feedback you have

2:04:05 ↗ on the proposed timeline. Any

2:04:09 ↗ comments, Deputy Council President?

2:04:12 ↗ >> Yeah, just a note. I think a lot of this

2:04:14 ↗ depends on how many applications we

2:04:16 ↗ receive and um so if we had a smaller

2:04:21 ↗ number, it might be possible for us to

2:04:23 ↗ actually make a decision on January

2:04:26 ↗ 12th. Um uh again, uh depends on the

2:04:31 ↗ conversation, depends on who applies.

2:04:33 ↗ So, it's difficult to project the

2:04:35 ↗ timeline at this point, but I I would

2:04:38 ↗ just like to bring that up that uh that

2:04:41 ↗ we could possibly complete our work that

2:04:45 ↗ particular evening. So,

2:04:48 ↗ >> um Council Member Mertz,

2:04:50 ↗ >> could we complete our work at the

2:04:51 ↗ committee of the whole? Could we make a

2:04:53 ↗ decision at the committee of the whole?

2:04:56 ↗ >> I don't think there's anything that

2:04:57 ↗ precludes you from doing that. I'm

2:04:59 ↗ trying to remember the specific wording

2:05:01 ↗ that identifies the question having a

2:05:03 ↗ question and answer session. There is

2:05:05 ↗ wording in the rules about that.

2:05:07 ↗ However, you also can all suspend your

2:05:09 ↗ rules. So, I think that um we would

2:05:13 ↗ maybe want to notice the meeting in such

2:05:16 ↗ a way we t as you know you typically

2:05:18 ↗ don't take action at your committee of

2:05:20 ↗ the whole meeting. So I guess that's the

2:05:21 ↗ other thing

2:05:22 ↗ >> that's where I was in my mind

2:05:24 ↗ >> and I think part of it is special

2:05:26 ↗ meeting they're not only answering quest

2:05:29 ↗ you know presenting to you the public

2:05:30 ↗ gets to see them and it gives you time

2:05:32 ↗ to hear back from the public about who

2:05:34 ↗ they saw and who they might want to

2:05:36 ↗ write a letter for recommendation or

2:05:38 ↗ poke you by email council president

2:05:41 ↗ >> I wasn't I wasn't

2:05:42 ↗ >> sorry councils

2:05:43 ↗ >> um so how would this process work if

2:05:46 ↗ because I I I share um deputy council

2:05:49 ↗ president's concerns concerns about

2:05:50 ↗ this. This is going to depend on how

2:05:52 ↗ many people we see. How would this work

2:05:54 ↗ if we needed two rounds of uh uh

2:05:58 ↗ decision-m? What would the what would

2:05:59 ↗ the how would this timeline work? Thank

2:06:01 ↗ you.

2:06:03 ↗ >> And council member Martz, um do you mean

2:06:06 ↗ sort of at that final stage or do you

2:06:08 ↗ mean as you're potentially narrowing? uh

2:06:11 ↗ two stages of narrowing down. The the

2:06:13 ↗ way if we had a large enough applicant

2:06:15 ↗ pool, we might decide that we wanted to

2:06:17 ↗ go from the full applicant pool to a

2:06:20 ↗ subset of applicant pool. And how would

2:06:23 ↗ these dates in front of us work in that

2:06:25 ↗ situation?

2:06:26 ↗ >> Yeah, I think uh I think they they could

2:06:29 ↗ work. I think this is pretty closely

2:06:31 ↗ aligned with what occurred for the

2:06:34 ↗ position six appointment. So you could

2:06:37 ↗ narrow after the January 12th

2:06:39 ↗ presentations. you could narrow after

2:06:41 ↗ the January 20th Q&A and then you could

2:06:44 ↗ bring them back on the 26th. We could

2:06:46 ↗ also add a meeting. You know, the goal

2:06:48 ↗ tonight is to get sort of a framework

2:06:50 ↗ for this process, but it it wouldn't

2:06:52 ↗ preclude you from adding a meeting if

2:06:55 ↗ you get one into step one or two and

2:06:57 ↗ feel you need more capacity.

2:07:02 ↗ >> Thank you,

2:07:03 ↗ >> Council President.

2:07:05 ↗ Thank you. Um, so just on a personal

2:07:07 ↗ note, I will be gone on the 26th. So I'm

2:07:10 ↗ hoping that we uh don't have to do that

2:07:12 ↗ and I don't have to call in from

2:07:14 ↗ vacation in nice warm spot. Um, but I

2:07:17 ↗ will if we need to. Uh, uh, looking at

2:07:21 ↗ January 12th, considering that is a

2:07:24 ↗ committee of the whole, just note that

2:07:26 ↗ the mayor wouldn't be involved in that.

2:07:29 ↗ And so if there was a need for breaking

2:07:31 ↗ a tie, that wouldn't be

2:07:35 ↗ Yeah. never we never have to uh break a

2:07:37 ↗ tie or end up with many many three three

2:07:40 ↗ votes. Um so that would be something to

2:07:44 ↗ note. So if there's a way to potentially

2:07:47 ↗ utilize that meeting as um all members

2:07:50 ↗ rather than committee of the whole so

2:07:52 ↗ that we could potentially have that um

2:07:55 ↗ in place. I think that would be good.

2:07:58 ↗ Um, the other thing I will note is as I

2:08:01 ↗ was going through all of this, um, and

2:08:03 ↗ looking at all of the other cities that

2:08:05 ↗ have had, um, openings and vacancies,

2:08:09 ↗ um, I will note that Redmond does use a

2:08:12 ↗ different, um, tactic that I wanted

2:08:15 ↗ everybody to kind of consider, which is

2:08:18 ↗ they actually bring in applications,

2:08:21 ↗ um, have all of those given out to

2:08:23 ↗ council members, and council members

2:08:25 ↗ don't rank them, but rather give them a

2:08:27 ↗ score of 1, two, or three. Um, meaning

2:08:30 ↗ they would be a great candidate, an okay

2:08:32 ↗ candidate, or not somebody that they

2:08:34 ↗ would consider. That goes to HR. HR then

2:08:37 ↗ blindly without names utilizes that and

2:08:41 ↗ um narrows the list down at that point

2:08:44 ↗ um in a certain way. In their case,

2:08:46 ↗ narrows it down to a maximum of 15 so

2:08:48 ↗ that they're doing interviews. So, I

2:08:50 ↗ just wanted to point out that there are

2:08:52 ↗ other ways that if we feel like we had

2:08:55 ↗ too many members um wanting to apply and

2:09:00 ↗ do applications that there are other

2:09:02 ↗ opportunities for some initial narrowing

2:09:05 ↗ if that was our desire.

2:09:07 ↗ >> I have a question for Rachel. Is it do

2:09:10 ↗ we have anything in our rules about

2:09:12 ↗ participating in executive session

2:09:13 ↗ remotely? I was at another organization

2:09:15 ↗ that doesn't allow it, but do we allow

2:09:17 ↗ it? Okay, great. and and we did it for

2:09:20 ↗ this council member who was otherwise

2:09:22 ↗ disposed.

2:09:23 ↗ >> Indisposed.

2:09:26 ↗ >> Great. Uh, council member Joe question.

2:09:30 ↗ >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um,

2:09:33 ↗ I wanted to talk about the application

2:09:36 ↗ questions on page 11 of 15 in the

2:09:38 ↗ presentation about three slides later.

2:09:40 ↗ >> Um, uh, is there anything else on just

2:09:43 ↗ the schedule? We're going to go through

2:09:45 ↗ the rest of the presentation still.

2:09:46 ↗ We're going to kind of take you through

2:09:48 ↗ one question at a time.

2:09:50 ↗ >> Okay. So, let's talk about the slide

2:09:52 ↗ that's right there. in terms of elected

2:09:53 ↗ official information session. Um

2:09:57 ↗ last time we had this we didn't talk

2:09:59 ↗ about um the assistance that you could

2:10:02 ↗ get for income if you um you know this

2:10:08 ↗ job has certain

2:10:11 ↗ privileges that you can

2:10:15 ↗ if you have certain privileges you're

2:10:16 ↗ able to do it. If you're not working a

2:10:19 ↗ 9-to-f5

2:10:21 ↗ 40-hour work week as a server in a

2:10:24 ↗ restaurant or

2:10:26 ↗ um at a gas station, um you you don't

2:10:30 ↗ have the ability to necessarily do this

2:10:31 ↗ job. So, just wondering if at the

2:10:33 ↗ official information session we could

2:10:36 ↗ talk a little bit more specifically

2:10:37 ↗ about the financial assistance that's

2:10:39 ↗ available for you for doing this that's

2:10:42 ↗ in the code.

2:10:46 ↗ >> Thank you. certainly

2:10:47 ↗ >> during that presentation. That sounds

2:10:49 ↗ great.

2:10:51 ↗ Um any um council member Nichols

2:10:55 ↗ >> uh question on um the comment about um

2:10:59 ↗ other cities processes that council

2:11:01 ↗ president brought up. How would that

2:11:03 ↗ work in practice? Is there time to

2:11:06 ↗ propose other

2:11:09 ↗ processes other process that would allow

2:11:11 ↗ something like that to happen?

2:11:12 ↗ >> Well, it's something we could look into.

2:11:13 ↗ One thing we haven't done before is use

2:11:15 ↗ staff resources. So, it's hard for me

2:11:17 ↗ without having staff here to ask them if

2:11:19 ↗ this is something that just fits in

2:11:21 ↗ because cities like Redmond, Bel, and

2:11:22 ↗ Kirkland have many more staff people

2:11:24 ↗ than we do. So, if we're doing

2:11:26 ↗ collective bargaining or a lot of stuff,

2:11:29 ↗ you know, that is already on the

2:11:30 ↗ calendar, it could be hard for them to

2:11:32 ↗ carve out whatever it is needed to do

2:11:34 ↗ it. So,

2:11:36 ↗ >> okay.

2:11:42 ↗ Um the deputy council president.

2:11:44 ↗ >> Yeah. Just a a small thing. Can we call

2:11:47 ↗ that uh uh council applicant information

2:11:51 ↗ session?

2:11:52 ↗ >> Uh yeah, I think that describes it a

2:11:54 ↗ little bit better. Dave,

2:11:58 ↗ >> any other questions on this proposed

2:12:00 ↗ timeline slide?

2:12:03 ↗ I think Tisha, you're good to move on to

2:12:06 ↗ your next portion.

2:12:08 ↗ >> Okay, great. And I made note of your

2:12:10 ↗ feedback. The one so significant change

2:12:13 ↗ I see here is um calling that January

2:12:15 ↗ 12th meeting a special city council

2:12:17 ↗ meeting which because you often have an

2:12:19 ↗ executive session we would really want

2:12:21 ↗ to do anyway. So that was a great great

2:12:23 ↗ change. Okay. So the next piece of

2:12:25 ↗ feedback I'm hoping to get from you is

2:12:27 ↗ regarding the application questions. We

2:12:30 ↗ have a form on the website with these

2:12:32 ↗ questions. The city council provided a

2:12:34 ↗ lot of feedback in December of exactly a

2:12:38 ↗ year from now almost to the day of 2024.

2:12:41 ↗ We initially had 10 questions that had

2:12:43 ↗ been used for the previous vacancy from

2:12:45 ↗ 2019 and you distilled them down to six.

2:12:49 ↗ You private provided a lot of feedback

2:12:50 ↗ to the meeting. Council leadership um

2:12:52 ↗ also reviewed the questions. So I have

2:12:55 ↗ them in front of you tonight and would

2:12:57 ↗ like to know if you have any proposed

2:13:00 ↗ changes to the questions. I'll move you

2:13:02 ↗ to the next slide here in a minute to

2:13:03 ↗ review the last two. And then also if

2:13:05 ↗ you have any particular outreach uh

2:13:08 ↗ specific outreach you'd like us to do

2:13:10 ↗ once the form is posted online. Me move

2:13:14 ↗ you to the next slide

2:13:16 ↗ >> and we'll go to council member Joe. Is

2:13:18 ↗ this the question slide that you wanted

2:13:20 ↗ to make a comment on?

2:13:22 ↗ >> Thank you madam mayor. Yes. Um number

2:13:25 ↗ six. Um, I wanted to confer with my

2:13:30 ↗ co co-atriots in crime to see if that

2:13:33 ↗ adequately described our commitment. Um,

2:13:38 ↗ 4 to six evening meetings per month,

2:13:41 ↗ regional meetings

2:13:43 ↗ and occasional weekend retreats and

2:13:45 ↗ community engagement opportunities. Um,

2:13:48 ↗ looking at my calendar for the last six

2:13:51 ↗ months, um, I I think that the four to

2:13:55 ↗ six is accurate.

2:13:56 ↗ Um there probably

2:14:02 ↗ maybe two or three regional meetings and

2:14:05 ↗ um community engagement opportunities. I

2:14:07 ↗ don't know if we want to be more

2:14:08 ↗ specific about those. It's kind of pick

2:14:12 ↗ your own path for council engagement, if

2:14:15 ↗ you will. Some of us um like to go to as

2:14:18 ↗ many as we can and try to be everywhere

2:14:22 ↗ if we can and others it's not possible

2:14:24 ↗ because of work or because of uh other

2:14:27 ↗ commitments to to kind of circle back to

2:14:31 ↗ my other comment. Um perhaps the

2:14:33 ↗ community engagement opportunities could

2:14:35 ↗ be stressed as a little bit optional.

2:14:38 ↗ And then in that question and then um

2:14:42 ↗ also uh perhaps talk about um the equity

2:14:47 ↗ issue again that I touched on in my

2:14:51 ↗ earlier comment somehow in that and that

2:14:53 ↗ you do get some assistance if your AMI

2:14:56 ↗ is is low. So, so that we open the

2:14:58 ↗ opportunity for as many people as

2:15:01 ↗ possible so that we can hear all the

2:15:02 ↗ voices in our community would be a

2:15:04 ↗ couple of suggestions um for this.

2:15:06 ↗ Thanks.

2:15:07 ↗ >> Thank you. Um other council member

2:15:10 ↗ comments or questions on these six

2:15:12 ↗ application questions,

2:15:15 ↗ council president,

2:15:18 ↗ thank you. Can you go back to the first

2:15:21 ↗ um the first set of questions there?

2:15:25 ↗ There's one.

2:15:27 ↗ Thank you. Um I think reflecting back on

2:15:31 ↗ our previous applications, um I'm not

2:15:35 ↗ sure that I got much out of questions

2:15:39 ↗ three and four. Um at least as far as

2:15:42 ↗ differentiating people. I think there is

2:15:44 ↗ certainly ways that we can have those

2:15:48 ↗ conversations with people in maybe

2:15:50 ↗ individual interviews or something like

2:15:53 ↗ that. Um, so I would potentially be

2:15:57 ↗ interested in looking at other ways that

2:15:59 ↗ we could find something that would

2:16:00 ↗ differentiate people. Again, looked over

2:16:02 ↗ Redmond's um, stuff. Um, one thing,

2:16:06 ↗ there's a few questions they asked that

2:16:08 ↗ I thought might be useful for us. One

2:16:10 ↗ said, "What unique skills and

2:16:12 ↗ perspective do you bring to the council

2:16:14 ↗ member position? Um, please tell us

2:16:17 ↗ about a your community service

2:16:19 ↗ experience." And so that's something

2:16:21 ↗ that allows somebody to reflect on

2:16:25 ↗ different ways of community service, not

2:16:27 ↗ just boards and commissions. Um, and so

2:16:29 ↗ I thought that would be a good um way to

2:16:31 ↗ indicate any other volunteer um

2:16:33 ↗ experience. Um, there was one on what do

2:16:38 ↗ you believe is the role of local

2:16:39 ↗ government and if selected as a council

2:16:41 ↗ member, how will you ensure you are

2:16:43 ↗ prepared for the role and

2:16:44 ↗ responsibilities? So that talks about

2:16:46 ↗ how they view their ability to prepare.

2:16:50 ↗ Um and then if appointed, what do you

2:16:52 ↗ anticipate will be the most challenging

2:16:54 ↗ aspect of serving in this capacity for

2:16:56 ↗ you personally? So some of those things

2:16:59 ↗ I think speak more to their personal

2:17:03 ↗ experience um on an application than

2:17:06 ↗ necessarily these questions which in

2:17:09 ↗ some ways to me speak to what do you

2:17:12 ↗ think we want to hear? Um, so I would

2:17:15 ↗ just ask that we reflect um on that and

2:17:19 ↗ then

2:17:21 ↗ referencing kind of what uh council

2:17:23 ↗ member Joe said about kind of making

2:17:25 ↗ sure that we are able to convey

2:17:29 ↗ all that is required of this um but also

2:17:32 ↗ all of the benefits. Again, sorry

2:17:34 ↗ Redmond's doing this very well. And at

2:17:36 ↗ the same time, um Redmond has a job

2:17:39 ↗ application provided and it lists out,

2:17:46 ↗ let's see where it is. Um it lists out

2:17:48 ↗ the roles and responsibilities including

2:17:50 ↗ attending regular meetings, serving on

2:17:53 ↗ regional committees. And so it has a

2:17:54 ↗ whole list of those. Um, but then it

2:17:57 ↗ also provides benefits and you know they

2:17:59 ↗ provide things like medical insurance

2:18:00 ↗ that we don't. But we could um list

2:18:04 ↗ other things such as um the

2:18:08 ↗ uh different benefits that we have for

2:18:10 ↗ different income levels. So I would like

2:18:13 ↗ to see that as part of our outreach to

2:18:16 ↗ be a little bit more

2:18:19 ↗ ausive about what the application is,

2:18:22 ↗ what the benefits and what the

2:18:23 ↗ requirements are.

2:18:26 ↗ Uh, council member Hall or Deputy

2:18:27 ↗ Council President and Council Member

2:18:29 ↗ Hall.

2:18:32 ↗ >> Uh, and I I agree with Council

2:18:34 ↗ President. Uh, I think both question

2:18:36 ↗ number three and question number four.

2:18:38 ↗ Um, they're almost too theoretical. Um,

2:18:42 ↗ I had taken the uh privilege of

2:18:45 ↗ rewriting uh number four. Let me see if

2:18:48 ↗ I could find it here. Uh

2:18:52 ↗ uh have you ever had to had to find a

2:18:55 ↗ compromise between competing visions or

2:18:58 ↗ opinions in your family, at work, or

2:19:00 ↗ within an organization, and how did you

2:19:02 ↗ find a solution? In other words, tell us

2:19:05 ↗ very specifically what experiences

2:19:08 ↗ you've had. I think the uh council

2:19:10 ↗ president was exactly right. We got a

2:19:13 ↗ lot of uh responses that uh were what

2:19:16 ↗ they thought we would want to hear. And

2:19:19 ↗ same thing for question number three. I

2:19:22 ↗ like some of the questions that Redmond

2:19:24 ↗ has and so maybe we can take out

2:19:26 ↗ question three and four and get more

2:19:28 ↗ specific and I can send you the wording

2:19:31 ↗ uh for that question if you want to play

2:19:33 ↗ with that. So the other thing is on the

2:19:36 ↗ outreach uh you had I believe uh

2:19:40 ↗ outreach to our social service providers

2:19:42 ↗ which absolutely I think we should do

2:19:44 ↗ but I'd like to broaden that to our

2:19:46 ↗ nonprofits.

2:19:47 ↗ uh the chamber for example, some of our

2:19:50 ↗ other civic organizations I think would

2:19:52 ↗ be great places to find people who would

2:19:54 ↗ be interested in running for city

2:19:56 ↗ council. So that would be my suggestion

2:19:58 ↗ on outreach.

2:20:01 ↗ >> Thank you,

2:20:01 ↗ >> Council Member Hall.

2:20:04 ↗ >> Uh thanks. You know, I was also thinking

2:20:06 ↗ about question three and four and not

2:20:09 ↗ necessarily that we were um

2:20:12 ↗ getting told necessarily what we wanted

2:20:13 ↗ to hear, but that and I think council

2:20:15 ↗ president, you would kind of mention

2:20:16 ↗ this too, like it was kind of hard to

2:20:18 ↗ distinguish the answers like they're

2:20:19 ↗ very much the same question and

2:20:21 ↗ sometimes the answers that we got were

2:20:24 ↗ too similar. So, I would like to see us

2:20:26 ↗ eliminate one of those questions or

2:20:28 ↗ combine it into one. in which case I

2:20:30 ↗ would be comfortable adding an

2:20:32 ↗ additional question but like no more

2:20:33 ↗ than than one. I think six is already a

2:20:36 ↗ lot and now we give them more space to

2:20:37 ↗ write to which is helpful and some of

2:20:40 ↗ the things um uh other questions from

2:20:44 ↗ jurisdictions that you were mentioning

2:20:45 ↗ too like I might even expect them to try

2:20:48 ↗ to address in that first question. So

2:20:49 ↗ maybe there's a tweak in that first

2:20:51 ↗ question or something too just to the

2:20:53 ↗ second part of that. Um the last two

2:20:55 ↗ questions, question five, um if I

2:20:58 ↗ remember right, did we just share the

2:21:00 ↗ link to the SCA appointments and like

2:21:02 ↗ what are your kind of interests

2:21:04 ↗ regionally? Is that is that right?

2:21:07 ↗ >> And the strategic plan

2:21:10 ↗ and I'm trying to remember if there was

2:21:11 ↗ there were two links that were included

2:21:14 ↗ in total, but the strategic plan link

2:21:16 ↗ would have been associated with an

2:21:17 ↗ earlier question.

2:21:18 ↗ >> Um I was just wondering if we could have

2:21:20 ↗ a kind of a comprehensive list of

2:21:22 ↗ potential appointments. There are quite

2:21:23 ↗ a few that the city makes that aren't

2:21:25 ↗ associated with SCA too and if they're

2:21:27 ↗ interested in those issue areas I'd be

2:21:30 ↗ interested in that so like Cascade comes

2:21:32 ↗ to mind epher comes to mind is Rya 8 a

2:21:37 ↗ sea thing

2:21:38 ↗ >> so that's that's direct city so it's the

2:21:40 ↗ coin work group the chamber

2:21:42 ↗ >> eltac yeah things like that

2:21:45 ↗ >> um and then question six

2:21:48 ↗ um I thought uh council member Joe I

2:21:52 ↗ thought your question around um the

2:21:54 ↗ specifics in question six was

2:21:56 ↗ interesting and and I remember during

2:21:58 ↗ the salary commission meetings they did

2:22:00 ↗ a survey of the council members, right,

2:22:02 ↗ of like average hours that we spend per

2:22:03 ↗ week. I just wonder if maybe we can pull

2:22:05 ↗ some of that data. I imagine it would be

2:22:07 ↗ in the final report, right?

2:22:09 ↗ >> So maybe that would maybe that would

2:22:11 ↗ help.

2:22:12 ↗ And those are my thoughts on the

2:22:13 ↗ questions. Otherwise, I think I think

2:22:15 ↗ they're fine.

2:22:16 ↗ >> Any

2:22:16 ↗ >> but they're all for you, of course, not

2:22:17 ↗ for

2:22:18 ↗ >> any other comments.

2:22:21 ↗ Y um did you get everything you need on

2:22:24 ↗ that one, city clerk?

2:22:26 ↗ >> Yes, I heard your input. I would like

2:22:29 ↗ someone to review the final set of six

2:22:32 ↗ questions. So last year the council had

2:22:33 ↗ this conversation and then I shared what

2:22:36 ↗ I came up with with council leadership

2:22:38 ↗ who blessed

2:22:39 ↗ >> I think that was a good plan. Share it

2:22:41 ↗ with council leadership. Okay.

2:22:42 ↗ >> Okay. Great.

2:22:45 ↗ >> All right. And just a note here uh that

2:22:48 ↗ we do also ask them to upload a cover

2:22:51 ↗ letter that it is optional and letters

2:22:53 ↗ of interest. So you sometimes will see

2:22:55 ↗ those as part of the application.

2:22:59 ↗ Uh one other note here that I will plan

2:23:02 ↗ to send the council um

2:23:05 ↗ keep you a breast of how many

2:23:06 ↗ applications have come in at the halfway

2:23:08 ↗ mark and then towards the end which

2:23:11 ↗ brings us to the next step which is the

2:23:12 ↗ verbal presentations. So, the council

2:23:15 ↗ did, you changed your rules because you

2:23:17 ↗ had 12 applicants um at this last

2:23:19 ↗ vacancy, which was great, but it made uh

2:23:21 ↗ 10 minutes a person a challenge. So, the

2:23:24 ↗ rules now say that um basically I'll

2:23:26 ↗ inform council leadership of the number

2:23:28 ↗ of applicants, and they'll they'll let

2:23:29 ↗ me know the number of minutes they think

2:23:32 ↗ is reasonable for the verbal

2:23:33 ↗ presentations, and I will share that

2:23:35 ↗ with all of the applicants 3 to 5 days

2:23:38 ↗ prior to the verbal presentations. on

2:23:41 ↗ the 12th. I then do a random drawing of

2:23:44 ↗ their names and include that order in

2:23:46 ↗ the agenda materials for the meeting on

2:23:49 ↗ the 12th. Uh something that you you

2:23:52 ↗ talked about a bit uh at times during

2:23:54 ↗ this process was whether or not to give

2:23:56 ↗ the applicants any guidance on what to

2:23:59 ↗ include or how how to consider their

2:24:02 ↗ verbal presentation. So that's really my

2:24:04 ↗ question here. Is there any guidance? We

2:24:06 ↗ have not allowed visuals. So, that's one

2:24:09 ↗ question we've gotten occasionally. Uh,

2:24:12 ↗ but again, my only question to you is,

2:24:14 ↗ is there any other guidance you'd like

2:24:16 ↗ them provided?

2:24:20 ↗ >> Council President,

2:24:23 ↗ >> um, I'm not sure that's really

2:24:25 ↗ necessary. Oftent times, as long as we

2:24:28 ↗ are encouraging applicants to contact

2:24:30 ↗ council members and reach out, they're

2:24:33 ↗ going to get um, that type of

2:24:35 ↗ information. Um, at that point, the only

2:24:38 ↗ thing I will note is from the last time

2:24:42 ↗ that we do want their presentation to be

2:24:44 ↗ right there. Yes, I know you remember

2:24:46 ↗ that, but I wanted to make sure

2:24:48 ↗ everybody knew we had heard that uh

2:24:50 ↗ feedback from last time.

2:24:53 ↗ >> Uh, council member Martz,

2:24:56 ↗ >> I want to suggest maybe something maybe

2:24:59 ↗ it's a bad idea. I don't know. um this

2:25:01 ↗ variable length of presentations. Can we

2:25:04 ↗ just say five minutes? Um five minutes

2:25:07 ↗ is such a wonderful quanta because we

2:25:10 ↗ sit here all the time and hear

2:25:12 ↗ five-minute presentations, right? And we

2:25:14 ↗ heard them tonight and we'll hear them

2:25:16 ↗ at every single council meeting we'll

2:25:18 ↗ ever have. And so I feel like if

2:25:20 ↗ somebody comes in and knocks our socks

2:25:23 ↗ off with a 5-minute presentation, and

2:25:25 ↗ I've been thinking about this because

2:25:27 ↗ I'm actually going to be the officient

2:25:28 ↗ at my daughter's wedding in May, and I

2:25:30 ↗ had to fight for five minutes because I

2:25:32 ↗ felt that three minutes you do not have

2:25:34 ↗ enough time to get an important point

2:25:36 ↗ across, but five minutes you do. So

2:25:38 ↗ rather than doing a whole thing, um I

2:25:42 ↗ might suggest that we just think about

2:25:43 ↗ five.

2:25:45 ↗ Any additional comments or questions on

2:25:48 ↗ this slide?

2:25:51 ↗ I am not seeing any.

2:25:55 ↗ Okay, then I will move along. Um, just

2:25:58 ↗ to note that the rules do say that

2:25:59 ↗ council leadership will make that

2:26:00 ↗ determination, but I think you you were

2:26:03 ↗ hurt. You were hurt.

2:26:06 ↗ Um, all right. The question and answer

2:26:08 ↗ session. This this is the element of the

2:26:10 ↗ vacancy process that was a little um

2:26:13 ↗ less firmed up at the last vacancy. Um

2:26:17 ↗ and so wanted to well I think you all

2:26:20 ↗ experienced that and so your rules now

2:26:23 ↗ prompt me to ask you these questions. So

2:26:26 ↗ uh first who should determine the

2:26:29 ↗ questions that are asked? This would be

2:26:31 ↗ at the January 20th meeting. Uh the two

2:26:34 ↗ questions listed here are the two

2:26:36 ↗ questions that were determined

2:26:37 ↗ beforehand. They weren't shared with the

2:26:40 ↗ applicants. And then if you recall after

2:26:42 ↗ these two questions were asked and they

2:26:44 ↗ went in order of how they were seated in

2:26:46 ↗ the room and the poor person who

2:26:48 ↗ answered the question last also answered

2:26:51 ↗ the next question first. So that's one

2:26:53 ↗ of my other questions here for you. Um

2:26:56 ↗ they were not provide I'm sorry I lost

2:26:58 ↗ my train of thought. Uh a few of you

2:27:00 ↗ then offered your own questions. I think

2:27:02 ↗ there were around three after these

2:27:04 ↗ initial two were asked. So, a a couple

2:27:07 ↗ things. Yes. Would you like to delegate

2:27:09 ↗ who determines these questions? Again,

2:27:11 ↗ you could delegate that to council

2:27:12 ↗ leadership. I suppose you could have a

2:27:14 ↗ discussion about it uh at another

2:27:17 ↗ meeting or you can give me input

2:27:19 ↗ tonight. And then uh do you have

2:27:22 ↗ opinions about whether the questions are

2:27:24 ↗ provided in advance or whether the

2:27:26 ↗ questions should be varied among the

2:27:28 ↗ applicants? uh anything you would like

2:27:31 ↗ to see done differently in terms of the

2:27:33 ↗ order they're answered. And then the

2:27:35 ↗ last question is sort of on the format

2:27:38 ↗ of the room, but it is occurring to me

2:27:39 ↗ that your January 20th meeting is a

2:27:41 ↗ regular council meeting. There's not

2:27:43 ↗ much on the agenda yet. There could be

2:27:45 ↗ some proclamations or such. So, it might

2:27:48 ↗ be a little harder to accommodate on the

2:27:50 ↗ floor seating. Um but if the council

2:27:52 ↗ feels strongly about that, we'll we'll

2:27:54 ↗ do what we can to make it happen. So,

2:27:56 ↗ with that, uh welcome your input. Um,

2:27:59 ↗ who was first? Council member Martz and

2:28:02 ↗ then council member Hall.

2:28:03 ↗ >> I feel strongly that somewhere in the

2:28:06 ↗ process we should ask people questions

2:28:09 ↗ that I haven't had time to think about

2:28:10 ↗ ahead of time because one of the

2:28:12 ↗ defining characteristics of what will

2:28:14 ↗ make a successful council member is the

2:28:17 ↗ ability to think on their feet. I mean,

2:28:18 ↗ tonight I came in not knowing anything

2:28:21 ↗ about o well, I shouldn't say not

2:28:22 ↗ knowing anything, not knowing that there

2:28:24 ↗ would be a move to strike 030 and 048,

2:28:27 ↗ right? but had to um parse my thinking

2:28:31 ↗ on it on the fly. And that happens to us

2:28:33 ↗ all the time. And if somebody can't do

2:28:35 ↗ that um they're going to be less

2:28:37 ↗ effective. So I really really want to

2:28:39 ↗ see one way or the other questions that

2:28:41 ↗ people have not had time to go chat GPT

2:28:44 ↗ ahead of time. Thank you,

2:28:46 ↗ >> Council Member Holm.

2:28:50 ↗ >> Um yeah, two things. You know, one of

2:28:52 ↗ the issues with the Q&A

2:28:55 ↗ is it already last year when this

2:28:57 ↗ happened?

2:28:58 ↗ >> Oh, no. This year? It was this year. Oh,

2:29:00 ↗ >> I have no I have no sense of time right

2:29:03 ↗ now. Um, when we would ask a question of

2:29:06 ↗ one person, everyone else would repeat.

2:29:08 ↗ I mean, it was very difficult for like

2:29:10 ↗ the last person in the line to answer

2:29:11 ↗ the question. And so I just wonder if we

2:29:13 ↗ can't shuffle people in and out of the

2:29:15 ↗ room and that would add a substantial

2:29:17 ↗ amount of time to the Q&A session, but

2:29:19 ↗ it might be valuable to hear uh a

2:29:22 ↗ candidate's response without just saying

2:29:24 ↗ I echo that

2:29:25 ↗ >> and maybe I can pull something else out

2:29:29 ↗ of nothing to answer this question which

2:29:31 ↗ might color how we think about their

2:29:32 ↗ response. Right? So um that would be my

2:29:35 ↗ feedback there. The second is I agree

2:29:37 ↗ with council member Martz. I think it's

2:29:38 ↗ a mix though. It's important to be able

2:29:40 ↗ to think on your feet and have questions

2:29:42 ↗ to be able to understand that. But at

2:29:44 ↗ the same time, we also have all weekend

2:29:45 ↗ with our packet. And so what I mean as

2:29:49 ↗ as a when in the last process for me,

2:29:51 ↗ what was most important is like can you

2:29:53 ↗ really articulate and think clearly

2:29:55 ↗ about the issues because we have access

2:29:57 ↗ to all this information, right? And and

2:30:00 ↗ can formulate our our thoughts on it

2:30:02 ↗ over a long period of time. So if you

2:30:04 ↗ don't then it then it tells me that

2:30:06 ↗ maybe you didn't do that kind of due

2:30:07 ↗ diligence as well. So, I think it's a

2:30:09 ↗ mix. Um, and there's value in having

2:30:12 ↗ both. Those are my thoughts.

2:30:14 ↗ >> Great. Any other thoughts on the

2:30:16 ↗ question and answer session?

2:30:19 ↗ >> Uh, deputy council president.

2:30:21 ↗ >> Uh, I'll just add that uh I talked to a

2:30:25 ↗ Belio City Council member who uh uh sent

2:30:29 ↗ me a text about their process and they

2:30:31 ↗ do have a rule where they narrow the

2:30:34 ↗ finalist down to three. uh and uh

2:30:39 ↗ something for us to consider again

2:30:41 ↗ because a smaller number lends itself to

2:30:44 ↗ individual questions.

2:30:46 ↗ >> Um you can tailor them. You've got the

2:30:48 ↗ time to do that where uh you know if we

2:30:50 ↗ have quite a number uh then it makes it

2:30:54 ↗ more difficult and we get into let's

2:30:56 ↗ have a standard question. So, at any

2:30:59 ↗ rate, something for us to consider when

2:31:00 ↗ we're in executive session if we want to

2:31:03 ↗ narrow it narrow it down to uh a maximum

2:31:06 ↗ of three or

2:31:09 ↗ we might decide right there that we want

2:31:11 ↗ to narrow it down to one. So, that's

2:31:14 ↗ always a possibility as well. Just a

2:31:16 ↗ thought, not a suggestion actually.

2:31:19 ↗ Council President.

2:31:21 ↗ >> Um, so I agree with the idea that they

2:31:24 ↗ should not be provided these questions

2:31:26 ↗ in advance because they will have had an

2:31:29 ↗ earlier option to uh respond to their

2:31:33 ↗ application questions which with a lot

2:31:35 ↗ of thought and so this is an alternative

2:31:37 ↗ form of being able to be responsive on

2:31:39 ↗ the fly. Um

2:31:43 ↗ I

2:31:46 ↗ I recognize that like King County's

2:31:49 ↗ process um for many of their um various

2:31:54 ↗ appointments has been to have the other

2:31:57 ↗ members leave the other applicants leave

2:31:59 ↗ the room. And so I can definitely see

2:32:01 ↗ that benefit um as a possibility.

2:32:07 ↗ Um, if not, I think being able to

2:32:11 ↗ change the order of responses is

2:32:13 ↗ important as any of us who participated

2:32:16 ↗ in campaign forums um, understood. Um,

2:32:20 ↗ and then

2:32:25 ↗ I think as far as who determines the

2:32:27 ↗ questions, I think probably council

2:32:29 ↗ leadership at that point. And I would

2:32:33 ↗ even be comfortable at that point in

2:32:36 ↗ allowing council leadership depending on

2:32:38 ↗ the number of applicants to decide

2:32:41 ↗ whether or not the same questions were

2:32:42 ↗ asked of each

2:32:45 ↗ or not. I don't know how everybody else

2:32:47 ↗ feels about that.

2:32:49 ↗ But if we only had three folks and I

2:32:52 ↗ could see maybe doing individual

2:32:54 ↗ questions if we had more on a final

2:32:56 ↗ round

2:32:58 ↗ maybe varying out

2:33:02 ↗ but either way I don't think we should

2:33:04 ↗ be discussing those potential questions

2:33:05 ↗ now because I think we want to keep them

2:33:08 ↗ quiet. I certainly have some ideas in

2:33:10 ↗ here and so I can send that to new

2:33:12 ↗ leadership etc. Council member Mertz,

2:33:17 ↗ >> I just want to play the historian card

2:33:18 ↗ as I always like to do and as as we're

2:33:21 ↗ talking about the potential in front of

2:33:23 ↗ us. Uh Stacy was part of a group of

2:33:26 ↗ nine. Joe Forner was part of a group of

2:33:28 ↗ seven. Nina Milligan was part of a group

2:33:30 ↗ of seven. Mariah got it easy. She had

2:33:33 ↗ five. Victoria had 14. Lindsay had five.

2:33:37 ↗ And of course, Kelly had 12. Just to

2:33:39 ↗ give some context of of you know, we're

2:33:42 ↗ probably not looking at less than five.

2:33:44 ↗ If you say historically,

2:33:48 ↗ >> deputy council president,

2:33:51 ↗ >> uh I just really wanted to say I like

2:33:53 ↗ that idea of having them uh the other

2:33:56 ↗ applicants uh removed and maybe if we do

2:34:00 ↗ it here like go upstairs or uh just so

2:34:03 ↗ that uh it I watched when Zach was

2:34:07 ↗ appointed as the state representative

2:34:09 ↗ and I thought that was a really good

2:34:10 ↗ process and the fact that uh the two

2:34:13 ↗ other applicants were not there, then

2:34:16 ↗ they were able to get the same questions

2:34:17 ↗ and then you could do an applesto apples

2:34:20 ↗ kind of of comparison. So, just putting

2:34:24 ↗ my thumb on the scale for perhaps doing

2:34:26 ↗ it that way.

2:34:28 ↗ >> Mayor, if I might, I do have some

2:34:30 ↗ concerns about our ability to to do that

2:34:33 ↗ here just with our open meetings

2:34:35 ↗ requirements. I mean we might be able to

2:34:36 ↗ request but I would also note something

2:34:39 ↗ else which is that there is no sound

2:34:41 ↗ barrier between even with those glass

2:34:43 ↗ doors shut especially if we have anyone

2:34:45 ↗ participating virtually or have a

2:34:47 ↗ virtual element to our meetings they

2:34:49 ↗ will hear what is said in this room and

2:34:51 ↗ so we have some just practical

2:34:53 ↗ considerations

2:34:55 ↗ do you have anything

2:34:56 ↗ >> is that something maybe you could ask

2:34:57 ↗ the the King County Council because yeah

2:34:59 ↗ they they required us to be sequestered

2:35:01 ↗ in a different room

2:35:03 ↗ >> I they can request I I don't think they

2:35:06 ↗ require you. You can request it and

2:35:08 ↗ someone would be pretty foolish.

2:35:09 ↗ >> Yeah, I was about to say so so maybe I

2:35:11 ↗ could have been like no and then

2:35:13 ↗ >> wouldn't have got it.

2:35:14 ↗ >> I' I've had this come up multiple times

2:35:15 ↗ and we've made the request and always it

2:35:19 ↗ was always uh honored.

2:35:23 ↗ >> Council member Joe

2:35:25 ↗ >> um just suggestion perhaps we could

2:35:26 ↗ coordinate with the court to use a

2:35:29 ↗ probation office. That way we have at

2:35:30 ↗ least two doors uh where we can

2:35:33 ↗ sequester people and perhaps have some

2:35:34 ↗ sound barrier.

2:35:36 ↗ >> Thank you. Anything else on question and

2:35:39 ↗ answer session? And city clerk, do you

2:35:42 ↗ have everything you need?

2:35:43 ↗ >> Uh so what I heard was a willingness to

2:35:45 ↗ have the council leadership determine

2:35:47 ↗ the questions uh that they should not be

2:35:49 ↗ provided in advance. That was what I

2:35:51 ↗ heard from a slight majority of those

2:35:53 ↗ who spoke. uh that council leadership

2:35:56 ↗ could also determine whether the same

2:35:58 ↗ questions or unique questions were

2:35:59 ↗ asked, vary the response time and

2:36:03 ↗ explore whether we could request that

2:36:05 ↗ the that those who aren't being

2:36:08 ↗ questioned in that moment sit go

2:36:10 ↗ somewhere else in the building.

2:36:14 ↗ >> Great. Okay. Uh is there anything else

2:36:16 ↗ to add for this slide?

2:36:18 ↗ Okay. I'm seeing headshakes. No.

2:36:21 ↗ Okay. So the next steps here are to uh

2:36:25 ↗ post the application

2:36:27 ↗ that will happen on Friday uh if you

2:36:30 ↗ proceed to make the approve the motion

2:36:32 ↗ approving the timeline and then we'll

2:36:34 ↗ begin outreach. Uh we'll start with that

2:36:37 ↗ Friday e-news that goes out and uh use

2:36:41 ↗ our social media outreach. We'll do some

2:36:43 ↗ of the direct outreach that uh I listed

2:36:45 ↗ in the packet and we can certainly

2:36:48 ↗ broaden the outreach to other nonprofit

2:36:50 ↗ organizations. We'll also begin noticing

2:36:52 ↗ the December 13th uh council applicant

2:36:57 ↗ info session. We've been looking for a

2:36:59 ↗ good title for that. So, thank you. Um

2:37:02 ↗ so, it doesn't give us a real a long

2:37:04 ↗ time frame, but we'll do our best to get

2:37:06 ↗ the word out about that. And then, as I

2:37:08 ↗ mentioned, uh I'll be providing updates

2:37:11 ↗ at least every two weeks on the

2:37:12 ↗ applications that have come in so we can

2:37:15 ↗ get get underway.

2:37:18 ↗ Um all right. So you've

2:37:19 ↗ >> provided one question, city, council

2:37:21 ↗ president.

2:37:22 ↗ >> Um just one point. I believe last time

2:37:26 ↗ um council leadership wrote a letter to

2:37:28 ↗ our city boards and commissions to

2:37:30 ↗ encourage them specifically to apply.

2:37:33 ↗ And so I was wondering if that was

2:37:35 ↗ something that we were interested in

2:37:37 ↗ this year and then potentially expanding

2:37:40 ↗ that out and having that letter or a

2:37:42 ↗ similar letter go to many of our

2:37:44 ↗ nonprofits um and human services

2:37:47 ↗ organizations as a way to encourage

2:37:49 ↗ those volunteers and members um to

2:37:53 ↗ apply. So any sense of whether or not

2:37:56 ↗ that would be a useful portion of

2:37:59 ↗ community feedback

2:38:04 ↗ >> just in addition to our the outreach

2:38:06 ↗ that's going to happen with those groups

2:38:08 ↗ like

2:38:09 ↗ >> yeah in addition to whatever social

2:38:11 ↗ media or um pieces that are out there

2:38:14 ↗ just a kind of personal please consider

2:38:17 ↗ applying reach out to us if you have any

2:38:19 ↗ questions etc. Yeah,

2:38:23 ↗ >> I'm also we will share this with the

2:38:25 ↗ board and commission members. I can also

2:38:26 ↗ craft something on behalf of the city

2:38:28 ↗ council. I mean, we can sort of phrase

2:38:30 ↗ it in that way. City council encourages

2:38:32 ↗ you to consider. Um, that's another

2:38:35 ↗ thought. I I do realize it's a tight

2:38:37 ↗ it's a tight turnaround.

2:38:43 ↗ All right, that concludes my remarks. If

2:38:46 ↗ anyone has uh any anything else I didn't

2:38:48 ↗ cover that you want to weigh in on

2:38:50 ↗ certainly feel free. And then there is a

2:38:51 ↗ proposed very general motion but just um

2:38:54 ↗ that

2:38:55 ↗ authorizes uh me to proceed with the

2:38:57 ↗ timeline we discussed tonight

2:38:59 ↗ >> as amended.

2:39:01 ↗ >> Yes. As amended to recognize that

2:39:03 ↗ January. There were a number of elements

2:39:06 ↗ that I received feedback on tonight. So

2:39:07 ↗ we can call that as amended. Yes.

2:39:09 ↗ >> Council member Hall.

2:39:12 ↗ Uh, I was actually going to make the

2:39:13 ↗ motion if that's all right with the rest

2:39:15 ↗ of the council since it's my very last

2:39:17 ↗ one. Um,

2:39:18 ↗ >> I move to approve the process and

2:39:20 ↗ timeline for filling the 2026 city

2:39:23 ↗ council vacancy of position number two

2:39:25 ↗ as amended.

2:39:27 ↗ >> Second.

2:39:28 ↗ >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there

2:39:29 ↗ any council discussion?

2:39:33 ↗ I am not seeing any. All those in favor

2:39:37 ↗ signify by saying I.

2:39:38 ↗ >> I.

2:39:39 ↗ >> I. Those opposed. That carries six and0

2:39:42 ↗ unanimously. We're going to move to

2:39:45 ↗ commit. So, thank you very much, city

2:39:47 ↗ clerk. We're going to move to committee

2:39:48 ↗ and regional reports. And uh council

2:39:51 ↗ member Nichols, I'm guessing you don't

2:39:52 ↗ have a report.

2:39:54 ↗ >> Correct. Thank you.

2:39:54 ↗ >> Okay. Council member Joe.

2:39:56 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh Elac will be having a

2:39:59 ↗ special meeting on December 8th uh at uh

2:40:02 ↗ Tippetsz Manor. uh chamber board liaison

2:40:07 ↗ will be meeting with the chamber board

2:40:08 ↗ on December 19th. The mobility and

2:40:11 ↗ infrastructure meeting for December has

2:40:13 ↗ been cancelled and all CA Cascade Water

2:40:16 ↗ Alliance meets have also been cancelled.

2:40:17 ↗ That concludes my report. Thank you.

2:40:19 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Hall.

2:40:21 ↗ >> No report.

2:40:21 ↗ >> Oh wow. Council member Marts.

2:40:24 ↗ >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh

2:40:27 ↗ the Let's see. I don't think I've

2:40:29 ↗ reported the services, safety, and parks

2:40:32 ↗ meeting. Um, but all we had was the

2:40:35 ↗ COM182.

2:40:36 ↗ This was on Tuesday, November 18th. All

2:40:39 ↗ we had was the E Motorcycle and Ebicycle

2:40:40 ↗ ordinance that I spoke of earlier. Um,

2:40:42 ↗ the SCA annual meeting is this

2:40:45 ↗ Wednesday, December 3rd. Once again, it

2:40:48 ↗ is here at Pickering Barn in Isiqua. So,

2:40:50 ↗ if you have not registered, there's

2:40:52 ↗ probably a mechanism uh to be able to

2:40:54 ↗ still do that. Uh, and then there is an

2:40:56 ↗ SCA pick regular meeting on Wednesday,

2:40:58 ↗ December 10th. Uh it will be held at 7

2:41:00 ↗ pm virtually and the agenda has not been

2:41:02 ↗ set yet. This concludes my report.

2:41:04 ↗ >> Thank you, Deputy Council President.

2:41:07 ↗ >> Uh thank you, Mayor Paulie. On November

2:41:09 ↗ 17th, I attended the regional transit

2:41:11 ↗ committee and we received the transit

2:41:13 ↗ safety task force recommendations with

2:41:16 ↗ multiple recommendations and actions

2:41:18 ↗ underway to increase safety on Metro

2:41:20 ↗ buses and bus shelters. Uh we also

2:41:23 ↗ approved the 2026 strategic plan and

2:41:26 ↗ system evaluation.

2:41:27 ↗ The December RTC meeting is cancelled.

2:41:30 ↗ And then on November the 18th, I

2:41:32 ↗ attended the King County Board of

2:41:33 ↗ Health. We approved a new configuration

2:41:36 ↗ of Board of Health membership which

2:41:38 ↗ increased sound cities association

2:41:41 ↗ representatives from four to six. So

2:41:44 ↗ there will now be three voting members

2:41:46 ↗ and three alternates. Uh we also

2:41:48 ↗ approved the 2026 legislative priorities

2:41:51 ↗ and discuss possible items for the 2026

2:41:54 ↗ work plan. The December board of health

2:41:57 ↗ meeting is cancelled and that concludes

2:41:59 ↗ my report.

2:42:00 ↗ >> Thank you, council president.

2:42:01 ↗ >> No report.

2:42:03 ↗ >> I will move to the next item which is

2:42:05 ↗ the mayor's report. There will not be an

2:42:08 ↗ executive session this evening and

2:42:11 ↗ tonight I just wanted to talk about the

2:42:13 ↗ Rainer Trail off leash dog park bid

2:42:15 ↗ award. Uh council approved the bid for

2:42:17 ↗ the new Rainineer Trail Off leash dog

2:42:18 ↗ park located just east of the Isiqua

2:42:21 ↗ Community Center. Once the former skate

2:42:23 ↗ park area site uh once the former skate

2:42:26 ↗ park site, this area will be transformed

2:42:29 ↗ into a fully fenced dog park with small

2:42:31 ↗ and large dog areas, ADA access, double

2:42:35 ↗ gated entries, seating including covered

2:42:38 ↗ areas and a concrete entry plaza way and

2:42:41 ↗ plaza and drinking fountains. 13 bids

2:42:44 ↗ were received with Fury site work

2:42:45 ↗ selected as the lowest bidder. and

2:42:47 ↗ weather permitting, the project will be

2:42:49 ↗ completed in early 2026, adding a

2:42:52 ↗ muchneeded recreational space along the

2:42:54 ↗ Reineer Trail and supporting the city's

2:42:56 ↗ long-term plan for multiple

2:42:58 ↗ moderatesized dog parks throughout

2:43:00 ↗ Isiqua.

2:43:01 ↗ Our sustainability and communication

2:43:03 ↗ staff collaborated to develop a

2:43:05 ↗ community-f facing end of the year

2:43:06 ↗ climate action report. This report was

2:43:09 ↗ with developed with the community in

2:43:11 ↗ mind to share stories, major milestones,

2:43:14 ↗ and actions that we can take in our

2:43:16 ↗ everyday lives. We accomplished a lot in

2:43:18 ↗ 2025, including surpassing 800 heat pump

2:43:23 ↗ by heat pump installations by Energy

2:43:25 ↗ Smart East Side, installing 17 fleet

2:43:28 ↗ chargers, and planting over 2,800 trees.

2:43:32 ↗ Our staff will share more with the

2:43:34 ↗ council in early 2026, including an

2:43:36 ↗ updated greenhouse gas inventory,

2:43:39 ↗ highlights from the 2025 report, and

2:43:41 ↗ likely updates for the 2026 climate

2:43:44 ↗ action plan. And the last item I have in

2:43:46 ↗ the mayor's report is just a expression

2:43:48 ↗ of gratitude to the council members that

2:43:51 ↗ I have gotten to serve with over the

2:43:53 ↗ years. I think there's been 14, which

2:43:55 ↗ makes me feel like I've been here an

2:43:56 ↗ awfully long time. Um, but also to our

2:43:59 ↗ professional administrative staff. It

2:44:01 ↗ has been an absolute pleasure to work

2:44:04 ↗ with both teams, elected and

2:44:06 ↗ administrative, over these years and to

2:44:08 ↗ get a lot of things done. I feel really

2:44:11 ↗ good about the work that we've done and

2:44:13 ↗ excited for our new leadership coming in

2:44:15 ↗ and new council members coming in and I

2:44:17 ↗ wish you all the best. But it has been

2:44:19 ↗ an honor and a pleasure to serve this

2:44:21 ↗ community alongside all of you. We're

2:44:24 ↗ going to move to good of the order. I

2:44:27 ↗ have a couple of meeting announcements

2:44:29 ↗ but does anybody else have council

2:44:30 ↗ member Hall?

2:44:33 ↗ Council President and then council

2:44:34 ↗ member Hall.

2:44:37 ↗ >> Okay. Um, so first off, I just wanted to

2:44:40 ↗ kind of make an announcement and make

2:44:41 ↗ sure there wasn't any um concerns. Um,

2:44:44 ↗ but with uh East Side Fire and Rescue um

2:44:48 ↗ we are asking so that I can effectively

2:44:51 ↗ apply for um the vice chair position

2:44:55 ↗ since uh Council Member Hall will be

2:44:58 ↗ stepping down. He is currently um one of

2:45:01 ↗ the active members. I'm an alternate. We

2:45:03 ↗ are hoping for this next month to just

2:45:05 ↗ swap that out and then there will be the

2:45:08 ↗ traditional January um council

2:45:11 ↗ leadership um choosing who is actually

2:45:13 ↗ in those spots etc. But just wanted to

2:45:16 ↗ make sure there was no concerns with

2:45:18 ↗ that type of swap at that point. Um, and

2:45:21 ↗ I just wanted to take a moment um, just

2:45:24 ↗ to recognize the time that I've served

2:45:26 ↗ with, um, Council Member Hall. um

2:45:31 ↗ as starting out, you know, 2020 was a

2:45:34 ↗ really hard time to run for office and a

2:45:37 ↗ really hard time to start in office and

2:45:40 ↗ just to kind of come into place, not

2:45:44 ↗ only in a time when we weren't all

2:45:46 ↗ together, but when the need for service

2:45:50 ↗ and the needs of the community was so

2:45:52 ↗ high. um just recognizing how much you

2:45:55 ↗ really

2:45:57 ↗ jumped in at that point and really took

2:46:00 ↗ on um that role um and then seeing you

2:46:03 ↗ continue on with the leadership in East

2:46:05 ↗ Side Fire and Rescue um has been really

2:46:08 ↗ inspiring and I really appreciate what

2:46:09 ↗ you've done and contributed to that

2:46:12 ↗ organization. Um

2:46:15 ↗ I will note you are always somebody who

2:46:17 ↗ has come to council very well prepared,

2:46:21 ↗ maybe overprepared.

2:46:23 ↗ you sometimes overthink things after the

2:46:26 ↗ meeting. Um, and as I said to you

2:46:30 ↗ earlier, um, I will miss your last

2:46:33 ↗ minute, oh, questions, um, at the end of

2:46:37 ↗ a debate, but it really goes to show

2:46:39 ↗ that you are constantly thinking and

2:46:41 ↗ constantly looking through the ways of,

2:46:45 ↗ you know, how can I make sure that

2:46:47 ↗ everything is to its utmost best. And so

2:46:50 ↗ I just wanted to say thank you for that

2:46:52 ↗ time. I've really enjoyed serving with

2:46:54 ↗ you.

2:46:55 ↗ >> Yeah.

2:47:00 ↗ >> Oh, Council Member Hall and then Deputy

2:47:02 ↗ Council President.

2:47:02 ↗ >> Um, I was also going to share some kind

2:47:04 ↗ of parting remarks. I probably should

2:47:05 ↗ have shared this earlier during special

2:47:07 ↗ business, but um,

2:47:10 ↗ some comments that I wrote down that I

2:47:11 ↗ wanted to share. Um, so of course, as

2:47:14 ↗ you all know, I had the great privilege

2:47:16 ↗ of growing up here in Isiqua. So, uh,

2:47:18 ↗ serving the community in this way has

2:47:20 ↗ been a very, very special experience for

2:47:22 ↗ me. Um, incredibly proud of what we've

2:47:25 ↗ been able to accomplish over the last 6

2:47:26 ↗ years. Um, I just want to start I want

2:47:29 ↗ to thank the Isqua community for, uh,

2:47:31 ↗ putting their trust and confidence in me

2:47:33 ↗ in in 2019 and again in 2023. Um, I want

2:47:36 ↗ to thank them for staying engaged with

2:47:39 ↗ us and for just choosing to live, work,

2:47:41 ↗ and play right here in Isiqua. Um, I am

2:47:45 ↗ also incredibly grateful to have had an

2:47:48 ↗ opportunity to work with such

2:47:51 ↗ dedicated and collaborative leaders like

2:47:54 ↗ yourselves and such

2:47:59 ↗ talented and innovative professionals um

2:48:02 ↗ that who choose to work here, who choose

2:48:05 ↗ to spend their careers in service to the

2:48:07 ↗ people of Isiqua, which has always just

2:48:09 ↗ been truly remarkable to me that the

2:48:11 ↗ spirit that lives inside each city

2:48:13 ↗ worker that I've ever met no matter the

2:48:16 ↗ department or division um has always

2:48:18 ↗ been that like service to community and

2:48:21 ↗ it is the most remarkable thing when you

2:48:23 ↗ see it um so I thank them as well but

2:48:26 ↗ that shared commitment that teamwork

2:48:29 ↗ that I have felt as a member of the

2:48:31 ↗ council with us as policy with

2:48:34 ↗ administration as implementation us

2:48:36 ↗ coming together defining problems doing

2:48:38 ↗ all the stuff that you you talked about

2:48:40 ↗ um

2:48:42 ↗ that is a treasure measured experience

2:48:44 ↗ that I will not soon forget. I I I want

2:48:46 ↗ to

2:48:49 ↗ >> Yeah, that's Yeah. Um but you know, also

2:48:53 ↗ of course this isn't really goodbye,

2:48:54 ↗ right? So um

2:48:56 ↗ >> um and I'm honored to continue serving

2:48:58 ↗ this community now in the state

2:48:59 ↗ legislature. The only difference is now

2:49:01 ↗ my Monday evenings will be free.

2:49:04 ↗ >> Um

2:49:05 ↗ >> uh and and I joke about that, but

2:49:06 ↗ honestly, Monday evenings coming down

2:49:08 ↗ here has become kind of my favorite part

2:49:11 ↗ of the week. you know, being here in

2:49:12 ↗ this room with you all. Um, so yeah, it

2:49:15 ↗ was a really tough decision for me, but

2:49:17 ↗ it comes from a place of comfort and

2:49:20 ↗ confidence that this council is in very,

2:49:22 ↗ very good hands. I am quite happy with

2:49:24 ↗ our new council members and with the

2:49:27 ↗ current council and um I am feeling good

2:49:30 ↗ about stepping back uh about where you

2:49:33 ↗ and I'm very also very excited to see

2:49:35 ↗ what you get up to next. I'll be

2:49:36 ↗ watching on YouTube, so don't do

2:49:38 ↗ anything I wouldn't do.

2:49:40 ↗ Uh anyways, thanks for a wonderful six

2:49:42 ↗ years and uh here's to many more working

2:49:44 ↗ together in new ways.

2:49:46 ↗ >> Thanks,

2:49:48 ↗ >> Deputy Council President. Did you want

2:49:49 ↗ to say something?

2:49:50 ↗ >> Yes. So, uh and I hope that I get

2:49:53 ↗ through this without the need for

2:49:54 ↗ Kleenex. So,

2:49:56 ↗ >> so um so Mayor Paulie, I wanted to

2:49:59 ↗ highlight uh I thought today, you know,

2:50:01 ↗ what what is the the u impact of your of

2:50:07 ↗ your time in office? And I wanted to uh

2:50:10 ↗ talk about a time that seems almost like

2:50:13 ↗ it is uh in a different era. Um but we

2:50:17 ↗ were it was 2020 and we were in the

2:50:20 ↗ midst of COVID and you were providing

2:50:22 ↗ wonderful leadership through there and

2:50:25 ↗ then George Floyd was murdered by a

2:50:28 ↗ police officer in Minneapolis and for

2:50:30 ↗ days we had protesters uh occupying the

2:50:33 ↗ steps at the police and city

2:50:35 ↗ administration building and Mayor Paulie

2:50:37 ↗ was there every single day uh along with

2:50:40 ↗ the chief of police and city council

2:50:42 ↗ members but talking to protesters and

2:50:45 ↗ listening to the lived experiences of

2:50:47 ↗ Isiqua residents of color.

2:50:50 ↗ The city quickly approved a Black Lives

2:50:53 ↗ Matter march that was led by local civil

2:50:56 ↗ rights leaders, but Mayor Paulie was

2:50:58 ↗ there again, the chief of police was

2:51:00 ↗ there again, the city council was there

2:51:02 ↗ again, and several hundred community

2:51:04 ↗ members participated. It was a

2:51:06 ↗ fantastic, memorable day. Um, and again,

2:51:10 ↗ your leadership was on full display.

2:51:14 ↗ Not too long after that, the council

2:51:16 ↗ received the mayor's proposal for a

2:51:18 ↗ police accountability, equity, and human

2:51:20 ↗ services plan, which we quickly

2:51:22 ↗ approved.

2:51:24 ↗ And out of that plan, we established an

2:51:27 ↗ equity board. The council and staff all

2:51:30 ↗ participated in equity training. Equity

2:51:33 ↗ was embedded in all city departments. We

2:51:36 ↗ now adhere to an equity calendar that

2:51:38 ↗ recognizes and respects over 25 cultural

2:51:41 ↗ and religious holidays of city

2:51:43 ↗ employees. We increase the number of

2:51:46 ↗ behavioral health specialists embedded

2:51:47 ↗ in the police department. Uh we have a

2:51:50 ↗ truly diverse police department now. Um

2:51:54 ↗ and they are honored for their community

2:51:56 ↗ engagement. We have a community

2:51:58 ↗ relations officer and IPD has one of the

2:52:01 ↗ best social media accounts in the Puget

2:52:03 ↗ Sound region. We are known for our

2:52:06 ↗ transparency. All of this came out of

2:52:09 ↗ your leadership during that really

2:52:11 ↗ horrific time in 2020. And I this is

2:52:15 ↗ what we call transformational

2:52:17 ↗ leadership. And I thank you from the

2:52:19 ↗ bottom of my heart

2:52:22 ↗ >> for what you did

2:52:24 ↗ >> for what you did at that perilous time

2:52:26 ↗ in our city's history. So thank you so

2:52:28 ↗ much. And uh it's not goodbye.

2:52:31 ↗ >> No, that's beautiful. Yeah, it's not

2:52:33 ↗ goodbye,

2:52:34 ↗ >> but thank you. And I didn't think I

2:52:35 ↗ would get a chance it to say this long

2:52:38 ↗ piece any at any other of the

2:52:40 ↗ celebrations we're going to have. So,

2:52:42 ↗ >> no, I'm glad you did say it tonight.

2:52:43 ↗ >> Very, very, very kind.

2:52:45 ↗ >> Yeah,

2:52:45 ↗ >> I forget all the stuff that we've done

2:52:47 ↗ actually

2:52:48 ↗ >> a lot of time. Council member Mertz,

2:52:50 ↗ >> thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um,

2:52:54 ↗ I I I'll keep I'll keep it brief. Um,

2:52:57 ↗ you know, there's a lot happens over

2:53:00 ↗ over many years and uh, you know,

2:53:04 ↗ passionate people don't always agree and

2:53:06 ↗ we're all passionate up here and

2:53:09 ↗ sometimes the the council has a

2:53:10 ↗ collegially adversarial relationship

2:53:12 ↗ with the administration, which I know

2:53:14 ↗ Mary Lou doesn't like that term, but

2:53:15 ↗ I'll say it anyhow. Um, but I but I

2:53:18 ↗ think leadership, one of the things

2:53:19 ↗ about leadership is um, sometimes it's

2:53:21 ↗ what you do when the cameras aren't on

2:53:23 ↗ you. And it, you know, it's easy for

2:53:26 ↗ maybe maybe easy for all of us to to

2:53:29 ↗ come up with articulate things to say

2:53:31 ↗ here, but one of the memories I I will

2:53:33 ↗ always have of of Mayor Paulie is when

2:53:36 ↗ the uh Muslim Association of Puet Sound

2:53:40 ↗ uh was attacked up in Redmond and Mary

2:53:42 ↗ Lou was one of the people um she and I

2:53:45 ↗ and and uh Bill Ramos went up there to

2:53:47 ↗ support those folks. And there was

2:53:49 ↗ nothing there was no cameras on us.

2:53:52 ↗ there was no uh you know it was it

2:53:55 ↗ wasn't there was nothing political about

2:53:57 ↗ it. It was just the right thing to do

2:53:59 ↗ and so I think leadership is made up of

2:54:02 ↗ the integrant of all those things over

2:54:05 ↗ time. So Marylu thank you so much for 30

2:54:07 ↗ years of leadership.

2:54:08 ↗ >> It's very kind. Thank you. Anything

2:54:11 ↗ else? I have a couple of meetings to go

2:54:13 ↗ through. Okay. Just cut it off. Um, just

2:54:18 ↗ a reminder for you all, tomorrow night,

2:54:20 ↗ December 2nd, at 6 PM, the council's

2:54:22 ↗ having a special social gathering at the

2:54:24 ↗ Flat Iron Grill, uh, seasonal get

2:54:28 ↗ together, and the city council does not

2:54:30 ↗ have any other city council meetings or

2:54:33 ↗ committee meetings this year. You're one

2:54:36 ↗ of the first councils to get through all

2:54:37 ↗ of your work by December 1st. So, that's

2:54:40 ↗ pretty impressive. So there is no

2:54:42 ↗ executive session this evening and we

2:54:45 ↗ are adjourned at 9:55. Thanks

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (6)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Kevin Nichols

Lindsey Walsh

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator, Andrea Lehner, Deputy City Administrator, Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Excused

Chris Reh

Motions and votes (5)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a)

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Carried 6-0

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Authorize the Mayor to execute the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Acres of Diamonds and the related restrictive covenant release documents attached thereto. b)

Moved by Council President Walsh · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Carried 6-0

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh

Absent: Reh

Adopt Ordinance No. 3129, adopting Chapter 10.48 of the Issaquah Municipal Code to regulate the use of electric-assisted bicycles and electric motorcycles; and Adopt Ordinance No. 3130, amending Chapter 10.34 of the Issaquah Municipal Code, abandoned, unauthorized and junk motor vehicles, to moderni…

Moved by Councilmember Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President de Michele

Amend the ordinance to delete Section 10.48.030 and Subsection 10.48.040(A) regarding Class 1 and 2 electric-assisted bicycles. c)

Moved by Councilmember Nichols · seconded by Council President Walsh

Carried 6-0

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh

Absent: Reh

Approve the process and timeline for filling the 2026 City Council vacancy of Position No. 2 as amended [per the discussion summarized above].

Moved by Councilmember Hall · seconded by Councilmember Joe

Carried 6-0

In favor: de Michele, Hall, Joe, Marts, Nichols, Walsh

Absent: Reh