City Council Regular Meeting · Monday, May 4, 2026 · City Council Digest

3. SPECIAL BUSINESS

Jewish American Heritage Month Proclamation ID 2020

5 min · packet pp.5

Topics: Arts & Culture

▶ Watch from 1:11 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

SPECIAL BUSINESS a) CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office 130 E. Sunset Way WASHINGTON Issaquah, WA 98027 425-837-3000 issaquahwa.gov

Corrections Officers Week Proclamation ID 2003

5 min · packet pp.7

▶ Watch from 7:40 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

SPECIAL BUSINESS b) CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office 130 E. Sunset Way WASHINGTON Issaquah, WA 98027 425-837-3000 issaquahwa.gov

Police Week Proclamation ID 2015

5 min · packet pp.9

Topics: Public Safety

▶ Watch from 14:10 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

SPECIAL BUSINESS c) CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office 130 E. Sunset Way WASHINGTON Issaquah, WA 98027 425-837-3000 issaquahwa.gov

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Accounts: Payables and Payroll of May 4, 2026, $3,916,926.35 ID 1966

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.11–28

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 35:18 Open packet at p.11 ↗

Staff report:

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

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Special Meeting, March

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.29

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Mar 9, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Mar 30, 2026

▶ Watch from 35:23 Open packet at p.29 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR b) 03-21-26 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Special Meeting – Council Applicant Info Session 11:00 AM Gibson Hall, 105 Newport Way March 21, 2026 MINUTES SW

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Special Meeting, April

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.31–32

▶ Watch from 35:28 Open packet at p.31 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR c) 04-07-26 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Special Meeting 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. April 7, 2026 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, April

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.33–38

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Mar 9, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting · Mar 30, 2026

▶ Watch from 35:34 Open packet at p.33 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR d) 04-20-26 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. April 20, 2026 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Minutes: City Council Special Meeting, April

Carried 7-0

Approve · packet pp.39–40

▶ Watch from 35:39 Open packet at p.39 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR e) 04-27-26 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Special Meeting 6:00 PM Issaquah Senior Center April 27, 2026 MINUTES 75 NE Creek Way

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Informational Update: 2025 Visit Issaquah Annual Report ID 2006

Carried 7-0

Receive Report · packet pp.41–55

Topics: Tourism

▶ Watch from 35:45 Open packet at p.41 ↗

Staff report:

Visit Issaquah is Issaquah’s Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), funded annually by lodging taxes. The attached 2025 Annual Report is being provided to the City Council to bring awareness to their activities.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Informational Update: 2025 Sister Cities Commission Annual Report ID 2016

Carried 7-0

Receive Report · packet pp.57–58

Previously discussed: Sister Cities Commission · Apr 8, 2026

▶ Watch from 35:50 Open packet at p.57 ↗

Staff report:

Issaquah has two sister cities, Sunndal, Norway and Chefchaouen, Morocco, and the City maintains its relationship with these two cities primarily through exchange of elected officials and through the efforts of the Sister Cities Commission, established by City Council in 2007.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Department of Ecology Water Quality Stormwater Capacity Grant AB 9179

Carried 7-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.59–80

Topics: WaterCritical Areas

▶ Watch from 35:56 Open packet at p.59 ↗

Staff report:

This state program provides funding assistance to jurisdictions covered under Phase I and II Municipal Stormwater National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits. This program provides funding for local governments to address stormwater management and control by: 1. Public education and outreach 2. Public Involvement and participation 3. Illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE) 4. Activities to support programs to control run-off from new development, redevelopment, and construction sites 5. Pollution prevention, good housekeeping, and operation and maintenance 6. Annual reporting 7. Establishing and refining stormwater utilities, including stable rate structures 8. Water quality monitoring to implement permit requirements for a Water Cleanup Plan (TMDL) 9. Structural stormwater controls (Phase I requirement) 10. Source Control for existing development (Phase I…

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Dept. of Ecology Pollution Prevention Assistance (PPA) Partnership Agreement) Amendment AB 9180

Carried 7-0

Accept Grant; Authorize Agreement · packet pp.81–116

Topics: Critical Areas

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

▶ Watch from 36:01 Open packet at p.81 ↗

Staff report:

The original inter-agency agreement for $144,989.12 was approved by City Council at the July 21, 2025 Council meeting under AB 9025, Department of Ecology Pollution Prevention Assistance (PPA) Partnership (Local Source Control Program Interagency Agreement). The original inter-agency agreement is attached as Exhibit A.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

Write-Off Debt for Uncollectible Accounts AB 9186

Carried 7-0

Approve Resolution · packet pp.117–124

▶ Watch from 36:06 Open packet at p.117 ↗

Staff report:

The balances associated with the accounts deemed to be uncollectible originated from limited-use general billing activity (for water repairs) and are not tied to ongoing utility service accounts.

Roll call:

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh

6. REGULAR BUSINESS

Informational Update: Q4 2025 Year End Report ID 2018

Receive Report · 20 min · packet pp.125–140

▶ Watch from 36:12 Open packet at p.125 ↗

Staff report:

This staff report provides the City Council with an overview of the preliminary (unaudited) 2025 year- end financial results. This informational update will cover General fund beginning fund balance, revenues, expenditures, and ending fund balance for 2025. Additionally, it will cover high level analysis of all City funds for a comprehensive financial picture. Amounts in this document are subject to change following the audit of the financial statements.

Public Records & Open Public Meetings Act Training ID 2001

Receive · 40 min · packet pp.141–190

▶ Watch from 50:36 Open packet at p.141 ↗

Staff report:

REGULAR BUSINESS b) M AY 4 , 2 0 2 6 RACHEL BENDER TURPIN Overview • What is the PRA and why should you care? • Understanding the definition of “public record” • Local government records responsibilities and challenges • Responding to public records requests • Social media records • Records retention • Open Public Meetings Act refresher • Risk management strategies and takeaways • Additional resources

Amendments to Council Rules of Procedure AB 9137

Adopt Ordinance; Approve Resolution · 30 min · packet pp.191–272

Topics: Land UseBoards & Commissions

▶ Watch from 1:19:23 Open packet at p.191 ↗

Staff report:

The City's code empowers the City Council to adopt Rules of Procedure.

9. GOOD OF THE ORDER

Upcoming Council Meetings

▶ Watch from 2:31:43

4696 segments .txt ↗

0:03 ↗ This is where we just wave at our city.

0:08 ↗ Aha.

0:09 ↗ That is our our magic red light. So we

0:12 ↗ will call this meeting to order. It is

0:15 ↗ May 4th. Uh is Quas City's meeting? Yes,

0:17 ↗ we will acknowledge May the 4th be with

0:19 ↗ you. And we are going to open with the

0:21 ↗ pledge of allegiance. Please join me.

0:26 ↗ Pledge to the flag of the United States

0:29 ↗ of America and to the republic for it

0:32 ↗ stands. One nation under God,

0:36 ↗ indivisible, with liberty and justice

0:38 ↗ for all.

0:43 ↗ >> Okay, we are going to now

0:46 ↗ go in to proclamations. I'm looking out

0:49 ↗ in the audience to see who's currently

0:52 ↗ here.

1:11 ↗ The first proclamation is for dedicated

1:14 ↗ correction officers. Uh, Andrew Albert,

1:18 ↗ come on up. and

1:30 ↗ whereas the city of Isqua's dedicated

1:32 ↗ correction officers are essential to our

1:34 ↗ justice system and where as much is

1:36 ↗ expected from the men and women who

1:37 ↗ every day supervise offenders and

1:39 ↗ correctional facilities without whose

1:40 ↗ daily hard work and sacrifice we could

1:43 ↗ not operate. Whereas correction officers

1:45 ↗ are skilled professionals who must act

1:47 ↗ as counselors, communicators, educators,

1:49 ↗ and experts

1:51 ↗ as crisis intervention and must protect

1:54 ↗ our safety while maintaining their

1:55 ↗ professional demeanor, often in a

1:57 ↗ challenging environment. And whereas

1:58 ↗ correction officers must possess the

2:00 ↗ intuitive sense to resolve conflict and

2:02 ↗ support restorative activities while

2:04 ↗ housing offenders in a humane

2:05 ↗ environment, often to the risk of their

2:07 ↗ own well-being. And whereas all are

2:09 ↗ committed to a common goal, the secure,

2:11 ↗ safe, and humane operation of our jail

2:12 ↗ facility facility where employees work

2:15 ↗ to reduce future crime and change an

2:17 ↗ individual's criminal behavior. Now

2:19 ↗ therefore, I, Mark Mull, mayor of the

2:20 ↗ city of Isqua, do hereby proclaim the

2:22 ↗ week of May 3rd to May 9th to be

2:24 ↗ correction officers week in the city of

2:26 ↗ Isqua and invite the community to join

2:28 ↗ me in thanking the city's correction

2:29 ↗ officers for their service and

2:31 ↗ outstanding contributions.

2:37 ↗ So, we're going to let you you do your

2:39 ↗ comments and then we'll do the photo.

2:45 ↗ >> All right. Well, thank you, mayor, and

2:46 ↗ and city council and uh citizen, those

2:50 ↗ that are here. Uh good evening. On

2:51 ↗ behalf of the dedicated men and women

2:53 ↗ who serve in our correctional facility,

2:55 ↗ I am honored to accept this proclamation

2:57 ↗ recognizing National Corrections

2:58 ↗ Officers Week. This occasion invites us

3:01 ↗ to pause and reflect on a work that is

3:02 ↗ often unseen yet deeply important. Those

3:05 ↗ who serve in corrections carry a quiet

3:07 ↗ and steady responsibility,

3:09 ↗ one that requires vigilance, integrity,

3:11 ↗ and compassion each and every day. At

3:13 ↗ its heart, this work is about people. It

3:15 ↗ is about protecting our communities

3:17 ↗ while also recognizing the worth and

3:19 ↗ potential every day of everyday

3:21 ↗ individual. It is about creating an

3:23 ↗ environment that is safe, orderly, and

3:25 ↗ humane while allowing space for change,

3:27 ↗ growth, and accountability. Those who

3:29 ↗ serve in this profession do so with a

3:31 ↗ sense of duty and purpose. They strive

3:33 ↗ to act with fairness, to lead by

3:34 ↗ example, and to uphold standards even

3:36 ↗ when the work is difficult and

3:37 ↗ demanding. These are not just

3:40 ↗ professionals professional

3:41 ↗ expectations. They are reflections of

3:42 ↗ character. To those who lead and support

3:45 ↗ recognition, thank you for your

3:46 ↗ acknowledging the value of this work and

3:47 ↗ the individuals who carry it forward.

3:49 ↗ And to our correctional staff, those

3:50 ↗ present, and those continuing their

3:52 ↗ duties this evening, please know that

3:53 ↗ your efforts matter. The work you do

3:55 ↗ makes a difference in ways that are not

3:57 ↗ always visible, but are deeply

3:59 ↗ meaningful. Thank you for your

4:00 ↗ commitment, your steadiness, and your

4:02 ↗ service not only to the city, but to me.

4:04 ↗ Thank you.

4:08 ↗ Oh wait wait

4:25 ↗ >> Rabbi. You guys want to come on up?

4:28 ↗ Okay.

4:43 ↗ Our next proclamation. Whereas Jewish

4:46 ↗ American Heritage Month is celebrated

4:48 ↗ every May to honor the significant

4:49 ↗ contributions and rich history of Jewish

4:52 ↗ Americans to the fabric of our nation.

4:54 ↗ And whereas Jewish Americans have played

4:55 ↗ a vital role in shaping the cultural,

4:57 ↗ economic, scientific, and social

4:59 ↗ landscape of the United States,

5:00 ↗ contributing to the advancement of arts,

5:02 ↗ education business medicine and

5:04 ↗ public service. And whereas the Jewish

5:06 ↗ community in Isqua has been an integral

5:08 ↗ part of our city's diverse and vibrant

5:10 ↗ culture, bringing with them a deep

5:12 ↗ commitment to family, faith, and

5:14 ↗ community. And whereas while

5:16 ↗ anti-semitism anti-semitism has been

5:18 ↗ rising in an alarming rate in our

5:20 ↗ country and community, we must let it be

5:22 ↗ known that anti-semitism has no place in

5:25 ↗ Isiqua nor anywhere in the United

5:27 ↗ States. We must continue to create an

5:29 ↗ environment that fosters mutual

5:31 ↗ understanding of tolerance and respect

5:33 ↗ for everyone. And whereas the

5:34 ↗ celebration of Jewish American history

5:36 ↗ month provides an opportunity to reflect

5:38 ↗ on the historical struggles and

5:40 ↗ achievements of Jewish Americans and to

5:41 ↗ celebrate the enduring spirit of the

5:43 ↗ Jewish community in Isiqua and beyond.

5:46 ↗ Now therefore, I Mark Mullet, mayor of

5:47 ↗ the city of Isqua, do hereby proclaim

5:49 ↗ the month of May 2026 to be Jewish

5:52 ↗ American Heritage Month in the city of

5:53 ↗ Isiqua and urge all community members to

5:56 ↗ join in special observation and

5:57 ↗ celebration of Jewish American heritage.

6:08 ↗ Thank you, Mayor Mullet. Thank you, city

6:11 ↗ council. And thank you, community

6:14 ↗ representation. here. We uh as a Jewish

6:19 ↗ community leader at Isiqua for the last

6:21 ↗ 22 years under four mayors

6:25 ↗ starting from Mayor Fryinger all the way

6:27 ↗ to Mayor Mullet we have always felt the

6:30 ↗ welcoming loving openhearted connection

6:34 ↗ with the Jewish community celebrating

6:37 ↗ the Jewish holidays together

6:39 ↗ um achieving a tremendous feeling of

6:44 ↗ safety

6:45 ↗ that necess necessary for the Jewish

6:47 ↗ community, especially in in times like

6:50 ↗ this, knowing that the city,

6:55 ↗ the city council, the officers in the in

7:00 ↗ the Isqua police district, uh, everyone

7:04 ↗ always looking out to make sure that the

7:06 ↗ Jewish community feels safe here, feels

7:08 ↗ at home here. And by proclaiming the

7:13 ↗ month of May as the Jewish heritage

7:15 ↗ month, it's an invitation to every

7:18 ↗ member of the community to become

7:20 ↗ knowledgeable on the gifts,

7:22 ↗ contributions,

7:24 ↗ all the wonderful things that the Jewish

7:25 ↗ community has given not just to the

7:27 ↗ community in Isiqua as far as social

7:29 ↗ services and holiday celebrations, but

7:33 ↗ also as active members in the education

7:36 ↗ systems and hoping And God willing, the

7:42 ↗ rest of the community will continue

7:45 ↗ seeing the light that the Jewish people

7:47 ↗ are bringing to this community. And as

7:50 ↗ we celebrate this month, every member of

7:53 ↗ the Jewish community living in Isiqua,

7:55 ↗ uh, reading this proclamation, knowing

7:58 ↗ of this proclamation feels

8:01 ↗ a lot safer and a lot more at home. So,

8:04 ↗ thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

8:08 ↗ Right.

8:13 ↗ Let's go out here. We can do the

8:34 ↗ Okay. Commander Nice.

8:37 ↗ Close your arms.

8:50 ↗ Whereas in 1962, President Kennedy

8:53 ↗ proclaimed May 15th as National Peace

8:55 ↗ Officers Memorial Day and the calendar

8:57 ↗ week in which May 15th falls is National

9:00 ↗ Police Week. And whereas the members of

9:02 ↗ the law enforcement agency of the city

9:04 ↗ of Isqua play an important role in

9:05 ↗ safeguarding the rights and freedoms of

9:07 ↗ our community members. And whereas it is

9:09 ↗ important for Isqua residents to know

9:11 ↗ and understand the duties and

9:12 ↗ responsibilities of our police

9:14 ↗ department as well as the problems they

9:16 ↗ may face in the line of duty. And where

9:18 ↗ is that all members of our police

9:19 ↗ department recognize their duty to serve

9:21 ↗ the people by safeguarding life and

9:23 ↗ property, protecting them against

9:24 ↗ violence or disorder, protecting the

9:26 ↗ innocent against deception, and the weak

9:29 ↗ against oppression or intimidation. And

9:31 ↗ whereas Isqua Police Department has

9:33 ↗ grown to be a modern and scientific law

9:35 ↗ enforcement agency, which increasingly

9:37 ↗ provides a vital public service. Now

9:39 ↗ therefore, I, Mark Mullet, mayor of the

9:40 ↗ city of Isiqua, do hereby proclaim the

9:42 ↗ week of May 11th to the 17th to be

9:45 ↗ police week in the city of Isiqua and

9:47 ↗ invite the community to join me in

9:48 ↗ thanking the Isqua Police Department for

9:50 ↗ their outstanding service and

9:51 ↗ contributions to the Isqua community.

9:54 ↗ >> Thank you very much.

10:04 ↗ >> Good evening everyone. Uh today I'd like

10:07 ↗ to take a moment to recognize Police

10:08 ↗ Week, uh a time dedicated to honoring

10:10 ↗ the courage, service, and sacrifice of

10:12 ↗ law enforcement officers across our

10:13 ↗ nation. Police Week traces its origin

10:17 ↗ back to 1962 when John F. Kennedy signed

10:19 ↗ a proclamation designating May 15th as

10:21 ↗ Police Officers Memorial Day and the

10:23 ↗ week in which it falls as National

10:24 ↗ Police Week. Since then, communities

10:26 ↗ across the country have come together

10:27 ↗ each year remembering the officers who

10:29 ↗ have lost their lives in the line of

10:30 ↗ duty and to show appreciation for those

10:31 ↗ who continue to serve. This week is

10:34 ↗ important because it reminds us that

10:35 ↗ every badge is a person, someone who has

10:37 ↗ chosen a life of service, often facing

10:39 ↗ danger and uncertainty to keep others

10:41 ↗ safe. It is also a time to support the

10:44 ↗ families who stand behind them, sharing

10:46 ↗ in both the pride and the sacrifice.

10:48 ↗ Here in Isquar, recognizing police week

10:50 ↗ gives us the opportunity to connect as

10:52 ↗ community and express our gratitude to

10:53 ↗ the officers who protect our

10:54 ↗ neighborhoods, respond in times of

10:56 ↗ crisis, and work every day to build

10:57 ↗ trust and safety. So this week, let us

11:00 ↗ pause to remember those we've lost,

11:01 ↗ honor those who serve, and reaffirm our

11:03 ↗ support for the men and women who

11:04 ↗ dedicate their lives to protecting ours.

11:06 ↗ Thank you.

11:23 ↗ Here.

11:31 ↗ Come on.

11:50 ↗ Okay, here's our fourth and final

11:52 ↗ proclamation of the day.

11:55 ↗ Whereas Asian-American, Native Hawaiian,

11:57 ↗ and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is

11:58 ↗ an annual celebration that recognizes

12:00 ↗ the historical and cultural

12:01 ↗ contributions of Asian-Americans, Native

12:04 ↗ Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in

12:05 ↗ creating the American story. Whereas, we

12:07 ↗ celebrate the growing diversity of

12:09 ↗ Isiqua with the second largest race

12:11 ↗ being Asian-American residents

12:12 ↗ representing 28% of our population.

12:15 ↗ Diversity brings richness, opportunity,

12:17 ↗ and growth. And whereas we acknowledge

12:19 ↗ those contributions of Asian-Americans,

12:21 ↗ Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

12:23 ↗ to our local arts, education, sciences,

12:25 ↗ and to our economic, social, and

12:27 ↗ democratic institutions that strengthen

12:29 ↗ our city. And whereas we admit the past

12:31 ↗ and current hardships for Asian and

12:32 ↗ Pacific Islander Americans and strive to

12:34 ↗ foster inclusion to ensure all people

12:36 ↗ have an equal opportunity to live and

12:38 ↗ prosper. whereas we come together as a

12:40 ↗ community in a spirit of unity to

12:42 ↗ celebrate the invaluable contributions

12:43 ↗ that enrich our city with Asian and

12:45 ↗ Pacific Islander heritage. Now

12:47 ↗ therefore, I Mark Mullet, mayor of the

12:48 ↗ city of Isqua, to hereby proclaim May

12:50 ↗ 2026 to be Asian-American and Pacific

12:53 ↗ Islander Heritage Month in the city of

12:54 ↗ Isiziqua and I urge a community to join

12:56 ↗ in special observance and celebration of

12:58 ↗ Asian-American and Pacific Islander

13:01 ↗ heritage.

13:08 ↗ Thank you to Thank you to Mayor Mark

13:11 ↗ Mullet and the city of Isiqua for this

13:13 ↗ meaningful AAPI month's uh proclamation.

13:17 ↗ The circle truly appreciate the city of

13:19 ↗ Isakqua for recognizing and celebrating

13:22 ↗ the rich diversity and contribution of

13:25 ↗ our AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander

13:28 ↗ communities. On behalf of our community,

13:31 ↗ I would like also like to warmly invite

13:34 ↗ all of you to our AAPI celebration on

13:38 ↗ May 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Isakqua

13:42 ↗ Community Center. This event will

13:44 ↗ feature cultural performances

13:46 ↗ representing communities from China,

13:49 ↗ India, Pakistan, and Filipinos, Japan,

13:52 ↗ and Pacific Islanders along with

13:55 ↗ interactive cultural stations

13:58 ↗ highlighting traditions from China,

14:00 ↗ Korea, Japan, India, and Hawaii. We are

14:03 ↗ also excited to launch a Chinese history

14:06 ↗ reflection project in partnership with

14:09 ↗ Isaakqua History Museum. the um during

14:13 ↗ these events helping to deepen our

14:16 ↗ shared understanding of our local

14:18 ↗ history. We would be honored to have all

14:21 ↗ of you in joining us celebrating

14:24 ↗ cultural community and connection. Thank

14:27 ↗ you again for your support. Thank you.

14:31 ↗ >> We're going to do a we're going to do a

14:32 ↗ photo, but we're going to get you the

14:34 ↗ shift kit later on.

15:20 ↗ The next item of business is audience

15:22 ↗ comments. And for those of you who

15:24 ↗ signed up in advance, you'll be called

15:25 ↗ on first. If you're joining us

15:27 ↗ virtually, you can raise your virtual

15:29 ↗ hand. You can press star three if you're

15:31 ↗ on the phone. And we will ask people

15:35 ↗ when you do speak, please state your

15:38 ↗ name and your connection to the city of

15:40 ↗ Isiziqua. That could be your home

15:41 ↗ address or your business address or just

15:43 ↗ whatever it is that connects you to

15:45 ↗ isqua. And please be respectful. And

15:48 ↗ madam clerk, you want to go ahead and

15:50 ↗ call up the first person.

15:57 ↗ We have the sheet coming.

16:03 ↗ And I I had Maddie on here first. Is

16:05 ↗ that still right?

16:07 ↗ Oh, Dave is Dave. You got in ahead of

16:09 ↗ Maddie.

16:11 ↗ The the veteran has outdone you.

16:17 ↗ >> Good evening, council. My name is uh

16:19 ↗ David Wagner and I live uh at 22529

16:24 ↗ Southeast 42nd Terrace. That's in

16:27 ↗ Providence Point. and I'm probably the

16:31 ↗ oldest is aqua here tonight. I've lived

16:34 ↗ in Isiqua since 1945.

16:38 ↗ Um,

16:40 ↗ gone for 26 years serving our country.

16:43 ↗ Want to say congratulations to Erica.

16:46 ↗ Erica and I served on a couple of boards

16:49 ↗ together in the city. So, it's nice to

16:51 ↗ see you up there. Um,

16:57 ↗ wow. I'm down to one second already.

17:01 ↗ >> Time flies when you're having fun.

17:02 ↗ >> There we go. Um, this will be the formal

17:06 ↗ invitation for our Memorial Day service,

17:09 ↗ which will be held on the 25th of May,

17:12 ↗ and we're going to change it up a little

17:14 ↗ bit this year. In past years, we've

17:18 ↗ always had that service up at the

17:20 ↗ cemetery.

17:21 ↗ However, as your cemetery board chairman

17:24 ↗ for 12 years, I would always see the

17:27 ↗ damage after we had that service and I

17:30 ↗ would watch people and not on purpose

17:34 ↗ drive over gravestones. We don't want to

17:36 ↗ do that anymore. So, we are moving this

17:41 ↗ service to the senior center thanks to

17:44 ↗ the city for letting us do that. and

17:46 ↗ it'll be 10:00 on uh Monday morning, May

17:51 ↗ 25th. Flintto's funeral home will

17:54 ↗ provide refreshments. The service

17:56 ↗ probably won't last more than 45

17:59 ↗ minutes. Our illustrious mayor will be

18:02 ↗ our speaker and uh we look forward to

18:06 ↗ you coming down. I think parking will be

18:08 ↗ better here downtown than it uh is up on

18:12 ↗ the hill.

18:13 ↗ We're going to still have volunteers

18:15 ↗ from the community uh when we set the uh

18:19 ↗ cemetery up on Saturday morning

18:22 ↗ beginning at 9:00. So, I want to say to

18:26 ↗ the city, come on out, enjoy it. Again,

18:29 ↗ Flint Off Funeral Home will have

18:31 ↗ refreshments for us to set up flags and

18:34 ↗ crosses. and uh take down will be uh

18:38 ↗ Monday night at 6:00 p.m. need the same

18:42 ↗ help there. Mayor, I want to report that

18:45 ↗ uh the numbers from flag retirement. Our

18:49 ↗ mayor attended our flag retirement on

18:51 ↗ the 25th, Saturday the 25th. It went

18:55 ↗ from 8:00 in the morning till 3:00 in

18:58 ↗ the afternoon and we retired 800 to a

19:02 ↗ thousand flags just on that Saturday.

19:05 ↗ Thanks to uh East Side Fire and Rescue

19:08 ↗ for being up there. That fire was hot.

19:12 ↗ We want to make sure the kids were safe.

19:15 ↗ We had uh

19:18 ↗ an Eagle Scout project which was

19:20 ↗ completed. 60 scouts trained in proper

19:23 ↗ flag etiquette for disposal and

19:26 ↗ wonderful camaraderie between the

19:29 ↗ community and East Side Fire and Rescue.

19:32 ↗ Um to date uh I think we're closer to

19:38 ↗ 10,000 flags that we have uh disposed of

19:42 ↗ for the city of Isiqua since 2006.

19:46 ↗ That's a lot of flags.

19:48 ↗ And the last thing uh tonight

19:57 ↗ flag

19:59 ↗ that flag represents uh

20:02 ↗ six new flags that we're presenting to

20:05 ↗ the city of Isiqua. Just so you know,

20:08 ↗ we've lost 13

20:11 ↗ soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines

20:15 ↗ since this Iran war has started, and we

20:19 ↗ don't want to forget them. So, between

20:21 ↗ East Side Fire and Rescue and the city

20:23 ↗ of Isiqua, we on Memorial Day will be

20:27 ↗ flying brand new flags in their honor so

20:30 ↗ that they are not forgotten. That's all

20:33 ↗ I have. Thank you. Hope to see you at

20:35 ↗ Memorial Day.

20:37 ↗ All right, thank you very much. And

20:40 ↗ here's a public service announcement. I

20:42 ↗ didn't know this until I became mayor.

20:43 ↗ If you have an old flag at your house

20:44 ↗ outside of the senior center, there is a

20:47 ↗ box. Looks kind of like a mailbox where

20:48 ↗ you can actually put in your old flag.

20:50 ↗ And I will say being at this event, I

20:53 ↗ saw flags with 48 stars on them. Hence,

20:55 ↗ flags that were obviously made pre-1959.

20:58 ↗ So, there were some old flags that were

21:00 ↗ retired. And it is actually a very

21:02 ↗ effective way to retire flags by

21:04 ↗ bringing them down to the senior center.

21:06 ↗ Uh madam clerk, next

21:08 ↗ >> Maddie Coats.

21:22 ↗ Excellent. Good evening, Mayor Mullet,

21:24 ↗ council members, and city staff. Thank

21:27 ↗ you for the chance to speak today. My

21:29 ↗ name is Maddie Coats and I live in North

21:31 ↗ Isiqua. I'm the editor of the Isiqua

21:33 ↗ Spotlight and I'm here to share some

21:35 ↗ exciting details about the future of

21:37 ↗ local news in Isiqua. In 2017, the

21:40 ↗ Isiqua Press shut down after 117 years,

21:43 ↗ leaving behind its legacy as a trusted

21:45 ↗ so source of local news coverage.

21:49 ↗ For generations, that paper documented

21:51 ↗ the stories, decisions, celebrations,

21:53 ↗ and challenges that shaped this

21:54 ↗ community and helped residents stay

21:56 ↗ informed and connected. In the years

21:58 ↗ since its closure, Isiqua has become

22:00 ↗ known as a news desert, a place with

22:03 ↗ limited access to consistent, locally

22:05 ↗ focused reporting.

22:07 ↗ As our city has continued to grow and

22:09 ↗ evolve, there's been no dedicated

22:10 ↗ newsroom regularly covering the issues

22:13 ↗ that directly affect daily life in

22:15 ↗ Isiqua.

22:16 ↗ The loss of local news didn't just mean

22:18 ↗ fewer headlines. It meant fewer

22:20 ↗ opportunities for civic engagement,

22:22 ↗ accountability,

22:24 ↗ and shared understanding. We know that

22:26 ↗ communities are strongest when residents

22:28 ↗ have trusted information about what's

22:30 ↗ happening around them. That's why I'm

22:32 ↗ proud to introduce a new chapter of

22:34 ↗ local journalism that's about to begin

22:35 ↗ in Isiqua. The Isqua Spotlight is a new

22:38 ↗ digital newspaper launching in June

22:40 ↗ 2026. This is an independent

22:42 ↗ community-led effort to deliver

22:44 ↗ meaningful news and information to the

22:46 ↗ greater Isiqua area. It's entirely free

22:49 ↗ to subscribe. All you need is your email

22:51 ↗ address. Every Friday, subscribers will

22:53 ↗ receive three to five stories in their

22:55 ↗ inbox dealing detailing the topics that

22:57 ↗ matter most to our community. In

22:59 ↗ surveying residents, we've heard that

23:01 ↗ people want to read about local

23:02 ↗ government schools businesses arts

23:05 ↗ and culture, transportation, history,

23:09 ↗ human interest stories, and of course, a

23:11 ↗ police blotter.

23:13 ↗ Our coverage of Isiqua City Council will

23:15 ↗ focus on breaking down complex issues in

23:18 ↗ a clear, accessible way for residents.

23:20 ↗ This ties into our mission of delivering

23:22 ↗ independent local news that helps Isiqua

23:25 ↗ residents understand their community and

23:27 ↗ feel empower empowered to participate in

23:29 ↗ civic life.

23:32 ↗ I do want to address some test content

23:34 ↗ that briefly appeared on our live

23:36 ↗ website several weeks ago. Um we want to

23:38 ↗ set the record straight that what we're

23:40 ↗ building is a serious professional

23:42 ↗ newsroom for Isiqua. Our content is

23:44 ↗ nonpartisan, fact-based, and distinct

23:47 ↗ from existing blogs and opinion-driven

23:49 ↗ content. Our publisher, Adam Pinkinsky,

23:52 ↗ started building the foundation for the

23:54 ↗ Isqua Spotlight almost exactly one year

23:56 ↗ ago. Um, as a 30-year subscriber to the

23:58 ↗ Isqua Press, he missed having a local

24:00 ↗ source of news coverage in the greater

24:02 ↗ Isqua area. In the early days, Adam

24:05 ↗ partnered with a group of volunteers to

24:07 ↗ research similar startups across the

24:09 ↗ country and better understand what makes

24:10 ↗ community journalism successful today.

24:13 ↗ With support from the Isizakiqua Kuanas

24:15 ↗ Club, um he hosted community input

24:17 ↗ meetings to gather feedback on what

24:19 ↗ residents value in local news and what

24:21 ↗ they felt was missing. Ultimately,

24:24 ↗ community members voted to select the

24:25 ↗ isol spotlight as the name of this

24:27 ↗ publication last year, last fall. Since

24:30 ↗ then, we've hired a reporter and editor,

24:32 ↗ established a board of directors, many

24:34 ↗ of whom are sitting behind me, launched

24:36 ↗ our website, and built a clear financial

24:38 ↗ plan. Our team has submitted an

24:41 ↗ application to the IRS to become a 501c3

24:44 ↗ nonprofit and until that's approved,

24:47 ↗ we're fiscally sponsored by the Isqua

24:48 ↗ Kuanas Club. We rely on donations, grant

24:51 ↗ funding, and sponsorships to succeed.

24:54 ↗ Over the next month, we've scheduled

24:55 ↗ three community public community

24:57 ↗ meetings to hear feedback from Isiqua

24:59 ↗ residents. Our first meeting is

25:01 ↗ Thursday, May 21st at Blakeley Hall. Our

25:04 ↗ second one is online via Google Meet on

25:07 ↗ Wednesday, May 27th. And our third one

25:10 ↗ is um on Tuesday, June 2nd at the KCLS

25:14 ↗ service center. And each meeting is from

25:16 ↗ 8 7 to 8:00 p.m. We encourage you all to

25:19 ↗ attend. Um and this will be an

25:21 ↗ opportunity to meet our team, share

25:23 ↗ story ideas, ask questions, and learn

25:25 ↗ how to subscribe and support our launch.

25:28 ↗ We ask that you all continue spreading

25:29 ↗ the word about this fresh era of news in

25:32 ↗ Isiqua. Please subscribe and encourage

25:34 ↗ your new networks to do the same. Um,

25:36 ↗ more information you can find at

25:38 ↗ isakqualpotlight.org

25:40 ↗ and I welcome the opportunity to meet

25:42 ↗ with each of you before our launch to

25:44 ↗ share more details about our coverage

25:45 ↗ strategy. Thank you for listening.

25:49 ↗ >> Thank you very much. I was with Adam at

25:51 ↗ Timber Ridge today and we we had Timber

25:53 ↗ Ridge all excited about an online

25:56 ↗ newspaper coming back and Kashif, you

25:58 ↗ get the award for best sneaker game at

26:00 ↗ the May 4th council meeting. is very

26:02 ↗ impressed with the purple sneakers. Uh,

26:04 ↗ madam clerk, next

26:06 ↗ >> John Perisc.

26:12 ↗ >> Mayor, council, thank you for having me

26:14 ↗ tonight. Uh, my name is John Pzik. I'm

26:16 ↗ the general manager of the Hilton

26:17 ↗ Guardian at 1800 Northwest Gilman, as

26:20 ↗ well as I'm the board chair for Visit

26:22 ↗ Isiqua. Uh, I'm here today to talk about

26:24 ↗ just tourism in the city, as well as

26:27 ↗ the, uh, annual report you receive for

26:30 ↗ Visit Isiqua. I do urge that you spend

26:32 ↗ some time to read it. It was a very good

26:34 ↗ report of what we've done last year and

26:37 ↗ with Christy and Kimberly in their

26:39 ↗ positions, they have moved um Isqua as a

26:42 ↗ tourist destination so much. Um with the

26:45 ↗ destination stewardship project

26:47 ↗ gathering local companies together that

26:49 ↗ didn't realize that they were part of

26:51 ↗ tourism. Um, one of the things we love

26:53 ↗ about Isiqua is, you know, the

26:55 ↗ restaurants, the shops, Gilman Village,

26:57 ↗ Front Street, the high school,

26:59 ↗ everything is related to tourists, not

27:01 ↗ just the hotels. Um, tourism is based on

27:05 ↗ people wanting to have fun experiences,

27:06 ↗ and Esqua is here for that. Also,

27:09 ↗ there's a few fun things coming up with

27:11 ↗ tourism. Uh, last year, we were able to

27:13 ↗ do a feasibility study for the upcoming

27:15 ↗ aircraft paragliding festival, which

27:17 ↗ will be the first in the US. It's based

27:20 ↗ off of one in France and has never

27:22 ↗ occurred in the US before and we're very

27:24 ↗ excited for that to happen. Um, other

27:27 ↗ thing that I just want to mention is if

27:29 ↗ anyone ever has questions about what

27:30 ↗ Visa is doing, what we're doing with

27:32 ↗ tourism, how we're growing the city,

27:34 ↗ making money, feel free to reach out.

27:36 ↗ We're always here. We love talking about

27:39 ↗ um just what is happening, what we're

27:41 ↗ doing. It's a lot of fun. For those

27:44 ↗ who've not worked in a hotel, we bounce

27:46 ↗ around. We're bartending. We're cleaning

27:48 ↗ rooms. We're at the desk. We're all over

27:49 ↗ the place at the council meetings. Um,

27:52 ↗ we really enjoy being out and talking to

27:54 ↗ people. That's what we do. So, I thank

27:57 ↗ you for your quick time. Reach out if

27:59 ↗ you guys ever have any questions and do

28:01 ↗ please read that report because it'll

28:03 ↗ answer everything you need.

28:05 ↗ >> Excellent. Thank you very much, John. I

28:07 ↗ will I will be starting that aircraft

28:09 ↗ festival landing on a paraglider on

28:11 ↗ August 15th at 1:00. Yes.

28:15 ↗ uh could be the end of my mayor term.

28:18 ↗ Uh Madam Clerk,

28:20 ↗ >> the next speaker is a virtual attendee,

28:22 ↗ Joe Kler. Joe, we're going to make you a

28:25 ↗ panelist now. You should then see the

28:27 ↗ option to unmute and can choose to turn

28:29 ↗ your video on.

28:34 ↗ Hello. Can everyone hear me?

28:37 ↗ >> Yes.

28:39 ↗ >> Thank you, clerk. Thank you staff for

28:40 ↗ getting the technical issues worked out

28:42 ↗ so we could have some virtual public

28:44 ↗ comment tonight. Some moral support for

28:46 ↗ Isaakiqua as you well 12 Isaakqua as you

28:48 ↗ go for your uh Sound Transit Link

28:50 ↗ competition. Huge supporter of this

28:52 ↗ community uh winning over Kirkland uh

28:54 ↗ for several reasons. Number one, you

28:57 ↗ actually proclaimed Jewish American

28:58 ↗ Heritage Month. That's important. Uh,

29:00 ↗ number two, you unlike Kirkland, are

29:03 ↗ going to deal with the threat of Alex

29:05 ↗ Zimmerman and other anti-semmites coming

29:07 ↗ and hurling hate and drawing a line in

29:09 ↗ the sand. That is very much appreciated.

29:11 ↗ Um, not looking forward to the

29:13 ↗ conversation with Kirkland tomorrow

29:14 ↗ night. Um, I'll leave it at that. Uh,

29:17 ↗ because they haven't done the work that

29:18 ↗ Redmond's done, Belleview's done, 12 has

29:21 ↗ done. And uh number three, I'm really

29:23 ↗ excited for Thursday morning uh where we

29:25 ↗ can make our case for the right

29:26 ↗ communities that accept sound transit

29:29 ↗ values such as inclusion and integrity

29:33 ↗ and community and environmentalism

29:37 ↗ and accountability

29:39 ↗ uh to be be placed ahead and uh complete

29:42 ↗ these projects because Sound Transit

29:44 ↗ isn't just a a mass transit provider.

29:46 ↗ It's also a community builder. And when

29:49 ↗ you lay light rail down somewhere, you

29:51 ↗ are making an a statement that that is

29:52 ↗ where when you put light rail and

29:55 ↗ stations together, you're making a

29:56 ↗ statement. That is where community is.

29:58 ↗ That is where community matters. And I

30:00 ↗ am rooting for you 110% as much as ever

30:05 ↗ and the great north uh and at some point

30:07 ↗ Tacoma. Um and I just want you to know

30:11 ↗ you've got support uh out there. And uh

30:13 ↗ I know Thursday is going to be a tough

30:15 ↗ day. We're still waiting on Sound

30:16 ↗ Transit to drop the draft resolution. On

30:19 ↗ that, I'm uh refreshing the Sound

30:20 ↗ Transit website and uh like you all

30:23 ↗ probably are and

30:25 ↗ just uh hoping for the best possible

30:27 ↗ outcome out of all this so we can build

30:29 ↗ back better from uh the past few years.

30:31 ↗ Want to thank you all for your public

30:32 ↗ service and go get them. Go 12 visiqua.

30:35 ↗ Thank you.

30:36 ↗ >> Thank you, Joe. We like the Seahawk

30:38 ↗ encouragement. It's uh this is awesome.

30:41 ↗ Madam clerk,

30:42 ↗ >> no one else uh has signed up in advance

30:44 ↗ to speak.

30:45 ↗ >> Is there anybody else in the audience?

30:46 ↗ This is your chance. Raise your hand.

30:48 ↗ All right, come on up.

30:58 ↗ Good evening. My name is Aur Kamaria. I

31:01 ↗ am 13 years old and even though I don't

31:03 ↗ live in Isiqua, I live in Samish.

31:06 ↗ I want to start by telling you something

31:07 ↗ personal. I have a congenital heart

31:10 ↗ condition. It was never

31:11 ↗ life-threatening, but I know what it

31:13 ↗ feels like to be a kid going through

31:15 ↗ something, something that feels bigger

31:17 ↗ than you, something that makes the world

31:19 ↗ feel heavy and uncertain and hard to

31:22 ↗ navigate alone.

31:24 ↗ And I looked around and I thought, there

31:26 ↗ are so many kids going through something

31:28 ↗ hard. Not just kids in hospitals, kids

31:31 ↗ dealing with loss, kids going through a

31:34 ↗ family divorce, kids carrying weight

31:37 ↗ that no child should ever have to carry

31:39 ↗ alone. Nobody was asking these those

31:42 ↗ kids what they imagined. Nobody was

31:44 ↗ asking them what they dreamed about.

31:47 ↗ Nobody was asking them what they would

31:48 ↗ create if they could create anything.

31:51 ↗ That silence is what started Printable

31:53 ↗ Dreams.

31:55 ↗ Printable Dreams is a nonprofit I

31:56 ↗ founded that turns children's drawings

31:58 ↗ into real 3D printed objects. A kid

32:02 ↗ draws something, a dragon, a rocket, a

32:04 ↗ garden creature, a superhero, anything

32:06 ↗ their imagination can conjure up. And we

32:09 ↗ bring it to life as something they can

32:11 ↗ actually hold in their hands. Something

32:13 ↗ that is entirely, completely, uniquely

32:16 ↗ theirs. Every single print is made

32:19 ↗ specifically for that child. No two are

32:21 ↗ ever the same. Principal Dreams is not

32:24 ↗ just for sick children. It is for every

32:27 ↗ child going through something hard.

32:29 ↗ Every child deserves a moment where the

32:31 ↗ world stops feeling heavy, where their

32:33 ↗ imagination becomes something real and

32:35 ↗ joyful that belongs entirely to them. I

32:39 ↗ believe that when a child holds an

32:41 ↗ object made from their own imagination,

32:43 ↗ something shifts inside them. It tells

32:45 ↗ them that their dreams are real, that

32:48 ↗ their ideas have power, that even in the

32:50 ↗ hardest, darkest moments of their young

32:53 ↗ lives, their creativity belongs to them.

32:55 ↗ And nobody, nobody can take that away.

32:58 ↗ I've seen what happens when a child

33:00 ↗ realizes their imagination can become

33:02 ↗ something tangible. Their eyes change,

33:05 ↗ their posture changes, something in them

33:07 ↗ wakes up. That moment, that one single

33:10 ↗ moment is worth everything. I am funding

33:13 ↗ this entirely myself. From June to

33:16 ↗ October of last summer, I spent every

33:18 ↗ weekend helping an elderly vendor at the

33:20 ↗ Redmond Farmers Market seller products.

33:23 ↗ Week after week, I showed up. I stayed

33:25 ↗ the entire day. Every time I earned

33:27 ↗ $300. That $300 is what is backing

33:30 ↗ Principal Dreams today. Not my parents,

33:33 ↗ not a loan, not a donation. Months of

33:35 ↗ work I did with my own two hands because

33:38 ↗ I believed in this before anyone else

33:40 ↗ did. My teacher at my school, Englewood

33:43 ↗ Middle School, Mr. Henderson, has been

33:45 ↗ gracious enough to let me use the

33:47 ↗ school's 3D printer with my own

33:48 ↗ filament. I have a mission. I have my

33:51 ↗ teacher support. I have my parents

33:53 ↗ support. I have a website and I bought

33:55 ↗ the raw material from the money I

33:56 ↗ earned. Here is my dream. I do not want

33:59 ↗ principal dreams to say in Samish or

34:02 ↗ even in Washington. I want to build a

34:04 ↗ global network of 3D printing

34:06 ↗ volunteers, people all around the world

34:08 ↗ who sign up. And when a child anywhere

34:10 ↗ in a hospital in Seattle or a clinic in

34:13 ↗ rural rural Kenya or a children's ward

34:16 ↗ in Tokyo sends in a drawing, I match

34:18 ↗ them with a volunteer nearby who can

34:20 ↗ print it and deliver it directly to

34:22 ↗ them. Free. Always free because this

34:24 ↗ will never be about money. This is

34:26 ↗ always about making a child feel seen.

34:29 ↗ I'm asking tonight for your support,

34:31 ↗ your connections, and your help in

34:33 ↗ growing printable dreams into something

34:35 ↗ that reaches every child on this planet

34:37 ↗ who needs a moment of joy. Because every

34:39 ↗ child deserves to see their imagination

34:41 ↗ be real, be become real. If you want to

34:43 ↗ learn more, my website is

34:44 ↗ printabledreams.com.

34:47 ↗ >> Thank you.

34:49 ↗ >> That was really impressive. Uh,

34:51 ↗ >> thank you.

34:52 ↗ >> You get the award for most profound

34:54 ↗ 13-year-old testimony of 2026. And I

34:57 ↗ think we're all glad that at least

34:58 ↗ there's one election cycle where he

35:00 ↗ could run for office and beat all of us.

35:01 ↗ So,

35:04 ↗ anybody else wishing to testify?

35:07 ↗ No. Audience comments. Okay, we are now

35:11 ↗ going to end audience comments and the

35:13 ↗ next item of business is the consent

35:16 ↗ calendar. I do not have any remarks on

35:18 ↗ the consent calendar items. Committee

35:20 ↗ chairs or chair doesn't any reports on

35:22 ↗ consent calendar items. Looking looking

35:27 ↗ not seeing any. Uh I think madam clerk

35:31 ↗ you might have a minor update.

35:32 ↗ >> Yes. I just wanted to let everyone know

35:34 ↗ per your policy that there was a

35:36 ↗ correction made to the April 27th

35:38 ↗ meeting minutes. Uh that was circulated

35:40 ↗ to you a few hours ago. It was just

35:43 ↗ better clarifying the location of an

35:46 ↗ item of discussion at last Monday's

35:48 ↗ special meeting. With approval of the

35:50 ↗ consent calendar, you'll be approving

35:51 ↗ the revised version.

35:53 ↗ >> Okay. So the consent calendar was contri

35:56 ↗ was distributed to the council in

35:57 ↗ advance. If authorized cassette calendar

35:59 ↗ will be considered together and approved

36:01 ↗ in one motion. Have the payables and

36:02 ↗ payrolls been reviewed?

36:04 ↗ >> They have.

36:07 ↗ >> That is affirmative. Does any council

36:09 ↗ member want to remove any items from the

36:11 ↗ consent calendar and place them in

36:12 ↗ regular business?

36:14 ↗ Not seeing any. Is there a motion?

36:16 ↗ >> Mr. Mayor, I move the consent calendar

36:18 ↗ as listed in today's uh packet.

36:23 ↗ >> Second.

36:23 ↗ >> There's been a motion and a second. All

36:25 ↗ those in favor, please say I.

36:27 ↗ >> I. I.

36:28 ↗ >> All those opposed? Nay. And that passes

36:32 ↗ unanimously. The next item of business

36:33 ↗ is regular business. ID 2018

36:36 ↗ informationational update on the Q4 2025

36:38 ↗ year end report. I think we have Kristen

36:42 ↗ Garcia coming up to present this item.

36:49 ↗ >> Yes. Thank you, mayor. Uh, give me just

36:50 ↗ a moment to get my screen.

36:59 ↗ Let's see. Okay, we can. All right.

37:03 ↗ Thank you, mayor. Good evening, members

37:04 ↗ of council and for those members of the

37:07 ↗ audience um here tonight and maybe

37:09 ↗ viewing online. I'm Kristen Garcia, the

37:11 ↗ finance director here and here to give a

37:14 ↗ 2025 year end financial update. Um, I do

37:17 ↗ want to take a moment to thank council

37:20 ↗ for all the questions um that were

37:22 ↗ received on this report. It's helping to

37:25 ↗ inform me and our new budget manager of

37:27 ↗ some of the information that you're

37:28 ↗ interested in, the level of detail that

37:30 ↗ you're looking for. Um, and so that'll

37:33 ↗ help inform and direct on future

37:35 ↗ reports. So, thank you for uh providing

37:37 ↗ that feedback. I've also been trying to

37:40 ↗ expand the information that's been

37:42 ↗ presented to council so you have a more

37:44 ↗ holistic view of um all city finances. I

37:47 ↗ know historically we've tend to focus on

37:49 ↗ the the general fund, what we call the

37:51 ↗ big four revenues and the refunds. And

37:53 ↗ so um hopefully the expansion of the

37:56 ↗ information that I'll share will be

37:57 ↗ helpful as you move forward with some of

37:59 ↗ your decision- making. And the last item

38:01 ↗ that I want to note before I get started

38:03 ↗ with the presentation is that we do have

38:04 ↗ a new budget manager. His name is

38:06 ↗ Michael Blunt. and you will all get the

38:08 ↗ opportunity to meet him as he's invi

38:10 ↗ been invited to attend our council

38:11 ↗ retreat this Saturday.

38:16 ↗ >> Michael's from Goodyear, so our

38:18 ↗ icebreaker is going to be who's seen the

38:19 ↗ Goodyear blimp and you'll have to share

38:21 ↗ Goodyear blimp stories.

38:22 ↗ >> Yes, that was a fun exercise.

38:26 ↗ All right. Uh so the purpose of tonight

38:28 ↗ is to um intended to provide city

38:30 ↗ council with an overview of the

38:32 ↗ preliminary unodudited 2025 year

38:35 ↗ financial results. Um, I do want to make

38:37 ↗ note that the amounts in the document

38:39 ↗ are subject to change pending final

38:42 ↗ review, internal review of the financial

38:44 ↗ statements and then of course pending

38:46 ↗ final outcome of the audit. I don't

38:47 ↗ expect there to be any changes. Um, but

38:50 ↗ the CPA and me wants to make full

38:51 ↗ disclosure that if there are any

38:53 ↗ changers if there are any changes I do

38:56 ↗ expect they would be very minor and not

38:58 ↗ material.

39:01 ↗ So the general fund started uh 2025 with

39:04 ↗ fund balance of uh 17 million uh 48% of

39:09 ↗ which was restricted and related to the

39:12 ↗ affordable housing sales tax. Uh

39:14 ↗ beginning I do want to note that

39:16 ↗ beginning in 2026 the city did create

39:19 ↗ the affordable housing sales tax. We

39:21 ↗ have moved all of the restricted fund

39:23 ↗ balance out of the general fund into the

39:25 ↗ new fund. So now going forward all

39:27 ↗ revenues and expenses will be accounted

39:29 ↗ for in that fund. So that should

39:31 ↗ eliminate or significantly reduce u the

39:33 ↗ amount of stricted u monies reported in

39:35 ↗ the general fund. Um I want to note that

39:38 ↗ the city also received 9.6 million in uh

39:41 ↗ from the sale of the capital assets of

39:42 ↗ the uh northwest city hall northwest and

39:45 ↗ the food bank and this is a one-time

39:47 ↗ source of income. So that's why it was

39:49 ↗ noted separately in the report and uh

39:52 ↗ removed from fund balance calculations.

39:55 ↗ The total ending unrestricted fund

39:57 ↗ balance at the end of 2025 was 8.1

40:00 ↗ million or 12% of total unrestricted

40:03 ↗ expenditures. A reminder that city

40:06 ↗ financial policy requires unrestricted

40:08 ↗ fund balances to be between 15 and 20%

40:11 ↗ of unrestricted expenditures. And um if

40:15 ↗ you might recall during the mid uh

40:16 ↗ bianium process last fall we were

40:19 ↗ targeting to hit the forecast was

40:20 ↗ targeting to hit about 10% at the end of

40:22 ↗ 2025 and 12% by the end of 2026. So

40:27 ↗ we're actually ahead of where we

40:28 ↗ forecasted last fall.

40:32 ↗ The city has four main revenue sources

40:35 ↗ um in the general fund. Uh property tax,

40:37 ↗ sales tax, business and occupation tax

40:40 ↗ and utility tax. We historically have

40:42 ↗ referred to these as the big four

40:44 ↗ revenue. So if you hear that term, um

40:46 ↗ that's typically what we're referring

40:47 ↗ to. Um collectively, these four revenue

40:50 ↗ sources comprise about 69% of all

40:53 ↗ general fund revenue. And this chart is

40:55 ↗ comparing the 2025 budget to Q3 2025

41:01 ↗ forecast and then year-end actuals. Uh

41:04 ↗ property tax revenues came in at about

41:06 ↗ 10.8 million uh both aligned with budget

41:09 ↗ and forecast. Sales tax revenues at year

41:12 ↗ end were aligned with budget both at 20

41:15 ↗ million but the forecast was indicating

41:17 ↗ that we would come in a bit higher at

41:19 ↗ about 21 million. Uh we looked back at

41:22 ↗ the forecasting model and the historical

41:24 ↗ forecasting methodology was based on an

41:27 ↗ average percentage of total revenue

41:29 ↗ rather than the change from year to

41:32 ↗ year. So I think that's might what be um

41:35 ↗ driving the higher forecast. So, um the

41:38 ↗ new budget manager and I going to take a

41:40 ↗ look at our forecasting models for 2026

41:42 ↗ just to see if any adjustments might

41:44 ↗ need to be made and um to make sure that

41:46 ↗ we're trying to forecast as accurately

41:48 ↗ as we can. Uh BNO taxes, those are a

41:52 ↗ little bit harder to predict. Our

41:53 ↗ actuals came in about 7.5 million versus

41:57 ↗ 6.75 million uh for budget. Actuals

42:01 ↗ though were actually within about 45 or

42:04 ↗ 46,000 of what we forecasted. So that

42:06 ↗ actual forecast was a little bit closer.

42:09 ↗ Um I did notice in the last um couple of

42:11 ↗ years the budget has been quite a bit

42:13 ↗ lower for BNO tax. Um so that's

42:16 ↗ something that I want to take a look at

42:17 ↗ as we start begin developing our 2728.

42:20 ↗ >> Kristen, I'm going to go ahead and I'll

42:22 ↗ do questions as you go. So council

42:23 ↗ president Marks.

42:24 ↗ >> Yes.

42:24 ↗ >> Thanks. So we're we're gonna I mean

42:27 ↗ there's information in this packet. I'm

42:30 ↗ I'm confused about these numbers a

42:31 ↗ little bit because there's information

42:32 ↗ in the packet that says for revenue

42:34 ↗ general fund uh 2025 revised 67 million

42:39 ↗ 2025 actual 79 million over under 12.4

42:43 ↗ million. So how do those numbers relate

42:45 ↗ to the numbers on this slide?

42:48 ↗ >> So the you're referring to um probably

42:52 ↗ this

42:53 ↗ >> this chart.

42:54 ↗ >> Yeah, there we go.

42:54 ↗ >> Yeah. So the 12 million 9.6 Six of that

42:58 ↗ was the sale of the city hall northwest

43:00 ↗ and then 3 million of that was from

43:02 ↗ other changes um related to let's see I

43:07 ↗ have that in there um we have investment

43:09 ↗ interest park rentals and recreation

43:11 ↗ classes BNO taxes I just talked about um

43:14 ↗ plan check Bes so other miscellaneous

43:18 ↗ but the the the $12 million difference

43:19 ↗ 9.6 six was from the sale of city hall

43:22 ↗ northwest.

43:24 ↗ >> I see. Okay. So, I'm just Okay. It just

43:29 ↗ It wasn't obvious why they would be

43:31 ↗ different.

43:32 ↗ >> Why that didn't connect. So,

43:33 ↗ >> no, just why they would be different,

43:34 ↗ but Okay.

43:37 ↗ All right. Thank you.

43:39 ↗ >> Okay.

43:44 ↗ Okay.

43:49 ↗ And then um as for utility taxes, the

43:52 ↗ budget of 8.3 million uh was projected a

43:56 ↗ little bit too high. We looked at the

43:59 ↗ projections for the incremental tax

44:01 ↗ increase that would have been received

44:02 ↗ when we increased the tax rate. So the

44:05 ↗ change in the utility tax rate uh was

44:07 ↗ overestimated. Um so the the forecast

44:10 ↗ was also um affected by that. Uh and

44:14 ↗ that's something else that we'll need to

44:15 ↗ address as we look at the 20 27 and 28

44:19 ↗ budget is that I think historically um

44:21 ↗ because of that change we've been

44:22 ↗ budgeting a little bit too high. So we

44:24 ↗ want to bring that into an alignment.

44:27 ↗ Okay. So this chart is referring just

44:29 ↗ very high level at um the general fund

44:32 ↗ the utility funds kind of rolling in a

44:34 ↗ high level view of all the city funds.

44:36 ↗ Uh total revenue uh collections across

44:39 ↗ all city funds for the city were about

44:41 ↗ 181 million. Um, as I mentioned, the

44:44 ↗ general fund, uh, the variance is 12.3

44:48 ↗ million. 9.6 of that was the revenue

44:50 ↗ from the sale of City Hall Northwest and

44:52 ↗ the food bank. And then other items that

44:54 ↗ contributed to that I just mentioned,

44:56 ↗ um, investment interest, park rents,

44:59 ↗ recreation class, BNO tax, um, and plan

45:01 ↗ check fees. That list is not all

45:03 ↗ comprehensive, but those were some of

45:05 ↗ the big variances that contributed to

45:07 ↗ that. uh water and sewer revenues came

45:10 ↗ in over budget because of us user

45:12 ↗ charges. Uh there was a rate increase

45:15 ↗ per the ordinance that affected 2025

45:18 ↗ rates. So that impacted revenue and we

45:20 ↗ did have a a slight increase in the

45:23 ↗ number of customers being built. So that

45:24 ↗ would also contribute to the increase in

45:26 ↗ revenue. Uh storm revenues came in under

45:29 ↗ budget. Um that was because of the

45:31 ↗ Laughing Jacobs Creek project. So I'll

45:34 ↗ I'll talk a little bit in a few slides,

45:36 ↗ but the enterprise funds do account for

45:39 ↗ both operating and capital revenue

45:41 ↗ expenditures. And so it it's not just

45:43 ↗ user charges. Any capital grants or um

45:46 ↗ connection fees would be included in

45:48 ↗ that. So I wanted to point that out. Uh

45:50 ↗ we did budget in the the storm fund to

45:53 ↗ receive a grant of about 995,000 related

45:56 ↗ to that Laughing Jacobs Creek project.

45:58 ↗ Uh but we had very little expenses

46:00 ↗ related to that. So we didn't seek uh

46:02 ↗ reimbursement so we wouldn't have had

46:03 ↗ revenue to compare against the budget.

46:06 ↗ Uh REIT came in over budget because of

46:07 ↗ the sale of the Anthology apartments.

46:10 ↗ That was a very large transaction. Um

46:12 ↗ quite an anomaly, not uh not something

46:14 ↗ that we typically see. So that drove the

46:17 ↗ uh revenues up and came in quite a bit

46:19 ↗ over budget. Uh mitigation revenues also

46:21 ↗ came in higher than budget. We received

46:24 ↗ about 600,000 more in traffic impact

46:26 ↗ fees, about 148,000 more in bike

46:29 ↗ pedestrian impact fees, and about

46:31 ↗ 117,000 more in fire impact fees. Um the

46:36 ↗ other category is kind of a combination

46:38 ↗ of all the other city funds rolled in

46:40 ↗ together. Um the biggest piece of that

46:43 ↗ about half is the capital projects fund.

46:45 ↗ Uh we also have other uh funds, internal

46:48 ↗ service funds, the debt service fund,

46:51 ↗ the other special revenue funds like

46:52 ↗ school zone safety, lodging tax and

46:54 ↗ cemetery. Uh but the biggest difference

46:57 ↗ um the $5 million variance is related to

47:00 ↗ the capital project fund. Um and that's

47:02 ↗ really related to the timing between

47:04 ↗ grants. So in the capital project fund

47:06 ↗ that doesn't generate its own revenue.

47:08 ↗ revenues typically come from transfers

47:10 ↗ from other funds like mitigation or REIT

47:13 ↗ or the TBD fund or grant funding. Um

47:17 ↗ sometimes the timing between uh when we

47:20 ↗ plan for a project and when the project

47:22 ↗ occurs sometimes uh that timing is

47:25 ↗ shifted or when we might expect to see

47:27 ↗ the revenue um because they're typically

47:29 ↗ reimbursement based. So the biggest

47:31 ↗ difference is uh as an example we have a

47:34 ↗ project TTRO96 the northwest Samameish

47:37 ↗ road project. We budgeted about 3.1

47:40 ↗ million to receive for that project. Um

47:43 ↗ but as of year end we only received

47:45 ↗ about 4,000. That's probably because we

47:48 ↗ haven't expended enough to seek

47:49 ↗ reimbursement. So that would be an

47:50 ↗ example of why that variance would be so

47:52 ↗ big.

47:55 ↗ Okay. uh total general fund expend

47:57 ↗ expenditures came within about 500,000

48:00 ↗ of budgeted expenditures. Uh police and

48:02 ↗ parks are the largest departments in

48:05 ↗ terms of budget. Um in the undefined

48:08 ↗ category, the biggest piece of that is

48:10 ↗ the east side fire and rescue services.

48:13 ↗ And then um the next largest category

48:15 ↗ within undefined would be transfers out.

48:18 ↗ Um that would primarily be the general

48:20 ↗ fund support transfers to the street

48:23 ↗ operating fund. Uh there were some

48:26 ↗ departments that had overspends, some

48:29 ↗ that had under spends, but a reminder

48:31 ↗ that we budget at the fund level and

48:34 ↗ 2025 is year 1 in the bianium. So this

48:37 ↗ is kind of our midbian checkpoint and we

48:40 ↗ look at expenditures between 25 and 26.

48:43 ↗ So overall for bianial budgeting

48:46 ↗ purposes, expenditures coming within

48:48 ↗ 500,000 is pretty aligned with budget.

48:51 ↗ So no concerns there.

48:54 ↗ >> Council President Marts,

48:56 ↗ >> thank you. So at at the highest level,

48:58 ↗ so setting aside uh the sale of City

49:02 ↗ Hall Northwest,

49:04 ↗ I I I think what you said was that we

49:07 ↗ exceeded our budget for revenues, right,

49:12 ↗ by something like three million.

49:14 ↗ >> And you said our expenditures were

49:16 ↗ within 500,000 of budget. So why did our

49:19 ↗ ending fund go down? I would have

49:21 ↗ thought that our ending fund would have

49:22 ↗ been up by something like two and a half

49:24 ↗ million.

49:26 ↗ And part of this is because we don't

49:28 ↗ have line item on expenditures the way

49:30 ↗ we do on revenues,

49:32 ↗ >> right? Um so we have

49:36 ↗ >> plus 3 million minus 500,000 is plus 2

49:38 ↗ and a half million, right? What am I

49:40 ↗ missing?

49:40 ↗ >> Well, you're looking at actuals. I'm

49:43 ↗ comparing bud budget to budget. So our

49:46 ↗ actuals, our beginning fund balance was

49:48 ↗ 17 million and then our ending fund

49:50 ↗ balance was 17 million. So that's actual

49:53 ↗ to actual. So it we actually increased

49:55 ↗ our fund balance.

49:59 ↗ >> I'm sorry. We increased our fund balance

50:00 ↗ by how much?

50:02 ↗ >> By 800,000.

50:04 ↗ But that was total restricted and

50:06 ↗ unrestricted. See that's that's one of

50:08 ↗ the complications of when we're coming

50:10 ↗ co-mingling restricted and unrestricted.

50:12 ↗ So if we look at unrestricted, let me

50:15 ↗ move my screen here.

50:16 ↗ >> I'm just trying to understand, it seems

50:17 ↗ like we had a good year for revenues and

50:20 ↗ if we towed the line on expenditures,

50:22 ↗ why didn't we have a good year in ending

50:24 ↗ fund as big as big of a good year?

50:27 ↗ If we were really like plus three

50:28 ↗ million,

50:32 ↗ >> I would have to dig into that more

50:34 ↗ because I guess I'm not that's the big

50:36 ↗ that's the big question, right? What?

50:38 ↗ >> Yeah, I guess I'm not understanding

50:39 ↗ because I'm showing the fund balance did

50:42 ↗ increase. So,

50:43 ↗ >> but if it increased by 800,000, you

50:46 ↗ showed that we were our actuals in 2025

50:50 ↗ were 12.4 million over and you said

50:52 ↗ roughly nine of that was the sale of

50:54 ↗ City Hall Northwest.

50:56 ↗ >> Right.

50:56 ↗ >> Right. So, that should mean um three and

50:58 ↗ a half million. Right. We were we

51:01 ↗ overperformed on revenue by about three

51:03 ↗ and a half million dollars. Right.

51:04 ↗ Right. And then we overexpended as well

51:07 ↗ >> by about 500,000.

51:08 ↗ >> Mhm.

51:09 ↗ >> 3.4 minus 500,000 is not 800,000. But

51:14 ↗ again, because we're not seeing the

51:15 ↗ expenditure numbers, it's hard for me to

51:18 ↗ guess, but I'm just trying to

51:19 ↗ understand. It seemed like we had a good

51:21 ↗ year on revenue, and if we to if we held

51:23 ↗ the line on expenditures, we should have

51:24 ↗ had a really good year on ending fund

51:26 ↗ balance. Is that wrong?

51:28 ↗ >> That's not wrong. I I'll need to look

51:31 ↗ into it a little bit more detail. I

51:32 ↗ think you want to see the line item

51:34 ↗ detail. Also, I think it's better.

51:35 ↗ >> I want to see the big picture, right? If

51:37 ↗ the big picture to the community is we

51:39 ↗ did better than expected on revenues, I

51:42 ↗ would hope we would do better than

51:43 ↗ expected on ending fund balance. If if

51:46 ↗ we held the line on expenditures, if you

51:47 ↗ told me that, oh, expenditures were also

51:49 ↗ three and a half million high, then I

51:51 ↗ would see then I would understand why

51:52 ↗ the ending fund balance was, you know,

51:54 ↗ within the margin of error the same as

51:56 ↗ before. But that's not what I I think

51:59 ↗ that you're saying. It's really the big

52:02 ↗ picture on revenues versus expenditure

52:04 ↗ on the general fund, right? Which I

52:06 ↗ think we have control,

52:07 ↗ >> which is what I think I'm providing, but

52:09 ↗ happy to have an offline conversation so

52:12 ↗ I can continue the presentation and dig

52:14 ↗ into the information a little bit

52:16 ↗ further for you.

52:17 ↗ >> I I think starting with having line item

52:20 ↗ on expenditures the way we have on

52:22 ↗ revenues would be a good start.

52:24 ↗ >> Okay, that sounds great. Well, and I in

52:27 ↗ the very bottom of the general fund

52:29 ↗ balance slide does because it's 15.3

52:33 ↗ million 2025 Q3 forecast and then 2025

52:36 ↗ actuals end up being the 17.8. So it

52:39 ↗ lines up. I don't know, but I I

52:41 ↗ understand kind of what you're saying,

52:43 ↗ but that's the only point on this chart.

52:45 ↗ So, uh, Deputy President Jen and then

52:47 ↗ Council Member Walsh.

52:49 ↗ >> Yeah, I was I was going to ask. So my

52:50 ↗ understanding is the last the last two

52:54 ↗ lines on here relate to the total ending

52:56 ↗ fund balance and then or is the like

53:01 ↗ increase in revenues by 3.6 million was

53:04 ↗ that like between the Q3 forecast versus

53:06 ↗ the actuals essentially

53:09 ↗ >> that was between budget to actuals I

53:12 ↗ believe.

53:15 ↗ Okay, because I guess I am slightly conf

53:18 ↗ Okay, anyway, whatever. We don't we

53:20 ↗ don't need to dwell on this point for

53:21 ↗ too long now, but it does seem like

53:23 ↗ there's a pretty big gap between the Q3

53:25 ↗ forecast versus actuals on um

53:27 ↗ unrestricted ending fund balance, which

53:28 ↗ is

53:29 ↗ >> So, if you look at this chart that's on

53:32 ↗ the screen, that's comparing the 2025

53:34 ↗ revised budgetary numbers to 2025

53:37 ↗ actuals. So, that was the the 12

53:39 ↗ million. So, 9.6 Six of that was the

53:42 ↗ sale of city hall northwest and then the

53:43 ↗ rest was those miscellane miscellaneous

53:45 ↗ items that I talked about. So that was

53:47 ↗ comparing revised budget to actuals.

53:51 ↗ >> Okay, that makes sense. Then I think

53:53 ↗ then on this slide the difference

53:54 ↗ between Q3 forecast and actuals is you

53:57 ↗ know at least in the same ballpark as on

54:00 ↗ slide five.

54:01 ↗ >> Yeah, council member Walsh.

54:03 ↗ >> Yeah, I was just going to follow up on

54:05 ↗ what I was hearing from Council

54:07 ↗ President Marts. um where is that

54:10 ↗ 500,000 coming from? Because when I read

54:13 ↗ slide three, if you'll go back to it,

54:16 ↗ the difference between unrestricted

54:19 ↗ expenditures,

54:21 ↗ um that 66.359

54:23 ↗ million on the budget and the 68.036

54:29 ↗ on the actuals is actually 1

54:33 ↗ almost 1.7 million.

54:39 ↗ So, I'm not sure where the 500,000

54:42 ↗ came from. Maybe it was another part of

54:44 ↗ the document, but at least if I'm

54:47 ↗ looking at, you know, the revenue was up

54:51 ↗ 2.6 million between budget and actuals

54:55 ↗ there on unrestricted,

54:57 ↗ ignoring the sale of capital assets, and

55:00 ↗ the expenditures is up 1.7 million. So,

55:05 ↗ if I'm reading that correctly, then I

55:08 ↗ want to take on your question, which is

55:11 ↗ why were our expenditures $1.7 million

55:16 ↗ over budget

55:19 ↗ on unrestricted funds?

55:22 ↗ >> So, you're comparing

55:24 ↗ >> I'm comparing the budget of 66.4

55:29 ↗ million.

55:30 ↗ >> Yes. Okay. I think

55:31 ↗ >> and the actuals.

55:32 ↗ >> Yes. So I think I see where the

55:34 ↗ confusion is coming from. So um this

55:38 ↗ make sure you can see. So this column

55:40 ↗ right here was the original budget. Um

55:43 ↗ and I I thought this could cause some

55:46 ↗ confusion. So that's my apologies. So

55:48 ↗ this is the 2025 original budget. We use

55:51 ↗ the original budget because we didn't um

55:54 ↗ have a breakdown of restricted and

55:55 ↗ unrestricted. But in this other section

55:58 ↗ right here, we're actually comparing the

56:00 ↗ modified budget. So that's so we

56:03 ↗ actually modified the budget. So that's

56:05 ↗ why the budget to actions were a little

56:06 ↗ bit closer. So um I think I need to

56:09 ↗ provide that detail. So my apologies

56:11 ↗ that that is I caused that confusion.

56:16 ↗ >> So the the charts the budget columns

56:19 ↗ aren't apples to apples if that makes

56:20 ↗ sense. We started the first piece with

56:23 ↗ comparing original budget original

56:25 ↗ forecast and then went into modified

56:28 ↗ because we didn't have the original

56:29 ↗ breakdown. So would it be safe to say

56:32 ↗ that while the difference between the

56:35 ↗ original 2025 budget and 2025 actuals

56:38 ↗ for unrestricted expenditures is large

56:42 ↗ some portion of that is expenditures

56:45 ↗ that we approved

56:47 ↗ >> correct

56:48 ↗ >> during the bianium.

56:49 ↗ >> That is correct.

56:50 ↗ >> Okay. Yes. I would like to understand

56:52 ↗ what those were compared to how did we

56:57 ↗ you know did we overspend to our

57:01 ↗ modified budget?

57:04 ↗ >> We came we overspent by the 500,000.

57:08 ↗ >> That's the difference. So

57:10 ↗ >> do you get that?

57:12 ↗ >> Uh Council President Marts, she was just

57:15 ↗ explaining the 500,000. Yeah. I I we're

57:19 ↗ we're using some some different terms

57:20 ↗ here. This Q this Q3 sometimes we say Q3

57:24 ↗ sometimes we say revised. I'm I'm

57:28 ↗ choking over the terminology. Um

57:31 ↗ >> I think what I am hearing is that uh

57:36 ↗ all I care about at the end of the day

57:38 ↗ is when the voters and our residents

57:40 ↗ stop if somebody stops me on the street

57:42 ↗ and they say how are we doing? Are we

57:45 ↗ spending like we said we were going to

57:46 ↗ spend and are we are we matching that to

57:49 ↗ the revenues? Are we being good stewards

57:50 ↗ of their money? What I look for in these

57:53 ↗ reports is the ability to answer that

57:54 ↗ question. So, so the extent to which we

57:58 ↗ blow out expenditures or blow out

58:00 ↗ revenues is is the bit that I want to

58:02 ↗ understand. So, this is a helpful

58:04 ↗ conversation and I will go back and

58:05 ↗ watch this video again um to make sure

58:07 ↗ that I understand. I I think the answer

58:10 ↗ is that um our expenditures compared to

58:14 ↗ original budget were on the order of

58:17 ↗ increased to the extent that revenues

58:20 ↗ increased and so um that's why the

58:22 ↗ ending fund balance doesn't change as

58:23 ↗ much as we thought it would. So thank

58:25 ↗ you for your help and thank you for your

58:27 ↗ help

58:27 ↗ >> and we have 90 minutes on May 9th to

58:30 ↗ this topic.

58:30 ↗ >> Thank you. Yes. Well, no this is very

58:33 ↗ helpful um for me to understand you know

58:35 ↗ terminology. I know we do think do use

58:39 ↗ things interchangeably. So it helps

58:41 ↗ provide more clarity for me. So my

58:43 ↗ apologies if I um caused any confusion,

58:46 ↗ but I I have a better understanding

58:48 ↗ going forward on how to better meet your

58:50 ↗ needs. So hopefully it'll be better next

58:52 ↗ time.

58:54 ↗ Um okay, I think we left off with um

58:58 ↗ going into the enterprise funds and I

59:00 ↗ think this is something maybe newer that

59:02 ↗ we haven't seen before. I believe um

59:06 ↗ maybe quarter two or quarter three we

59:08 ↗ might have kind of dipped our toe a

59:09 ↗ little bit into the enterprise funds but

59:12 ↗ um again this is just a highle

59:14 ↗ broadbrush overview what this chart was

59:17 ↗ um trying to indicate. So I guess I

59:19 ↗ should stop so I should stop just to

59:21 ↗ make sure everyone understands. So the

59:23 ↗ city has enterprise funds which are

59:24 ↗ comprised of water sewer and storm water

59:27 ↗ revenues. Those funds are a little bit

59:30 ↗ unique in that they do account for all

59:34 ↗ operating revenue, operating expenses,

59:36 ↗ and capital revenue and capital expenses

59:39 ↗ um unlike some other funds. And so the

59:41 ↗ next three charts are going to show the

59:43 ↗ inflows and the outflows of those funds.

59:46 ↗ Um again, which include both operating

59:48 ↗ capital. And um I did want to note I

59:50 ↗ mentioned it into in the memo that the

59:53 ↗ enterprise funds are designed to be

59:54 ↗ self-supporting and structurally

59:56 ↗ balanced in that over the long term the

1:00:00 ↗ rate should be set to generate enough

1:00:03 ↗ revenue to cover both the operating and

1:00:06 ↗ capital. Um what that also means is that

1:00:09 ↗ I have an expectation that fund balance

1:00:11 ↗ may go up as we're accumulating revenue

1:00:14 ↗ because we might be saving money to pay

1:00:16 ↗ for a future project. But then fund

1:00:18 ↗ balance might go down because now we've

1:00:20 ↗ planned for that big project that we've

1:00:22 ↗ been saving for. Um so I I think you'll

1:00:24 ↗ the a question came up um in the report.

1:00:27 ↗ So I did kind of want to explain that

1:00:28 ↗ that um just because you see a dip in

1:00:31 ↗ fund balance does not mean that there's

1:00:32 ↗ a structural fund balance. It it's the

1:00:35 ↗ funds are structured to operate that

1:00:37 ↗ way. Um so in the case of the water fund

1:00:40 ↗ uh the overall revenues were more than

1:00:42 ↗ um expenditures and so in this case that

1:00:45 ↗ added to the ending fund balance.

1:00:48 ↗ Um in the case of the sewer fund the

1:00:51 ↗ total expenditures exceeded total

1:00:53 ↗ revenue. So here's where you're going to

1:00:54 ↗ see that the fund balance um actually

1:00:56 ↗ went down but it was used for capital

1:00:59 ↗ outlay. Um but if you look at the ending

1:01:01 ↗ sewer fund balance, it's still about 1

1:01:04 ↗ million more than what the sewer

1:01:07 ↗ revenues um generated. So in 2025, as an

1:01:10 ↗ example, there was total expenditures

1:01:12 ↗ which included the uh Newport sewer

1:01:15 ↗ relocation project and that project cost

1:01:18 ↗ was about 4.8 million. So again, that's

1:01:21 ↗ why you would see a reduction in fund

1:01:22 ↗ balance. Um, and then, uh, the fund

1:01:26 ↗ balance for storm water, it increased

1:01:28 ↗ just slightly. There wasn't any, uh,

1:01:30 ↗ major fluctuations or any additional

1:01:32 ↗ items that I needed to talk about there.

1:01:35 ↗ Um, but again, based on feedback that

1:01:38 ↗ I'm hearing and in future reports, I

1:01:40 ↗ think it might be helpful we can also

1:01:42 ↗ provide a more of a breakdown for this.

1:01:45 ↗ um because it's hard to see kind of how

1:01:46 ↗ it's how the u utility funds are

1:01:49 ↗ operationally functioning because of the

1:01:51 ↗ coing co-mingling between the operating

1:01:54 ↗ capital. So if council would like in

1:01:56 ↗ future reports we can provide a better

1:01:57 ↗ breakdown for those funds as well so you

1:01:59 ↗ can kind of better understand how

1:02:01 ↗ revenues are performing on the

1:02:02 ↗ operations side. Uh so in summary again

1:02:06 ↗ just a reminder this is year one of the

1:02:09 ↗ bianium so this is kind of a mid

1:02:11 ↗ checkpoint. Um generally I would say

1:02:14 ↗ revenues are steady with moderate growth

1:02:16 ↗ and uh from my perspective the financial

1:02:18 ↗ results are generally aligned with

1:02:20 ↗ forecast and budget and I I don't have

1:02:23 ↗ any major concerns with how we're we're

1:02:26 ↗ performing financially at this point and

1:02:29 ↗ then our next steps will be to bring

1:02:31 ↗ forward a quarter 1 2026 update.

1:02:35 ↗ Council President Mortz,

1:02:39 ↗ >> did it surprise us that our revenues

1:02:41 ↗ turned out fine? Because I feel like

1:02:43 ↗ we've had a lot of conversations where

1:02:46 ↗ like grim tidings are coming and we need

1:02:48 ↗ to tighten our belts and we need to be

1:02:51 ↗ careful. And um we are always careful,

1:02:56 ↗ but this this feels like maybe revenues

1:02:59 ↗ did better than we had been fretting for

1:03:03 ↗ the last six months. Is that true?

1:03:06 ↗ >> I would say that is true. However, I

1:03:09 ↗ would also say that based on what things

1:03:13 ↗ are happening nationally or even

1:03:16 ↗ statewide indications, I think we were

1:03:20 ↗ accurate in taking a pause and

1:03:23 ↗ evaluating where things were to

1:03:25 ↗ understand how things would h be

1:03:26 ↗ happening locally. So, while I'm

1:03:29 ↗ pleasantly surprised to see that we did

1:03:32 ↗ outperform,

1:03:33 ↗ um, I still think there's things out

1:03:35 ↗ there that I'm seeing at the state level

1:03:37 ↗ and nationally that we still should be

1:03:40 ↗ in a a period of caution, not

1:03:42 ↗ overreaction.

1:03:43 ↗ >> So, too soon for a giant disco party is

1:03:46 ↗ what you're saying.

1:03:46 ↗ >> Correct.

1:03:47 ↗ >> Okay.

1:03:47 ↗ >> Yes.

1:03:48 ↗ >> Thank you,

1:03:49 ↗ >> Council Member Adair.

1:03:51 ↗ This is probably kind of outside the

1:03:53 ↗ scope of this, but a number I've been

1:03:55 ↗ after is after the the recent the

1:03:57 ↗ millionaire tax with the decrease in

1:03:58 ↗ sales tax that's going to hit cities. Is

1:04:00 ↗ any number that we have yet to assess

1:04:03 ↗ what isqua's feeling of that is because

1:04:04 ↗ obviously sales tax was the biggest bit

1:04:07 ↗ of revenue in our column here and I know

1:04:09 ↗ that's still a couple years away but

1:04:11 ↗ like some idea of what that's going to

1:04:14 ↗ be. I c I just be very so I can tell you

1:04:18 ↗ we did see a small uptick when the new

1:04:22 ↗ taxable services did come online. Um it

1:04:25 ↗ wasn't significant to maybe change our

1:04:30 ↗ whole financial picture. Um but I

1:04:32 ↗ imagine now that the millionaire tax

1:04:34 ↗ with the changes in that we'll we'll see

1:04:37 ↗ that reduction again. But again, it

1:04:40 ↗ wasn't it was only one month, so I I

1:04:43 ↗ can't give you any kind of a trend or an

1:04:45 ↗ estimation, but I can just tell you we

1:04:47 ↗ did see a slight uptick. I'm fairly

1:04:50 ↗ certain it was attributable to that um

1:04:53 ↗ taxable change. Well, and I think

1:04:55 ↗ council member Dere would say at the AWC

1:04:57 ↗ legislative affairs committee last

1:05:00 ↗ Friday, I think we heard from the

1:05:02 ↗ legislators who were there that yes,

1:05:03 ↗ this sales tax like on IT services,

1:05:06 ↗ which is like I think one of the things

1:05:07 ↗ that Starbucks is now shifting their IT

1:05:09 ↗ to Nashville so they don't have to pay

1:05:11 ↗ sales tax on their IT services. They

1:05:13 ↗ made it very clear that that is going

1:05:15 ↗ away at some point. So, we're all going

1:05:18 ↗ to get this small kind of lift in sales

1:05:20 ↗ tax from that. But I think in the back

1:05:22 ↗ of the envelope guess for us I think on

1:05:24 ↗ diapers, overthec counter medicine, like

1:05:26 ↗ hygiene products, we're probably losing,

1:05:28 ↗ you know, a few hundred,000 I think in

1:05:31 ↗ sales tax uh from that. That will go

1:05:33 ↗ away. But right now, those haven't gone

1:05:37 ↗ away yet. But we are getting additional

1:05:39 ↗ sales tax revenue from service sales

1:05:42 ↗ tax. But like I said, I think the the

1:05:45 ↗ back fill we're going to be asking from

1:05:46 ↗ the legislature is for the ones that we

1:05:48 ↗ expect to stay around. and they made it

1:05:51 ↗ very clear they're not going to backfill

1:05:53 ↗ the IT sales tax. We should treat it as

1:05:54 ↗ kind of one-time revenue that we

1:05:57 ↗ shouldn't expect to be ongoing because

1:05:59 ↗ they're saying after 2028 assume it's

1:06:02 ↗ going away. So, I think they're trying

1:06:04 ↗ to manage city expectations that the

1:06:07 ↗ short-term sales tax from the service

1:06:09 ↗ expansion

1:06:10 ↗ is not something we should be relying on

1:06:12 ↗ and we should treat it as one-time

1:06:14 ↗ revenue. So, that'll be our challenge, I

1:06:16 ↗ think, as we prepare the two-year budget

1:06:18 ↗ is to do exactly that and try to strip

1:06:20 ↗ out that sales tax on service expansion.

1:06:27 ↗ >> Okay, that concludes my presentation.

1:06:31 ↗ >> Other questions?

1:06:32 ↗ >> Thank you. Um, are we ready for feedback

1:06:35 ↗ or just Yeah. Okay, great. Um I did find

1:06:39 ↗ the um whatever inflows outflows charts

1:06:44 ↗ um that you provided for enterprise

1:06:46 ↗ really useful. I would like to see those

1:06:49 ↗ as you said for operation versus capital

1:06:51 ↗ just to have an understanding that you

1:06:54 ↗ know that will show the picture of we're

1:06:57 ↗ saving for certain capital pieces but

1:06:59 ↗ we're covering all of our operations

1:07:01 ↗ needs.

1:07:01 ↗ >> Yes. I would love to be able to create

1:07:04 ↗ that story for our general fund and be

1:07:09 ↗ able to really understand. I think we've

1:07:12 ↗ we've had a hard time telling the story

1:07:16 ↗ and creating a visual picture of what

1:07:19 ↗ our general fund health is and what the

1:07:22 ↗ inflows and the outflows are compared to

1:07:24 ↗ expectation. Um and so I think that type

1:07:29 ↗ of picture if it's possible could be a

1:07:32 ↗ useful way to show look this is the um

1:07:35 ↗ balance the fund balances

1:07:38 ↗ this is the revenue this is the

1:07:39 ↗ expenditures and the result because

1:07:42 ↗ another piece that I think we're all

1:07:44 ↗ cognizant of is trying to understand

1:07:47 ↗ that we are growing that fund balance

1:07:50 ↗ >> because we recognize that the 10% we

1:07:54 ↗ thought we were going to be at and the

1:07:55 ↗ 12% you're now saying we're at is not

1:07:58 ↗ where we want to be. And so being able

1:08:00 ↗ to show that we were able to grow that

1:08:04 ↗ is really important. I think also

1:08:06 ↗ recognizing that

1:08:09 ↗ maybe telling a story over the last few

1:08:12 ↗ years of some of the mid budget cycle

1:08:18 ↗ additions that we've had. How what

1:08:21 ↗ percentage of our expenditures that is?

1:08:24 ↗ How how are we trending on that so that

1:08:27 ↗ maybe we can utilize that to create a

1:08:30 ↗ little bit of you know fiscal restraint

1:08:33 ↗ during the mid bienium so that you know

1:08:37 ↗ because it's very easy to say yes to

1:08:40 ↗ something that's presented to us as a

1:08:42 ↗ need when it's a one-off

1:08:44 ↗ >> right

1:08:44 ↗ >> but when I have to balance it against

1:08:48 ↗ our staff members and whether or not in

1:08:50 ↗ a budget cycle we are going to be

1:08:52 ↗ cutting staff

1:08:54 ↗ that is much harder. And so recognizing

1:08:57 ↗ when we make these changes what the

1:09:00 ↗ impact is to our overall budget, I think

1:09:02 ↗ would be a really good story for us to

1:09:05 ↗ have in our back pockets as we um are

1:09:09 ↗ presented with those opportunities.

1:09:11 ↗ >> Okay. Yeah, that's great feedback. Thank

1:09:13 ↗ you,

1:09:17 ↗ >> Council Member Boyd. Uh I why is a BNO

1:09:20 ↗ tax I think you mentioned earlier it's

1:09:22 ↗ like kind of harder to um plan around

1:09:26 ↗ >> because that's based on businesses

1:09:28 ↗ revenue and so we're really not privy to

1:09:32 ↗ that level of detail on how an

1:09:34 ↗ individual business is performing other

1:09:36 ↗ than when we get the tax return. So we

1:09:38 ↗ can really just rely on trends and the

1:09:41 ↗ best we can kind of pay attention again

1:09:44 ↗ to the local economy to see if we're you

1:09:47 ↗ know sensing that a particular business

1:09:49 ↗ might be struggling or performing really

1:09:51 ↗ well. Um but but that's why it's um yeah

1:09:55 ↗ we're not privy to that level of detail

1:09:56 ↗ on how individual businesses are

1:09:58 ↗ performing.

1:10:00 ↗ Does that

1:10:00 ↗ >> And I think Kristen too in the BNO tax

1:10:02 ↗ we felt like some of the forecasts were

1:10:04 ↗ just deviating from actuals in a way

1:10:07 ↗ where I think going forward we're going

1:10:09 ↗ to try to make sure the BNO forecast

1:10:11 ↗ lines up really closely to what we've

1:10:13 ↗ actually been getting. So I think we had

1:10:15 ↗ some forecast

1:10:16 ↗ >> correct

1:10:17 ↗ >> and that's in the

1:10:19 ↗ >> this is forecast I think coming from pre

1:10:21 ↗ Christristen. So I think going forward I

1:10:23 ↗ think our goal is to have forecasts that

1:10:25 ↗ we think are going to be more accurate

1:10:26 ↗ what the actual BNO revenue has been

1:10:29 ↗ >> correct. Thank you.

1:10:34 ↗ >> Okay. I think you're off the hook.

1:10:37 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you so much.

1:10:38 ↗ >> May 9th we get we get this times three.

1:10:41 ↗ We get 90 minutes of uh

1:10:44 ↗ Okay. So next

1:10:48 ↗ ID 2001 public records and open public

1:10:50 ↗ meetings act training. I did make a

1:10:52 ↗ request to have this as the committee

1:10:53 ↗ the whole item. I was told that I too

1:10:55 ↗ need said training and and so that was

1:10:58 ↗ not an option and here we are. Rachel,

1:11:05 ↗ >> sorry. We'll we'll try to make it as

1:11:07 ↗ painless as

1:11:08 ↗ >> make it spicy. Yeah, you got to spice up

1:11:09 ↗ our training here.

1:11:12 ↗ >> All right. Good evening everyone. Rachel

1:11:15 ↗ Bender Turpin. I am here to talk to you

1:11:17 ↗ about the um P and the Open Public

1:11:21 ↗ Meetings Act. Sorry, just a second. I

1:11:23 ↗ lost it on my screen here.

1:11:28 ↗ >> And you can ask questions as we go.

1:11:29 ↗ It'll keep us engaged.

1:11:34 ↗ >> All right. So, we're going to start by

1:11:36 ↗ um well, a little overview of the

1:11:39 ↗ evening. We're going to talk about,

1:11:40 ↗ surprise, surprise, the public records

1:11:42 ↗ act and the OPMA. And we're going to

1:11:45 ↗ have a special emphasis on social media

1:11:47 ↗ because I understand that the council

1:11:50 ↗ rules of procedure are before the

1:11:53 ↗ council this evening as well, including

1:11:55 ↗ a social media component. So, this is

1:11:57 ↗ very uh timely and topical.

1:12:06 ↗ Sorry, getting used to the remote. So,

1:12:08 ↗ what's the the P and why should you

1:12:10 ↗ care? The Public Records Act is a it's

1:12:12 ↗ the Washington State Sunshine Act.

1:12:14 ↗ Essentially, it's a strongly worded

1:12:17 ↗ mandate for broad disclosure of um of

1:12:21 ↗ public records and access to public

1:12:23 ↗ records, which is um essentially in the

1:12:26 ↗ interest of keeping government open and

1:12:29 ↗ transparent.

1:12:34 ↗ It requires agencies to make records

1:12:37 ↗ available for inspection and copying to

1:12:40 ↗ anyone who requests. And it also

1:12:43 ↗ requires that we you know retain set

1:12:45 ↗ records in um conjunction with other

1:12:48 ↗ separate local government retention uh

1:12:51 ↗ schedules that set how long those have

1:12:53 ↗ to we have to keep those. It's important

1:12:56 ↗ because um first of all you all have to

1:13:00 ↗ have this training. it's required by

1:13:02 ↗ statute. So, by law, you have to learn

1:13:04 ↗ about these things. But also, public

1:13:06 ↗ records act violations, um, they can be

1:13:10 ↗ really expensive. And so, it's good for

1:13:14 ↗ everyone to know a little bit about the

1:13:17 ↗ Public Records Act so that not only we

1:13:19 ↗ can comply with it, but we can um, you

1:13:22 ↗ know, understand how important it is to

1:13:24 ↗ comply so we can avoid lawsuits.

1:13:31 ↗ The definition of public record is very

1:13:34 ↗ broad. It includes any writing that

1:13:37 ↗ contains information relating to the

1:13:39 ↗ conduct of government or the performance

1:13:42 ↗ of government that is prepared, owned,

1:13:45 ↗ used, retained by um the government

1:13:49 ↗ agency and it's regardless of the

1:13:52 ↗ physical form or characteristics. So

1:13:54 ↗ essentially they define writing to be

1:13:57 ↗ very broad to include um pictures

1:14:01 ↗ uh

1:14:02 ↗ audio recordings basically any any type

1:14:07 ↗ of record you know writing is not just

1:14:10 ↗ written words let's put it that way maps

1:14:12 ↗ you know anything like that it includes

1:14:15 ↗ emails and other uh digital documents it

1:14:18 ↗ also includes any of course any paper

1:14:20 ↗ files it includes recordings your web

1:14:23 ↗ content content. Um, it also includes

1:14:25 ↗ public records that are created in your

1:14:27 ↗ personal accounts or on your personal

1:14:30 ↗ equipment. So, that's um an important

1:14:33 ↗ thing for us to think about and discuss

1:14:35 ↗ this evening because um you know there

1:14:38 ↗ are challenges with that and it may also

1:14:39 ↗ include uh social media posts which

1:14:41 ↗ we'll talk about more.

1:14:46 ↗ I've already kind of talked about this

1:14:48 ↗ but these are some examples of public

1:14:50 ↗ records. Um, it includes things like

1:14:53 ↗ draft documents. It includes phone logs

1:14:57 ↗ for um, you know, any sort of city cell

1:15:00 ↗ phone and potentially

1:15:03 ↗ maybe even personal phone logs to the

1:15:05 ↗ extent you're using personal phones for

1:15:07 ↗ city business. That's kind of a a gray

1:15:09 ↗ area one. Voicemails, text messages, and

1:15:12 ↗ it can also include social media posts.

1:15:15 ↗ um but also the comments that are made

1:15:17 ↗ on posts either on a council member's

1:15:20 ↗ post or on someone else's post um

1:15:22 ↗ depending on the circumstances and what

1:15:24 ↗ exactly is said. Location and format

1:15:28 ↗ don't matter. So that's kind of the the

1:15:30 ↗ most important thing.

1:15:36 ↗ Now we'll talk about some tick. You're

1:15:38 ↗ gonna

1:15:39 ↗ >> before

1:15:41 ↗ me

1:15:42 ↗ >> before you go on um just uh that piece

1:15:45 ↗ there you've listed you know potentially

1:15:48 ↗ um notes or anything like that. Can you

1:15:52 ↗ talk about the difference between

1:15:53 ↗ something that gets typed up but doesn't

1:15:56 ↗ get saved versus um otherwise because I

1:15:59 ↗ know there's just this if something is a

1:16:02 ↗ temporary piece um and gets immediately

1:16:06 ↗ gotten rid of. Yes, great question. So

1:16:10 ↗ yes, if a document is transitory then it

1:16:14 ↗ doesn't generally have any retention

1:16:16 ↗ value and it can be disposed of as soon

1:16:20 ↗ as it's no longer needed. So, um, often

1:16:23 ↗ folks maybe just write themselves little

1:16:25 ↗ notes to during a meeting or something

1:16:28 ↗ to just sort of, you know, keep track of

1:16:30 ↗ things. Uh, if if that document truly

1:16:34 ↗ doesn't require any sort of retention

1:16:36 ↗ and you'd have to look at the, you know,

1:16:37 ↗ retention schedule to see what the

1:16:39 ↗ retention was for that particular

1:16:41 ↗ document, then yes, you could get rid of

1:16:43 ↗ it legally under the retention schedule.

1:16:47 ↗ However, to the extent you didn't, let's

1:16:50 ↗ say you had it, you would have to

1:16:52 ↗ provide it in a public records uh

1:16:54 ↗ request response if you had it. So,

1:16:56 ↗ that's kind of a that's actually one

1:16:57 ↗ that I had it come up with a a different

1:16:59 ↗ uh client earlier this last week. Um

1:17:03 ↗ they was confusion about a document that

1:17:07 ↗ didn't have any retention value. It was

1:17:09 ↗ actually um

1:17:12 ↗ um browser information, browser history

1:17:15 ↗ for various users. And yes, that can,

1:17:18 ↗ you know, there is no real retention for

1:17:19 ↗ that. You just need to keep it as long

1:17:20 ↗ as the agency needs it. And so if you

1:17:23 ↗ don't need it, it can be, you know,

1:17:25 ↗ gotten rid of, but the request came in

1:17:27 ↗ before any of that had been deleted. So

1:17:30 ↗ you have to give it all up. So that's

1:17:31 ↗ kind of how that works.

1:17:38 ↗ Council President Martz.

1:17:41 ↗ >> So, so I I have a confusion.

1:17:44 ↗ >> Yeah.

1:17:44 ↗ >> So, text messages.

1:17:45 ↗ >> Yes.

1:17:46 ↗ >> Um, I assume obviously like text

1:17:50 ↗ messages between me and fellow council

1:17:52 ↗ members. Text messages between me and my

1:17:55 ↗ son-in-law like what what constitutes

1:17:58 ↗ depends. I mean, if they're about city

1:18:00 ↗ business, if they're We'll get a little

1:18:02 ↗ bit more into that when we talk about um

1:18:05 ↗ social, you know, the the idea of it

1:18:07 ↗ being created, it has to be created

1:18:11 ↗ sort of to further the interests of

1:18:13 ↗ government. It has to relate to the

1:18:14 ↗ conduct of government. But if you are

1:18:16 ↗ actually, you know, it doesn't, it

1:18:18 ↗ doesn't matter if you're talking to a

1:18:20 ↗ member of the public or a council

1:18:22 ↗ member. If it is

1:18:25 ↗ about city business and you're sending

1:18:27 ↗ it in your capacity as a council member,

1:18:31 ↗ then it is probably a public record.

1:18:34 ↗ >> So, my son-in-law who lives in New York

1:18:36 ↗ City is a trolley affeionado and has

1:18:39 ↗ asked me about

1:18:40 ↗ >> uh the trolley and and getting the

1:18:42 ↗ trolley back up. That's potentially

1:18:45 ↗ a a discoverable record with my

1:18:47 ↗ son-in-law about the trolley.

1:18:48 ↗ >> Potentially. It depends, I think, on

1:18:50 ↗ exactly what the messages say.

1:18:52 ↗ >> All right. Thank you.

1:18:56 ↗ >> All right.

1:18:58 ↗ So, now we're going to talk about some

1:19:00 ↗ local government responsibilities and

1:19:01 ↗ challenges under the public records act.

1:19:05 ↗ So, the agency has a lot of lawful um

1:19:09 ↗ statutoily mandated requirements. We

1:19:12 ↗ have to adopt and publish a P policy

1:19:15 ↗ which Isakqua has done. We have to

1:19:18 ↗ appoint and publicly identify our public

1:19:20 ↗ records officer. This is our city clerk.

1:19:23 ↗ And uh we have to ensure that the public

1:19:27 ↗ records officer as well as all of the

1:19:29 ↗ members of the governing body uh

1:19:31 ↗ complete P training which you are doing

1:19:34 ↗ this evening. We also have to publish

1:19:36 ↗ and maintain a list of exemptions that

1:19:38 ↗ are outside the P. Um, that one's tough

1:19:42 ↗ because they kind of change all the

1:19:43 ↗ time, but we try to do the best we can.

1:19:46 ↗ We have to maintain a public records

1:19:48 ↗ index. Um, and we also have to adopt

1:19:51 ↗ some sort of fee schedule, at least if

1:19:53 ↗ we want to be able to charge fees. And

1:19:55 ↗ then we have also additional statutory

1:19:57 ↗ requirements to track and log and report

1:20:00 ↗ on our public records request

1:20:02 ↗ information.

1:20:03 ↗ >> Council member Boyd.

1:20:05 ↗ >> Yes. Um the this training how of is

1:20:08 ↗ there a recurrence is it like if I this

1:20:11 ↗ is just it no matter if I'm on

1:20:13 ↗ >> every four years. Yeah. You don't have

1:20:15 ↗ to it's not annual thankfully. So

1:20:20 ↗ >> and then of course we have to keep them

1:20:22 ↗ for as long as the retention schedule

1:20:24 ↗ says we have to keep them.

1:20:25 ↗ >> Can we set the fee schedule or is that

1:20:28 ↗ there's it's in statute as well?

1:20:29 ↗ >> We can set the fee schedule but within

1:20:31 ↗ parameters that are included in the

1:20:33 ↗ statute. So we, you know, we had to do

1:20:36 ↗ like a kind of a study in order to

1:20:38 ↗ charge fees that are different than what

1:20:41 ↗ the standard statutory fees are.

1:20:46 ↗ Uh challenges that the agency often

1:20:49 ↗ faces and we keeping up with technology.

1:20:52 ↗ It's hard to um find ways to capture and

1:20:56 ↗ retain that are public records that are

1:20:58 ↗ created on new platforms. So um you know

1:21:01 ↗ anytime I mean co you know posed one

1:21:04 ↗ example you know we had to move to a lot

1:21:05 ↗ of online uh platforms for a while and

1:21:09 ↗ uh we had to figure out how we keep all

1:21:12 ↗ these records and what we need to keep

1:21:14 ↗ of these various meetings and things

1:21:16 ↗ like that. Some some apps are easier to

1:21:20 ↗ capture the data from than others. We

1:21:23 ↗ have to keep up with the volume of

1:21:24 ↗ records and in particular the volume of

1:21:26 ↗ digital records. Um, email in particular

1:21:29 ↗ is really challenging because people

1:21:31 ↗ send emails all the time, all day long.

1:21:33 ↗ And um, it's not only uh timeconuming

1:21:37 ↗ for us to have to search all the emails

1:21:38 ↗ during when we get a public records

1:21:40 ↗ request, but it's also just expensive to

1:21:42 ↗ store all of those records. So, the city

1:21:44 ↗ actually has implementing new um

1:21:47 ↗ procedures for deleting records so that

1:21:49 ↗ we're not just holding all emails um in

1:21:52 ↗ our server for ever indefinitely because

1:21:54 ↗ that's just not really necessary or

1:21:57 ↗ really useful. Uh a huge problem for

1:22:01 ↗ every city that I work for is uh funding

1:22:05 ↗ and staffing levels. you know, it's, you

1:22:07 ↗ know, these are not really um these are

1:22:09 ↗ not positions I think that the public

1:22:13 ↗ really necessarily sees a lot of value

1:22:15 ↗ in just on the, you know, it's not it's

1:22:17 ↗ not somebody out on the street

1:22:18 ↗ performing a service. It's really

1:22:20 ↗ internal and so um you know, it's just

1:22:22 ↗ not as is not as uh cool looking to to

1:22:26 ↗ fund these positions, but it's very

1:22:28 ↗ important. There's also um sometimes

1:22:30 ↗ serial or difficult requesters. We're

1:22:32 ↗ fortunate that we don't really have any

1:22:34 ↗ here, but you know, I've seen agencies

1:22:36 ↗ that were almost um brought to

1:22:38 ↗ bankruptcy by public uh records

1:22:41 ↗ requesters who um continue to sue the

1:22:44 ↗ agencies um in frivolous lawsuits.

1:22:49 ↗ And then it's also just, you know,

1:22:50 ↗ timeconuming to keep up with those

1:22:52 ↗ requests even if they're not suing you.

1:22:55 ↗ And then of course, you know, we have to

1:22:57 ↗ keep this consistent documentation. And

1:23:00 ↗ then oh and then we have to um acquire

1:23:03 ↗ and then maintain records from various

1:23:06 ↗ third parties in some instances. So not

1:23:08 ↗ every contractor that the city contracts

1:23:10 ↗ with is someone that we would have to

1:23:12 ↗ potentially uh keep that we'd have to

1:23:15 ↗ produce public records for. If they're

1:23:17 ↗ truly an independent contractor and

1:23:18 ↗ they're not performing as the functional

1:23:21 ↗ equivalent of a city employee, then we

1:23:23 ↗ would not have to go, you know, ask them

1:23:27 ↗ to search their records. But we do have

1:23:29 ↗ a lot of staff here or a lot of um

1:23:32 ↗ consultants here for the city that do

1:23:34 ↗ actually act as a functional equivalent

1:23:36 ↗ of a city employee. So that can raise

1:23:39 ↗ issues as well.

1:23:49 ↗ >> All right, Tisha Gizer, city clerk. I'm

1:23:51 ↗ going to take a few slides here. Um so

1:23:54 ↗ responding to public records requests.

1:23:56 ↗ Yeah, this is a little slow. Um, so this

1:23:58 ↗ is something that, uh, Hannah Haver, who

1:24:00 ↗ is here with us tonight, uh, shadowing

1:24:02 ↗ as city clerk, is our public records

1:24:04 ↗ analyst in the clerk's office, um, and,

1:24:07 ↗ uh, is handling a lot of, uh, these

1:24:09 ↗ requests and provided this information.

1:24:11 ↗ Thank you, Hannah. Um, I skipped over a

1:24:13 ↗ slide here that I want to cover. Um, so

1:24:15 ↗ some of the agency's obligations when we

1:24:17 ↗ get a public records request, um, is to,

1:24:20 ↗ uh, respond within 5 days. If it's a

1:24:23 ↗ straightforward request, we try and get

1:24:24 ↗ the records out to people within that 5

1:24:26 ↗ days. But regardless if we can uh get

1:24:29 ↗ any records together for them, we have

1:24:30 ↗ to provide them a response. And this has

1:24:33 ↗ become challenging as we are getting uh

1:24:35 ↗ requests in all sorts of different ways

1:24:37 ↗ including sort of things that are going

1:24:38 ↗ into junk email that are going to

1:24:40 ↗ employees that you wouldn't expect.

1:24:42 ↗ People are really creative um and I

1:24:44 ↗ would say and sometimes maybe even

1:24:45 ↗ trying to sort of catch agencies um

1:24:47 ↗ missing these requests. So that in

1:24:50 ↗ itself is a challenge. Uh so if uh

1:24:53 ↗ records are available, we'll provide

1:24:54 ↗ them. If not, we'll pro we're required

1:24:56 ↗ to provide an estimate of when the

1:24:58 ↗ records will be ready. We'll then search

1:25:00 ↗ for the records and provide responsive

1:25:02 ↗ records uh which often for larger

1:25:04 ↗ requests includes providing them in

1:25:05 ↗ batches which we call installments. Um

1:25:08 ↗ this sounds very straightforward but can

1:25:10 ↗ be very complex um especially if a

1:25:12 ↗ request deals with a lot of sensitive

1:25:14 ↗ information that might need to be

1:25:15 ↗ closely reviewed and potentially

1:25:17 ↗ redacted.

1:25:19 ↗ And as uh Rachel said, we deal with high

1:25:21 ↗ volumes of records here. I was just

1:25:22 ↗ taking a look at some numbers we

1:25:24 ↗ compiled last year. Um, outside of our

1:25:26 ↗ thirdparty systems, we have about 40

1:25:28 ↗ terabytes of data and we currently have

1:25:29 ↗ 80 million emails around 80 million

1:25:32 ↗ emails. As Rachel said, we are taking

1:25:34 ↗ some steps to significantly reduce those

1:25:36 ↗ to help limit our liability and time

1:25:38 ↗ spent reviewing them.

1:25:41 ↗ All right, so these are just some

1:25:42 ↗ numbers I thought you might be

1:25:43 ↗ interested in. Um Hannah has just

1:25:45 ↗ compiled um the reporting that we're

1:25:48 ↗ required to submit to the state for 2025

1:25:50 ↗ and our public records requests are up

1:25:52 ↗ uh 56% from last year. We'll be

1:25:55 ↗ providing you a more detailed report on

1:25:56 ↗ this once we fully flesh out um some

1:25:59 ↗ additional information and cities around

1:26:00 ↗ the state will be reporting. So it's

1:26:02 ↗ always interesting for us to do some

1:26:03 ↗ comparisons. Um this is showing you a

1:26:06 ↗ breakdown of common requests. As you can

1:26:08 ↗ see, police tends to be our largest

1:26:11 ↗ um type of records that are being

1:26:13 ↗ requested. So, I wanted to provide you a

1:26:16 ↗ couple of um current recent uh email

1:26:20 ↗ request examples um just to give you a

1:26:22 ↗ sense of the types of requests that

1:26:24 ↗ we're um fielding from dayto-day and

1:26:27 ↗ also to just really emphasize to you

1:26:28 ↗ that it is important that our records

1:26:30 ↗ are centralized in city systems which

1:26:32 ↗ includes your records um because Hannah

1:26:35 ↗ here um is querying uh the city's email

1:26:38 ↗ repository on a daily basis um to

1:26:40 ↗ respond to public records we get that

1:26:42 ↗ include communications. And when people

1:26:45 ↗ request communications, we uh sometimes

1:26:48 ↗ need to do some clarifying with them,

1:26:50 ↗ but typically we're thinking of things

1:26:52 ↗ like Rachel mentioned, text messages,

1:26:53 ↗ emails, um phone messages, whatnot, and

1:26:58 ↗ uh we're searching our city repositories

1:27:00 ↗ and making an assumption that in general

1:27:02 ↗ that our records are in those places. So

1:27:04 ↗ that's why we really want you using your

1:27:06 ↗ city email, your city cell phone so that

1:27:07 ↗ when we're doing these queries, we have

1:27:09 ↗ confidence we're getting all the records

1:27:11 ↗ um that we need. So this is a request

1:27:14 ↗ here on screen that I know has taken

1:27:15 ↗ many I think this is still in process.

1:27:18 ↗ This has been a many many many month uh

1:27:20 ↗ request.

1:27:22 ↗ One more example here um that actually

1:27:24 ↗ called out specifically communications

1:27:26 ↗ between city staff, elected officials

1:27:28 ↗ and the police department. And you know

1:27:30 ↗ it might be that in certain cases we're

1:27:32 ↗ reaching out to you to get affidavits to

1:27:34 ↗ confirm that you don't have any of these

1:27:35 ↗ records on a personal device. But again

1:27:37 ↗ as part of this training just really

1:27:38 ↗ want to emphasize the value of

1:27:40 ↗ centralizing

1:27:43 ↗ Uh so searching we're required to

1:27:45 ↗ conduct an adequate search and this

1:27:47 ↗ means thinking about all the all the

1:27:49 ↗ places a records records might be all

1:27:51 ↗ the people who might have them um which

1:27:54 ↗ could include personal devices and

1:27:56 ↗ providing responsive records. Um we need

1:27:58 ↗ to be resourceful. Often when we start

1:28:00 ↗ searching for records we get leads we

1:28:02 ↗ find other names we get sort of tips to

1:28:05 ↗ other places we need to be looking and

1:28:06 ↗ so it can become a bit of a research uh

1:28:09 ↗ project. Um and then uh as I mentioned

1:28:13 ↗ uh if you are uh called out as as your

1:28:15 ↗ records being um desired as part of a

1:28:17 ↗ request, we might reach out to you to

1:28:19 ↗ have you attest search any uh locations

1:28:21 ↗ you might have records and let us know

1:28:24 ↗ through an a formal affidavit. Thank

1:28:26 ↗ you.

1:28:32 ↗ All right, we're going to talk about

1:28:33 ↗ exemptions. So when we get a public

1:28:35 ↗ records request, we have to release the

1:28:37 ↗ document uh essentially in its entirety

1:28:40 ↗ unless

1:28:41 ↗ the document is exempt in part or whole.

1:28:46 ↗ So what is an exemption?

1:28:54 ↗ Exemptions are um statutory

1:28:57 ↗ allowances to withhold records or

1:29:01 ↗ statutory um

1:29:04 ↗ demands I guess comp like their

1:29:06 ↗ requirements that a record be held as

1:29:09 ↗ confidential. Sometimes exemptions are

1:29:12 ↗ uh kind of up to the agency's discretion

1:29:15 ↗ and then sometimes it's unlawful to

1:29:18 ↗ release a particular

1:29:20 ↗ p piece of information or data.

1:29:23 ↗ Exemptions are to be narrowly construed.

1:29:25 ↗ So um you basically go by the plain

1:29:27 ↗ language of the exemption. This can be

1:29:30 ↗ really challenging at times because

1:29:31 ↗ exemptions are usually the result of

1:29:34 ↗ lobbying activities and it will be a

1:29:36 ↗ very specific request to the legislature

1:29:39 ↗ for an exemption. So you may see an

1:29:43 ↗ exemption that is for certain personal

1:29:46 ↗ information in the RCW, but it will be

1:29:49 ↗ for information that information as held

1:29:52 ↗ by the Department of Health. And so we

1:29:55 ↗ might have the same information, but

1:29:57 ↗ we're not the Department of Health. And

1:29:58 ↗ so obviously that puts us in a pretty

1:30:01 ↗ awkward position because we know that

1:30:03 ↗ there is that at least the legislature

1:30:05 ↗ is saying that there's some sort of you

1:30:08 ↗ know privacy interest in this

1:30:10 ↗ information but at the same time the

1:30:12 ↗ statute has to be narrowly construed and

1:30:14 ↗ if it doesn't say any agency can

1:30:17 ↗ withhold on that basis then that's the

1:30:19 ↗ way we have to operate. Um the general

1:30:22 ↗ rule is that we withhold only the exempt

1:30:26 ↗ information and we release the rest

1:30:28 ↗ which basically results in us redacting

1:30:32 ↗ most of our records. It's very rare that

1:30:35 ↗ we withhold a record in its entirety.

1:30:38 ↗ There's only a few potential statutes I

1:30:40 ↗ think where um it would we'd have a

1:30:42 ↗ plausible case for doing that. So it can

1:30:44 ↗ be a really timeconuming because for

1:30:46 ↗ instance um applications for public

1:30:49 ↗ employment are exempt but we wouldn't

1:30:51 ↗ redact the form that they're on. So then

1:30:53 ↗ you're just going through and redacting

1:30:55 ↗ everything that's in each little text

1:30:57 ↗ box. It's a lot of fun. You can ask

1:31:00 ↗ Hannah

1:31:02 ↗ common exemptions. Um there's the

1:31:05 ↗ attorney client privilege uh and work

1:31:07 ↗ product exemptions which are honestly

1:31:09 ↗ probably some of the more common ones uh

1:31:11 ↗ for the records that we we deal with and

1:31:14 ↗ certainly the most common ones that I

1:31:16 ↗ have to personally handle. But then

1:31:19 ↗ there's also um a few others that we see

1:31:21 ↗ a lot for uh such as personal

1:31:24 ↗ information in personnel files. the

1:31:26 ↗ statute actually describes what that

1:31:28 ↗ personal information is and uh that's

1:31:31 ↗ one where I think we have gotten gone a

1:31:33 ↗ long way in the last 10 years on in

1:31:36 ↗ terms of the legislature kind of

1:31:37 ↗ expanding that and having a little bit

1:31:39 ↗ more protection for employees and what's

1:31:41 ↗ in their files. Uh also investigative

1:31:44 ↗ records um can be withheld when they

1:31:48 ↗ when the non-disclosure is essential for

1:31:52 ↗ effective law enforcement or if a victim

1:31:55 ↗ or witness requests it and or if it

1:31:59 ↗ would endanger someone's life to priv uh

1:32:01 ↗ life or um right to privacy. But I think

1:32:04 ↗ the one that's really interesting here

1:32:06 ↗ is that basically anyone who reports

1:32:09 ↗ something to the the police as a victim

1:32:11 ↗ or witness, they can request

1:32:13 ↗ non-disclosure. And regardless of

1:32:15 ↗ whether we think that their life would

1:32:17 ↗ be in jeopardy by releasing that

1:32:19 ↗ information, their request uh governs

1:32:22 ↗ and so we wouldn't be able to release

1:32:24 ↗ their information. And then of course

1:32:26 ↗ things like financial accounts and

1:32:28 ↗ social security numbers are fortunately

1:32:30 ↗ exempt from uh release. So, we don't

1:32:33 ↗ give those out. This is just a sampling

1:32:35 ↗ there. I mean, I have a key that I use

1:32:37 ↗ when I help process public records

1:32:40 ↗ requests. And, you know, it's it's

1:32:43 ↗ probably 10 pages long full of, you

1:32:45 ↗ know, single space. It's it's very long.

1:32:47 ↗ There's probably hundreds of exemptions

1:32:49 ↗ total. They're not hundreds that we use

1:32:52 ↗ on, you know, a regular basis, but there

1:32:54 ↗ are quite a few. And they're not only in

1:32:57 ↗ the public records act. They're they can

1:32:59 ↗ be in other statutes. can be in federal

1:33:02 ↗ statutes and rigs. So, it can be pretty

1:33:04 ↗ complicated to figure them out.

1:33:08 ↗ All right. Now, we'll talk about social

1:33:11 ↗ media and texts and other electronic

1:33:15 ↗ records that I think are probably the

1:33:18 ↗ most commonly created records for

1:33:20 ↗ council members. Um, that can be kind of

1:33:23 ↗ the also the trickiest to deal with

1:33:26 ↗ under the public records act. I mean,

1:33:28 ↗ your emails are easy. they're in your,

1:33:30 ↗ you know, city email archive and, you

1:33:32 ↗ know, we can pull those up um ourselves.

1:33:35 ↗ But these kind of records can be a

1:33:37 ↗ little bit more challenging because of

1:33:39 ↗ where they're held and uh the tests that

1:33:42 ↗ we have to use to decide whether they're

1:33:43 ↗ public records.

1:33:45 ↗ So, text messages and and social media

1:33:49 ↗ uh posts on your personal devices and

1:33:51 ↗ accounts may constitute an agency's

1:33:55 ↗ public records and be subject to the

1:33:58 ↗ disclosure under the P if two things are

1:34:00 ↗ met. The record has to relate to the

1:34:03 ↗ conduct of government and it has to be

1:34:06 ↗ prepared within the scope of employment

1:34:08 ↗ or official capacity or when the

1:34:11 ↗ position requires it, the agency directs

1:34:14 ↗ it or when it furthers the agency's

1:34:16 ↗ interests. Obviously, that's not a very

1:34:19 ↗ clear test. Um, I I'm a lawyer and I do

1:34:23 ↗ a lot of public records work and I'm not

1:34:25 ↗ even uh very clear on it that that this

1:34:28 ↗ test came from a case um a couple of few

1:34:31 ↗ years ago and um it's what we'd call

1:34:35 ↗ kind of a resultsoriented decision where

1:34:37 ↗ maybe I think the court was probably

1:34:40 ↗ trying to do the right thing but in it

1:34:43 ↗ they they created a very complicated

1:34:45 ↗ test that's very hard for us to sort of

1:34:48 ↗ apply in practicality.

1:34:50 ↗ So, um, kind of as you'll hear

1:34:53 ↗ throughout the evening, my my my

1:34:56 ↗ recommendation is always just sort of

1:34:58 ↗ air on the side of caution and retain

1:35:01 ↗ various texts, social media posts and

1:35:04 ↗ what what have you that you are creating

1:35:07 ↗ sort of, you know, as a council member

1:35:10 ↗ and have to do with city business. I

1:35:12 ↗ would probably just air on the side of

1:35:13 ↗ caution and keep those and consider

1:35:15 ↗ those to be public records. And we may

1:35:17 ↗ you may be asked at some point to fill

1:35:19 ↗ out what we call a Nissan affidavit. So

1:35:21 ↗ don't be alarmed if that happens. That

1:35:24 ↗ is just an affidavit that says that you

1:35:27 ↗ searched your personal devices and you

1:35:30 ↗ know either says what you found on the

1:35:32 ↗ personal device or that you didn't have

1:35:34 ↗ any public records on those personal

1:35:36 ↗ devices.

1:35:38 ↗ And another thing that's just kind of

1:35:40 ↗ important to keep in mind here is that

1:35:42 ↗ judges can order um review of your

1:35:46 ↗ personal devices too, which is just

1:35:47 ↗ another reason to not use personal

1:35:50 ↗ accounts to the extent you can or if you

1:35:53 ↗ are going to use a personal account like

1:35:54 ↗ I know I've talked to a few of you about

1:35:56 ↗ um maybe having like a separate Gmail

1:36:00 ↗ account so that you can send various

1:36:02 ↗ things to your yourself um that are

1:36:04 ↗ related to your job as a council member.

1:36:08 ↗ I you know I strongly recommend that you

1:36:10 ↗ have it be solely for though you create

1:36:13 ↗ a separate personal account that's

1:36:15 ↗ solely for city work because it is

1:36:18 ↗ possible that you would have to just

1:36:20 ↗ open that like just sit give it all

1:36:22 ↗ access to a judge and I don't think most

1:36:24 ↗ people would want to do that with all

1:36:26 ↗ their entire um email archive.

1:36:39 ↗ way.

1:36:41 ↗ All right. Okay. So, let's um talk about

1:36:44 ↗ text messages a little bit. So, the city

1:36:46 ↗ has adopted a text message policy and uh

1:36:50 ↗ one of the things that we say in the

1:36:51 ↗ policy is we encourage staff to not use

1:36:54 ↗ text too much. So, obviously we need

1:36:57 ↗ everyone to be able to function. We need

1:36:58 ↗ you to be able to function in your role.

1:37:00 ↗ But I will tell you querying text

1:37:02 ↗ messages is very challenging. there's

1:37:04 ↗ not a lot of context as you can imagine

1:37:06 ↗ it's number to number. So we just say as

1:37:09 ↗ a best practice just just think about

1:37:11 ↗ that. Um if you are going to have a more

1:37:13 ↗ lengthy dialogue in writing certainly

1:37:15 ↗ email is is going to be preferred and

1:37:17 ↗ then always a phone call a meeting um

1:37:21 ↗ and inerson conversation are are

1:37:23 ↗ wonderful um methods to communicate as

1:37:26 ↗ they don't produce records or minimal

1:37:27 ↗ records. Um however certainly texting is

1:37:30 ↗ something that we have to acknowledge

1:37:31 ↗ happens. This is why you have your city

1:37:33 ↗ cell phones. And as part of our text

1:37:35 ↗ message policy, we're capturing, we're

1:37:36 ↗ archiving the text messages of all of

1:37:39 ↗ our senior level staff, our entire

1:37:41 ↗ police department, the city council,

1:37:43 ↗ mayor, and uh supervisors in most of our

1:37:46 ↗ departments. And uh those so your phone

1:37:49 ↗ you when you uh got your city cell

1:37:52 ↗ phone, you at some point got a message

1:37:53 ↗ from the clerk's office letting you know

1:37:54 ↗ that your phone was archiving. So we can

1:37:57 ↗ now query your text messages um if we

1:37:59 ↗ get a public records request. Um, and

1:38:02 ↗ the copies on your phones are therefore

1:38:04 ↗ copies. Uh, I'll tell you in a minute

1:38:08 ↗ why we felt very motivated to to do

1:38:10 ↗ this. A comment that uh your phone your

1:38:13 ↗ photos may or may not be syncing to your

1:38:15 ↗ one drive. If you're someone who takes

1:38:16 ↗ photos a lot as is part of your role, um

1:38:19 ↗ maybe reach out to us and we can work

1:38:21 ↗ with it to just make sure that's

1:38:22 ↗ happening. Um if you're not using photos

1:38:25 ↗ often, don't don't worry about it.

1:38:30 ↗ All right. So, um you know, just some

1:38:33 ↗ comments about your personal phone. Um

1:38:36 ↗ if you end up I I know carrying two

1:38:38 ↗ phones is probably a a huge hassle. So,

1:38:41 ↗ let's just acknowledge that. Um but

1:38:43 ↗ also, let's acknowledge that if you are

1:38:45 ↗ using a personal phone for texting

1:38:46 ↗ related to your role as a council

1:38:48 ↗ member, you have a responsibility to

1:38:49 ↗ retain those records. Um I know recently

1:38:52 ↗ I'm reaching the end of my uh iCloud

1:38:55 ↗ storage and so one of the things I was

1:38:56 ↗ suggested to do was change my text

1:38:58 ↗ message retention to 30 days. So, if you

1:39:00 ↗ have uh council related texts on your

1:39:02 ↗ phone, just be mindful of that and

1:39:04 ↗ consider getting us uh text messages of

1:39:07 ↗ substance um which you could screenshot

1:39:09 ↗ or we can uh work with you on exporting

1:39:12 ↗ them. Um as Rachel said in earlier

1:39:14 ↗ questions, some of those text messages

1:39:16 ↗ if they're things like running late,

1:39:18 ↗ I'll meeting you here, you know, things

1:39:20 ↗ like that, those can be deleted.

1:39:21 ↗ Anything that has any more substance

1:39:23 ↗ than that um we should be preserving

1:39:26 ↗ because in your roles there's a high

1:39:27 ↗ value on your records and a long

1:39:29 ↗ retention period for your communication

1:39:31 ↗ records. Um so as I mentioned at this

1:39:34 ↗ last point here if you know you have

1:39:36 ↗ some text

1:39:37 ↗ >> one second.

1:39:38 ↗ >> Yep.

1:39:38 ↗ >> There's a deputy president Jen.

1:39:40 ↗ >> Yes.

1:39:40 ↗ >> Um you mentioned there's a long

1:39:41 ↗ retention period. Out of curiosity what

1:39:43 ↗ is that period exactly? So for uh the

1:39:46 ↗ archives, I'm I'm not pleased with uh

1:39:49 ↗ how how they've construed this, but they

1:39:51 ↗ say for your records, anytime you're uh

1:39:53 ↗ communicating with stakeholders, which

1:39:56 ↗ can be community members, each other,

1:39:58 ↗ other elected officials, um the records

1:40:01 ↗ have to be kept as long as you're in

1:40:02 ↗ office, and then they have to be

1:40:04 ↗ appraised by the state archives for

1:40:05 ↗ potential transfer and archival

1:40:07 ↗ preservation. We have not yet attempted

1:40:10 ↗ to transfer text messages and I suspect

1:40:13 ↗ that when we go to they may not be

1:40:15 ↗ interested which might change our

1:40:16 ↗ approach but at this point we're just

1:40:18 ↗ following that advice.

1:40:21 ↗ >> Great. Thank you.

1:40:23 ↗ Uh so one of the reasons we were

1:40:24 ↗ motivated to put this policy in place

1:40:26 ↗ and pay for this archiving tool, as you

1:40:28 ↗ might have seen in the news, there was a

1:40:29 ↗ pretty significant lawsuit that the city

1:40:31 ↗ of Seattle had to pay because um some of

1:40:33 ↗ their staff, including their mayor's

1:40:35 ↗ text messages, were accidentally, you

1:40:37 ↗ know, deleting or or not accidentally,

1:40:40 ↗ they were deleting. Um and so we just

1:40:42 ↗ really wanted to provide some protection

1:40:44 ↗ to um our council members and staff in

1:40:46 ↗ this area.

1:40:50 ↗ All right. So, I'm going to transition

1:40:51 ↗ and we're kind of doing a preview uh uh

1:40:54 ↗ presenting the council's draft social

1:40:56 ↗ media policy that is technically part of

1:40:59 ↗ your next agenda item, but we thought it

1:41:01 ↗ the context fit well here. So, I'm going

1:41:03 ↗ to go ahead and talk to you about the

1:41:05 ↗ council rules ad hoc committee and then

1:41:06 ↗ the work they did to uh create the

1:41:09 ↗ council's first social media policy. So

1:41:12 ↗ in general, the social media policy is

1:41:14 ↗ very flexible and encouraging and

1:41:17 ↗ acknowledging that council members may

1:41:18 ↗ choose to use social media platforms. Uh

1:41:21 ↗ and but does say that you know the

1:41:24 ↗ contact and tenor of uh those

1:41:26 ↗ communications in your role as a council

1:41:28 ↗ member should um be professional.

1:41:34 ↗ Uh there's also uh some suggested uh

1:41:38 ↗ disclaimers that council members can use

1:41:41 ↗ that talk about the fact that the

1:41:43 ↗ viewpoints that you are relaying are

1:41:46 ↗ yours and not those of the city council

1:41:48 ↗ and also uh kind of disclosing to anyone

1:41:51 ↗ who's interacting with you on that

1:41:53 ↗ platform that those communications may

1:41:54 ↗ be subject to the public records act. Um

1:41:57 ↗ there will be a a URL provided with this

1:42:00 ↗ information if you choose to use it.

1:42:02 ↗ uh also the the second part of the

1:42:04 ↗ policy. So in general the policy is

1:42:08 ↗ offering some guidelines on the use of

1:42:09 ↗ social media but it's also acknowledging

1:42:11 ↗ there are some legal requirements to be

1:42:12 ↗ aware of and this um is a list that if

1:42:15 ↗ you've taken a look at the council rules

1:42:17 ↗ there's a little more information

1:42:18 ↗ provided with each of these as to some

1:42:20 ↗ of the uh things that you should be

1:42:21 ↗ considering when you're using social

1:42:23 ↗ media. The training tonight is covering

1:42:25 ↗ the first two and and really the

1:42:27 ↗ confidential and sensitive information.

1:42:29 ↗ Um is just thinking about information

1:42:31 ↗ you're sharing on those public

1:42:32 ↗ platforms, potentially public platforms

1:42:35 ↗ um ensuring it's not confidential or

1:42:36 ↗ sensitive. And then quasi judicial

1:42:38 ↗ matters are um things that come up from

1:42:41 ↗ time to time and shouldn't be shared

1:42:44 ↗ or shouldn't communication shouldn't be

1:42:46 ↗ occurring outside of meetings. Um, so

1:42:48 ↗ the the policy also says, well, it wants

1:42:52 ↗ to have a very open-ended approach um to

1:42:54 ↗ council members using social social

1:42:56 ↗ media, but also encouraging some best

1:42:57 ↗ practices. And these are a list of best

1:42:59 ↗ practices that Madrona put together. Um,

1:43:01 ↗ our commitment is to work on um building

1:43:04 ↗ this out a little bit as well as some

1:43:05 ↗ FAQs to provide council members as

1:43:07 ↗ they're onboarded and then just sort of

1:43:09 ↗ maybe periodically as some friendly

1:43:11 ↗ reminders and as um technology changes.

1:43:14 ↗ So, this includes avoiding co-mingling,

1:43:16 ↗ as Rachel said, and we talked to staff a

1:43:18 ↗ lot about this. We really want a bright

1:43:20 ↗ line between your personal devices and

1:43:22 ↗ accounts and your official accounts. I

1:43:24 ↗ will add here, if you have um things

1:43:27 ↗ that you're using uh in your uh

1:43:28 ↗ employment or systems or um calendaring

1:43:32 ↗ tools, I don't know what it might be,

1:43:33 ↗ and it's something you're interested in

1:43:34 ↗ using in your council member role, reach

1:43:36 ↗ out to us because it our IT department

1:43:38 ↗ has licenses for a lot of different

1:43:40 ↗ software systems. And if it's something

1:43:42 ↗ that you would like to use in your role

1:43:43 ↗ as a council member, we want to try and

1:43:45 ↗ help you and we want to try and get a

1:43:46 ↗ city account for you. So, um please

1:43:48 ↗ reach out. Uh then the second point here

1:43:51 ↗ is back to those disclaimers we talked

1:43:53 ↗ about and then um understanding if you

1:43:55 ↗ have authority which you are you are not

1:43:57 ↗ issued uh sort of city sponsored

1:43:59 ↗ accounts but certainly as council

1:44:00 ↗ members you have the ability to

1:44:02 ↗ communicate about city issues. Um so

1:44:04 ↗ some other best practices trying to keep

1:44:06 ↗ an open forum so avoiding blocking other

1:44:09 ↗ users avoiding removing or hiding

1:44:12 ↗ comments on posts for these platforms

1:44:15 ↗ and then directing people to and to and

1:44:18 ↗ that's towards your uh protecting first

1:44:19 ↗ amendment rights. Then also directing

1:44:21 ↗ people to official methods of

1:44:23 ↗ communication trying to help ensure that

1:44:25 ↗ people are getting consistent messaging.

1:44:26 ↗ So pointing people to the city website

1:44:28 ↗ when able. As Rachel explained, another

1:44:31 ↗ best practice that we will be using on

1:44:33 ↗ occasion is requesting an affidavit,

1:44:36 ↗ ensuring that you've searched any

1:44:37 ↗ platforms you're using. Um, don't be

1:44:39 ↗ scared of using social media, but be

1:44:41 ↗ mindful about it being the message

1:44:43 ↗ there.

1:44:46 ↗ So, a few um I'm concluding this section

1:44:49 ↗ with a few just uh practices in general.

1:44:52 ↗ >> One second, Council President Mart.

1:44:54 ↗ >> Um, can we go back a slide? Um I am

1:44:59 ↗ surprised that this is not more

1:45:01 ↗ restrictive. Um I it was my

1:45:04 ↗ understanding that like if I go post in

1:45:08 ↗ Facebook to uh my friends and I say to

1:45:13 ↗ my friends something about the city

1:45:15 ↗ that's a meeting is it not?

1:45:18 ↗ >> You are jumping ahead. There are some

1:45:20 ↗ definite open public meetings act

1:45:22 ↗ considerations if a quorum of you are

1:45:24 ↗ interacting on a social media platform

1:45:26 ↗ including commenting on each other's

1:45:28 ↗ posts that Rachel is going to touch on.

1:45:30 ↗ So that is a problem

1:45:31 ↗ >> more coming there there there's more

1:45:33 ↗ coming about social media beyond this

1:45:34 ↗ slide.

1:45:35 ↗ >> Well not we're w we're wrapping up um

1:45:38 ↗ social media but as far as open public

1:45:40 ↗ meetings act. So four of you or if

1:45:42 ↗ you're on a committee two of you

1:45:44 ↗ >> no I I was I wasn't talking about any

1:45:46 ↗ other council members. Okay. just me and

1:45:48 ↗ my set of friends, right? And let's say

1:45:50 ↗ my let's say I'm not friends with any of

1:45:52 ↗ these people. Um for the sake of

1:45:55 ↗ argument, uh my understanding is if you

1:45:57 ↗ have a if if you have a social media um

1:46:00 ↗ list that is closed, that is a violation

1:46:03 ↗ of OPMA, is it not?

1:46:05 ↗ >> Uh I would say that is not a violation

1:46:07 ↗ of the OPMA if you're the only elected

1:46:09 ↗ official in Isiziqua that's that's on

1:46:11 ↗ it. that would be permissible under the

1:46:13 ↗ policy recognizing folks including

1:46:16 ↗ friends and family who are commenting on

1:46:17 ↗ your post. Those posts could be subject

1:46:19 ↗ to the public records act. Um you would

1:46:22 ↗ need to figure out how to preserve which

1:46:23 ↗ we'll I'm about to talk about preserve

1:46:25 ↗ that record. Um which could be tricky

1:46:28 ↗ but no this policy wouldn't preclude

1:46:30 ↗ that.

1:46:30 ↗ >> All right. Thank you. It it it's easy to

1:46:35 ↗ >> it does create a situation where it's

1:46:36 ↗ easy to

1:46:38 ↗ uh inadvertently violate the OPMA

1:46:41 ↗ though, but it isn't in it in it of

1:46:44 ↗ itself. The post is not a

1:46:46 ↗ >> OPMA doesn't care if I were to get like

1:46:48 ↗ physically if I got a hundred people in

1:46:50 ↗ the community together. I said I'm going

1:46:51 ↗ to invite persons ABCD EFG but only

1:46:54 ↗ those people and I'm going to have a

1:46:56 ↗ conversation about isqua policy and

1:46:58 ↗ everyone else is excluded from that

1:47:00 ↗ meeting. That's not a violation of OPMA.

1:47:02 ↗ Well, technically if you are just the

1:47:04 ↗ only council member there and there's

1:47:06 ↗ not a quorum then it's not a meeting

1:47:09 ↗ because it has but

1:47:10 ↗ >> all right

1:47:11 ↗ >> you know it is a problem if you are

1:47:13 ↗ friends with other council members and

1:47:15 ↗ they might be interacting on your post

1:47:17 ↗ >> right thank you

1:47:22 ↗ >> all right so first first point use city

1:47:26 ↗ stuff uh second point avoid forwarding

1:47:29 ↗ emails to and from your personal

1:47:31 ↗ accounts when possible. As Rachel said

1:47:33 ↗ as well, just thinking about the fact

1:47:35 ↗ that just because you're doing something

1:47:37 ↗ on your personal email doesn't preclude

1:47:38 ↗ it from being city record. It doesn't

1:47:40 ↗ really matter where it's at. It's more

1:47:41 ↗ about the content. If you're unsure if

1:47:43 ↗ you should be using city email for

1:47:45 ↗ something, you can always reach out to

1:47:46 ↗ us um for some clarification there. But

1:47:48 ↗ like Rachel said, we would heir on the

1:47:50 ↗ side of being conservative in um using

1:47:53 ↗ your city account for things that might

1:47:55 ↗ be perceived as city business. also um

1:47:58 ↗ using for note takingaking and just

1:48:00 ↗ other records you're generating as part

1:48:02 ↗ of your council work. You all have a

1:48:03 ↗ city one drive account. Um so we I'd

1:48:06 ↗ encourage you to you you know I don't

1:48:07 ↗ know if you are OneNote users but

1:48:09 ↗ certainly in one drive you can save any

1:48:11 ↗ type of um file and those are those

1:48:14 ↗ records are all searchable when we're

1:48:16 ↗ search doing eiscocovery in Microsoft

1:48:18 ↗ purview. If you don't know how to use

1:48:20 ↗ your one drive account or and would like

1:48:22 ↗ a little refresher on that um let us

1:48:24 ↗ know. We're happy to show you that. Um,

1:48:27 ↗ if you're using a third-party tool,

1:48:28 ↗ which would include a social media

1:48:30 ↗ system or a or something else, um, if

1:48:34 ↗ it's something that you need in your

1:48:35 ↗ role as a council member, let's talk and

1:48:37 ↗ see if we can get you a license to

1:48:38 ↗ something. If you're uh generating

1:48:41 ↗ records in this new uh in this in the

1:48:45 ↗ social media area on a social media

1:48:48 ↗ platform, um, we would encourage you to

1:48:50 ↗ be pro proactive about capturing those

1:48:53 ↗ records. So, you know, it's easy to

1:48:55 ↗ think, okay, I I know where all of these

1:48:57 ↗ posts are. Um, but years down the road,

1:48:59 ↗ it could become challenging for you to

1:49:01 ↗ retrieve those. And while we have been

1:49:03 ↗ fortunate in the last few years to not

1:49:05 ↗ have a high volume of council focused

1:49:07 ↗ public records requests, they can come

1:49:10 ↗ at any time and they can be ownorous.

1:49:12 ↗ And so, um, we'd encourage you to save

1:49:14 ↗ content to your one drive account.

1:49:15 ↗ Again, if you'd like some assistance

1:49:17 ↗ with knowing how to best preserve um

1:49:19 ↗ some of your social media content, we're

1:49:21 ↗ happy to provide some advice. Another

1:49:23 ↗ best practice would be making content

1:49:25 ↗ publicly available. So, if something's

1:49:26 ↗ easily available with no login, we can

1:49:28 ↗ just point people to the records. We

1:49:30 ↗ don't have to actually provide them. So,

1:49:32 ↗ that's something to consider when you're

1:49:33 ↗ generating content. And then tracking

1:49:35 ↗ dates. So, if you have a blog or you're

1:49:37 ↗ on a social media platform, I would

1:49:40 ↗ strongly suggest making some notes about

1:49:43 ↗ that time frame. So, if we get a request

1:49:45 ↗ and you get that Nissan affidavit, you

1:49:47 ↗ know, you didn't have a Blue Sky account

1:49:49 ↗ or a Reddit account at the time period

1:49:52 ↗ that's being um requested. So, this is

1:49:54 ↗ something we're trying to train staff on

1:49:56 ↗ as well.

1:49:58 ↗ With that, I'm going to turn it back

1:49:59 ↗ over to Rachel.

1:50:02 ↗ >> Council member Walsh,

1:50:04 ↗ >> just a question on that. it um if you go

1:50:08 ↗ back a slide suggested something about

1:50:11 ↗ um not forwarding emails to and from

1:50:13 ↗ your personal accounts. If someone did

1:50:17 ↗ send something city related to a

1:50:19 ↗ personal account then it does make sense

1:50:22 ↗ so that we can create the record in our

1:50:25 ↗ city email. Correct.

1:50:27 ↗ >> Absolutely. Okay. Yes.

1:50:29 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:50:32 ↗ But it would also still be a record in

1:50:34 ↗ your personal account that you would

1:50:35 ↗ have to keep. Just a sad aside on that.

1:50:39 ↗ Okay. Thank you, TA.

1:50:44 ↗ Legal challenges and penalties. The

1:50:46 ↗ really fun part of this. So, the public

1:50:49 ↗ records act is judicially enforced.

1:50:52 ↗ However, cities can adopt an

1:50:55 ↗ administrative review process, which is

1:50:58 ↗ not quite an appeal process, but it's a

1:51:01 ↗ mechanism for requesters to ask you to

1:51:04 ↗ reconsider your decision under the

1:51:06 ↗ public records act or relook at

1:51:07 ↗ something that they think maybe you got

1:51:09 ↗ wrong. Is aqua does have that in their

1:51:11 ↗ policy. Um, but someone doesn't have to

1:51:14 ↗ use that. So, it's not like other

1:51:16 ↗ lawsuits where you have to um exhaust

1:51:19 ↗ your administrative remedies. uh a

1:51:21 ↗ person who is feels they are agrieved

1:51:23 ↗ under the public records act can sue and

1:51:26 ↗ the act is enforced by the courts. The

1:51:29 ↗ penalties as I mentioned previously they

1:51:32 ↗ can be very hefty. Uh a court can award

1:51:36 ↗ penalties up to $100 uh per record per

1:51:41 ↗ page per day. It's not common. you would

1:51:44 ↗ you'd have to be um it would have to be

1:51:47 ↗ a pretty egregious violation to see $100

1:51:50 ↗ per page. Uh but it it does happen. The

1:51:54 ↗ requesttor is also uh entitled to

1:51:57 ↗ attorney's fees and costs if they

1:51:59 ↗ prevail. Note that the agency is not

1:52:02 ↗ entitled to their attorney's fees and

1:52:04 ↗ costs if they prevail. So unfortunately

1:52:07 ↗ that's just a cost that we have to bear

1:52:09 ↗ and um then we would have to bear it for

1:52:11 ↗ the requesttor if we ended up losing the

1:52:14 ↗ case.

1:52:16 ↗ The um court can also review records in

1:52:20 ↗ camera which means that they you know

1:52:22 ↗ privately review the records and they

1:52:24 ↗ can decide whether or not they the

1:52:26 ↗ exemptions apply and whether or not they

1:52:27 ↗ should have to be disclosed.

1:52:30 ↗ There can also outside of the P there

1:52:32 ↗ can be potential criminal liability for

1:52:35 ↗ willful destruction or alteration of

1:52:38 ↗ public records and uh then there there

1:52:42 ↗ actually it's potential that you could

1:52:44 ↗ um forfeit your your office if you were

1:52:47 ↗ to have found to have engaged in that.

1:52:51 ↗ There's a one-year statute of

1:52:52 ↗ limitations on P lawsuits and it starts

1:52:55 ↗ to run from the date that the agency

1:52:57 ↗ claims the exemption or when we last

1:53:00 ↗ produced records as our final definitive

1:53:03 ↗ response. And so we actually put in a

1:53:06 ↗ little disclaimer that says when this is

1:53:08 ↗ occurring so that there's no um

1:53:10 ↗ confusion in court as to whether or not

1:53:13 ↗ the statute of limitations has begun.

1:53:19 ↗ Oh, and another thing on the penalties

1:53:21 ↗ is that um the court can look at

1:53:25 ↗ aggravating or mitigating factors, and

1:53:28 ↗ they do the um and I won't go through

1:53:32 ↗ all of them, but essentially, you know,

1:53:34 ↗ if you there are

1:53:36 ↗ factors that make the city look bad,

1:53:38 ↗ like it looks like you intentionally

1:53:42 ↗ took too long, you intentionally were

1:53:44 ↗ messing with a requesttor, you were

1:53:46 ↗ deleting records, then you're going to

1:53:48 ↗ see um larger penalties than if there

1:53:51 ↗ was just a truly inadvertent error or

1:53:53 ↗ someone just dropped the ball, which

1:53:55 ↗ does happen from time to time. So,

1:53:57 ↗ courts tend to try to be a little bit

1:53:58 ↗ more lenient about that.

1:54:08 ↗ You want me to just keep going? Yeah.

1:54:09 ↗ Okay. So, we already talked a lot about

1:54:11 ↗ retaining public records. They have to

1:54:14 ↗ be retained in accordance with the local

1:54:16 ↗ government's uh retention schedule. As

1:54:18 ↗ Tisha said, your records in particular

1:54:21 ↗ have a a pretty long retention. Uh it's

1:54:26 ↗ it's not uncommon for records to have to

1:54:28 ↗ be reviewed by the archives to decide

1:54:30 ↗ whether or not to keep them. I'm glad I

1:54:32 ↗ don't have that job. And if they decide

1:54:35 ↗ they don't want them, then we can

1:54:37 ↗ destroy. Or if they've met the retention

1:54:39 ↗ and there's no review by the archives uh

1:54:41 ↗ required. If you've ever been to the

1:54:43 ↗ archives, it's very interesting. It's

1:54:45 ↗ already really full, so I don't know how

1:54:47 ↗ they keep all of this stuff, but that's

1:54:50 ↗ their problem, not ours. All right.

1:54:52 ↗ Finally, we're going to talk about the

1:54:54 ↗ Open Public Meetings Act or the OPMA as

1:54:56 ↗ we like to call it. So, as you're aware,

1:54:58 ↗ all meetings of the governing body are

1:55:02 ↗ um must be open to the public and

1:55:05 ↗ accessible to all.

1:55:09 ↗ What is the governing body?

1:55:13 ↗ That's you. That's um or it could be

1:55:16 ↗ other groups too, but it's the

1:55:18 ↗ multi-member

1:55:19 ↗ board committee commission council

1:55:22 ↗ or other policy or rulemaking body of a

1:55:24 ↗ public agency or a committee thereof,

1:55:26 ↗ which um important to note that it does

1:55:29 ↗ apply to council committees here.

1:55:37 ↗ And what is a meeting? A meeting is uh

1:55:42 ↗ means any it's one of those really

1:55:45 ↗ circular definitions. A meeting means a

1:55:47 ↗ meeting. A meeting means a meeting where

1:55:49 ↗ any action is taken. Well, action is

1:55:51 ↗ very broadly defined under the OPMA to

1:55:54 ↗ basically mean um any deliberation, any

1:55:58 ↗ discussion, any decision or uh making a

1:56:02 ↗ final decision is final action. But just

1:56:05 ↗ talking about something is a meeting

1:56:07 ↗ technically under the OPMA.

1:56:17 ↗ So we already kind of talked about this,

1:56:18 ↗ but you know, receiving public

1:56:21 ↗ testimony, things like that, all of

1:56:23 ↗ these things include these all fall

1:56:25 ↗ within the broad definition of action

1:56:27 ↗ under the OPMA.

1:56:33 ↗ Yes. Council member Derek.

1:56:35 ↗ >> Yes. So it's like the committee's one is

1:56:37 ↗ the one where I often have question and

1:56:40 ↗ concern. So like as part of you know

1:56:42 ↗ safety services and park in terms of

1:56:45 ↗ what I can talk about and is it really

1:56:47 ↗ like with my other council members of

1:56:50 ↗ anything that could fall into that

1:56:52 ↗ committee? Is it only stuff that might

1:56:54 ↗ be on an agenda? It's like I'm not quite

1:56:55 ↗ sure what we can talk about with that

1:56:58 ↗ specific committee since that's only two

1:56:59 ↗ of us and suddenly that could be a

1:57:01 ↗ quorum.

1:57:03 ↗ You're right that that does pose a

1:57:05 ↗ really tricky thing. I would say that at

1:57:08 ↗ the very least don't talk about anything

1:57:10 ↗ that you know is going to be discussed

1:57:13 ↗ in the committee. Um it's kind of an air

1:57:16 ↗ on the side of caution thing there. I

1:57:19 ↗ think that

1:57:21 ↗ obviously

1:57:23 ↗ if something comes up, you know, weeks,

1:57:25 ↗ months down the road and you happen to

1:57:27 ↗ talk about that, I I don't think we're

1:57:29 ↗ talking about serious risk there. But um

1:57:32 ↗ no like it it it does make it difficult

1:57:35 ↗ for a committee to operate because I

1:57:37 ↗ think you know it would be great if you

1:57:38 ↗ know two members of the committee could

1:57:40 ↗ sit around and talk together about what

1:57:42 ↗ should what we should bring forward to

1:57:44 ↗ the committee. What are topics to add?

1:57:46 ↗ And unfortunately that's just those are

1:57:48 ↗ conversations that just should be held

1:57:50 ↗ in a committee meeting because otherwise

1:57:53 ↗ I think you're potentially you know we

1:57:55 ↗ treat our committees as subject to the

1:57:57 ↗ OPMA and that means that if you know a

1:58:00 ↗ quorum of of that committee is two

1:58:02 ↗ people so it is better to air on the

1:58:05 ↗ side of caution and have those

1:58:06 ↗ conversations publicly but I do know

1:58:07 ↗ that it's hard and you know really does

1:58:10 ↗ pose some logistical challenges to the

1:58:13 ↗ functioning of the committees.

1:58:19 ↗ Um, a meeting can be t over email. A

1:58:22 ↗ meeting can be out in the parking lot

1:58:25 ↗ after a regular city council meeting if

1:58:27 ↗ you're continuing to talk about city

1:58:29 ↗ business. If you're talking about, you

1:58:31 ↗ know, your kids and personal things, not

1:58:33 ↗ a meeting. But once again, if you were

1:58:35 ↗ talking about uh matters that are effect

1:58:40 ↗ of to that are related to your role as a

1:58:43 ↗ council member, it's probably a meeting.

1:58:48 ↗ >> Deputy President Chen,

1:58:52 ↗ >> Council President Marts,

1:58:53 ↗ >> people confuse us all the time. So, um I

1:58:56 ↗ just for the newer council members, I

1:58:58 ↗ just want to provide a little context on

1:59:00 ↗ the subject of of committees. Um, this

1:59:03 ↗ was a this was a thing that we really

1:59:05 ↗ went back and forth before any of you um

1:59:09 ↗ well well Russell was off council and

1:59:11 ↗ before I think any of you except uh

1:59:13 ↗ Lindsay uh the we went through a phase

1:59:17 ↗ where we didn't have committees right

1:59:19 ↗ and we had you know fiveour committees

1:59:21 ↗ in the whole and we had all seven of us

1:59:24 ↗ digging into every issue and so this you

1:59:27 ↗ know if the the the challenges

1:59:29 ↗ associated what what you are hearing is

1:59:31 ↗ the real challenges is associated with

1:59:32 ↗ committees and it's why we tried going

1:59:34 ↗ away from committees for a while. And if

1:59:36 ↗ it feels awkward um in and and you feel

1:59:40 ↗ hamstrung at all by have by how things

1:59:42 ↗ have to work, just recognize that this

1:59:44 ↗ is the lesser of two evils. The large

1:59:47 ↗ larger of two evil was was having five

1:59:49 ↗ hour cows every month. So thanks.

1:59:54 ↗ Now, we're going to talk about serial

1:59:56 ↗ meetings because when you're talking

1:59:57 ↗ about the OPMA, I think it's really

1:59:59 ↗ important to talk about them because I

2:00:01 ↗ think they're probably the biggest

2:00:02 ↗ source of inadvertent

2:00:05 ↗ uh OPMA violations. So, what is a serial

2:00:07 ↗ meeting? It's a meeting that occurs when

2:00:10 ↗ a majority of the governing body has a

2:00:12 ↗ series of smaller gatherings amongst

2:00:14 ↗ themselves or communications

2:00:17 ↗ um that ends up resulting in a majority

2:00:21 ↗ of the governing body taking action

2:00:24 ↗ which once again can just be discussion

2:00:26 ↗ or deliberation um even if the majority

2:00:29 ↗ isn't actually ever a part of this

2:00:32 ↗ communication. So it can it can um

2:00:35 ↗ occur, you know, by forwarding emails

2:00:37 ↗ around or just by playing games of

2:00:39 ↗ telephone where a couple people talk to

2:00:41 ↗ someone or talk to each other and then

2:00:43 ↗ someone calls another person and says,

2:00:45 ↗ "Oh, so and so and I talked about this

2:00:48 ↗ and what do you think of this?" There's

2:00:50 ↗ multiple ways that it can occur. It does

2:00:53 ↗ require the collective intent to meet.

2:00:56 ↗ Um, so you know it's it there is there

2:00:59 ↗ does have to be some sort of measure of

2:01:01 ↗ intent there. However, as you probably

2:01:04 ↗ you know you saw my email communication

2:01:06 ↗ regarding the Burian case last week. Um

2:01:09 ↗ that collective in you know you council

2:01:11 ↗ members can potentially

2:01:14 ↗ you know submit declarations to the

2:01:16 ↗ court saying they didn't have the

2:01:17 ↗ collective intent to meet and it could

2:01:19 ↗ be potentially found that they they did.

2:01:21 ↗ So there still is a risk there. passive

2:01:24 ↗ receipt of information is not a

2:01:26 ↗ violation, which is why the council is

2:01:27 ↗ able to be copied on, you know, emails

2:01:30 ↗ that the um council president and deputy

2:01:33 ↗ council president send out to the

2:01:34 ↗ community. Um as long as, you know, it's

2:01:37 ↗ just important that people aren't

2:01:38 ↗ replying all and having a conversation

2:01:40 ↗ there. But um that's that's okay.

2:01:51 ↗ executive sessions. Uh, as you know, the

2:01:54 ↗ the OPMA has several or exceptions to it

2:01:57 ↗ and the the main one is for executive

2:01:59 ↗ sessions or closed sessions, which are

2:02:02 ↗ technically a little bit different, but

2:02:03 ↗ we won't get into that. But, um,

2:02:06 ↗ executive sessions can only be held for

2:02:09 ↗ the limited purposes that are set forth

2:02:11 ↗ in statute. Obviously, uh, pending or

2:02:15 ↗ potential litigation is a really common

2:02:16 ↗ one. also real estate acquisitions or

2:02:18 ↗ sales. Executive sessions um may only

2:02:21 ↗ occur if the before the executive

2:02:24 ↗ session the presiding officer announces

2:02:26 ↗ the purpose of and the time the

2:02:28 ↗ executive session um is going to be over

2:02:32 ↗ and then the discussion can take place

2:02:34 ↗ behind closed doors. But then any

2:02:36 ↗ decisions have to take place in the

2:02:39 ↗ public meeting and of course we can't

2:02:41 ↗ vote or use secret ballots.

2:02:45 ↗ So what is the test for an OPMA

2:02:48 ↗ violation?

2:02:49 ↗ So it occurs when a majority of the body

2:02:52 ↗ meets with the collective intent to

2:02:55 ↗ transact official business and once

2:02:57 ↗ again business you know is it's a broad

2:03:00 ↗ definition here. Um and during the

2:03:03 ↗ meeting the council members take action

2:03:05 ↗ which is also of course um broadly

2:03:08 ↗ defined.

2:03:11 ↗ So,

2:03:13 ↗ what happens if someone violates the

2:03:15 ↗ OPMA? The penalties,

2:03:19 ↗ the court can impose $500 civil

2:03:21 ↗ penalties. Those are a personal

2:03:24 ↗ liability. That's against each council

2:03:26 ↗ person that is found to have committed a

2:03:29 ↗ violation. If there are subsequent

2:03:31 ↗ violations, the civil penalty increases

2:03:34 ↗ to $1,000. The court will also award

2:03:37 ↗ costs and attorneys fees to a successful

2:03:39 ↗ party. Um, and that's I mean a

2:03:42 ↗ successful challenger. Once again, this

2:03:44 ↗ is another one where the city does not

2:03:45 ↗ get its attorney's fees generally for

2:03:47 ↗ these. Uh, but that I would say that's

2:03:50 ↗ the the biggest source of risk for the

2:03:52 ↗ city at least as an entity. Um, because

2:03:54 ↗ those attorneys fees can be really

2:03:56 ↗ costly. Not that $500 or $1,000 isn't

2:03:58 ↗ also costly, but it's not 20,000 or

2:04:02 ↗ $50,000. So, it's less than that. They

2:04:05 ↗ can also find that the action is

2:04:07 ↗ declared null and void. Um, but we we've

2:04:10 ↗ see cases where folks sue even when

2:04:13 ↗ there was no action to be declared null

2:04:15 ↗ and void. You know, they just sort of on

2:04:17 ↗ principle want to say that there was a

2:04:19 ↗ violation and they can do that and the

2:04:23 ↗ um court can award them their attorney's

2:04:26 ↗ fees for that.

2:04:33 ↗ Come on.

2:04:37 ↗ Now, we're going to talk just briefly

2:04:39 ↗ about best uh practices for not

2:04:42 ↗ violating the OPMA.

2:04:44 ↗ Meet more frequently. Use the committee

2:04:48 ↗ system like we have here even though it

2:04:49 ↗ is sort of limited and uh so that you

2:04:53 ↗ don't have to have you know cows as

2:04:54 ↗ frequently. Use the city administrator

2:04:56 ↗ or another staff person to filter your

2:04:59 ↗ information or questions through. Don't

2:05:02 ↗ discuss uh city business with more than

2:05:05 ↗ two other council members outside of a

2:05:07 ↗ open meeting. And of course, be more

2:05:09 ↗ careful when it's a committee. Uh don't

2:05:11 ↗ discuss really committee business with

2:05:13 ↗ other members of the same committee

2:05:15 ↗ outside of a committee meeting.

2:05:18 ↗ Uh and if you have discussed something

2:05:21 ↗ as a group of three, just all three of

2:05:23 ↗ you be cognizant about that and don't go

2:05:26 ↗ talking to a fourth person about the

2:05:28 ↗ same thing because that can be an issue

2:05:30 ↗ there too. And when in doubt, discuss it

2:05:32 ↗ in a public meeting.

2:05:36 ↗ Be careful with executive sessions. This

2:05:38 ↗ is why we stay on topic. We don't

2:05:39 ↗ overuse them. They have these like the P

2:05:43 ↗ exemptions have to be narrowly

2:05:44 ↗ construed. So, um, you know, that's why

2:05:47 ↗ we have to be kind of careful and we

2:05:49 ↗ can't talk about everything related to a

2:05:50 ↗ real estate acquisition, only certain

2:05:52 ↗ things. Don't uh dis make sure that you

2:05:55 ↗ discuss matters publicly after the

2:05:57 ↗ executive session prior to voting. So,

2:05:59 ↗ it makes it clear to the public that you

2:06:02 ↗ weren't making a decision in the

2:06:03 ↗ executive session. And then, of course,

2:06:05 ↗ don't discuss what happened in uh an

2:06:08 ↗ executive session with anyone else

2:06:10 ↗ outside of that executive session

2:06:12 ↗ because um it's illegal to disclose this

2:06:15 ↗ type of confidential information that

2:06:17 ↗ you obtain as a part of your role at in

2:06:20 ↗ your position. And there's actually a

2:06:22 ↗ $500 penalty and the potential for

2:06:24 ↗ forfeite of office for that. Council

2:06:26 ↗ President Martz.

2:06:27 ↗ >> So this um Can can you go back?

2:06:30 ↗ >> Yes.

2:06:31 ↗ >> Um so this um

2:06:35 ↗ confident So we're going to have a

2:06:36 ↗ conversation later as part of rules of

2:06:38 ↗ procedure about confidential

2:06:40 ↗ information. Does RCW42.23.070

2:06:46 ↗ section 4 define confidential

2:06:48 ↗ information?

2:06:49 ↗ >> No, it does not. H

2:06:53 ↗ >> so

2:06:55 ↗ we have to sort of

2:06:59 ↗ it's a good question of is is anything

2:07:01 ↗ that you discuss in executive session

2:07:04 ↗ confidential. This does come up from

2:07:05 ↗ time to time. I would say

2:07:08 ↗ the fact that you discussed it in the

2:07:11 ↗ executive session is confidential. So

2:07:13 ↗ you wouldn't want to say we discussed

2:07:16 ↗ XYZ

2:07:17 ↗ in the in an executive session. you

2:07:19 ↗ wouldn't want to tell that to to a

2:07:21 ↗ public member of the public. However, if

2:07:24 ↗ X was something that is public

2:07:28 ↗ information, you're not suddenly then

2:07:30 ↗ procluded from sharing that information.

2:07:32 ↗ You just wouldn't want to tell the

2:07:35 ↗ person that you just were discussing

2:07:36 ↗ that in the executive session. Does that

2:07:38 ↗ make sense?

2:07:38 ↗ >> Does RCW42.23070

2:07:41 ↗ cover only executive sessions? No, I'

2:07:44 ↗ I'd actually

2:07:46 ↗ that one that's let me look at that one

2:07:49 ↗ really fast. That is does look like it's

2:07:51 ↗ within the OPMA

2:07:52 ↗ >> conversation we're going to have later.

2:07:54 ↗ >> There are

2:07:57 ↗ generally I do think that No, this is

2:08:00 ↗ within the code. Yeah, this is this

2:08:01 ↗ covers everything. This is not within

2:08:04 ↗ that. This is just it's it's actually

2:08:06 ↗ part of the code of ethics for municipal

2:08:08 ↗ officers. And so this would uh apply to

2:08:11 ↗ like an email. If I send you a

2:08:13 ↗ privileged email, you can't you are

2:08:15 ↗ putting yourself at risk of forfeite of

2:08:17 ↗ office if you share that with publicly.

2:08:20 ↗ So any confidential information that you

2:08:22 ↗ obtain as a

2:08:25 ↗ >> Okay.

2:08:25 ↗ >> Part of your role.

2:08:26 ↗ >> I'm going to I'm going to come back to

2:08:27 ↗ this topic later.

2:08:28 ↗ >> Absolutely.

2:08:28 ↗ >> Thank you.

2:08:35 ↗ Um, avoid situations that can uh present

2:08:39 ↗ an appearance of an OPMA violation.

2:08:41 ↗ Texting during meetings is one of those.

2:08:44 ↗ Uh, the people can see you kind of, you

2:08:46 ↗ know, on your phone leaning over doing

2:08:47 ↗ that from time to time. Your situation

2:08:49 ↗ up here is a little bit better than some

2:08:51 ↗ of the dases that I've seen before. But

2:08:54 ↗ um I've I've sat in meetings where I saw

2:08:56 ↗ the governing body text each other and

2:08:58 ↗ it was very obvious they were texting

2:09:00 ↗ each other during the meeting and it did

2:09:02 ↗ result in um some distrust in the

2:09:06 ↗ community. So that's something that's

2:09:08 ↗ just something to be careful of. And

2:09:10 ↗ obviously even if you're texting other

2:09:11 ↗ people, no one knows who you're texting

2:09:13 ↗ and people can be, you know, they can

2:09:15 ↗ kind of make bad assumptions. So be

2:09:17 ↗ careful about that. Um,

2:09:21 ↗ just remember that your text messages

2:09:23 ↗ are regarding the city business are open

2:09:26 ↗ to disclosure. So, just be careful what

2:09:28 ↗ you put in text. Be careful when you're

2:09:30 ↗ using social media. Um, make sure that

2:09:33 ↗ you, like we talked about previously, if

2:09:36 ↗ you are posting, um, make sure that you

2:09:39 ↗ are watching the comments and making

2:09:41 ↗ sure that four council members aren't

2:09:44 ↗ engaging in a discussion. you you just

2:09:46 ↗ have to be kind of more mindful of those

2:09:48 ↗ those things. I've seen other agencies

2:09:50 ↗ have really complicated procedures for

2:09:52 ↗ that like having a social media

2:09:54 ↗ ombbudsman who's the only person who's

2:09:56 ↗ designated to respond in comment strings

2:09:58 ↗ and things like that. I don't think you

2:10:00 ↗ necessarily need to do anything like

2:10:01 ↗ that but you know you just have to be

2:10:04 ↗ kind of mindful that you're not

2:10:07 ↗ having multiple people engage in a

2:10:10 ↗ conversation online.

2:10:14 ↗ There's some additional resources that

2:10:16 ↗ you'll have in your packet if you need

2:10:17 ↗ them. And I think with that, that's it.

2:10:19 ↗ Anyone has any questions? Otherwise,

2:10:21 ↗ we'll move on.

2:10:23 ↗ >> I think we asked them as we went. Oh,

2:10:25 ↗ Council Ral.

2:10:27 ↗ >> I don't have any questions. I would just

2:10:29 ↗ say as someone who came on council

2:10:32 ↗ before we had city cell phones and had

2:10:35 ↗ to deal with a public records request on

2:10:38 ↗ our personal phones and personal emails.

2:10:41 ↗ Uh thank you very much for having us

2:10:45 ↗ trained and getting us the resources so

2:10:48 ↗ that we don't have to do that other than

2:10:52 ↗ in very rare cases.

2:10:54 ↗ Thank you. Well, we just wait until they

2:10:57 ↗ ask for your data with with for the the

2:11:00 ↗ uh records in native format with

2:11:02 ↗ metadata. Then that becomes a real

2:11:05 ↗ nightmare if it's on your personal

2:11:06 ↗ device. So yes, good word of caution.

2:11:12 ↗ Okay, I think this takes us to agenda

2:11:15 ↗ bill 9137, amendments, council rules of

2:11:18 ↗ procedure. And we're going to have our

2:11:20 ↗ city clerk, Tesha, come back up.

2:11:34 ↗ All right, Tisha Geyser, city clerk. I'm

2:11:36 ↗ going to make this real quick and then

2:11:38 ↗ um turn it over to the committee to talk

2:11:40 ↗ further. Um but I am speaking to AB 9137

2:11:43 ↗ amendments to council rules of

2:11:45 ↗ procedure.

2:11:55 ↗ Trying to There we go. Okay.

2:11:59 ↗ Okay. So, uh, at your February 23rd

2:12:02 ↗ council meeting, there were 23 proposed

2:12:04 ↗ review areas to the council rules, and

2:12:06 ↗ the council decided wisely, um, to

2:12:08 ↗ appoint an ad hoc committee to take a

2:12:10 ↗ look at those areas. Uh, council council

2:12:14 ↗ president D. Michelle at the time had

2:12:15 ↗ been appointed to the committee, but

2:12:16 ↗ ultimately the committee membership was

2:12:18 ↗ council members Walsh as chair and

2:12:21 ↗ Nichols and Joe. Uh, the committee was

2:12:23 ↗ tasked with making recommendations on

2:12:25 ↗ amendments to the rules in time for this

2:12:27 ↗ meeting. And I say the committee was

2:12:30 ↗ timely in their reporting. So the

2:12:32 ↗ committee met uh four times starting on

2:12:35 ↗ March 24th ending last Tuesday. Um the

2:12:38 ↗ majority the committee did request the

2:12:40 ↗ first meeting was not in a in an open

2:12:42 ↗ forum and the committee did request that

2:12:44 ↗ the remainder of the meetings be held in

2:12:45 ↗ an open space and the materials be uh

2:12:47 ↗ publicly available. Uh the committee

2:12:50 ↗ reviewed those 23 review areas that were

2:12:53 ↗ included in the February 23 packet and

2:12:55 ↗ then added uh five additional review

2:12:58 ↗ areas. A few of those were staff

2:12:59 ↗ motivated, a few of those were committee

2:13:01 ↗ motivated. Those additions were included

2:13:03 ↗ in your packet but were special

2:13:05 ↗ meetings, virtual attendance,

2:13:06 ↗ confidentiality, use of staff time and

2:13:09 ↗ correspondence.

2:13:12 ↗ So the uh committee recommended uh many

2:13:15 ↗ changes throughout the rules, many of

2:13:16 ↗ which were fairly minor. These are the

2:13:18 ↗ eight areas uh the committee felt it

2:13:20 ↗ would be useful to uh briefly cover

2:13:22 ↗ these items with the council. So I'm

2:13:24 ↗ going to walk through these pretty

2:13:26 ↗ quickly here. So the first one regarding

2:13:28 ↗ standing committee appointments um the

2:13:31 ↗ council committees as council president

2:13:33 ↗ Mart stated were reinstated in 2022 and

2:13:36 ↗ in the years 2023 24 and 25 the council

2:13:40 ↗ waved this struck out provision in the

2:13:45 ↗ council rules and appointed in all those

2:13:47 ↗ cases the deputy council president to

2:13:49 ↗ two committees which was precluded in

2:13:51 ↗ the rules. And so the committee

2:13:53 ↗ recommended removing that sentence which

2:13:55 ↗ the effect of that is that um the three

2:13:58 ↗ committee chairs can only serve on one

2:14:01 ↗ committee but if this is removed the

2:14:02 ↗ other four council members including

2:14:04 ↗ council leadership could serve on two

2:14:06 ↗ committees.

2:14:10 ↗ >> Council President Mart.

2:14:11 ↗ >> Yeah. Could the folks on the committee

2:14:13 ↗ explain a little bit why they wanted to

2:14:14 ↗ uh change this policy?

2:14:17 ↗ >> Yeah. Um, I brought this up uh because

2:14:20 ↗ as council president um previously it

2:14:23 ↗ was often very difficult based on

2:14:25 ↗ council members schedules to find a way

2:14:29 ↗ to make this work and so we wanted to

2:14:32 ↗ provide the flexibility. I think it's

2:14:35 ↗ still a best practice to try and

2:14:38 ↗ distribute that out. Um but we felt that

2:14:42 ↗ both it gives the flexibility and by the

2:14:45 ↗ fact that we had had to make the

2:14:47 ↗ adjustment uh three years in a row that

2:14:50 ↗ it was a needed um bit of flexibility.

2:14:54 ↗ >> Thank you. I appal

2:14:58 ↗ comments. Um,

2:15:00 ↗ >> this council has been kind of boxing

2:15:03 ↗ above their weight in terms of committee

2:15:06 ↗ commitments at SCA or other regional

2:15:08 ↗ committees as well. And we're finding

2:15:10 ↗ that because we're doing so much outside

2:15:12 ↗ of Isiqua itself to balance the

2:15:14 ↗ workload, often times it's important to

2:15:17 ↗ have more people on the bench, so to

2:15:19 ↗ speak, fill those spots for our internal

2:15:22 ↗ committees. So this allows the

2:15:23 ↗ flexibility to do that outside work and

2:15:26 ↗ still have a robust uh bench to fill the

2:15:29 ↗ committees here internally.

2:15:33 ↗ >> Thank you. I appreciate that uh

2:15:34 ↗ explanation.

2:15:37 ↗ >> The next item is virtual attendance. Uh

2:15:39 ↗ the committee is recommending more

2:15:42 ↗ increasing the flexibility for attending

2:15:45 ↗ virtually. This policy was added when

2:15:47 ↗ the council came back in person

2:15:48 ↗ following uh COVID and I think it does

2:15:51 ↗ make sense that it would be looked at

2:15:53 ↗ again a few years down the road. So the

2:15:55 ↗ changes so there's these two

2:15:56 ↗ classifications of why you might attend

2:15:58 ↗ virtually if it's for medical reasons.

2:16:01 ↗ There weren't uh really changes there.

2:16:03 ↗ There might have been a little softening

2:16:04 ↗ of the language but there's no

2:16:06 ↗ restriction on the number of meetings

2:16:07 ↗ you can attend virtually. No approval

2:16:09 ↗ needed. Um, what the committee requested

2:16:12 ↗ changes to is if you're attending

2:16:13 ↗ virtually for another reason, they

2:16:15 ↗ wanted to change it from requiring

2:16:17 ↗ approval of the council president to

2:16:19 ↗ just notifying the council president.

2:16:21 ↗ And then there had been a limit of four

2:16:23 ↗ meetings per year by which a council

2:16:25 ↗ member could attend virtually for

2:16:26 ↗ non-medical reasons. They wanted to

2:16:28 ↗ increase that to five and then add a

2:16:30 ↗ process if a council member uh wanted to

2:16:33 ↗ attend or or needed to attend more than

2:16:36 ↗ five council meetings a year virtually

2:16:38 ↗ whereby they could request it from

2:16:40 ↗ council leadership and council

2:16:41 ↗ leadership would provide sort of

2:16:42 ↗ approval in writing.

2:16:47 ↗ Council member Boyd,

2:16:49 ↗ >> more of a comment and I'm not supposed

2:16:51 ↗ to really make that should be a

2:16:52 ↗ question, but I just uh as someone who

2:16:55 ↗ commutes during a particular season uh

2:16:57 ↗ of the year for my day job, I sincerely

2:17:00 ↗ appreciate this proposed switch.

2:17:05 ↗ All right, the next section is

2:17:07 ↗ confidentiality. Um this was something

2:17:09 ↗ that was brought forward by the

2:17:11 ↗ administration. So the council rules do

2:17:13 ↗ talk about uh council members

2:17:15 ↗ responsibility to maintain information

2:17:17 ↗ confidentiality confidential in the

2:17:19 ↗ context of executive sessions. But there

2:17:20 ↗ wasn't anything more in the rules about

2:17:23 ↗ other information the council might be

2:17:24 ↗ receiving such as Rachel said related by

2:17:27 ↗ email attorney client priv privilege

2:17:29 ↗ information

2:17:30 ↗ about active police investigations. Um

2:17:34 ↗ information you might be provided in

2:17:35 ↗ advance of an executive session in

2:17:37 ↗ writing by phone. Um and so there is a

2:17:40 ↗ section in the proposed rules. This is

2:17:42 ↗ just one excerpt. There is more there.

2:17:45 ↗ Um the committee had uh there was a

2:17:47 ↗ minority report on on this item and the

2:17:50 ↗ council member council member um may

2:17:53 ↗ want to speak to that. Um, but there was

2:17:55 ↗ some concern that there could be some

2:17:57 ↗ subjectivity here and there was a

2:17:59 ↗ sentence that was added basically saying

2:18:01 ↗ the administration needs to be

2:18:03 ↗ responsible to identify to the council

2:18:05 ↗ members when they're conveying something

2:18:07 ↗ that needs to remain confidential. Um,

2:18:09 ↗ so that you know um so that language was

2:18:12 ↗ added but there was um still some

2:18:14 ↗ disagreement on this point.

2:18:19 ↗ >> Council President Marts. So, so I've

2:18:22 ↗ I've looked at section 311

2:18:25 ↗ and it specifically talks about

2:18:28 ↗ information that's exempt from

2:18:30 ↗ disclosure under the public records act.

2:18:33 ↗ So my question for the administration is

2:18:37 ↗ uh

2:18:38 ↗ do is there anticipated I mean I I guess

2:18:43 ↗ I want confirmation that that is the

2:18:45 ↗ definition that we're going to use on

2:18:47 ↗ confidential information especially

2:18:49 ↗ after hearing tonight that the penalty

2:18:50 ↗ for sharing confidential information is

2:18:52 ↗ potential uh you know relinquishing of

2:18:56 ↗ office. So that's how it's worded here.

2:18:59 ↗ If if we get two weeks into it and the

2:19:03 ↗ administration says they have some

2:19:05 ↗ information that they consider

2:19:06 ↗ confidential, but it doesn't uh meet the

2:19:09 ↗ exemption from the public records act,

2:19:13 ↗ um then then then we're not in

2:19:15 ↗ compliance with what's in section 311.

2:19:19 ↗ So I think it's important. So I just

2:19:21 ↗ want to ask um is that the

2:19:23 ↗ administration's understanding? because

2:19:25 ↗ that's how it's written in 311. And it's

2:19:27 ↗ fine if that's what it is. But if it's

2:19:29 ↗ then what the administration decides is

2:19:32 ↗ confidential and it's not um exempted by

2:19:36 ↗ the uh public records act, then we have

2:19:38 ↗ a problem.

2:19:43 ↗ I'm looking at Wally or Rachel to see

2:19:45 ↗ who wants to take the first.

2:19:50 ↗ I think that's a pretty safe and broad

2:19:54 ↗ enough definition of confidential to

2:19:56 ↗ meet everything that we would want to

2:19:59 ↗ keep confidential. I feel pretty

2:20:00 ↗ comfortable with it. I'm sitting here

2:20:02 ↗ and I can't think of anything that

2:20:04 ↗ wouldn't fall within that. Once again,

2:20:07 ↗ my only caution would be, you know, to

2:20:09 ↗ the extent it's executive session, just

2:20:11 ↗ don't talk about what you talked about

2:20:12 ↗ there, period. Even if it there's a

2:20:14 ↗ little, you know, non-confidential

2:20:17 ↗ information scattered within it. But um

2:20:19 ↗ no, as far as a definition goes, this

2:20:22 ↗ should cover everything. It's going to

2:20:23 ↗ cover attorney client privilege. It's

2:20:25 ↗ going to cover work product. It's going

2:20:26 ↗ to cover all sorts of sensitive

2:20:28 ↗ information about people in the city.

2:20:30 ↗ So, I think we should be good.

2:20:32 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Walsh.

2:20:35 ↗ If that isn't our interpretation of

2:20:37 ↗ that, is it possible to change that

2:20:40 ↗ chapter number from 46.56

2:20:44 ↗ to the actual portion in there that

2:20:48 ↗ um defines exemption or confidentiality

2:20:52 ↗ because that is a big honken chapter.

2:20:58 ↗ >> I mean there's literally like hundreds

2:21:01 ↗ of exemptions under the public records

2:21:03 ↗ act. So I don't think there's any way to

2:21:04 ↗ site

2:21:07 ↗ them all.

2:21:11 ↗ >> Okay.

2:21:11 ↗ >> Council member Dair.

2:21:15 ↗ >> Uh so yeah, my question with this uh

2:21:18 ↗ section is like I read it as that

2:21:20 ↗ essentially if you know we're talking to

2:21:22 ↗ city staff and a city just tells us this

2:21:24 ↗ is confidential, it just becomes

2:21:25 ↗ confidential and we're not allowed to

2:21:27 ↗ relay that. which to me then makes me

2:21:30 ↗ just wonder it's like if the city just

2:21:32 ↗ feels something is embarrassing and it

2:21:33 ↗ just doesn't want it out and it tells us

2:21:34 ↗ it's confidential, we now can't talk

2:21:36 ↗ about it anymore. And so I'm curious if

2:21:38 ↗ there is any kind of if one if I'm

2:21:41 ↗ misunderstanding that that it really is

2:21:42 ↗ only very specific things or how this

2:21:44 ↗ confidentiality is decided from the

2:21:46 ↗ administration for us of what we're

2:21:48 ↗ allowed or not allowed to say. I would

2:21:51 ↗ say from the administration's

2:21:52 ↗ perspective here that we would be we

2:21:56 ↗ would only be telling you to keep

2:21:57 ↗ information confidential to the extent

2:22:00 ↗ that it is ex essentially something that

2:22:04 ↗ would be exempt from public disclosure.

2:22:06 ↗ That's been our background conversation

2:22:08 ↗ here is that if you know we want you to

2:22:12 ↗ have information you know and we'll even

2:22:14 ↗ give you all of this information but if

2:22:16 ↗ something is if something is not

2:22:19 ↗ information that we would release to

2:22:20 ↗ just anybody our I think the intent of

2:22:24 ↗ this section is that we would indicate

2:22:26 ↗ that you know in our communication to

2:22:29 ↗ you and why

2:22:32 ↗ >> and and I think the practical

2:22:33 ↗ application is it's almost easier for to

2:22:36 ↗ share just the entire email with all the

2:22:39 ↗ information cuz to create the public

2:22:41 ↗ records version takes a fair amount of

2:22:43 ↗ staff time to redact. And so I think our

2:22:46 ↗ initial response and open transparency

2:22:48 ↗ is to try to just share but then I think

2:22:51 ↗ any council member does have the option

2:22:53 ↗ of saying well I do want to be able to

2:22:55 ↗ share this information so please give me

2:22:57 ↗ the redacted version and and so I think

2:23:00 ↗ that's kind of I think the vision of how

2:23:03 ↗ it would play out.

2:23:06 ↗ Correct.

2:23:08 ↗ And you know just also just something to

2:23:10 ↗ keep in mind just to make yourself feel

2:23:13 ↗ better here on this point. A court would

2:23:15 ↗ never if we said well this is

2:23:18 ↗ confidential just because it's you know

2:23:20 ↗ embarrassing. A court would not be using

2:23:22 ↗ our definition of confidential when they

2:23:25 ↗ when they were deciding whether or not

2:23:27 ↗ to assess you a $500 penalty for

2:23:29 ↗ disclosing confidential information. And

2:23:32 ↗ for you know you would there would have

2:23:34 ↗ to be a legal basis for us to consider

2:23:36 ↗ it confidential for the purposes of that

2:23:41 ↗ >> council Walsh.

2:23:44 ↗ So if the concept is that information

2:23:48 ↗ can be provided to us that might be

2:23:51 ↗ confidential

2:23:53 ↗ but if we wanted to request it we could

2:24:00 ↗ get a redacted version. Does that

2:24:05 ↗ isn't

2:24:07 ↗ mentioned in here. um that isn't

2:24:11 ↗ uh referenced as a a concept or

2:24:17 ↗ a solution and what then makes something

2:24:21 ↗ not

2:24:23 ↗ confidential. So I'm still having a hard

2:24:26 ↗ time with that.

2:24:29 ↗ I mean, I would think like it's

2:24:33 ↗ and correct me if I'm saying this wrong,

2:24:35 ↗ but I think you as a council member can

2:24:38 ↗ request information. We you would get

2:24:41 ↗ two versions. You would get like the one

2:24:42 ↗ that you would get. It's just an Isqua

2:24:44 ↗ resident, which would be what is how you

2:24:47 ↗ release your public records with

2:24:48 ↗ redactions to honor all the stuff. you

2:24:51 ↗ as a council member, the way our

2:24:53 ↗ administration is pursuing it is is

2:24:55 ↗ willing to give you all the information

2:24:57 ↗ but then say this is confidential. So

2:25:00 ↗ now you might know names of people who

2:25:02 ↗ specifically I think to Rachel's point

2:25:04 ↗ can say like I consider myself a victim

2:25:07 ↗ of this situation. I do not want my name

2:25:09 ↗ released. And so now their name is

2:25:11 ↗ sacred through public records. It does

2:25:13 ↗ not it cannot be released through public

2:25:14 ↗ records. you as a council member in our

2:25:17 ↗ current situation is we are sharing that

2:25:20 ↗ name, but then we're putting the

2:25:22 ↗ disclaimer like we're giving you

2:25:24 ↗ confident confidential information cuz

2:25:26 ↗ this person said they were a victim in

2:25:27 ↗ this situation and because they said

2:25:30 ↗ that we're not allowed through any

2:25:32 ↗ public records request to reveal their

2:25:34 ↗ name because they have that right. And

2:25:36 ↗ so I think that's

2:25:38 ↗ >> and I get that. I guess I coming from

2:25:41 ↗ the rules ad hoc, uh, one of the points

2:25:44 ↗ we were trying to create is clarity that

2:25:47 ↗ both someone who reads these rules

2:25:50 ↗ maybe as a future council member can

2:25:53 ↗ understand how they handle confidential

2:25:57 ↗ information and what the remedy might be

2:26:00 ↗ for a situation. So, we did try and put

2:26:03 ↗ in there, you know, something related

2:26:06 ↗ to, hey, if you disagree, this is how.

2:26:09 ↗ But I think that additional information,

2:26:12 ↗ I guess I'm I would ask um our city

2:26:16 ↗ clerk, is that an adjustment that we

2:26:19 ↗ could potentially make in order to

2:26:21 ↗ reference

2:26:23 ↗ um a possible way to address the receipt

2:26:28 ↗ of confidential information that

2:26:33 ↗ we still feels

2:26:36 ↗ bears information that could go out to

2:26:38 ↗ the public.

2:26:45 ↗ I'm sure we could come up with some

2:26:46 ↗ language to achieve what you're um

2:26:49 ↗ talking about. And you know, it's always

2:26:51 ↗ um an interesting balance with the rules

2:26:53 ↗ kind of figuring out what level of

2:26:54 ↗ detail to include. Um so yes, if the

2:26:58 ↗ body would like to have some language

2:27:00 ↗ explaining how council member might

2:27:01 ↗ approach I from my understanding, a lot

2:27:03 ↗ of this is really about timing and

2:27:05 ↗ you're getting information early in some

2:27:07 ↗ cases. So,

2:27:09 ↗ Wally, do you have anything to add?

2:27:11 ↗ >> You know, we'd be happy. I I would just

2:27:13 ↗ hesitate to do this on the floor

2:27:15 ↗ tonight. So, if this is something you'd

2:27:16 ↗ like us to continue working on, we can

2:27:18 ↗ take that as a to-do. We can can finish

2:27:21 ↗ the presentation if there's anything

2:27:22 ↗ else and then bring this back. I mean,

2:27:24 ↗ we would like to wrap this up, but

2:27:26 ↗ there's no great urgency if it takes

2:27:28 ↗ another meeting to do that. So, we'll be

2:27:31 ↗ happy to work through some language and

2:27:33 ↗ come back at a future meeting.

2:27:39 ↗ All right. Oh,

2:27:40 ↗ >> council member Nichols.

2:27:42 ↗ >> Uh, go back for a second. So, yeah, I

2:27:45 ↗ thought it'd be useful just so I was the

2:27:46 ↗ dissenting council member on this one.

2:27:48 ↗ So, I wanted to give the my rationale

2:27:50 ↗ for that. And it's it's not on on the

2:27:52 ↗ face of this. I think this is a very

2:27:54 ↗ reasonable

2:27:55 ↗ part of any rules. There's often times

2:27:58 ↗ confidential information that will come

2:27:59 ↗ up. Um my concern was that as on is on

2:28:03 ↗ part um related to what council member

2:28:05 ↗ Walsh brought up about um it if if we're

2:28:09 ↗ going to add this in there we should

2:28:11 ↗ have it should be complete in a sense

2:28:13 ↗ that it should also give some advice to

2:28:15 ↗ people of how to respond in certain

2:28:17 ↗ situations and part of that is because

2:28:18 ↗ this is this is truly a hypothetical. I

2:28:21 ↗ think we have a a good um situation at

2:28:24 ↗ the moment where we are able to share

2:28:25 ↗ confidential information and that seems

2:28:27 ↗ to be working fine. Um I did ask the

2:28:30 ↗ question if there was that this had ever

2:28:32 ↗ been a problem and there weren't any

2:28:34 ↗ examples given of this being a problem

2:28:35 ↗ with the council. So I think if we

2:28:37 ↗ knowing that it is purely a hypothetical

2:28:40 ↗ um

2:28:42 ↗ the utility of this becomes in guidance

2:28:45 ↗ for future council members to understand

2:28:47 ↗ here's some norms written down a little

2:28:49 ↗ more explicitly as well as here's some

2:28:52 ↗ expectations for or our expectations of

2:28:55 ↗ the administration in terms of what

2:28:57 ↗ paths are available when there is a

2:28:59 ↗ disagreement or some sort of pathway to

2:29:03 ↗ have this not be the the final

2:29:06 ↗ um act so to speak that ends with a

2:29:09 ↗ reference to

2:29:10 ↗ bindings and removal from office.

2:29:14 ↗ So um I I would also

2:29:17 ↗ I I would say I would prefer to to

2:29:19 ↗ strike this for the moment come back to

2:29:20 ↗ it. I think it's something that is

2:29:22 ↗ reasonable to have in there in some way,

2:29:23 ↗ but to slightly clarify um

2:29:30 ↗ both escalation pathways if we do

2:29:32 ↗ disagree with something as well as an

2:29:34 ↗ understanding that public records are

2:29:36 ↗ always requestable by anybody and they

2:29:38 ↗ should understand that and it's it's

2:29:40 ↗ also something you can do as a council

2:29:41 ↗ member as well. And I would say just as

2:29:43 ↗ a I mean my plan was to give council

2:29:45 ↗ member Walsh as the chair of the

2:29:46 ↗ committee a chance to kind of explain

2:29:47 ↗ the committee recommendations. And so

2:29:49 ↗ why don't we get into those nuances, but

2:29:51 ↗ let's try to get through the rem of this

2:29:53 ↗ presentation and then I think I'm going

2:29:55 ↗ to turn it over to council member Walsh

2:29:56 ↗ as the chair to kind of share comments

2:29:58 ↗ and then I think we can have council

2:29:59 ↗ discussion.

2:30:00 ↗ >> Okay. All right. So the next uh policy

2:30:04 ↗ much more benign, travel and meals. Uh

2:30:06 ↗ council basically has a really old

2:30:08 ↗ resolution that got a bit lost there for

2:30:10 ↗ a while from 2008. So uh the committee

2:30:13 ↗ recommended uh repealing the resolution,

2:30:16 ↗ moving the council's expenditure policy

2:30:18 ↗ into the rules and made some changes.

2:30:20 ↗ There used to have to be council

2:30:22 ↗ president approval if you were going to

2:30:23 ↗ spend over $250 on travel or training.

2:30:26 ↗ The committee recommended increasing or

2:30:28 ↗ just going with a $500 threshold, which

2:30:31 ↗ uh is also consistent with the past

2:30:33 ↗ policy. The $500 threshold would require

2:30:36 ↗ uh council approval under good of the

2:30:38 ↗ order at a council meeting. And in other

2:30:41 ↗ regards, the council would be looking to

2:30:43 ↗ the city's internal uh travel and meals

2:30:45 ↗ policy for the nuances of travel and

2:30:48 ↗ pdium and reimbursement and all of those

2:30:50 ↗ things.

2:30:52 ↗ The social media policy we covered in

2:30:55 ↗ the uh training earlier, so I wasn't

2:30:58 ↗ planning to discuss that uh further.

2:31:01 ↗ Uh the committee spent a lot of time

2:31:03 ↗ talking through the new business

2:31:04 ↗ process. Uh the new business process has

2:31:07 ↗ been used a few times recently and it

2:31:10 ↗ does have multiple steps uh three steps

2:31:13 ↗ before an item gets added to the

2:31:15 ↗ planning calendar. the committee

2:31:17 ↗ discussed what has emerged as a bit of a

2:31:20 ↗ um practice which is for items in

2:31:23 ↗ recently and actually looking in the

2:31:26 ↗ past I've saw a few examples of for

2:31:28 ↗ example a resolution supporting a ballot

2:31:30 ↗ measure. Um council uh member Walsh

2:31:33 ↗ brought one up where uh she had an

2:31:35 ↗ intention to amend a resolution the

2:31:37 ↗ council had previously adopted. Um, in

2:31:41 ↗ these cases, council members made a

2:31:43 ↗ motion under good of the order and these

2:31:44 ↗ items got put on uh typically was the

2:31:47 ↗ next meeting agenda. And so the

2:31:49 ↗ committee agreed to enshrine that

2:31:50 ↗ process and distinguished those items as

2:31:53 ↗ um not requiring significant staff time.

2:31:56 ↗ So they're things that really are

2:31:58 ↗ council um motivated and led. And then

2:32:01 ↗ uh they also took a look at the uh

2:32:04 ↗ current new business process which

2:32:07 ↗ requires the form introduction by a

2:32:09 ↗ council member then another meeting for

2:32:10 ↗ the staff response and they wanted to

2:32:13 ↗ compress that and so they basically

2:32:15 ↗ compra recommend compressing that

2:32:17 ↗ council member introduction with the

2:32:19 ↗ staff response and that happening at one

2:32:21 ↗ meeting. And then they wanted to reduce

2:32:24 ↗ the overall threshold to add new items

2:32:28 ↗ to the planning calendar and subsequent

2:32:30 ↗ agendas to three council members instead

2:32:32 ↗ of currently it takes a majority of the

2:32:35 ↗ council and that's just a majority of

2:32:36 ↗ the members present.

2:32:40 ↗ Uh the next change uh was recommended by

2:32:44 ↗ uh staff. The council rules uh currently

2:32:47 ↗ say that if you abstain from voting it

2:32:49 ↗ counts as a yes vote. That is not a

2:32:51 ↗ common understanding of what an

2:32:52 ↗ abstension is. Typically abstaining is

2:32:54 ↗ not voting. So we recommend uh changing

2:32:57 ↗ that. Um but council members intending

2:32:59 ↗ to abstain, you do need to say something

2:33:01 ↗ because we do voice votes here. It's

2:33:03 ↗ really difficult to know if someone

2:33:04 ↗ abstains. So you under discussion would

2:33:06 ↗ clarify that. A reason you might choose

2:33:09 ↗ to abstain. Abstensions are strongly

2:33:10 ↗ discouraged in the municipal code and in

2:33:13 ↗ the rules still. But a reason you might

2:33:15 ↗ choose to abstain is if you have a

2:33:17 ↗ perceived conflict of interest, but it's

2:33:19 ↗ not significant enough to be a

2:33:21 ↗ full-fledged conflict of interest, but

2:33:23 ↗ you just can't get comfortable voting.

2:33:25 ↗ That might be a reason you choose to do

2:33:27 ↗ that. Another change to this section was

2:33:29 ↗ currently the rules say that a majority

2:33:31 ↗ of the council has to agree that you not

2:33:34 ↗ vote if you have a legitimate conflict

2:33:36 ↗ of interest, which was just confusing.

2:33:38 ↗ So, if you have spoken with the city

2:33:40 ↗ attorney and understand you truly have a

2:33:42 ↗ conflict of interest under state law, we

2:33:43 ↗ do not want you voting and the rules

2:33:45 ↗ would say that you would actually leave

2:33:46 ↗ the room for that portion of the

2:33:48 ↗ meeting.

2:33:51 ↗ Um the last change and this actually was

2:33:53 ↗ a no change but it was something that

2:33:55 ↗ there was some attention on before the

2:33:57 ↗ um committee met. though uh we thought

2:33:59 ↗ it warranted mentioning is the committee

2:34:01 ↗ did discuss for some amount of time this

2:34:04 ↗ concept of a potential audit committee

2:34:06 ↗ or financial committee and ultimately

2:34:08 ↗ felt comfortable with the council's

2:34:10 ↗ existing processes of designating one to

2:34:12 ↗ two council members to participate in

2:34:15 ↗ the city's annual audit entrance and

2:34:17 ↗ exit meetings with the state auditors

2:34:20 ↗ and using the committee of the whole

2:34:22 ↗ meetings and the retreats to kind of

2:34:24 ↗ discussing those bigger financial

2:34:26 ↗ picture issues. Um so ultimately in your

2:34:28 ↗ rules you do not see um any kind of new

2:34:30 ↗ committee being formed as was that idea

2:34:33 ↗ had been tossed out um last year. So uh

2:34:37 ↗ again thank you to the ad hoc rules

2:34:39 ↗ committee again four meetings a lot of

2:34:41 ↗ review a lot of thoughtful um review and

2:34:44 ↗ consideration of these ideas. Um there

2:34:47 ↗ are some proposed amendments in your

2:34:48 ↗ packet and I'll turn it over to you

2:34:50 ↗ mayor. Thank you.

2:34:51 ↗ >> Okay. I'm going to turn it over to

2:34:52 ↗ council member Walsh. Oh. Oh council

2:34:55 ↗ president Marts first. Can um uh clerk

2:34:58 ↗ Geyser, can you mention one topic you

2:35:00 ↗ did not cover uh was around rules for

2:35:04 ↗ public participation

2:35:05 ↗ and it there were some changes there pro

2:35:10 ↗ proposed changes.

2:35:12 ↗ >> Thank you. Yeah, there were some

2:35:14 ↗ proposed changes there and that was

2:35:15 ↗ really to better clarify the rules had

2:35:17 ↗ some language that the city attorney and

2:35:19 ↗ I both felt mildly uncomfortable with

2:35:21 ↗ because it implied that the chair could

2:35:25 ↗ um remove someone from the chamber or

2:35:28 ↗ cut them off um because they had sort of

2:35:31 ↗ dispar disparaging comments and weren't

2:35:34 ↗ having what we might consider

2:35:35 ↗ appropriate conduct. But uh we know um

2:35:38 ↗ that first amendment protections are

2:35:40 ↗ strong and actually the recommendation

2:35:41 ↗ is and and we've had this experience

2:35:43 ↗ here where unfortunately we've had to

2:35:45 ↗ listen to some pretty um terrible public

2:35:47 ↗ comment but unfortunately um we feel

2:35:50 ↗ that it's uh in the agency's best

2:35:52 ↗ interest to go ahead and and endure um

2:35:56 ↗ the public comment. So it it draws a bit

2:35:58 ↗ more of a line between just saying

2:36:00 ↗ something that might not be appropriate

2:36:02 ↗ versus truly disrupting the meeting in

2:36:04 ↗ which case if someone is truly allow

2:36:06 ↗ preventing the council from moving

2:36:08 ↗ through their meeting in those cases we

2:36:10 ↗ could have someone removed legitimately.

2:36:14 ↗ >> Yeah. My eye actually caught a little

2:36:15 ↗ bit different part of it. It was an

2:36:17 ↗ addition that said um and to set an

2:36:20 ↗ overall maximum duration for the public

2:36:22 ↗ comment period. Maximum duration is set.

2:36:24 ↗ Efforts will be made to ensure there is

2:36:26 ↗ equal opportunity for individuals to

2:36:28 ↗ speak in support of and opposition to an

2:36:30 ↗ issue.

2:36:31 ↗ >> Sorry, thank you. Um, yes. So, that was

2:36:34 ↗ another uh recommendation. So, the

2:36:36 ↗ council has a limit of 5 minutes of

2:36:39 ↗ public comment and there is some

2:36:40 ↗ discretion by the presiding officer, but

2:36:42 ↗ there's nothing in the rules saying that

2:36:44 ↗ there can be any cap put on public

2:36:46 ↗ comment. I think not in the real recent

2:36:48 ↗ past, but the council has seen some

2:36:50 ↗ issues come here where the room is full

2:36:53 ↗ and we have 50 people wanting to make

2:36:55 ↗ public comments. And so this was

2:36:57 ↗ recommended to the suggested to the

2:36:59 ↗ committee as a potential tool to be used

2:37:02 ↗ sparingly and thoughtfully, but to if

2:37:05 ↗ the council has a busy agenda to allow

2:37:07 ↗ some parameter to put in place. Maybe

2:37:09 ↗ it's two hours of public comment. Um, so

2:37:11 ↗ that's why the addition was suggested.

2:37:15 ↗ Committee members might have other

2:37:16 ↗ thoughts, but that was the

2:37:18 ↗ administration's thought.

2:37:20 ↗ >> I would love to know what the committee

2:37:21 ↗ thought about that.

2:37:22 ↗ >> Well, Council Member Walsh, this leads

2:37:24 ↗ to a good segue. Go ahead.

2:37:26 ↗ >> Um, this was a staff recommendation and

2:37:30 ↗ we did mention that it was important to

2:37:34 ↗ make sure that we were hearing um from

2:37:37 ↗ um both sides of an issue and not just

2:37:40 ↗ necessarily in the order um at which

2:37:43 ↗ people signed up. So that that could not

2:37:45 ↗ be used to silence a group um and that

2:37:49 ↗ it be used uh sparingly but that um it

2:37:54 ↗ was a tool that we were comfortable

2:37:57 ↗ adding into our rules.

2:38:00 ↗ >> Thank you.

2:38:03 ↗ >> Council Robert Nichols.

2:38:04 ↗ >> Yeah. And just to to second that, um I

2:38:07 ↗ think sparing is a the the key word and

2:38:10 ↗ if it ever became a problem, I think we

2:38:11 ↗ would want to address that perhaps

2:38:14 ↗ immediately even at that same meeting we

2:38:15 ↗ could. Um the uh to be take effect the

2:38:19 ↗ next meeting perhaps. But the um the the

2:38:22 ↗ thought here is that there there are

2:38:23 ↗ going and um some regional board

2:38:26 ↗ meetings come to mind where there are

2:38:28 ↗ you know 100 people that have signed up.

2:38:30 ↗ something that happens frequently at

2:38:31 ↗ those is just to reduce the total amount

2:38:33 ↗ of time people have to speak

2:38:34 ↗ individually so everybody can still

2:38:35 ↗ speak um but overall compressed to a

2:38:38 ↗ more reasonable amount of time uh and I

2:38:40 ↗ I think there there is also looking at

2:38:42 ↗ that charitably there is a public

2:38:44 ↗ benefit to that in some sense and that

2:38:47 ↗ people have busy lives and if they if

2:38:49 ↗ they want to make their comment but

2:38:50 ↗ they've got to wait four hours that's

2:38:51 ↗ also somewhat problematic. Um, I don't

2:38:54 ↗ that that's there's a there's a very

2:38:56 ↗ careful balance that has to be struck

2:38:57 ↗ there and I would generally much rather

2:38:59 ↗ weigh on the side of increase public

2:39:01 ↗ participation whenever possible. But as

2:39:03 ↗ long as we were reviewing this rule, I

2:39:05 ↗ was okay with giving the chair some

2:39:07 ↗ additional flexibility to be used very

2:39:09 ↗ sparingly um and have that be a part of

2:39:11 ↗ our culture that it would be very

2:39:12 ↗ sparing as well.

2:39:15 ↗ >> Thank you. And council member Walsh, did

2:39:17 ↗ you want to give a broader macro kind of

2:39:19 ↗ explanation or do you feel comfortable

2:39:20 ↗ that everyone has it based on the

2:39:22 ↗ presentation

2:39:23 ↗ >> uh with just everything that we did?

2:39:25 ↗ >> Yeah.

2:39:26 ↗ >> Yeah. No, I I wrote down just a few um

2:39:30 ↗ comments in that, you know, there were

2:39:33 ↗ three of us tasked with this um initial

2:39:36 ↗ scope was six primary areas, four minor.

2:39:41 ↗ When we got started, there were five

2:39:43 ↗ additional items, three added by staff,

2:39:45 ↗ two by committee members. So, 28 total

2:39:48 ↗ areas of review. Um, we did end up uh

2:39:52 ↗ first of all moving our meetings to a

2:39:54 ↗ public location, which we thought was

2:39:57 ↗ great. Um, and providing online access.

2:40:00 ↗ We did have two members of the community

2:40:02 ↗ who did end up joining us for one of the

2:40:05 ↗ meetings and so that was great as well.

2:40:08 ↗ Um, I think Tisha did a wonderful job

2:40:11 ↗ just covering um, all of the pieces. I

2:40:15 ↗ will add in there along with the new

2:40:17 ↗ business request process, there was a

2:40:19 ↗ request from uh, staff on council member

2:40:23 ↗ use of staff time. And we did decline to

2:40:27 ↗ pursue limits on um use of staff time

2:40:31 ↗ believing that it's both our job to

2:40:33 ↗ provide oversight um but also that staff

2:40:37 ↗ already has the tools that they need to

2:40:39 ↗ provide the limitations so that we are

2:40:41 ↗ not taking over um the um staff time

2:40:46 ↗ that we've already allocated via budget

2:40:48 ↗ and pieces of that. Um the new business

2:40:52 ↗ request item really came to us because

2:40:55 ↗ it had been very rarely used um in the

2:41:00 ↗ previous um council. And so we wanted to

2:41:03 ↗ make sure that we reviewed and reduced

2:41:06 ↗ barriers there. And I think we

2:41:07 ↗ accomplished that both in creating a

2:41:10 ↗ single touch um item for minimal staff

2:41:12 ↗ time and uh reducing the number of

2:41:17 ↗ touches for larger non uh new business

2:41:20 ↗ request items and reducing the vote

2:41:23 ↗ threshold from a majority to three

2:41:25 ↗ council members. that ensures that

2:41:28 ↗ something that is of interest but we

2:41:30 ↗ don't have the full information on yet

2:41:33 ↗ um if it's of interest to at least three

2:41:36 ↗ council members it can then go onto a

2:41:39 ↗ planning calendar in a future agenda. It

2:41:42 ↗ does not require the interest of a

2:41:44 ↗ majority of the council in order to hear

2:41:47 ↗ um all of the information related to

2:41:49 ↗ that. Um, and then as we've touched upon

2:41:52 ↗ here, the confidentiality was really the

2:41:54 ↗ only area where we had a minority

2:41:56 ↗ opinion. Um, and Council Member Nichols

2:41:58 ↗ has spoken to that a bit. Um, but

2:42:02 ↗ overall it was a very successful

2:42:04 ↗ committee and I will just note that

2:42:07 ↗ after we do the approval, the committee

2:42:10 ↗ will be disbanded until there is any

2:42:12 ↗ future use. And we have tended to do

2:42:15 ↗ this every year or two just as items

2:42:19 ↗ have come up over time.

2:42:22 ↗ >> Council member Joe,

2:42:25 ↗ thank you. I'd like to thank uh Council

2:42:27 ↗ Member Walsh for her leadership during

2:42:29 ↗ this this process. Uh the meetings were

2:42:32 ↗ uh robust and the conversation was

2:42:34 ↗ lively. Uh just one thing for council to

2:42:38 ↗ keep in mind is these are rules that

2:42:39 ↗ we're setting to kind of manage our own

2:42:43 ↗ behavior and our conduct. However, uh

2:42:46 ↗ always keep in mind that these rules may

2:42:48 ↗ be suspended by a majority vote when

2:42:51 ↗ situations arise that may be unusual or

2:42:54 ↗ may uh require us to take extraordinary

2:42:56 ↗ action or um you know to to address a

2:42:59 ↗ specific situation. So, while these are

2:43:02 ↗ rules that we're agreeing to all abide

2:43:04 ↗ by, um they're by no means a straight

2:43:06 ↗ jacket. They're just a guideline for us

2:43:08 ↗ and then we can suspend the rules if the

2:43:10 ↗ situation should arise. Um and the

2:43:12 ↗ flexibility is still there for us to

2:43:15 ↗ address situations that I think our

2:43:16 ↗ citizens would want us to address in

2:43:18 ↗ either an emergency situation or a

2:43:21 ↗ situation with some um expediency

2:43:23 ↗ required. So, just please keep that in

2:43:25 ↗ mind as we're approving these or

2:43:27 ↗ considering these this evening. Thank

2:43:28 ↗ you. Council member Nichols,

2:43:32 ↗ >> very briefly at the high level. Yes, I

2:43:33 ↗ also want to thank our chair. Uh thank

2:43:36 ↗ my fellow committee members overall. Uh

2:43:38 ↗ I agree we had some good discussions and

2:43:40 ↗ uh also thank you to the staff. Uh I

2:43:42 ↗ appreciate this is a lot of work um with

2:43:44 ↗ many many many red lines um to get

2:43:47 ↗ through a very long document and

2:43:49 ↗ condense those opinions both from the

2:43:52 ↗ the council and the staff into a a good

2:43:55 ↗ overall compromise. So thank you.

2:43:59 ↗ Can I ask uh

2:44:02 ↗ is there are we going to do a motion and

2:44:04 ↗ then do amendments? Is you said that you

2:44:06 ↗ mentioned amendments I guess or

2:44:09 ↗ >> Yes. Yeah. The uh you you could do that

2:44:13 ↗ and also as Wally shared if there was

2:44:16 ↗ the desire to add some more thoughtful

2:44:18 ↗ language that might be difficult to come

2:44:20 ↗ up with at this time the item could also

2:44:22 ↗ be postponed and language could be

2:44:23 ↗ brought back at a subsequent meeting.

2:44:26 ↗ >> Got it.

2:44:36 ↗ So, council member Nichols

2:44:38 ↗ >> question. Um, would it be advisable to

2:44:41 ↗ accept to to strike one session with an

2:44:44 ↗ understanding that that might be brought

2:44:45 ↗ forward and otherwise vote on this as is

2:44:48 ↗ or would it be better to bring it back

2:44:49 ↗ in its entirety later?

2:44:54 ↗ given the the extensive nature of the

2:44:56 ↗ revisions, probably just be good to have

2:44:58 ↗ one revised copy of this versus adopt

2:45:01 ↗ this and then revise it in two weeks.

2:45:03 ↗ So, we could come back uh as early as

2:45:08 ↗ the 18th of May. The city clerk won't be

2:45:10 ↗ here. Um the next regular meeting after

2:45:13 ↗ that is this June 1st. So,

2:45:17 ↗ I look to the chair of the committee if

2:45:18 ↗ you have a preference.

2:45:21 ↗ Yeah, I think I am interested uh and I

2:45:26 ↗ think I've heard from several council

2:45:27 ↗ members here on the dis that um

2:45:30 ↗ postponing is potentially a good idea.

2:45:33 ↗ Uh were you just suggesting June 1st

2:45:35 ↗ >> just so we have adequate staff support?

2:45:38 ↗ June 1st might be appropriate.

2:45:40 ↗ Yeah, I if somebody is out of town that

2:45:43 ↗ would provide uh staff support, we I

2:45:46 ↗ think are perfectly fine to

2:45:49 ↗ wait on that.

2:45:51 ↗ >> So, we'd recommend June 1st then.

2:45:52 ↗ >> June 1st. If you'd like to get it done

2:45:55 ↗ tonight, I do have some language that I

2:45:57 ↗ can offer for your consideration.

2:45:59 ↗ >> I think the administration would

2:46:00 ↗ appreciate the council's generosity to

2:46:02 ↗ give us some extra time.

2:46:04 ↗ >> Yeah. So, do we need to make a motion to

2:46:06 ↗ table or

2:46:08 ↗ >> um

2:46:09 ↗ >> date certain?

2:46:10 ↗ >> There there's not a motion pending right

2:46:12 ↗ now. So, I think it's fine if we're

2:46:14 ↗ hearing that there's no objection to

2:46:16 ↗ bring this item back at the June 1st

2:46:19 ↗ meeting with some suggested revisions to

2:46:21 ↗ the confidentiality section to talk

2:46:23 ↗ about remedies to providing redacted

2:46:27 ↗ information. There's not an objection to

2:46:29 ↗ that. We can just proceed.

2:46:30 ↗ >> Okay.

2:46:30 ↗ >> So, I have a question um for clerk

2:46:32 ↗ geyser. First of all, I I I just I even

2:46:35 ↗ though we don't have a motion in front

2:46:36 ↗ of us, I want to thank you, Clerk

2:46:37 ↗ Geyser. I I did this last time we we did

2:46:40 ↗ this update and your leadership on this

2:46:42 ↗ is great and the materials today.

2:46:44 ↗ There's a like it was extremely well put

2:46:47 ↗ together and extremely easy for me

2:46:49 ↗ sitting on an airplane flying over

2:46:51 ↗ Minnesota um to understand as as I was

2:46:54 ↗ reading this. But I do have a question.

2:46:55 ↗ If a council member wanted to consider

2:46:58 ↗ potential amendment language um on the

2:47:01 ↗ first, would you like to know that now?

2:47:04 ↗ Okay. So, I I will be suggesting on the

2:47:07 ↗ first that we strike this new language

2:47:09 ↗ and to set an overall maximum duration

2:47:11 ↗ for the public comment period. If a

2:47:12 ↗ maximum duration is set, efforts will be

2:47:14 ↗ made to ensure there is equal

2:47:15 ↗ opportunity for individuals to speak in

2:47:17 ↗ support of and opposition to an issue.

2:47:19 ↗ So, I will be proposing that amendment

2:47:21 ↗ on the first, just so you know.

2:47:25 ↗ I like it. Okay. Uh

2:47:27 ↗ >> we don't have to de we we can't can't

2:47:29 ↗ debate it now, but I wanted you to know

2:47:30 ↗ that that's something I will be

2:47:32 ↗ suggesting.

2:47:34 ↗ >> Okay. So, this one's coming back on June

2:47:36 ↗ 1st. So, this will take us to committee

2:47:39 ↗ and regional reports and we're going to

2:47:41 ↗ start with council member Boyd.

2:47:48 ↗ >> Um no report. I am not on any yet. So, I

2:47:52 ↗ think this is maybe next time

2:47:54 ↗ >> you get the brevity award. Council

2:47:56 ↗ member Adair.

2:47:58 ↗ >> Uh, I just have that tomorrow, May 5th

2:48:00 ↗ at 6:30 is the services, safety, and

2:48:02 ↗ parks committee meeting here where the

2:48:04 ↗ agenda items are equity goals and

2:48:06 ↗ evaluation and an update on the

2:48:07 ↗ potential park bond renewal.

2:48:09 ↗ >> All right, Council Member Nichols.

2:48:11 ↗ >> Okay. Uh, I'd like to note that the East

2:48:13 ↗ Side Transportation Partnership uh will

2:48:15 ↗ be meeting this Friday, May 8th, at 8

2:48:17 ↗ a.m. I will be the sole representative

2:48:18 ↗ for the city on what is normally a very

2:48:20 ↗ wellrepresented committee u by Isqua. Uh

2:48:23 ↗ in that meeting, we will be discussing a

2:48:25 ↗ letter of support for the four line uh

2:48:26 ↗ with a vote u scheduled. Uh this is a

2:48:29 ↗ letter that our vice chair has been

2:48:31 ↗ working on with several other members of

2:48:32 ↗ the committee to, as the title of the

2:48:35 ↗ letter says, express the East Side

2:48:37 ↗ Transportation Partnership's broad

2:48:39 ↗ support for the four line. Uh we will

2:48:40 ↗ also be receiving a report out on the

2:48:42 ↗ FIFA men's World Cup transportation

2:48:44 ↗ panel. Um which I hope to get some uh

2:48:47 ↗ good information back on what to expect.

2:48:49 ↗ Um and uh we'll report out after that.

2:48:52 ↗ >> Can we submit the four-line letter on

2:48:53 ↗ purple card stock?

2:48:56 ↗ >> Uh I can I can try to make that motion

2:48:58 ↗ and see how the what the body's uh

2:49:00 ↗ opinion is.

2:49:01 ↗ >> Okay. Council member Joe.

2:49:03 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh Cascade Water Alliance

2:49:06 ↗ will be holding a special meeting on

2:49:07 ↗ tomorrow, May 5th. Um I believe you're

2:49:10 ↗ attending mayor uh concerning a

2:49:11 ↗ personnel matter. Um the mobility and

2:49:14 ↗ infrastructure committee will be meeting

2:49:16 ↗ on May 12th at 2:30 May 12th. Um we'll

2:49:20 ↗ be looking at the amendments to the

2:49:22 ↗ street standards for utility facilities

2:49:24 ↗ and a transportation improvement update.

2:49:27 ↗ Um in the monthly report for Cascade, I

2:49:30 ↗ apologize for jumping around. They

2:49:32 ↗ didn't indicate uh that that report will

2:49:35 ↗ be sent out to you, but in the outreach

2:49:37 ↗ report, I would just note that they did

2:49:39 ↗ report that 409 people visited the

2:49:41 ↗ Cascade Water Alliance booth at the

2:49:43 ↗ recent Isiqua Sustainability Fair on

2:49:45 ↗ April 26. So, they are out in the

2:49:48 ↗ community. They're out in in Isiqua um

2:49:50 ↗ doing outreach for us. So, just a note

2:49:52 ↗ when you review that report, it should

2:49:55 ↗ be coming to you in the next day or so.

2:49:57 ↗ May 15th, uh we'll have a chamber board

2:49:59 ↗ liaison meeting. Uh, Wally, uh, Bob

2:50:03 ↗ Quitz and I will be attending that to

2:50:04 ↗ keep the chamber informed on what the

2:50:06 ↗ city is doing. That concludes my report.

2:50:08 ↗ Thank you.

2:50:09 ↗ >> Excellent. Council member Walsh.

2:50:10 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh, the rules ad hawk met.

2:50:13 ↗ I'm not going to give you a summary of

2:50:15 ↗ that because we just did. Uh, the

2:50:17 ↗ planning development environment

2:50:19 ↗ committee. Our meeting that was supposed

2:50:20 ↗ to be tomorrow has been moved to May

2:50:23 ↗ 19th as a um change with SSP. Our agenda

2:50:27 ↗ includes review of a goal and outcomes

2:50:30 ↗ chart for our housing work. Um plus our

2:50:32 ↗ progress on code amendments thus far. Uh

2:50:35 ↗ east side fire and rescue still big

2:50:38 ↗ topics. Um we meet May 14th. The agenda

2:50:42 ↗ includes a presentation from Puet Sound

2:50:45 ↗ Fire Authority um their chief. Um and so

2:50:50 ↗ we are hearing because they went through

2:50:52 ↗ the process of starting a regional fire

2:50:54 ↗ authority 15 years ago and they are just

2:50:57 ↗ now adding the um fire district around

2:51:01 ↗ Maple Valley. They're also of similar

2:51:04 ↗ size to East Side Fire and Rescue and um

2:51:09 ↗ when they include uh Maple Valley, they

2:51:11 ↗ will butt up to us. So they will be one

2:51:14 ↗ of a few potential

2:51:17 ↗ uh fire authorities that we could um

2:51:20 ↗ they could annex us as a potential

2:51:24 ↗ um

2:51:26 ↗ and then we will get the remainder of

2:51:27 ↗ our presentation on possible funding

2:51:29 ↗ models. So just to be very clear on an

2:51:33 ↗ update, we are hoping to get feedback

2:51:35 ↗ from uh the board at our June meeting

2:51:38 ↗ about whether the idea of

2:51:43 ↗ pursuing

2:51:44 ↗ a planning committee to pursue the idea

2:51:49 ↗ of a regional fire authority is

2:51:51 ↗ something we want to go for. If so, the

2:51:54 ↗ next step after that June meeting would

2:51:56 ↗ be for the chief to contact all of the

2:51:58 ↗ cities and districts and schedule a

2:52:01 ↗ meeting with each of those councils

2:52:04 ↗ because in order to take that next

2:52:07 ↗ official step to create a planning

2:52:10 ↗ committee, we need to write a letter to

2:52:13 ↗ all of the other municipalities and

2:52:15 ↗ organizations um that would potentially

2:52:18 ↗ be merging together um in order to

2:52:22 ↗ invite them into a planning committee.

2:52:24 ↗ That would also require us to appoint

2:52:26 ↗ three elected officials from our

2:52:29 ↗ organization into that. So if we are

2:52:31 ↗ talking about nine different

2:52:32 ↗ organizations, that would potentially be

2:52:34 ↗ a lovely planning committee of 27

2:52:37 ↗ members, which is not going to make

2:52:39 ↗ anything easier. Um, but that planning

2:52:42 ↗ committee would potentially take a year

2:52:46 ↗ to two years to do all of the work of

2:52:50 ↗ what levy should we set, what fire

2:52:53 ↗ benefit charge, what should be the

2:52:55 ↗ governance model, who should be

2:52:57 ↗ represented on the future board, all of

2:52:59 ↗ those things. So, giving you a sense

2:53:02 ↗ that this will potentially come back to

2:53:04 ↗ council in September

2:53:07 ↗ to ask for that.

2:53:10 ↗ um letter to start a planning committee.

2:53:13 ↗ I am more than happy to brief anyone,

2:53:16 ↗ talk to you all. I just know this is a

2:53:18 ↗ big thing. Finally, the King County uh

2:53:21 ↗ affordable housing committee meets this

2:53:23 ↗ Thursday at 3:30 p.m. virtually. The

2:53:26 ↗ agenda includes revisions to our 2026

2:53:28 ↗ work plan, feedback on the five-year

2:53:31 ↗ action plan, and an update on our

2:53:34 ↗ dashboard data.

2:53:37 ↗ health president words.

2:53:38 ↗ >> So I I have a question about the epher.

2:53:40 ↗ So when when do we know when we're going

2:53:43 ↗ to know when we're going to make a

2:53:44 ↗ decision?

2:53:46 ↗ >> So the hope is that the the east side

2:53:49 ↗ fire and rescue board of directors will

2:53:52 ↗ have all of the information they need by

2:53:54 ↗ June to figure out if this is ready to

2:53:57 ↗ go to the cities.

2:53:59 ↗ >> Okay. If all of the nine cities and fire

2:54:02 ↗ districts agree and write a letter and

2:54:05 ↗ appoint people, that would start a

2:54:07 ↗ planning committee. The planning

2:54:09 ↗ committee would then go through all of

2:54:12 ↗ this full process

2:54:15 ↗ and that would potentially take a while.

2:54:18 ↗ And so I think at this point we are

2:54:21 ↗ looking at like a 2028

2:54:24 ↗ potential for an election.

2:54:28 ↗ So we as a body have an option

2:54:31 ↗ opportunity this summer to uh impact

2:54:36 ↗ that trajectory and then that's kind of

2:54:40 ↗ it. Then it

2:54:41 ↗ >> and then it would be up to the three

2:54:43 ↗ elected officials from Isiqua to

2:54:48 ↗ represent our views on that planning

2:54:50 ↗ committee and come back and provide

2:54:53 ↗ updates on what it is. you know, maybe

2:54:56 ↗ get feedback from council. I'm sure we

2:54:59 ↗ can provide, you know, regular updates

2:55:02 ↗ and a sense of the big decision points

2:55:05 ↗ so that we can make sure, much like you

2:55:07 ↗ do for pick, if there's a decision

2:55:09 ↗ coming up, we want to make sure that

2:55:12 ↗ council

2:55:13 ↗ agrees with those ideas and can then

2:55:16 ↗ bring that back to the planning

2:55:17 ↗ committee.

2:55:19 ↗ So, so it would be essentially the train

2:55:24 ↗ would leave the station this summer.

2:55:26 ↗ >> The Okay. So, the train would

2:55:28 ↗ potentially leave the station on

2:55:30 ↗ creating a planning committee. A

2:55:32 ↗ planning committee at any point can be

2:55:35 ↗ dissolved

2:55:36 ↗ by any of the members by writing a

2:55:39 ↗ letter

2:55:40 ↗ >> any of the members. So, it's a unanimous

2:55:42 ↗ decision. Uh, I believe any of the

2:55:45 ↗ members can choose to leave,

2:55:48 ↗ but that would bring in all these

2:55:50 ↗ questions about how do we fund East Side

2:55:52 ↗ Fire and Rescue if eight of the members

2:55:55 ↗ were to continue with a regional fire

2:55:57 ↗ authority and one decided not to. That

2:56:00 ↗ will be also a topic of conversation

2:56:03 ↗ amongst the planning committee because

2:56:04 ↗ we would need to also determine how

2:56:07 ↗ someone leaves a regional fire authority

2:56:11 ↗ once it was created. There are a lot a

2:56:14 ↗ lot of decision points and

2:56:17 ↗ conversations. Um I guess what I would

2:56:20 ↗ say from a starting point is East Side

2:56:23 ↗ Fire and Rescue is way ahead of the

2:56:26 ↗ times in that we created a regional

2:56:32 ↗ fire

2:56:33 ↗ organization

2:56:35 ↗ before such a thing existed at the state

2:56:38 ↗ level. And so this regional fire

2:56:40 ↗ authority is something that the state

2:56:43 ↗ created because there was a need for

2:56:45 ↗ regionalization here and it gave us some

2:56:48 ↗ funding levers that we cannot currently

2:56:52 ↗ take advantage of. But it does come with

2:56:54 ↗ a lot of decision-m

2:56:56 ↗ >> I'm just trying to understand where the

2:56:57 ↗ gates are. Yes. Like I realize it's a

2:56:59 ↗ complicated decision and we need a lot

2:57:01 ↗ more data and all that kind of stuff.

2:57:03 ↗ I'm just trying to understand where the

2:57:04 ↗ decision points are where we get to say

2:57:07 ↗ yes or no. Understanding that a no can

2:57:09 ↗ get complicated if we get very far down

2:57:11 ↗ the process.

2:57:12 ↗ >> Yeah. And I will bring that feedback

2:57:14 ↗ back to the chief in that we need to be

2:57:17 ↗ very clear when he is doing those

2:57:19 ↗ presentations in September where the

2:57:22 ↗ gates are and what the opportunities of

2:57:25 ↗ each of our organizations is to provide

2:57:27 ↗ feedback throughout the process.

2:57:29 ↗ >> Thank you. I appreciate that.

2:57:30 ↗ >> Yeah.

2:57:31 ↗ Deputy President Jen.

2:57:33 ↗ >> Great. Okay, two updates for me. Um, so

2:57:35 ↗ the King County Flood Control District

2:57:37 ↗ Advisory Committee uh had our first

2:57:40 ↗ meeting of the year on Friday, April

2:57:42 ↗ 24th. We discussed the flood control

2:57:44 ↗ district budgets and the process for

2:57:45 ↗ projects to move from proposed to

2:57:47 ↗ prioritized to funded to implementation.

2:57:50 ↗ Notably, there is an additional $40

2:57:51 ↗ million in spending allocated to help

2:57:54 ↗ with recovery from the major floods that

2:57:55 ↗ happened in December 2025. And also, you

2:57:58 ↗ know, there's kind of a discussion on

2:57:59 ↗ just budgeting for the flood control

2:58:01 ↗ district in general. Um, the flood

2:58:02 ↗ control district is quite underfunded

2:58:05 ↗ relative to the need. Basically, they're

2:58:06 ↗ like, if we implemented all the projects

2:58:08 ↗ that people have applied for, we would

2:58:09 ↗ have a balance of negative $200 million.

2:58:12 ↗ Um, and I I mean, just given where we're

2:58:15 ↗ trending with the climate, I think the

2:58:16 ↗ need for that will continue to increase.

2:58:18 ↗ So, we'll be interesting to see how that

2:58:20 ↗ goes. The other uh very interesting

2:58:22 ↗ meeting that I attended that day was the

2:58:24 ↗ King County Regional Homelessness

2:58:25 ↗ Authority governing board meeting. Um we

2:58:28 ↗ met in person at the Seattle Library and

2:58:30 ↗ we had to move to a different room to

2:58:33 ↗ have space for the members of the media

2:58:34 ↗ that were there with us. Um which was

2:58:36 ↗ very interesting. So uh as you may have

2:58:38 ↗ heard, we reviewed the results of a

2:58:40 ↗ forensic audit. Um an accountant from

2:58:42 ↗ Clark Newer, which is an accounting firm

2:58:44 ↗ based out of Belleview spoke with us.

2:58:46 ↗ You may have read about this in the

2:58:47 ↗ news. If you have any questions, feel

2:58:49 ↗ free to reach out to me directly. Um,

2:58:51 ↗ but basically the main action that was

2:58:53 ↗ taken in that meeting was creating a

2:58:54 ↗ finance committee to provide oversight

2:58:57 ↗ as well as institute a hiring freeze

2:58:59 ↗ unless specific exemptions are granted

2:59:01 ↗ by the finance committee. I will be the

2:59:04 ↗ representative from Sound Cities

2:59:05 ↗ Association on this finance committee

2:59:07 ↗ along with two representatives from

2:59:09 ↗ Seattle, two representatives from King

2:59:10 ↗ County, and one lived experience

2:59:12 ↗ representative. So, more to come on

2:59:15 ↗ that. That concludes my report.

2:59:17 ↗ >> Council President Mart,

2:59:18 ↗ >> how can I follow that? Um there is an

2:59:21 ↗ upcoming SCA pick meet Sun Cities

2:59:23 ↗ Association Public Issues Committee

2:59:25 ↗ meeting Wednesday, May 13th. Uh it's

2:59:28 ↗ relatively juicy, not that juicy, but um

2:59:30 ↗ we're going to have a discussion on a

2:59:32 ↗ potential affordable housing regional

2:59:33 ↗ initiative. Uh we're going to so a start

2:59:37 ↗ point, but no no um uh no action

2:59:41 ↗ anticipated. Uh there is an action

2:59:43 ↗ anticipated on the 2027 proposed sewer

2:59:46 ↗ rate response letter. There have been a

2:59:48 ↗ number of potential amendments and so I

2:59:50 ↗ have just forwarded you all. I don't

2:59:52 ↗ think you were necessarily on the

2:59:53 ↗ original note from I think it was Laura

2:59:55 ↗ Belmont. Um but please take a look. Uh

2:59:58 ↗ there's no guarantee that all those

2:59:59 ↗ amendments will be supported um by pick

3:00:02 ↗ but if you if you have strong feelings

3:00:04 ↗ one one way or the other please let me

3:00:05 ↗ know um before the 13th because that is

3:00:07 ↗ the second touch on this issue. So this

3:00:10 ↗ is when we will um make a recommendation

3:00:12 ↗ to the full board uh which I am on um

3:00:15 ↗ but that occurs after the next full

3:00:17 ↗ council meeting. Uh so I will have

3:00:19 ↗ information at the next regular council

3:00:20 ↗ meeting on how that goes and what's

3:00:22 ↗ going to be going to the board. Uh

3:00:24 ↗ there's also potential action on a Sound

3:00:26 ↗ Transit Enterprise initiative. Uh I

3:00:28 ↗ don't know anything about that yet, but

3:00:30 ↗ that's another one of those two-step uh

3:00:32 ↗ two-touch processes. So I'll have more

3:00:33 ↗ information on that after the meeting.

3:00:35 ↗ This concludes my report.

3:00:38 ↗ >> Okay. As you heard from council member

3:00:40 ↗ Joe, uh, Cascade Water Alliance will

3:00:43 ↗ have a meeting. We will choose a new

3:00:45 ↗ executive director tomorrow's meeting.

3:00:46 ↗ And so I will share the name of that

3:00:49 ↗ individual at May 18th, our next council

3:00:52 ↗ meeting. I will also share it by email

3:00:53 ↗ after the selection is public. Uh, I am

3:00:56 ↗ confident there's good plan for

3:00:58 ↗ leadership for Cascade Water going

3:01:00 ↗ forward. In terms of community events

3:01:02 ↗ coming up, the Isqua Rotary has their

3:01:05 ↗ Grape Escape at Pickering Barn. That's

3:01:07 ↗ 5:30 this Wednesday. It is a great

3:01:10 ↗ fundraiser. All the money they raise

3:01:12 ↗ goes into the scholarships for various

3:01:14 ↗ Isiqua School District High School

3:01:16 ↗ students. The Sound Transit Board

3:01:18 ↗ Meeting is this Thursday at May 7th. We

3:01:21 ↗ are encouraging our amazing community

3:01:23 ↗ who has been so active and engaged in

3:01:25 ↗ this process this entire year to meet

3:01:28 ↗ outside of City Hall here at 9:00 a.m.

3:01:31 ↗ The bus leaves at 911, I think. Uh and

3:01:36 ↗ and for those who want to just drive

3:01:38 ↗ down, they can also just meet downtown

3:01:40 ↗ in Seattle at at the building where the

3:01:42 ↗ executive board meets. And the final we

3:01:44 ↗ do expect the Sound Transit overall

3:01:45 ↗ board to take action right now, we're

3:01:47 ↗ told of the May 28th meeting. So I think

3:01:50 ↗ the understanding is that there will be

3:01:53 ↗ a executive from Chair Summer's proposal

3:01:57 ↗ on Thursday morning right before this

3:01:59 ↗ meeting starts at 10:30. And so we will

3:02:01 ↗ digest that proposal when it comes out

3:02:03 ↗ and and at this point in time that's

3:02:06 ↗ when we'll find out if it's aqua on the

3:02:08 ↗ ST3 light rail map or if our plans have

3:02:11 ↗ been changed. U it's called farmers

3:02:13 ↗ market. First uh kickoff event was last

3:02:17 ↗ Saturday over 3,700 shoppers attended

3:02:20 ↗ and it will be every Saturday from now

3:02:23 ↗ through December 26th. So coming out to

3:02:26 ↗ Pickering Barn and it's an amazing

3:02:28 ↗ event. Down home fourth of July is quad

3:02:31 ↗ community mosaic creation. So there's

3:02:33 ↗ two upcoming opportunities to join local

3:02:34 ↗ artist Cheryl Smith to create a

3:02:36 ↗ beautiful mosaic piece to celebrate

3:02:37 ↗ America's 250th anniversary. Uh first

3:02:40 ↗ will be Saturday, May 9th from 5 to 8:00

3:02:42 ↗ p.m. along Front Street in Oldtown in

3:02:44 ↗ conjunction with Iska Arwalk and music

3:02:46 ↗ stroll. And then there'll be a second

3:02:47 ↗ one on Saturday, May 23rd at the farmers

3:02:50 ↗ market. uh participants will have a

3:02:52 ↗ chance to engage in a collaborative

3:02:53 ↗ artwork that become part of the city of

3:02:55 ↗ Isqua's permanent public art collection

3:02:57 ↗ and that should be fun. The Isqua annual

3:03:00 ↗ community awards is going to be next

3:03:02 ↗ Thursday evening, May 14th from 5:30 to

3:03:04 ↗ 8:00 at the Fairfield in uh and that is

3:03:09 ↗ coming up next week. In terms of

3:03:13 ↗ uh obviously the ALPR discussion has

3:03:16 ↗ been in front of this council this year.

3:03:19 ↗ Uh, I think just so folks have an update

3:03:21 ↗ of where we're at right now is I think

3:03:23 ↗ council member Walsh and Council Member

3:03:24 ↗ Nichols will meet with Del Marie

3:03:27 ↗ when she is back from vacation on May

3:03:28 ↗ 11th. I think the the sense I've gotten

3:03:31 ↗ from the council is to pursue pass in

3:03:33 ↗ the space where you have a different

3:03:37 ↗ a less likelihood of potential data

3:03:39 ↗ breaches where you have a local server

3:03:41 ↗ where if information if you are using

3:03:43 ↗ any sort of camera technology it's it's

3:03:45 ↗ being stored on a local server. I think

3:03:47 ↗ the the sense is that council member

3:03:49 ↗ Walsh and Nichols will give Dale

3:03:51 ↗ guidance in this space which then she

3:03:54 ↗ can take that guidance and see what's

3:03:56 ↗ available on the open market and then

3:03:58 ↗ come back to council with uh potential

3:04:01 ↗ options that that could be pursued uh in

3:04:04 ↗ June and so we will but Dale is on

3:04:07 ↗ vacation this entire week. Uh with that

3:04:09 ↗ that concludes the mayor's report. Uh we

3:04:12 ↗ will now go to good of the order and I

3:04:14 ↗ want to make sure at some point during

3:04:16 ↗ good of the order we try to nail down a

3:04:19 ↗ July meeting time. So let's go to

3:04:22 ↗ council president Martz first followed

3:04:24 ↗ by council member Walsh.

3:04:26 ↗ >> Yeah. I just want to say thank you to

3:04:27 ↗ city attorney Turpin for the public

3:04:29 ↗ records and open public meetings act

3:04:31 ↗ training this evening. Um, it's it's dry

3:04:34 ↗ but important material and it's also

3:04:36 ↗ hurting cats and it's also I'm always

3:04:40 ↗ struck how impressed I am that so many

3:04:42 ↗ council members get their questions in

3:04:43 ↗ early. I'm not like that and so um what

3:04:47 ↗ to the extent that staff fields all my

3:04:49 ↗ ad hoc questions that come up. Um it was

3:04:52 ↗ really important this evening and and

3:04:54 ↗ thank you so much because it really did

3:04:55 ↗ then inform um the conversation that we

3:04:57 ↗ had about rules of procedure. So it was

3:04:59 ↗ it was deeply appreciated. Thank you. I

3:05:02 ↗ can share the AWC legislative affairs

3:05:04 ↗ committee last Friday. The most common

3:05:05 ↗ agreement on cities was we need to have

3:05:07 ↗ some fix on the public records side. I

3:05:10 ↗ think it's uh it definitely came up that

3:05:12 ↗ I think there's a lot of people building

3:05:14 ↗ AI models that'll send requests to

3:05:16 ↗ cities which are very timeconuming and

3:05:20 ↗ very burdensome. And so I think there is

3:05:22 ↗ kind of a sense that going into the 27th

3:05:25 ↗ legislative session we might have to

3:05:26 ↗ come up with some sort of proposal

3:05:28 ↗ acknowledges the importance of the

3:05:30 ↗ public knowing what we're doing but

3:05:31 ↗ doesn't let people you know from

3:05:34 ↗ elsewhere in the country who are just

3:05:35 ↗ trying to build AI functionality just

3:05:38 ↗ overwhelm our public records

3:05:40 ↗ departments. Council member Walsh.

3:05:42 ↗ >> Yeah. I just want to provide just a

3:05:44 ↗ little bit of clarity on the ALPR

3:05:47 ↗ portion that you had mentioned. Uh,

3:05:49 ↗ council member Nichols and I, I think,

3:05:51 ↗ are very willing to talk to Dale Marky

3:05:54 ↗ Crimp um about that, but I don't think

3:05:56 ↗ there was necessarily agreement among

3:05:59 ↗ council that we are looking for a

3:06:01 ↗ particular solution that provides more

3:06:05 ↗ limitations. I'm happy to look for it,

3:06:07 ↗ but I don't want the public information

3:06:09 ↗ out there suggesting that we've had any

3:06:12 ↗ conversations or that there's a sense of

3:06:15 ↗ agreement more that we heard the

3:06:19 ↗ public that they want to make sure that

3:06:24 ↗ whatever you know if we do something

3:06:26 ↗ that they have um transparent

3:06:28 ↗ information on it. So I I just want to

3:06:31 ↗ make sure there is nothing out there

3:06:32 ↗ suggesting that we already know where we

3:06:35 ↗ are going with something or that we have

3:06:39 ↗ a sense of where we would like to go.

3:06:42 ↗ >> Okay. Council member Nichols.

3:06:44 ↗ >> Yeah, I'd like to second that. Um and I

3:06:46 ↗ also think that other things that of

3:06:48 ↗ course will be on the table and that

3:06:49 ↗ always are on the table will be the

3:06:51 ↗ adoption by council of various

3:06:52 ↗ ordinances that could put guard rails of

3:06:54 ↗ varying degrees on anything that might

3:06:57 ↗ be uh pursued. So that's that's

3:06:59 ↗ something that I think the public should

3:07:00 ↗ also be aware of is is always a

3:07:02 ↗ possibility um and and something that we

3:07:04 ↗ can investigate not simply looking at

3:07:07 ↗ systems but also what are some what are

3:07:09 ↗ guard rails that um

3:07:12 ↗ would come back to council that could be

3:07:14 ↗ that could for example take the form of

3:07:16 ↗ an ordinance.

3:07:19 ↗ >> Any other good of the order before I go

3:07:21 ↗ through my good of the order items? Uh,

3:07:25 ↗ okay. The upcoming council meetings, uh,

3:07:29 ↗ this Saturday, uh, May 9th, we have a

3:07:32 ↗ city council retreat, Gibson Hall, 9:00

3:07:34 ↗ a.m. to 2 p.m. Topics are economic

3:07:36 ↗ development plan update, 2026 citywide

3:07:38 ↗ work plan, 2025 performance measures,

3:07:40 ↗ potential park bond renewal, 2728,

3:07:43 ↗ budget planning. That is we then have

3:07:46 ↗ the committee of the whole uh on May

3:07:48 ↗ 11th, next Monday with anticipated

3:07:50 ↗ agenda items of the Isqua climate action

3:07:52 ↗ plan, the Isqua Police Department

3:07:54 ↗ congressional community appropriations

3:07:56 ↗ grant. Uh before the council meeting on

3:07:58 ↗ May 18th, we will have council photos

3:08:00 ↗ taken outside Mario Field before the

3:08:03 ↗ meeting. And also that evening at 6:30

3:08:06 ↗ p.m. we have a reception right here in

3:08:07 ↗ council chambers uh for council member

3:08:09 ↗ Barbie Michelle and our retiring police

3:08:11 ↗ chief Schwan. Council member Boyd, I see

3:08:13 ↗ you with a question.

3:08:15 ↗ >> Council photos are on the 11th or the

3:08:16 ↗ 18th.

3:08:17 ↗ >> Oh, they're on the 11th.

3:08:19 ↗ >> Oh, okay.

3:08:20 ↗ >> Sorry. Yes.

3:08:21 ↗ >> Just checking.

3:08:22 ↗ >> Good fact check, Council Member Boyd.

3:08:24 ↗ Well played. Uh the

3:08:28 ↗ and Oh, the regular I think we may have

3:08:31 ↗ a resolution on self-p permanent

3:08:32 ↗ agreement with Sound Transit would not

3:08:34 ↗ be it would just be a a resolution. And

3:08:37 ↗ I think the the nuances of how that

3:08:39 ↗ plays out is through some sort of

3:08:40 ↗ interlocal agreement, which is actually

3:08:42 ↗ fairly complicated. But I think we may

3:08:44 ↗ we'll see how things go on May 7th. But

3:08:46 ↗ if things on May 7th are fairly

3:08:47 ↗ positive, then I think we may bring

3:08:49 ↗ forward a resolution just to kind of

3:08:51 ↗ indicate that the city's open-minded to

3:08:52 ↗ this to this process. And with that, I

3:08:56 ↗ hope people brought their calendars cuz

3:08:58 ↗ I think our goal

3:09:00 ↗ appreciating that summers in Seattle,

3:09:03 ↗ summer weekends are very finite. And so

3:09:05 ↗ I think our our suggestion is to shift

3:09:07 ↗ the July financial planning update to an

3:09:11 ↗ evening in the second half of July

3:09:14 ↗ between 5:00 p.m. and kind of 8 or 8:30

3:09:19 ↗ p.m. sort of thing. And I think we

3:09:23 ↗ are looking at potential dates. So

3:09:26 ↗ Tisha, you can help me out here. We have

3:09:31 ↗ I think Thursday July 23rd was one

3:09:35 ↗ option and I think another option

3:09:38 ↗ correct me if I'm wrong is I don't think

3:09:40 ↗ there is any meeting on Monday July 27th

3:09:43 ↗ right now. So I think Monday because the

3:09:47 ↗ one downside of the meeting if we do it

3:09:50 ↗ on Thursday July 23rd was that there is

3:09:54 ↗ a lot of other meetings in the evening

3:09:56 ↗ that week already.

3:09:58 ↗ If we did it on Monday July 27th

3:10:02 ↗ we don't think there's really another

3:10:05 ↗ council meeting in the evening that

3:10:06 ↗ entire week. Is that correct? And so I

3:10:11 ↗ just don't know if folks are available

3:10:13 ↗ on Monday, July 27th, 5:00 pm to

3:10:17 ↗ potentially do our kind of Council

3:10:20 ↗ Walsh.

3:10:22 ↗ >> I will just note that I have a regional

3:10:24 ↗ coalition for housing uh committee of

3:10:27 ↗ electeds meeting on that Thursday the

3:10:29 ↗ 23rd from 5 to 7 p.m. So I would prefer

3:10:34 ↗ not to have to meet one or not to have

3:10:36 ↗ to miss one of only four meetings.

3:10:38 ↗ >> Yeah. But Monday the 27th for you is

3:10:42 ↗ open. We're saying thumbs up on Monday,

3:10:45 ↗ July 27th at 5:00 p.m. So, we're going

3:10:49 ↗ to

3:10:53 ↗ have an appointment on my calendar that

3:10:55 ↗ just says appointment at 3:00. So, at

3:10:58 ↗ 3:00,

3:10:58 ↗ >> I'm sure it'll be fine. That's great.

3:11:00 ↗ >> That's a 3:00 appointment. This is 5:00.

3:11:03 ↗ You your other appointment, you have to

3:11:05 ↗ be highly efficient. Uh, okay. So why

3:11:08 ↗ don't folks put a hold on that? We will

3:11:10 ↗ get back to you with some sort of

3:11:12 ↗ council member Boyd.

3:11:13 ↗ >> Sorry. Is it like it starts at 5 or

3:11:15 ↗ we're doing like a normal council time

3:11:16 ↗ like seven?

3:11:17 ↗ >> It starts at 5. I think the thought is

3:11:20 ↗ sometimes it's 3 hours. It can stretch

3:11:23 ↗ to 3 and 1 half or 4 hours. Uh and so I

3:11:26 ↗ think if we start at 5 that makes sure

3:11:28 ↗ we're out of here at a more reasonable

3:11:30 ↗ time. But if there is a request to move

3:11:32 ↗ back to a later start time,

3:11:33 ↗ >> would you entertain 5:30?

3:11:36 ↗ >> We can entertain 5:30. I'm seeing nods

3:11:38 ↗ from the council. 5:30.

3:11:39 ↗ >> Thank you.

3:11:40 ↗ >> Okay. So, we will pencil in kind of 5:30

3:11:42 ↗ tonight. Council Walsh,

3:11:44 ↗ >> can I just ask that the clerk send us

3:11:46 ↗ out a hold for our calendars? Okay.

3:11:48 ↗ Thank you.

3:11:49 ↗ >> Yes, we will do that. There is no

3:11:53 ↗ executive session this evening. And

3:11:55 ↗ saying no further business before this

3:11:56 ↗ council, we are adjourned at 10:13.

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 (7)

Paul Adair

Erika Boyd

Kelly Jiang

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Kevin Nichols

Lindsey Walsh

Staff (4)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Andrea Lehner, Deputy City Administrator

Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Motions and votes (1)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a)

Moved by Council President Marts · seconded by Deputy Council President Jiang

Carried 7-0

In favor: Paul Adair, Erika Boyd, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Kevin Nichols, Lindsey Walsh