City Council Special Meeting · Monday, August 10, 2020 · City Council Digest

2. AGENDA ITEMS - OPEN SESSION

Public Comment Sign up in advance at issaquahwa.gov/signup. 5 - 54 AB 7999 - Issaquah Police b) Accountability, Equity and Human Services Action Plan Endorse

Carried 7-0

packet pp.55–64

Topics: Public SafetyEquity

Open packet at p.55 ↗

Staff report:

Police Sergeants are a new union for the City, officially certified on May 21, 2020. This group does not have a current collective bargaining agreement. Police Sergeants were previously non-represented staff and, as such, received the same wage adjustment as other non-represented staff on January 1, 2020.The City has begun negotiations with the Sergeants for a first collective bargaining agreement that would cover 2021 and beyond. There are currently five Police Sergeants in the bargaining unit.

Roll call:

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh

Memorandum of Understanding with Teamsters 117, Police Sergeants Ratify AB 8019

Carried 7-0

packet pp.65–74

Topics: Public Safety

Open packet at p.65 ↗

Staff report:

Police Commanders are a new union for the City, officially certified on July 1, 2020. This group does not have a current collective bargaining agreement. Police Commanders were previously non-represented staff and, as such, received the same wage adjustment as other non-represented staff on Jan. 1, 2020. The City has begun negotiations with the Commanders for a first collective bargaining agreement that would cover 2021 and beyond. There are currently two Police Commanders in the bargaining unit.

Roll call:

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh

Memorandum of Understanding with Teamsters 117, Police Commanders Ratify AB 8020

Carried 7-0

Topics: Public Safety

Roll call:

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh

3. EXECUTIVE SESSION - CLOSED SESSION

Property Acquisition, Pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(b) This item is anticipated to take approx. 30 minutes. No action is anticipated to follow in open session

2758 segments .txt ↗

0:06 ↗ welcome everyone i'm going to call the

0:08 ↗ august 10th

0:09 ↗ special city council meeting to order

0:11 ↗ tonight's meeting is a remote meeting

0:13 ↗ so before we go on to the agenda items

0:15 ↗ i'm just going to pass on a few

0:17 ↗ introductory remarks

0:19 ↗ on march 6th i issued an emergency

0:21 ↗ proclamation

0:24 ↗ one second

0:28 ↗ declaring a civil emergency in the city

0:30 ↗ due to covet 19

0:31 ↗ outbreak on march 24th the governor

0:34 ↗ issued

0:34 ↗ proclamation 20-28 prohibiting meetings

0:38 ↗ that fall under the open public meetings

0:40 ↗ act such as our city council meetings

0:42 ↗ from being conducted in person this

0:44 ↗ prohibition has been extended through

0:46 ↗ september 1st

0:47 ↗ tonight's meeting will be held entirely

0:49 ↗ remotely the meeting will be recorded

0:51 ↗ streamed live and available for later

0:52 ↗ viewing on the city's youtube channel

0:54 ↗ the call-in number was provided on the

0:56 ↗ meeting agenda for members of the public

0:58 ↗ who wish to call in by phone

0:59 ↗ to listen live to the meeting or make

1:01 ↗ comments many of you signed up in

1:03 ↗ advance to make comments and if anyone

1:05 ↗ is on the call who did not sign up but

1:07 ↗ would like to speak please press star 3

1:09 ↗ on your phone and we will add you to the

1:11 ↗ speakers list

1:12 ↗ at this point in time we're going to

1:14 ↗ take a quick moment and do a roll call

1:16 ↗ of the council members in attendance so

1:18 ↗ please stay here when i call your name

1:20 ↗ councilmember d michelle here

1:24 ↗ thank you councilmember goodman here

1:27 ↗ thank you

1:28 ↗ councilmember hall here council

1:32 ↗ president hunt

1:33 ↗ here thank you council member mart

1:37 ↗ here thank you deputy council president

1:39 ↗ ray

1:48 ↗ who is still on mute but i can see him

1:50 ↗ i'm just going to wait for a voice

1:52 ↗ verification

2:00 ↗ council member right oh there we go

2:03 ↗ are you able to um hear us and are you

2:06 ↗ able to acknowledge

2:07 ↗ your attendance

2:11 ↗ i think chris can hear but i'm not sure

2:13 ↗ that he can speak

2:14 ↗ again i've unmuted you

2:21 ↗ council member ray

2:25 ↗ we'll take a pause for a second i'm just

2:28 ↗ going to check in with council member

2:29 ↗ walsh

2:31 ↗ here and back to council member ray are

2:35 ↗ you

2:35 ↗ able to speak with us yet

2:39 ↗ i think we're toggling in opposite on

2:42 ↗ the sound

2:43 ↗ so let me try his line again here

2:46 ↗ council member ray you have an open line

2:52 ↗ we can connect uh we can have our it

2:55 ↗ person connect with him

2:59 ↗ thank you very frustrating this is the

3:02 ↗ the not joyous part of remote meetings

3:06 ↗ yeah i'm here ah sorry about that

3:10 ↗ nicely done thank you

3:16 ↗ that is all seven council members here

3:18 ↗ this evening we also have various city

3:20 ↗ staff that are participating in

3:21 ↗ tonight's meeting

3:22 ↗ including city administrator bob kowitz

3:24 ↗ police chief scott bierbaum

3:26 ↗ parks and community services director

3:28 ↗ jeff watling human services coordinator

3:30 ↗ monica ngrilla

3:31 ↗ senior human resources analyst lauren

3:33 ↗ knox economic development manager jen

3:36 ↗ davis hayes

3:37 ↗ city clerk pena eggers city attorney jim

3:39 ↗ haney and there may also be other city

3:41 ↗ staff in attendance

3:43 ↗ for those members of the public on the

3:44 ↗ call welcome the clerk or i will call on

3:46 ↗ you to make comments when we reach that

3:48 ↗ portion of the agenda

3:49 ↗ and i do want to go over a few meeting

3:51 ↗ guidelines for tonight

3:53 ↗ so for all meeting attendees please

3:55 ↗ speak clearly

3:56 ↗ and pause frequently state your name

3:58 ↗ each time before speaking and mute your

4:00 ↗ microphone when not speaking

4:02 ↗ if you are also streaming the live video

4:04 ↗ feed please turn the sound off as there

4:06 ↗ is a delay

4:08 ↗ for council members please continue to

4:09 ↗ use the chat to indicate when you wish

4:11 ↗ to speak

4:12 ↗ please identify yourself before you ask

4:14 ↗ a question make a motion

4:16 ↗ or second emotion or participate in

4:19 ↗ debate

4:20 ↗ so the next item on our agenda is public

4:22 ↗ comment and for those providing public

4:24 ↗ comments please

4:25 ↗ ensure that you direct those comments to

4:27 ↗ the whole council and not to individuals

4:29 ↗ and while this is not a question and

4:31 ↗ answer session we will

4:32 ↗ contact you to follow up if needed so

4:35 ↗ when recognized unm

4:36 ↗ unmute your microphone and star 6 may be

4:39 ↗ an option for you on your phone

4:41 ↗ state your name address and relationship

4:43 ↗ to the city

4:44 ↗ speak clearly and pause frequently limit

4:47 ↗ your comments

4:48 ↗ to five minutes remove your microphone

4:51 ↗ when done

4:51 ↗ and if you do not respond after your

4:53 ↗ name or phone number is called

4:55 ↗ or if your connection is lost

4:56 ↗ unexpectedly the meeting will need to

4:59 ↗ proceed and you are encouraged to rejoin

5:00 ↗ the meeting if you're able to

5:03 ↗ personal attacks obscene language

5:04 ↗ derogatory remarks and disruptive

5:06 ↗ behavior is not permitted

5:08 ↗ and if a speaker is out of order i will

5:10 ↗ ask them to stop and mute their

5:11 ↗ microphone

5:12 ↗ if a speaker does not comply i may

5:14 ↗ direct staff to mute their microphone

5:16 ↗ and if a disruption to the meeting

5:17 ↗ occurs an order cannot be restored i may

5:19 ↗ direct staff to remove you from the call

5:21 ↗ citizens comments written and verbal are

5:24 ↗ important aspect of the public process

5:26 ↗ and the city council and my

5:28 ↗ administration takes these comments very

5:30 ↗ seriously

5:31 ↗ we thank you for taking this time to

5:32 ↗ address us

5:34 ↗ city clark could you please identify the

5:36 ↗ first person who signed up to speak this

5:38 ↗ evening

5:39 ↗ yes we have nicholas kelly i'm unmuting

5:42 ↗ you on my end

5:44 ↗ you have the floor and can proceed

5:47 ↗ thank you very much my name is nicholas

5:50 ↗ kelly i'm a

5:51 ↗ issaquah resident i live on east sunset

5:54 ↗ way

5:57 ↗ and my comment is essentially regarding

6:00 ↗ the action plan

6:02 ↗ i think that the eight can't wait

6:05 ↗ there's

6:06 ↗ absolutely nothing wrong with those

6:08 ↗ reforms and they're a great thing to

6:10 ↗ check

6:10 ↗ in on about the health of a police

6:13 ↗ department

6:14 ↗ and therefore the health of the

6:15 ↗ community but i do

6:17 ↗ think basing from my understanding the

6:20 ↗ entire action plan

6:22 ↗ around where issaquah police department

6:25 ↗ is

6:25 ↗ at with the aids can't wait is a real

6:28 ↗ artificial

6:29 ↗ narrowing of both looking into what is

6:34 ↗ going well and what is not going well

6:36 ↗ and also how to protect the community

6:40 ↗ better

6:41 ↗ i think in terms of use of course a

6:44 ↗ relationship with the community

6:46 ↗ there's one major straightforward

6:49 ↗ thing that can be done which is the use

6:52 ↗ of police body cameras

6:54 ↗ i think that's rapidly becoming the norm

6:57 ↗ i'm sure it will be the norm across the

7:00 ↗ country within a few years

7:02 ↗ and to not be looking at what the cost

7:05 ↗ will be and how quickly that can be

7:06 ↗ implemented here

7:08 ↗ and perhaps that is work is being done

7:10 ↗ but

7:11 ↗ i don't know about it i think that is

7:13 ↗ the most straightforward thing that's

7:15 ↗ transparent

7:16 ↗ it protects police officers it protects

7:19 ↗ citizens it encourages better

7:22 ↗ community policing and when something

7:25 ↗ does happen

7:27 ↗ you understand what happened right there

7:29 ↗ so that is my comment thank you very

7:31 ↗ much

7:32 ↗ thank you nickoff city clerk who do we

7:34 ↗ have up next

7:38 ↗ thank you sarah jerome

7:43 ↗ hi everyone my name is sarah jerome uh

7:46 ↗ thank you for the work you're doing i'm

7:47 ↗ really

7:48 ↗ excited the city is doing this work i'm

7:50 ↗ on east sunset way as well

7:52 ↗ um my comment is about the process for

7:55 ↗ this action plan so far to be completely

7:58 ↗ honest and a little bit shocked by the

8:00 ↗ process

8:01 ↗ um and the inequities that are occurring

8:04 ↗ within the process

8:06 ↗ the city has chosen against publicly

8:08 ↗ consulting with even one

8:10 ↗ progressive anti-racist policy

8:12 ↗ organization

8:14 ↗ such as the aclu king county equity now

8:17 ↗ or black lives matter king county

8:19 ↗ during the creation of this plan so far

8:23 ↗ while there has been a meeting with a

8:24 ↗ local volunteer grassroots progressive

8:27 ↗ group

8:27 ↗ which has been which was an excellent

8:29 ↗ choice by the city

8:31 ↗ that is not the same as creating a truly

8:34 ↗ comprehensive and transparent process

8:36 ↗ within municipal government

8:38 ↗ progressive voices are getting sidelined

8:40 ↗ as the city consults with the police

8:42 ↗ department

8:43 ↗ without also consulting publicly with a

8:46 ↗ progressive policy expert group

8:49 ↗ for this process to be equitable an

8:51 ↗ action step should really be added to

8:53 ↗ this process

8:54 ↗ to ensure a progressive policy expert

8:57 ↗ organization

8:58 ↗ such as the aclu publicly provides a

9:02 ↗ critique of this plan

9:03 ↗ for example through a public hearing the

9:06 ↗ police have weighed in but

9:08 ↗ more voices must be included in this

9:09 ↗ process

9:11 ↗ thank you thank you sarah city clerk

9:14 ↗ who's up next

9:16 ↗ thank you next we have kate call

9:20 ↗ and i don't see the number that she um

9:23 ↗ signed up to speak with listed however

9:25 ↗ if you are on the line

9:27 ↗ um through a different number you can

9:29 ↗ press star 3

9:30 ↗ on your phone and we can come back to

9:34 ↗ you

9:36 ↗ next on the list again i do not see this

9:38 ↗ number there

9:40 ↗ kimberly with a six seven eight

9:43 ↗ three six zero number

9:47 ↗ if you are on the line you can press

9:49 ↗ star

9:50 ↗ 3 and we can be identified i do see

9:54 ↗ a hand raise so i'll try that line

9:59 ↗ and the hand has been lowered so i'm not

10:03 ↗ certain

10:05 ↗ again press star 3 if you'd like to

10:07 ↗ raise your hand

10:08 ↗ and we can call on you

10:11 ↗ i'll move to paula she's

10:15 ↗ at the 425 392 number and let me give me

10:19 ↗ a moment here to unmute you

10:23 ↗ thank you paula you're unmuted and you

10:25 ↗ have the floor

10:26 ↗ um hi i'm paula i've been living here

10:29 ↗ for

10:30 ↗ 30 plus years and i'm um

10:34 ↗ over by the

10:37 ↗ i'm on clark street okay

10:40 ↗ uh i'm speaking on behalf of many

10:42 ↗ residents i believe around this part

10:46 ↗ we do not want the pattern of seattle

10:49 ↗ and portland

10:51 ↗ to manifest itself here in issaquah

10:55 ↗ we have painfully witnessed the failed

10:57 ↗ strategy of appeasement

11:00 ↗ it doesn't work appeasement allows

11:04 ↗ discord destruction

11:07 ↗ and it can lead to injury or death

11:11 ↗ instead issaquah needs to stand strong

11:14 ↗ and hold our ground it needs to increase

11:18 ↗ the police presence on our streets and

11:20 ↗ roads

11:22 ↗ we need to hire more skilled officers

11:25 ↗ including those who have been laid off

11:27 ↗ by their cities

11:29 ↗ increase their wages and give them the

11:32 ↗ tools they need to be effective

11:34 ↗ that's where i want my tax dollars to go

11:38 ↗ and to rely on neighboring police forces

11:40 ↗ to help out

11:42 ↗ when we get some ongoing problem here

11:46 ↗ they have their own situation and their

11:48 ↗ own

11:49 ↗ things to deal with i recommend calling

11:52 ↗ in the national guard if we end up in a

11:55 ↗ mess the sooner the better to reduce

11:58 ↗ loss

11:59 ↗ and what can we do as individuals

12:02 ↗ do teach us how to protect our homes and

12:05 ↗ businesses

12:06 ↗ tell us how we can be of aid to our

12:08 ↗ police department

12:10 ↗ during unrest would it help to build

12:13 ↗ some sort of citizen response

12:15 ↗ teams we could model it after the

12:18 ↗ structure of citizen corps that

12:20 ↗ instantly responds to natural disasters

12:23 ↗ and lastly i don't particularly want to

12:26 ↗ move

12:27 ↗ i like issaquah so i'm hoping you'll

12:30 ↗ give your full support to

12:32 ↗ our awesome police

12:35 ↗ for all of us i do thank you

12:40 ↗ thank you thank you very much for your

12:42 ↗ comments paula

12:43 ↗ city clerk is there anyone else on that

12:45 ↗ has raised their hand or would like to

12:47 ↗ speak this evening

12:48 ↗ yes uh kate call i see that you are on

12:51 ↗ the line i've unmuted you

12:53 ↗ and you have the floor thank you my name

12:56 ↗ is kate

12:57 ↗ i want to speak about the issaquah

13:00 ↗ police

13:02 ↗ action plan i've lived within the city

13:04 ↗ limits for about 14 years

13:07 ↗ and in the issaquah school district

13:09 ↗ since 1989

13:11 ↗ i have done civil rights work for over

13:14 ↗ 25 years before during

13:16 ↗ and after law school i have held

13:18 ↗ appointive and elective public offices

13:21 ↗ i'm retired and for seven years have

13:24 ↗ been a volunteer to help the less

13:26 ↗ fortunate who live in our area

13:29 ↗ i have two adages to recommend tonight

13:31 ↗ the first

13:32 ↗ is if it ain't broke don't fix it

13:35 ↗ i do not see that our police department

13:38 ↗ is broken

13:39 ↗ furthermore police officers are human

13:42 ↗ beings

13:43 ↗ highly admirable given the profession

13:46 ↗ they have chosen

13:48 ↗ this is not a good time to undermine

13:50 ↗ their morale

13:52 ↗ you only have to look 160 miles south at

13:56 ↗ portland and 15 miles west at seattle to

14:00 ↗ see we need our police

14:01 ↗ much more than usual the other adage i

14:05 ↗ recommend is

14:06 ↗ haste makes waste i would hate to see us

14:09 ↗ jump on a bandwagon or follow some trend

14:12 ↗ without knowing more

14:14 ↗ on june 29th retired police officer stan

14:18 ↗ conrad

14:19 ↗ said to the city council we should not

14:22 ↗ be a guinea pig

14:23 ↗ we should watch what happens in other

14:25 ↗ places

14:27 ↗ don't dabble and experiment in our

14:29 ↗ community

14:31 ↗ there is serious merit in what he says

14:34 ↗ i would also like paula like to

14:37 ↗ encourage that we

14:39 ↗ could we have a program where residents

14:43 ↗ are trained on how to protect their

14:45 ↗ homes or businesses

14:47 ↗ in the event an unruly crowd should show

14:49 ↗ up on our streets and is there anything

14:51 ↗ that we can do

14:53 ↗ like training we could go to to be able

14:55 ↗ to help our deplete

14:57 ↗ police department if they are faced with

15:00 ↗ a large unruly crowd

15:02 ↗ we could be like minutemen be on the

15:04 ↗ spot to help while awaiting the national

15:06 ↗ guard or aid from nearby police

15:08 ↗ departments

15:10 ↗ i see no end in sight alas for the

15:12 ↗ troubles in portland and seattle

15:14 ↗ we have to be ready to cope with a

15:16 ↗ possib with a possible spread of the

15:19 ↗ troubles

15:20 ↗ do we have a plan i wish the city

15:23 ↗ council would talk about it

15:25 ↗ thank you for the opportunity to speak

15:29 ↗ thank you kay city clerk can you confirm

15:31 ↗ if there's anyone else that would like

15:33 ↗ to address the council today

15:34 ↗ yes uh catherine stukel

15:38 ↗ let me unmute you and you have the floor

15:42 ↗ thank you so much my name is catherine

15:45 ↗ i've lived in uh issaquah since with my

15:49 ↗ family since 1998

15:50 ↗ um gone through the issaquah school

15:52 ↗ district with my family we're business

15:54 ↗ owners we live in old town

15:57 ↗ i am asking that

16:00 ↗ um first of all we support

16:04 ↗ the police arizawa police department

16:06 ↗ wholeheartedly

16:07 ↗ and i'm asking you to vote no on

16:10 ↗ approving and implementing

16:12 ↗ the police accountability equity and

16:14 ↗ human services action plan

16:18 ↗ we are in the middle of a pandemic it's

16:20 ↗ summer

16:21 ↗ it's not the best nor the fair time for

16:23 ↗ community input on something that's this

16:25 ↗ important

16:26 ↗ and i feel that you've been rushing into

16:28 ↗ it actually you have been rushing into

16:30 ↗ it as not that i feel because you are

16:32 ↗ trying

16:32 ↗ to move it forward so quickly so i'm

16:35 ↗ asking the administration and council

16:37 ↗ again to slow down this process please

16:39 ↗ take time to properly

16:41 ↗ and adequately gather the needed

16:43 ↗ community input

16:45 ↗ before moving forward with this plan

16:47 ↗ waiting also

16:48 ↗ gives issaqua a chance to study what

16:50 ↗ other communities are doing

16:52 ↗ what's worked and what's not working

16:54 ↗ such as what kate

16:55 ↗ and paula have mentioned

16:59 ↗ in the financial section of the plan i

17:01 ↗ quote costs associated with this action

17:03 ↗ plan

17:04 ↗ will be identified as each initiative is

17:06 ↗ more further developed

17:07 ↗ unquote prior to the cold to covet

17:10 ↗ the city was already over budget the

17:12 ↗ city has declared there is a financial

17:14 ↗ emergency

17:15 ↗ and so while the administration is

17:17 ↗ working hard to lessen the financial

17:19 ↗ impact of the pandemic it still

17:21 ↗ does exist fiscal responsibility is a

17:24 ↗ critical area that all citizens expect

17:27 ↗ from

17:27 ↗ our governing body how can you approve

17:29 ↗ and adopt a plan without knowing the

17:31 ↗ financial effects

17:32 ↗ of this proposed changes ahead of time

17:35 ↗ we as citizens of issaquah

17:37 ↗ hold you accountable in all areas

17:39 ↗ especially in the financial area

17:42 ↗ to review i'm asking that you won please

17:45 ↗ wait take time to do it right slow down

17:47 ↗ do not pass this plan tonight identify

17:50 ↗ exactly what the problems are if any

17:53 ↗ and then offer many opportunities for

17:54 ↗ community input and two i'm asking for

17:57 ↗ fiscal responsibility

17:58 ↗ connected to this plan and have the

18:00 ↗ costs identified

18:01 ↗ prior to approving it i ask

18:04 ↗ administration and council to continue

18:06 ↗ to support and respect our police and

18:08 ↗ provide them the necessary tools

18:10 ↗ needed to do their job to protect our

18:12 ↗ persons

18:13 ↗ and property prevent criminal activity

18:16 ↗ and maintain a peaceful and safe

18:19 ↗ issaquah thank you for your time

18:22 ↗ thank you catherine uh city clerk is

18:25 ↗ there anyone else that has signed up to

18:26 ↗ comment this evening hi

18:27 ↗ no there aren't but i did want to loop

18:29 ↗ back and if kimberly

18:31 ↗ if you're on the line and calling from a

18:33 ↗ different number

18:35 ↗ you can press star 3 and

18:38 ↗ your hand will be raised i'll give you a

18:41 ↗ moment

18:44 ↗ and i see no action

18:47 ↗ that would conclude the open public

18:50 ↗ comment

18:51 ↗ thank you so uh the majority all of the

18:55 ↗ public comment this evening actually was

18:56 ↗ on issaquah's action plan

18:58 ↗ for policing and equity um there were

19:01 ↗ questions about

19:02 ↗ why are we only using the eight can't

19:04 ↗ wait as a check-in

19:06 ↗ is that not an artificial narrowing down

19:08 ↗ and a request for body cameras

19:10 ↗ there were also a request for outside

19:13 ↗ independent review of the plan

19:14 ↗ um several

19:17 ↗ several people tonight commented on

19:19 ↗ making sure that we give the police the

19:21 ↗ tools the wages the training

19:22 ↗ and use the reliance on other existing

19:25 ↗ police neighboring police forces to make

19:27 ↗ sure that we're safe in our community

19:28 ↗ and we consider

19:30 ↗ a citizen's core of what would citizens

19:32 ↗ do in an emergency

19:34 ↗ that would be assistive to the police

19:36 ↗ and help

19:37 ↗ make maintain a feeling of safety within

19:39 ↗ their community

19:41 ↗ and also a request not to

19:44 ↗ pass endorse the plan this evening but

19:47 ↗ to take more time

19:49 ↗ to do more problem definition receive

19:52 ↗ more community input

19:53 ↗ and assess the cost of implementing the

19:55 ↗ plan so i thank all of you for coming in

19:57 ↗ this evening and presenting those

19:58 ↗ comments to

19:59 ↗ council very very helpful

20:02 ↗ as a reminder i just want to let

20:04 ↗ everybody know if there's additional

20:05 ↗ information that you want to send in

20:07 ↗ please make sure to email city council

20:10 ↗ at the city council at issaquah.gov

20:12 ↗ email address

20:14 ↗ and in addition any comments received by

20:17 ↗ email on tonight's agenda topics will be

20:19 ↗ acknowledged by our council

20:20 ↗ president council president hunt under

20:21 ↗ the relevant agenda item

20:23 ↗ so the next item on the agenda this

20:25 ↗ evening is ab7999

20:27 ↗ isa club police accountability equity

20:30 ↗ and human services action plan

20:32 ↗ the request before the council is this

20:34 ↗ evening is an endorsement of a

20:36 ↗ of the plan this item was last before

20:38 ↗ council at the june 29 council meeting

20:41 ↗ at that time the council directed the

20:43 ↗ administration return with the final

20:45 ↗ plan

20:45 ↗ um which we are doing at this evening's

20:47 ↗ meeting so before we

20:50 ↗ um i hand this over to our city

20:52 ↗ administrator

20:53 ↗ for his presentation i just had a few

20:55 ↗ opening remarks i wanted to share

20:59 ↗ so following the tragic death of george

21:01 ↗ floyd and minneapolis people across the

21:03 ↗ country and in our own community

21:05 ↗ including on the steps of issaquah city

21:07 ↗ hall have rightfully demonstrated

21:08 ↗ against racial injustice throughout our

21:10 ↗ country

21:11 ↗ black lives matter's demonstrators have

21:13 ↗ asked that we take this moment to talk

21:14 ↗ about what we need to do as a community

21:17 ↗ to recognize racial bias and make

21:19 ↗ changes to eliminate the

21:20 ↗ disproportionate damage it is doing to

21:22 ↗ community members of color

21:24 ↗ at your june 15th meeting you heard from

21:27 ↗ many

21:28 ↗ community members expressing concern on

21:30 ↗ these issues

21:31 ↗ also at that meeting our police chief

21:34 ↗ chief bierbaum and other city staff

21:36 ↗ reported on city training policies

21:38 ↗ procedures and programs

21:39 ↗ focused on racial equity with a specific

21:42 ↗ emphasis on the issaquah police

21:43 ↗ department

21:44 ↗ and municipal court in response to the

21:46 ↗ conversation on june 15

21:48 ↗ the city council held a special meeting

21:49 ↗ on june 29th

21:51 ↗ to once again listen to comments from

21:53 ↗ the public on these important issues

21:55 ↗ also at this meeting i presented my

21:57 ↗ draft police accountability equity and

21:59 ↗ human services action plan

22:01 ↗ and announced plans to select feedback

22:03 ↗ solicit feedback and comments from the

22:05 ↗ public during the month of july

22:07 ↗ i did hold two community meetings by

22:09 ↗ video conference the first was on july

22:11 ↗ 22nd and was hosted by the issaquah

22:13 ↗ community

22:14 ↗ equity and inclusion group this

22:16 ↗ grassroots organization of interested

22:18 ↗ residents have been meeting informally

22:20 ↗ for the last year to discuss

22:21 ↗ the issues of equity in issaquah the

22:24 ↗ second meeting on july 29th was a

22:26 ↗ general community meeting sponsored by

22:28 ↗ the city

22:28 ↗ chief bierbaum the city administrator

22:30 ↗ bob quits and i presented the draft plan

22:32 ↗ and answered questions

22:34 ↗ listening to the many members of the

22:35 ↗ community who spoke at these four

22:37 ↗ meetings there is a desire for change

22:39 ↗ on how the city provides services that

22:41 ↗ are equitable and fair to all

22:43 ↗ the community wants to see a reimagined

22:45 ↗ police department that serves the public

22:47 ↗ using a variety of different tactics and

22:50 ↗ initiatives

22:51 ↗ many community members spoke of their

22:53 ↗ appreciation of the work of the police

22:55 ↗ department and expressed concern about

22:57 ↗ any negative

22:58 ↗ impact that proposed changes could have

23:00 ↗ on the police force

23:02 ↗ i believe we must move forward with the

23:03 ↗ initiatives outlined in this action plan

23:05 ↗ to address these calls for change each

23:07 ↗ of the plan's actions are focused on key

23:10 ↗ themes

23:11 ↗ that i heard from the community

23:13 ↗ transparency

23:14 ↗ public trust accountability partnerships

23:18 ↗ and equity these changes cannot

23:21 ↗ effectively be done overnight but i

23:23 ↗ believe this action plan provides a

23:24 ↗ roadmap for the next 18 months to move

23:26 ↗ forward

23:27 ↗ the cornerstone of the plan is a review

23:29 ↗ of the police department's budget and

23:31 ↗ operations

23:32 ↗ this review will include all department

23:34 ↗ functions

23:35 ↗ but will focus on how best to

23:37 ↗ incorporate dedicated professional

23:39 ↗ mental health

23:40 ↗ and behavioral professionals into

23:42 ↗ day-to-day department operations

23:44 ↗ in addition other areas to be evaluated

23:46 ↗ will include the use of school resource

23:48 ↗ officers

23:49 ↗ current community policing strategies

23:51 ↗ introduction of body cameras

23:53 ↗ review of equipment purchases and review

23:55 ↗ of jail operations

23:57 ↗ policies and procedures to be reviewed

23:59 ↗ include enhancing the use of force and

24:01 ↗ reporting

24:02 ↗ the normal and formal police complaint

24:05 ↗ process

24:06 ↗ recruitment and hiring practices

24:08 ↗ policies for discipline

24:09 ↗ and termination training programs local

24:13 ↗ fines and fees

24:14 ↗ and departmental training programs the

24:16 ↗ action plan also includes evaluation of

24:19 ↗ a police review community board or

24:21 ↗ commission

24:22 ↗ in addition to the areas of police

24:24 ↗ accountability this action plan also

24:25 ↗ outlines plans to move forward with

24:27 ↗ additional equity training for all city

24:29 ↗ staff

24:30 ↗ the evaluation of resident review of

24:32 ↗ equity and human services initiatives

24:34 ↗ in the city and the development of a

24:36 ↗ racial equity toolkit

24:38 ↗ initial recommendations from this review

24:40 ↗ will be included in my proposed fiscal

24:43 ↗ year 2021 budget

24:44 ↗ the review will continue through 2021

24:47 ↗ and additional recommendations for

24:48 ↗ changes will be included in the fiscal

24:50 ↗ year 2022 budget

24:52 ↗ i want to thank the members of the isla

24:54 ↗ community for coming together to share

24:55 ↗ their thoughts and suggestions about

24:57 ↗ this proposed action plan

24:59 ↗ i've heard many stories in the past

25:01 ↗ several weeks from community members

25:02 ↗ that have opened my eyes to the

25:04 ↗ challenges and hardships faced by many

25:06 ↗ of our residents

25:07 ↗ i believe this action plan is a step

25:09 ↗ forward to making issaquah a more

25:10 ↗ welcoming place for all

25:12 ↗ and i do want to say how proud i am to

25:14 ↗ see people come

25:15 ↗ speak both for and against

25:18 ↗ and to modifying a plan on something

25:21 ↗ that they feel very

25:22 ↗ passionate about the public comment we

25:25 ↗ received

25:26 ↗ at all of these meetings and in written

25:28 ↗ format was um

25:30 ↗ very respectfully and well presented and

25:33 ↗ i believe we've had a very

25:35 ↗ good and robust conversation on this so

25:37 ↗ i thank everyone who participated either

25:39 ↗ in a

25:40 ↗ remote meeting or in writing to the city

25:42 ↗ council um

25:43 ↗ it's been very beneficial to us so now

25:46 ↗ i'd like to ask the administrator bob

25:47 ↗ quits to work through the revised draft

25:49 ↗ action plan city administrator

25:53 ↗ yes thank you madam mayor members of the

25:54 ↗ council good evening

25:56 ↗ i would like to ask that tina bring up

25:59 ↗ the

26:00 ↗ plan so we can walk through it for you

26:08 ↗ the the red line uh or in this case blue

26:11 ↗ line

26:12 ↗ of what has been added is so noted there

26:15 ↗ uh and again in the very first part of

26:17 ↗ the preamble as the mayor mentioned

26:19 ↗ uh you know the plans actions are

26:21 ↗ focused on transparency public trust

26:23 ↗ accountability partnerships and equity

26:26 ↗ all themes that were heard during the

26:28 ↗ public meetings that we've had over the

26:29 ↗ last month

26:31 ↗ uh as you're aware the plan is divided

26:33 ↗ up into three

26:35 ↗ areas a short term with initiatives to

26:37 ↗ be completed by the end of august

26:39 ↗ uh a medium term initiatives to be

26:41 ↗ completed uh prior to the end of

26:44 ↗ 2020 and then more long term for

26:46 ↗ initiatives

26:47 ↗ that would be completed during 2021. uh

26:50 ↗ i want to

26:51 ↗ just touch on some of the changes that

26:53 ↗ we're proposing based on the

26:55 ↗ community impact that we've heard um

26:57 ↗ under the short term

26:59 ↗ uh one two and three remain as is

27:03 ↗ um just a a note regarding the eight

27:05 ↗ can't wait

27:07 ↗ really the focus here has been the eight

27:09 ↗ can't wait

27:10 ↗ model policy on use force and through

27:12 ↗ the community meetings

27:13 ↗ we've been very careful to talk about

27:16 ↗ the use of forest policy compared to the

27:18 ↗ it can't wait model policy over time it

27:21 ↗ can't wait to take on

27:23 ↗ taking on some broader initiatives but

27:25 ↗ that's really not been the focus of this

27:27 ↗ action plan

27:27 ↗ instead it's been a focus on the model

27:30 ↗ policy for use for us

27:32 ↗ the department reporting a portion has

27:34 ↗ not changed the city council equity

27:36 ↗ training

27:37 ↗ we're working right now to find a date

27:39 ↗ for the city council if we're not able

27:41 ↗ to

27:41 ↗ uh have a date by the end of august we

27:44 ↗ hope to do that the first part of

27:45 ↗ september

27:46 ↗ uh a new uh number four under short term

27:49 ↗ is action plan reporting something that

27:51 ↗ we heard uh

27:52 ↗ from many members of the community and

27:53 ↗ members of the city council

27:55 ↗ was the importance of accountability

27:56 ↗ with the plan and so we are adding a

27:59 ↗ specific portion that they'll be

28:00 ↗ quarterly reporting

28:02 ↗ regarding the implementation of the plan

28:04 ↗ each quarter through the end of next

28:05 ↗ year

28:06 ↗ and those reports will also be posted on

28:07 ↗ the city's website

28:09 ↗ uh the second area of initiatives are

28:12 ↗ medium term to be completed

28:14 ↗ by december 31st next year the first

28:17 ↗ here is the police department budget and

28:19 ↗ operations review

28:21 ↗ again mayor paulie and her comments kind

28:23 ↗ of went through

28:24 ↗ a number of the issues that would be

28:26 ↗ looked at

28:27 ↗ since we are about six weeks away from

28:30 ↗ presenting

28:31 ↗ the mayor's 2021 proposed budget there

28:34 ↗ is a limited amount of

28:35 ↗ issues we'll be able to address for the

28:38 ↗ budget in 21

28:39 ↗ but we will do that and that will be

28:41 ↗ included as part of the mayor's

28:43 ↗ proposed budget in 21 we expect there to

28:45 ↗ be additional

28:46 ↗ of work that will need to be done as we

28:50 ↗ review different portions of the

28:51 ↗ department

28:52 ↗ that will continue through uh fiscal 21

28:55 ↗ and we would expect to come back to the

28:57 ↗ council with additional

28:58 ↗ items of consideration uh through 21

29:02 ↗ including

29:02 ↗ uh to be included in the 22 proposed

29:05 ↗ budget that you'll see

29:06 ↗ sometime next fall moving on to the next

29:10 ↗ group under medium term

29:15 ↗ number two remains the same number three

29:16 ↗ remains the same regarding use

29:18 ↗ course review and reporting and claim

29:20 ↗ process

29:22 ↗ we've made a change on training there

29:24 ↗ was some concern

29:25 ↗ uh expressed during the public comment

29:27 ↗ that uh it was important to

29:29 ↗ to look at equity training uh

29:32 ↗ specifically for the police department

29:33 ↗ now

29:34 ↗ and take a little bit more time for a

29:36 ↗ broader review of police department

29:38 ↗ training programs

29:39 ↗ so the item that it was marked number

29:41 ↗ four has moved to the long-term area

29:44 ↗ um the new number four is regarding

29:47 ↗ police equity training that the

29:49 ↗ department would budget and schedule

29:50 ↗ eight hours of equity training for all

29:51 ↗ department staff specific

29:53 ↗ to police operations this would be in

29:56 ↗ addition to

29:56 ↗ the department staff participating in a

29:58 ↗ city-wide training scheduled for all

30:00 ↗ city employees

30:02 ↗ we've also added the number five review

30:05 ↗ of police department recruitment

30:06 ↗ and hiring role the civil service

30:08 ↗ commission this was

30:09 ↗ under the longer term to be done during

30:12 ↗ the course of 21

30:13 ↗ we heard during the community meetings

30:15 ↗ the importance of reviewing

30:16 ↗ other recruitment and hiring practices

30:18 ↗ sooner and so that is proposed to be

30:20 ↗ moved up

30:21 ↗ to be completed by the end of the

30:22 ↗ current calendar year

30:24 ↗ as we go through this page the data

30:27 ↗ collection and reporting

30:28 ↗ remains the same the use of school

30:31 ↗ resource officers again there were some

30:33 ↗ questions about timing

30:34 ↗ of this and i think as we have mentioned

30:36 ↗ at a previous meeting

30:38 ↗ the city has had initial discussions

30:40 ↗ with the escrow school district

30:41 ↗ regarding the evaluation of the school

30:43 ↗ resource officers

30:45 ↗ they the district has said that their

30:47 ↗ plan is to

30:48 ↗ begin a review with a school board

30:51 ↗ retreat that they're planning for later

30:53 ↗ in the month of august

30:54 ↗ uh given all that's going on with the

30:56 ↗ school district including

30:57 ↗ not having in-person classes but in the

30:59 ↗ fall i think it will be important for us

31:01 ↗ to continue to follow up with the

31:03 ↗ district that will not happen

31:04 ↗ in the next 30 or 60 days but our hope

31:07 ↗ is that we would have

31:08 ↗ an opportunity for further discussions

31:10 ↗ during the balance of the fiscal year

31:12 ↗ and that any kind of decisions would be

31:14 ↗ made between this district and the city

31:16 ↗ by the end of the year

31:18 ↗ uh city council police department

31:20 ↗ information sharing has not changed

31:22 ↗ uh developing beginning implementation

31:24 ↗ of a city-wide equity training

31:25 ↗ curriculum

31:26 ↗ was not changed the number nine

31:30 ↗ we received a lot of comment regarding

31:32 ↗ the ability of the human services

31:34 ↗ commission

31:35 ↗ uh to take on uh reevaluation of their

31:38 ↗ role

31:39 ↗ and so that is something that

31:43 ↗ we have changed to a number 10 which is

31:46 ↗ to

31:47 ↗ evaluate resident review of equity and

31:48 ↗ human services initiatives

31:50 ↗ you'll see an additional change here in

31:53 ↗ red highlighted in yellow

31:55 ↗ council member t michelle today asked

31:58 ↗ that this language be included and mayor

32:00 ↗ paulie has agreed

32:01 ↗ so we've gone ahead and included that

32:03 ↗ here right now so let me read the

32:05 ↗ whole paragraph the human services

32:07 ↗ commission will be charged with

32:09 ↗ evaluating current resident review

32:11 ↗ of the city's equity and human services

32:13 ↗ initiative review its membership and

32:15 ↗ bylaws to ensure residents with lived

32:17 ↗ experience

32:17 ↗ non-inclusion and or discrimination are

32:20 ↗ included in immediate way

32:21 ↗ and make recommendations to the mayor

32:23 ↗ and city council on best next steps

32:25 ↗ this may include changes to the current

32:26 ↗ scope of work of the human services

32:28 ↗ commission

32:29 ↗ changes to the scope of work of other

32:30 ↗ city boards and commissions the creation

32:32 ↗ of additional city border commission to

32:34 ↗ address these matters

32:35 ↗ and or collaboration with other existing

32:37 ↗ community organizations so

32:39 ↗ the administration is proposing to

32:41 ↗ accept uh

32:42 ↗ council member d michelle's change that

32:44 ↗ is language that was in the previous

32:46 ↗ paragraph talking about the human

32:48 ↗ services review so we'd like to

32:50 ↗ that also i had a conversation this

32:52 ↗ afternoon with councilmember walsh who

32:54 ↗ has expressed some concern

32:56 ↗ regarding the timing for this it's a

32:58 ↗ fairly uh heavy lift

33:00 ↗ the human services commission is busy

33:01 ↗ with other matters as well in the fall

33:04 ↗ and i believe will be her suggestion to

33:06 ↗ move that under

33:07 ↗ long term and certainly the

33:08 ↗ administration has no objections to that

33:11 ↗ then number 11 under medium term review

33:14 ↗ citywide human services staffing and

33:16 ↗ contracting resources

33:17 ↗ again this is something that we are

33:19 ↗ actively looking at as part of the 21

33:21 ↗ proposed budget and so this is ongoing

33:24 ↗ and we expect to be able to have

33:26 ↗ some recommendations to the council as

33:27 ↗ part of the proposed budget that you'll

33:29 ↗ see at the end of september

33:31 ↗ under long term number one was moved to

33:34 ↗ medium terms so that is why it's deleted

33:36 ↗ here

33:37 ↗ the new number one regarding police

33:39 ↗ department policies for discipline

33:40 ↗ termination

33:42 ↗ is unchanged number two the review of

33:45 ↗ police department training programs

33:46 ↗ again

33:48 ↗ is moved from medium term to long term

33:51 ↗ and so in the medium term

33:52 ↗ we'll focus on some additional equity

33:54 ↗ training for the police department but

33:56 ↗ during 21

33:57 ↗ continue to look at all police

33:58 ↗ department training programs

34:00 ↗ number three number four number five

34:03 ↗ number six

34:05 ↗ are all left unchanged from the initial

34:07 ↗ draft

34:09 ↗ and then i think on the final page uh

34:11 ↗ number seven regarding city-wide

34:13 ↗ policies and procedures using the racial

34:15 ↗ equity toolkit

34:16 ↗ uh so madam mayor members of the council

34:18 ↗ this i think gives a quick overview

34:20 ↗ of the proposed changes uh that the

34:23 ↗ administration is

34:24 ↗ uh is supporting this evening based on

34:26 ↗ the feedback that we've received from

34:28 ↗ members of the council and members of

34:29 ↗ the community

34:30 ↗ um we will be working closely

34:34 ↗ on the short medium term items

34:37 ↗ certainly those medium term items that

34:39 ↗ we look to conclude by the end of

34:41 ↗ 2020 and also looking as far as the

34:44 ↗ budget implications uh certainly

34:46 ↗ the city-wide training of police

34:48 ↗ department training

34:49 ↗ those things human services staffing

34:52 ↗ will all be budget issues for the 21

34:53 ↗ budget and so we are actively working on

34:55 ↗ those

34:56 ↗ we're working on the budget and we'll

34:58 ↗ have specific recommendations in the

34:59 ↗ mayor's

35:00 ↗ proposed budget that you'll see on

35:02 ↗ september 29th happy to answer any

35:04 ↗ questions madam mayor

35:05 ↗ thank you city administrator bob quits

35:07 ↗ before we go to questions i'll give

35:08 ↗ folks

35:09 ↗ a few minutes to sign up in the chat i'd

35:11 ↗ like to get council president hunt to

35:13 ↗ summarize

35:13 ↗ any comments received from the public on

35:16 ↗ this topic by email

35:17 ↗ council president thank you this is

35:19 ↗ council president hunt

35:20 ↗ and we have received a number of

35:23 ↗ comments

35:24 ↗ about 15 comments from members of the

35:27 ↗ community

35:28 ↗ on this topic and these are comments

35:30 ↗ that we've received between

35:32 ↗ now and the last time that council

35:34 ↗ discussed this topic

35:37 ↗ we received a comment

35:40 ↗ that from this from this community

35:42 ↗ member that they felt the

35:44 ↗ human services commission um had a lot

35:47 ↗ on their plate already and so to add

35:50 ↗ to add a overview of this

35:54 ↗ equity and police accountability would

35:56 ↗ be too much to add to their plate

35:58 ↗ and wanted to consider increasing the

36:01 ↗ human services

36:02 ↗ budget and as well as consider

36:04 ↗ increasing the staffing of the city

36:07 ↗ to address human services and felt that

36:09 ↗ the human services budget as it is now

36:11 ↗ was inadequate

36:15 ↗ and then was also supportive of having a

36:18 ↗ staff position

36:18 ↗ such as a social worker that would work

36:20 ↗ with the police department to address

36:23 ↗ concerns that might be best addressed by

36:25 ↗ a mental health professional or

36:27 ↗ or a social worker and then also

36:29 ↗ training should be a top priority

36:31 ↗ we received an email several emails

36:34 ↗ actually

36:36 ↗ related to one another in which the

36:39 ↗ residents called for its squad to become

36:41 ↗ a non-violent city

36:43 ↗ and references to the non-violent cities

36:45 ↗ project

36:46 ↗ with more information about what that

36:47 ↗ would entail

36:50 ↗ we received an email with support for

36:53 ↗ police to have

36:54 ↗ funding for incorporation again of

36:57 ↗ mental health officials that would work

36:59 ↗ with them or social workers that would

37:00 ↗ work with them to de-escalate

37:03 ↗ situations and a partnership and then

37:06 ↗ also

37:08 ↗ this resident was also very concerned

37:09 ↗ about um

37:11 ↗ individuals experiencing homelessness

37:13 ↗ and what we would do

37:15 ↗ for individuals experiencing

37:16 ↗ homelessness to help them get back

37:18 ↗ on their feet and work their way out of

37:20 ↗ homelessness

37:22 ↗ we received an email in which the

37:24 ↗ resident wanted to make sure that we had

37:26 ↗ balanced reporting and reported

37:29 ↗ that people have been commenting and

37:32 ↗ emailing on both sides of

37:34 ↗ defunding versus keeping the same

37:36 ↗ funding and also

37:38 ↗ increasing funding so we have received

37:40 ↗ all of those

37:41 ↗ all of those suggestions and this

37:44 ↗ resident wanted to make sure that we

37:45 ↗ explained that and reported that we have

37:48 ↗ received all three of those

37:51 ↗ and then we received a email from

37:54 ↗ several emails from residents in which

37:57 ↗ they had examples from both other

37:59 ↗ countries of how policing works in other

38:00 ↗ countries

38:01 ↗ and the benefits of doing things in

38:03 ↗ other ways such as in

38:04 ↗ england and finland as well as other

38:07 ↗ cities that have had success

38:09 ↗ transforming police departments across

38:11 ↗ the nation

38:13 ↗ we had a resident who advocated in

38:16 ↗ support of the peaceful protests that

38:17 ↗ have been

38:18 ↗ occurring in front of issaquah city hall

38:20 ↗ in recent months

38:22 ↗ and um at least uh four

38:25 ↗ emails that were generally supportive of

38:27 ↗ our police department

38:29 ↗ um and also felt that the police are

38:31 ↗ like an insurance policy where we need

38:33 ↗ to have them

38:33 ↗ when they uh where should we

38:37 ↗ um have an emergency and and

38:40 ↗ and in support and appreciation of our

38:41 ↗ police

38:43 ↗ and uh an email against defunding

38:47 ↗ flatly against defunding and then also

38:51 ↗ in support of reform but not defunding

38:53 ↗ and also

38:54 ↗ in support of increasing funding for

38:56 ↗ education

38:57 ↗ because this resident felt that

38:58 ↗ inequities in education lead to

39:00 ↗ additional inequities

39:03 ↗ and then lastly we received an

39:07 ↗ email from a resident which again

39:09 ↗ referenced the cahoots program which has

39:11 ↗ been referenced by several

39:12 ↗ individuals but this is a program that

39:15 ↗ integrates crisis management

39:17 ↗ professionals into police departments

39:19 ↗ and is based in eugene oregon

39:21 ↗ and that concludes the summary of public

39:23 ↗ comment that we've received by email

39:25 ↗ since the last time council discussed

39:27 ↗ this topic

39:28 ↗ thank you council president hunt so

39:31 ↗ we'll start in with some questions i see

39:33 ↗ there's a few

39:34 ↗ lined up council member goodman

39:37 ↗ thank you madam mayor um

39:40 ↗ my first question

39:43 ↗ um is a little

39:48 ↗ sort of in response to the um the

39:51 ↗ issue that was raised from the uh one of

39:54 ↗ our

39:55 ↗ um public commenters tonight and that

39:56 ↗ was to take more time and not

39:58 ↗ to rush um and i'm not saying that i'm

40:01 ↗ not suggesting that we are rushing this

40:03 ↗ but i i was thinking about um this

40:06 ↗ earlier today

40:07 ↗ the plan for medium term and long term

40:10 ↗ and then it was mentioned it seemed to

40:12 ↗ me like all of those are

40:14 ↗ um actually relatively all the action

40:17 ↗ here actions here are in a relatively

40:19 ↗ short

40:19 ↗ period of time and um and it's about 18

40:23 ↗ months

40:24 ↗ and as i did a little bit of research

40:27 ↗ and i know we don't have a definition of

40:29 ↗ short term medium term and long term

40:31 ↗ i am concerned that we have um

40:35 ↗ a fairly long list of items to complete

40:37 ↗ here within a relatively

40:38 ↗ short period of time and i'm wondering

40:43 ↗ if there is any thing that the

40:46 ↗ administration

40:47 ↗ knows of right now particularly in the

40:49 ↗ short term and medium term

40:51 ↗ that will displace other work

40:56 ↗ a couple of questions a couple of

40:58 ↗ questions in there then one about

40:59 ↗ the 18-month time frame and the other

41:01 ↗ one is if there would be any work

41:03 ↗ that would be displaced by moving these

41:05 ↗ items as quickly as they're proposed

41:07 ↗ yep okay city ministry bob quits

41:11 ↗ um you know first regarding the 18 month

41:14 ↗ time frame

41:14 ↗ uh i think it's the administration's

41:16 ↗ feeling that we need to continue to move

41:18 ↗ on this issue

41:19 ↗ 18 months is a short period of time but

41:22 ↗ there is certainly time to

41:24 ↗ work on things i think we got some

41:26 ↗ feedback from the community and some

41:27 ↗ council members about moving some of the

41:29 ↗ items around

41:30 ↗ putting a couple of them on to the more

41:32 ↗ longer term track and so

41:34 ↗ we're agreeing with those

41:35 ↗ recommendations um

41:37 ↗ the the biggest piece of of this i think

41:40 ↗ in the

41:40 ↗ in the medium term is regarding the

41:42 ↗ budget and we have already been working

41:44 ↗ on those issues now recognizing that

41:46 ↗ the budget's coming to you on september

41:48 ↗ 29th monica nagrella

41:50 ↗ our human services coordinator has

41:53 ↗ already been working and been charged

41:55 ↗ with coming up with some plans

41:58 ↗ which he has been able to do and the

41:59 ↗ administration is reviewing those plans

42:01 ↗ right now

42:02 ↗ so i think thus far we've been able to

42:04 ↗ manage through this without displacing a

42:06 ↗ lot of work

42:07 ↗ uh there certainly are some issues for

42:09 ↗ the police department

42:10 ↗ that they will need to continue to work

42:11 ↗ on and talking with the chief beer obama

42:13 ↗ a lot of that falls

42:15 ↗ i think on his shoulders and some of

42:16 ↗ this falls on my shoulders

42:18 ↗ of the work of our city equity team they

42:21 ↗ had already geared up uh for work there

42:24 ↗ and lauren knox of our human resources

42:27 ↗ department happens to be on the call

42:29 ↗ for the next items but i think if the

42:32 ↗ council would like to get into more

42:33 ↗ detail there

42:34 ↗ i think she could speak to that but i

42:37 ↗ think at the end of the day

42:38 ↗ as the administration's feeling these

42:39 ↗ are all important issues and

42:42 ↗ we want to make sure that we can do this

42:44 ↗ in a responsible way we think the 18

42:45 ↗ month time frame

42:47 ↗ is a responsible approach to this we'll

42:49 ↗ certainly keep the council

42:51 ↗ apprised there will be some dollars

42:53 ↗ needed for the training and so that will

42:54 ↗ become part of the budget discussion

42:56 ↗ and i think if we need additional time

42:58 ↗ we will come back to you

43:00 ↗ but one of the things that the mayor

43:01 ↗ said i think we heard loud and clear is

43:03 ↗ there's a desire

43:04 ↗ uh that we pivot that we uh realize that

43:07 ↗ we can do better

43:09 ↗ with some of our services be more

43:10 ↗ equitable more supportive to some

43:12 ↗ members of our community

43:13 ↗ and as far as i'm concerned that's a

43:15 ↗ priority and we will do our level best

43:16 ↗ to make it happen

43:19 ↗ and complement did that answer your

43:20 ↗ question um

43:22 ↗ yes and you can tell from the from my

43:25 ↗ question that i'm a

43:26 ↗ a little bit concerned about the time

43:27 ↗ frame um my second question

43:29 ↗ is regarding the

43:33 ↗ um human services um evaluate resident

43:36 ↗ review of equity and human services

43:38 ↗ initiatives

43:38 ↗ um it's a it's a fairly big topic

43:42 ↗ just embedded in this one and

43:47 ↗ i'm concerned that um this is not

43:51 ↗ necessarily

43:52 ↗ what the volunteer members of our human

43:55 ↗ human services commission signed up for

43:57 ↗ and so maybe i've missed this somewhere

43:58 ↗ but have we checked in with

44:00 ↗ the human services comm commission and

44:02 ↗ can somebody follow up with that if i

44:04 ↗ missed it i apologize

44:08 ↗ yes madam mayor i think i will phone a

44:10 ↗ friend um monica negrella

44:13 ↗ who staffs the the commission is with us

44:15 ↗ here tonight and as i mentioned before

44:17 ↗ monica

44:18 ↗ chimes in uh council member walsh and i

44:20 ↗ had a good conversation earlier this

44:21 ↗ afternoon

44:22 ↗ and i think her point was very well

44:23 ↗ taken on that

44:25 ↗ even though we've made some changes on

44:27 ↗ the breadth and scope of what we were

44:29 ↗ asking of the human services commission

44:31 ↗ the time frame was awfully

44:32 ↗ tight and so we're making we're

44:34 ↗ recommending uh this evening that we go

44:36 ↗ along with councilmember wallace's

44:38 ↗ suggestion of moving that to the bar

44:39 ↗ long term so

44:40 ↗ uh at some point matt and mario if we

44:43 ↗ can

44:44 ↗ if there's a motion we can make sure

44:45 ↗ that's included but in the meantime

44:47 ↗ monica would you like to comment on

44:49 ↗ where the commission is and any

44:50 ↗ conversations they've had about this

44:53 ↗ yes um thank you very much my name is

44:55 ↗ monica negril i'm the human services

44:57 ↗ coordinator

44:58 ↗ um so the human services commission had

45:00 ↗ two meetings in july

45:02 ↗ as some of you may know we are currently

45:04 ↗ reviewing the

45:06 ↗ 2021-2022 human services grants and

45:08 ↗ in both of those meetings we touched

45:10 ↗ base with the commission

45:12 ↗ about the equity action plan uh they had

45:14 ↗ a chance to provide some feedback

45:17 ↗ and actually some of the feedback is

45:18 ↗ already reflected in the action plan

45:20 ↗ that you see

45:21 ↗ tonight um and as far as

45:24 ↗ timeline our process will be and will be

45:27 ↗ to find out the human services grants

45:28 ↗ review in august

45:30 ↗ so actually we have a meeting next week

45:32 ↗ to finalize those

45:34 ↗ so then we can integrate them in the

45:35 ↗ budget and then we were planning on

45:37 ↗ taking september october november

45:40 ↗ and december uh to work on the equity

45:43 ↗ action plan and review that

45:45 ↗ we started some planning process to

45:47 ↗ invite some community members and

45:49 ↗ leaders from the black community

45:51 ↗ to the meetings in september and october

45:53 ↗ so so far that's what we have

45:55 ↗ um and so yes we've been including the

45:59 ↗ commission uh in this input

46:02 ↗ thank you councilmember goodman did you

46:05 ↗ have any other questions

46:07 ↗ no thank you gonna move

46:10 ↗ down to deputy council president ray

46:14 ↗ uh thank you mayor paulie this is uh

46:15 ↗ chris ray

46:17 ↗ can you hear me i'm just a little bit

46:18 ↗ paranoid right now yes we can hear you

46:21 ↗ thank you for checking

46:22 ↗ thank you um two questions um

46:25 ↗ so looking forward to seeing the 2021

46:29 ↗ budget in the end of september

46:32 ↗ for the short and medium term items that

46:34 ↗ are going to be implemented uh this year

46:36 ↗ before the new budget takes effect do we

46:38 ↗ have an

46:39 ↗ idea what if any budget impact there

46:42 ↗ will be

46:42 ↗ associated with that

46:47 ↗ administrative

46:51 ↗ one

46:55 ↗ sorry about that no i'm going to be

46:56 ↗ paranoid um

46:59 ↗ you know much of this is um you know

47:02 ↗ beginning

47:03 ↗ processes um the police department the

47:07 ↗ budget and operations review is already

47:08 ↗ underway

47:10 ↗ the policy reviews

47:14 ↗ um we're looking on the equity training

47:17 ↗ both city-wide and for the police

47:19 ↗ department to identify that training

47:21 ↗ and come up with a budget number uh and

47:23 ↗ so that would be done

47:24 ↗ um beginning with the training would

47:26 ↗ begin

47:27 ↗ likely in 21. um

47:30 ↗ the school resource officer i think i've

47:32 ↗ touched on

47:34 ↗ the city council police department

47:35 ↗ information sharing that's an

47:36 ↗ opportunity for the

47:37 ↗ city council to spend some more time at

47:39 ↗ the department

47:40 ↗ the citywide equity training curriculum

47:42 ↗ is something we're doing in house

47:44 ↗ with the staff committee the evaluate

47:47 ↗ resident review of equity and human

47:49 ↗ services initiatives i think you've

47:50 ↗ heard monica and her first steps with

47:52 ↗ that

47:53 ↗ and then the city-wide human services

47:55 ↗ staff and contracting is already

47:56 ↗ something that's underway

47:58 ↗ and will be part of the 21 budget so i

48:00 ↗ don't know that there's any

48:01 ↗ additional out-of-pocket dollars the

48:04 ↗ city council training

48:05 ↗ uh that we're doing that'll be an

48:07 ↗ out-of-pocket expense and we're still

48:08 ↗ finalizing the cost

48:10 ↗ on that that will be uh i don't know if

48:14 ↗ if lauren knox is on the line has a

48:16 ↗ specific dollar amount

48:18 ↗ um but i think that's a couple thousand

48:20 ↗ dollars

48:21 ↗ that we're looking at uh for that

48:22 ↗ training uh so i think that may very

48:25 ↗ well be the only

48:26 ↗ out of pocket training we'll see in 20

48:29 ↗ uh and we have resources to cover that

48:31 ↗ training for the city council lauren did

48:33 ↗ i see you turned your camera on did you

48:34 ↗ have anything

48:35 ↗ else to add yeah we expect council

48:38 ↗ training this year to be around

48:39 ↗ just a thousand dollars um for a

48:42 ↗ four-hour training essentially and then

48:45 ↗ more if council decides to do a second

48:48 ↗ or third training

48:52 ↗ deputy council president ray answer your

48:54 ↗ question uh yeah that was great um thank

48:56 ↗ you and lauren has a halo it's really

48:58 ↗ great

49:01 ↗ second question is around um tracking

49:04 ↗ progress we have a lot of things

49:05 ↗ on the short and medium-term agenda

49:08 ↗ around this initiative and um i i really

49:10 ↗ appreciate the

49:12 ↗ bringing it back into the year with our

49:13 ↗ status report but how are we going to be

49:14 ↗ tracking

49:16 ↗ moving all these things forward is just

49:18 ↗ a it's a full agenda so i wonder if you

49:20 ↗ thought about how how you're going to

49:22 ↗ stay on top of that

49:24 ↗ uh madam mayor deputy council president

49:26 ↗ ray um

49:27 ↗ i think we're getting pretty good as a

49:29 ↗ staff of providing the council updates

49:31 ↗ on

49:31 ↗ projects and initiatives and so my my

49:34 ↗ plan would be to come up with a similar

49:36 ↗ spreadsheet

49:37 ↗ that you're seeing with the work

49:38 ↗ citywide work plan as well as

49:40 ↗ capital improvement projects uh we're

49:42 ↗ proposing a quarterly

49:44 ↗ update and so we would likely fold that

49:46 ↗ into a document

49:48 ↗ with other quarterly updates we provided

49:49 ↗ the council

49:51 ↗ thank you very much thank you deputy

49:53 ↗ council president ray next up is

49:55 ↗ councilmember hall

50:01 ↗ thank you mayor paulie this is

50:02 ↗ councilmember hall

50:04 ↗ i just had a quick clarifying question

50:05 ↗ for our fearless city administrator what

50:08 ↗ did you

50:08 ↗ say earlier about the

50:12 ↗ board they're meeting later this month

50:14 ↗ they're doing a treat later this month

50:15 ↗ to discuss

50:16 ↗ sros is that correct councilmember hall

50:20 ↗ members of the council uh

50:22 ↗ in my last conversation with the

50:23 ↗ superintendent and if i'm not mistaken

50:25 ↗ and

50:26 ↗ deputy council president ray and council

50:27 ↗ president hunt can

50:29 ↗ confirm this we did raise the issue at

50:31 ↗ that meeting

50:32 ↗ uh and i think it was at that point that

50:34 ↗ they indicated that they had an annual

50:36 ↗ retreat

50:37 ↗ uh where they talk about policy

50:38 ↗ questions district-wide policy questions

50:41 ↗ uh and it was their intention to have

50:44 ↗ this on that

50:45 ↗ agenda i have not spoken with the

50:47 ↗ superintendent since

50:48 ↗ that meeting and that was what a month

50:51 ↗ ago

50:51 ↗ perhaps council president deputy council

50:53 ↗ president six weeks ago

50:55 ↗ and so maya they've obviously had a very

50:58 ↗ full plate themselves at the school

50:59 ↗ district but again school's not in

51:02 ↗ session

51:04 ↗ i think again our commitment is to

51:06 ↗ continue to follow up with the school

51:07 ↗ district and have some discussion

51:09 ↗ there'll be budget implications for us

51:11 ↗ with the school resource officers since

51:13 ↗ um that is funded in part by the city in

51:16 ↗ part by the district if

51:17 ↗ that's going to change or not go forward

51:19 ↗ that will have a budget implication for

51:21 ↗ us so

51:22 ↗ it's every intent to get this get some

51:24 ↗ clarity have some

51:26 ↗ community public discussion on that

51:28 ↗ during the course of the fall so before

51:29 ↗ the budget's adopted

51:31 ↗ we know we're heading in that direction

51:35 ↗ that was my only question right now

51:37 ↗ mayor paulie thank you

51:38 ↗ thank you councilmember hall council

51:40 ↗ president hunt

51:42 ↗ thank you this is council president hunt

51:45 ↗ i had a

51:45 ↗ question about the human services um

51:48 ↗ feedback

51:49 ↗ so um right now we have a step where the

51:51 ↗ human services commission will be

51:54 ↗ reviewing um and presumably they might

51:57 ↗ have some

51:58 ↗ feedback for us or feedback on the plan

52:01 ↗ recommended changes

52:02 ↗ on the plan perhaps additions

52:05 ↗ i i wondered how that will work will

52:08 ↗ there be an opportunity to make

52:10 ↗ changes or how would we be able to make

52:12 ↗ changes to incorporate if we were to

52:14 ↗ adopt now how would we

52:16 ↗ incorporate their feedback

52:19 ↗ uh madam mayor council president hunt i

52:22 ↗ think this is a living document

52:25 ↗ i have probably been your city

52:27 ↗ administrator not even a year yet but

52:28 ↗ one thing that i have heard many many

52:30 ↗ times from you is the frustration

52:32 ↗ about documents getting adopted and

52:34 ↗ sitting on shelves

52:35 ↗ and so uh i do not see this being

52:38 ↗ that such document uh we're i think if

52:41 ↗ all this becomes very fluid i think we

52:44 ↗ will continue to focus certainly on the

52:46 ↗ budget as we're moving forward

52:47 ↗ with that over the next six weeks

52:49 ↗ policies and procedures

52:51 ↗ uh if there is additional feedback that

52:53 ↗ warrants changes to this

52:54 ↗ great one of the charges in this plan is

52:57 ↗ to ask them about oversight

52:59 ↗ and if they feel comfortable being an

53:02 ↗ oversight group

53:03 ↗ you know what's the parameters of that

53:04 ↗ if they don't feel comfortable and there

53:06 ↗ should be a different kind of group

53:08 ↗ what might the parameters of that be so

53:10 ↗ i anticipating there being a lot of

53:11 ↗ communication back from them

53:13 ↗ um over the course of the next several

53:15 ↗ months and we'll come back to the

53:17 ↗ council and

53:18 ↗ you know i think the mayor's plan and if

53:20 ↗ she feels it's appropriate to

53:22 ↗ make a change or you know have a

53:23 ↗ discussion with the council we will

53:24 ↗ certainly do that but

53:25 ↗ the bottom line is there's an action

53:27 ↗ plan it's not a strategic plan it's not

53:29 ↗ a

53:29 ↗ plain old plan it's an action plan and

53:32 ↗ that was very thoughtful on the mayor's

53:33 ↗ part

53:34 ↗ to say that this is something we're

53:36 ↗ going to actually get done

53:37 ↗ we're going to move forward with council

53:40 ↗ president hunt did you have additional

53:42 ↗ questions

53:44 ↗ um that was my question for now thanks

53:47 ↗ thank you councilmember walsh thank you

53:50 ↗ this is councilmember walsh

53:52 ↗ um so i appreciate you saying that the

53:56 ↗ plan

53:57 ↗ can be added to if we're hearing

53:59 ↗ something from the human services

54:01 ↗ commission or something else comes up

54:04 ↗ my concern at this time is that we're

54:07 ↗ making

54:07 ↗ commitments that we might not be able to

54:14 ↗ fit in in a timeline so with the

54:17 ↗ use of the school resource officers i

54:19 ↗ understand that

54:21 ↗ the school district is very busy i'm

54:23 ↗ concerned

54:24 ↗ what is going to happen if um

54:28 ↗ if we get down to our budget time and we

54:31 ↗ haven't been able to

54:32 ↗ have a conversation with them um could

54:35 ↗ we

54:35 ↗ talk about what that

54:38 ↗ looks like i mean are we putting

54:40 ↗ ourselves into a position where we're

54:42 ↗ basically

54:43 ↗ saying we're going to make a unilateral

54:45 ↗ decision about

54:47 ↗ our funding of school resource officers

54:50 ↗ should administrate about chris uh mayor

54:53 ↗ mayor councilmember walsh um

54:54 ↗ i don't think it's unilateral decision i

54:57 ↗ think it really comes down to

54:59 ↗ a police resource issue and i think

55:00 ↗ there will be lots of discussion

55:02 ↗ by the council during the budget process

55:04 ↗ about police resources

55:06 ↗ we have a school resource officer today

55:08 ↗ the schools have been closed since march

55:10 ↗ we have redeployed that position to do

55:13 ↗ other

55:14 ↗ to do other work will be continued to be

55:16 ↗ redeployed to do other work

55:18 ↗ in the fall while the schools remain

55:19 ↗ closed so if

55:21 ↗ the school district decides they wish to

55:24 ↗ keep this moving forward

55:26 ↗ they may very well ask the question

55:28 ↗ about funding since they have not had a

55:30 ↗ school for a school resource officer to

55:32 ↗ be at since last march

55:34 ↗ um and don't know when that will be

55:37 ↗ we want to be mindful to keep the

55:40 ↗ staff police resource so i think those

55:43 ↗ are all to do's for the administration

55:46 ↗ over the next six eight weeks to have

55:48 ↗ those discussions and then come back

55:49 ↗ with a recommendation

55:51 ↗ uh for the council to consider um you

55:53 ↗ know

55:54 ↗ a slight a little bit of an aside with

55:56 ↗ the budget

55:57 ↗ um there are about 20 positions that are

56:00 ↗ currently in the budget that were

56:02 ↗ that were frozen and not filled and then

56:05 ↗ 20

56:05 ↗ 23 positions in the budget uh that were

56:08 ↗ vacated in order to balance so there's

56:11 ↗ about 43 positions in the budget

56:14 ↗ currently that

56:14 ↗ are not funded and the proposal by the

56:18 ↗ administration will be to

56:19 ↗ um address those 43 positions they'll

56:22 ↗ either be funded or they won't be funded

56:24 ↗ this idea of not funding positions is

56:27 ↗ likely not going to be a major part of

56:29 ↗ the proposed 21 budget so

56:31 ↗ the police department has some other

56:33 ↗ issues separate and apart from this

56:34 ↗ action plan and separate and apart from

56:37 ↗ the school resource officer that the

56:38 ↗ council is going to have to grapple with

56:40 ↗ so we'll do our best

56:41 ↗ to lay those out as clearly and

56:42 ↗ concisely as possible and

56:44 ↗ you know we'll do our best also to have

56:46 ↗ some resolution from the squad school

56:48 ↗ district of this issue

56:50 ↗ council member walsh thank you for that

56:52 ↗ question this is the mayor we're

56:54 ↗ definitely going to work in unison with

56:56 ↗ the school district however i realize

56:58 ↗ it may make you feel uncomfortable as

56:59 ↗ you know budget's also coming

57:02 ↗ but you all manage the pandemic this

57:04 ↗ year and you didn't expect that either

57:05 ↗ so i'm sure

57:07 ↗ we'll get through this one i think the

57:08 ↗ question that we want to

57:10 ↗ help answer with the school district is

57:12 ↗ what was the role of the sro original

57:14 ↗ what is the role that

57:15 ↗ the school district feels they need

57:17 ↗ today as we look at all of our officers

57:20 ↗ and decide how we might be able to

57:21 ↗ redeploy

57:22 ↗ our resources to best provide public

57:24 ↗ safety

57:25 ↗ in our community and so the

57:27 ↗ conversations are just going to overlap

57:29 ↗ that was a great question did you have

57:31 ↗ any additional questions

57:33 ↗ i do um so the other question i had

57:37 ↗ going back to the human services

57:39 ↗ commission and

57:40 ↗ possibly calling in on monica on this

57:43 ↗ um i'm as i as wally has mentioned i

57:47 ↗ talked to

57:48 ↗ him earlier about the concern that it

57:51 ↗ looks like we're saying we're going to

57:52 ↗ get a recommendation back from the human

57:54 ↗ services commission

57:56 ↗ by the end of december and i frankly

57:58 ↗ think that's a

57:59 ↗ very um very rushed timeline

58:04 ↗ and so i'm wondering monica you said

58:07 ↗ that

58:08 ↗ you've got it scheduled out so that

58:10 ↗ september through december

58:11 ↗ sorry that's my cat um is going to be

58:15 ↗ talking um about the equity proposal

58:18 ↗ i'm wondering what did the commission do

58:21 ↗ in september

58:22 ↗ through december of last year that we

58:25 ↗ are missing out on if that's the case

58:28 ↗ monica good question

58:32 ↗ uh you cut me off guard a little bit

58:34 ↗ just because

58:35 ↗ there have been so many things happening

58:37 ↗ in the last few months that i have a

58:38 ↗ hard time thinking about what was

58:40 ↗ happening

58:41 ↗ uh last month this year or in september

58:44 ↗ uh however

58:45 ↗ and now that i have a moment to pause uh

58:47 ↗ so typically la

58:48 ↗ so we have two years we have the

58:51 ↗ granting year and then

58:52 ↗ the off year so usually so last year

58:56 ↗ the commission took time to visit

58:58 ↗ nonprofit organizations that we fund

59:00 ↗ and also preparing for the funding

59:03 ↗ process

59:04 ↗ therefore looking at what worked last

59:06 ↗ year what didn't work what can we do to

59:07 ↗ improve the process so

59:09 ↗ um that kind of work was happening last

59:12 ↗ year

59:13 ↗ um and so this year it would be just

59:16 ↗ finalizing the human services grants

59:20 ↗ and getting ready for contracting season

59:24 ↗ and so forth so um

59:27 ↗ okay so i i guess my thought there is i

59:30 ↗ don't want to promise something

59:32 ↗ that might end up taking longer to

59:35 ↗ produce a very

59:36 ↗ thorough result and so i'm concerned

59:39 ↗ about putting that

59:40 ↗ in the medium term and telling the

59:42 ↗ community we're going to have this

59:43 ↗ proposal

59:44 ↗ back since i think a lot of this

59:47 ↗ long-term

59:47 ↗ plan hinges on some of those

59:50 ↗ recommendations and the thoughtfulness

59:52 ↗ of the human services commission

59:53 ↗ um so my thought to wally earlier was

59:58 ↗ can we say that we are starting the

1:00:00 ↗ conversation

1:00:01 ↗ in the medium term and will have

1:00:05 ↗ results in that long term um that will

1:00:07 ↗ dictate

1:00:08 ↗ the or will contribute to the thought

1:00:11 ↗ process there

1:00:12 ↗ so i'm not sure what the other council

1:00:14 ↗ members think about that but that was

1:00:15 ↗ kind of

1:00:16 ↗ one of those ideas thank you

1:00:19 ↗ councilmember walsh did you have

1:00:20 ↗ additional questions

1:00:23 ↗ additional comments but not questions so

1:00:26 ↗ maybe i'll hold off until

1:00:28 ↗ everybody has spoken and come back great

1:00:31 ↗ uh i just want to check in with

1:00:33 ↗ councilmember d michelle

1:00:34 ↗ who was going to switch to a call-in

1:00:37 ↗ council member do michelle

1:00:39 ↗ um are you with us

1:00:46 ↗ unfortunately she has been having

1:00:48 ↗ technical difficulties

1:00:50 ↗ this evening is i'm looking in the tech

1:00:53 ↗ box to see if there's anybody else who

1:00:55 ↗ has questions

1:00:56 ↗ if not we can move into a discussion

1:01:00 ↗ and potentially emotion so just checking

1:01:03 ↗ to see if anybody else has got their

1:01:05 ↗ hand raised

1:01:11 ↗ we will then start with council member

1:01:14 ↗ walsh for some comments

1:01:16 ↗ thank you this is councilmember walsh so

1:01:18 ↗ first i want to say

1:01:20 ↗ i applaud our city for coming to this

1:01:23 ↗ idea saying

1:01:24 ↗ we're gonna listen to the community we

1:01:26 ↗ are

1:01:27 ↗ willing to take this on when many of the

1:01:29 ↗ other communities around on the east

1:01:31 ↗ side

1:01:32 ↗ haven't gotten to this point or just

1:01:34 ↗ kind of

1:01:35 ↗ dealing with pandemic we're willing to

1:01:38 ↗ push through and so i very much

1:01:40 ↗ appreciate that

1:01:41 ↗ i agree with so many of these things

1:01:45 ↗ that are

1:01:45 ↗ presented here i think they are all

1:01:49 ↗ going to order yeah i'm just gonna uh if

1:01:52 ↗ this is the mayor if it's okay council

1:01:54 ↗ member welsh council member martz

1:01:56 ↗ you want to talk about a point of order

1:01:58 ↗ yes madam mayor i don't believe we go

1:02:00 ↗ to uh discussion of the merits of a bill

1:02:03 ↗ until the bill

1:02:04 ↗ has been presented good point thank you

1:02:07 ↗ did someone care to make a motion

1:02:13 ↗ council president hunt

1:02:16 ↗ um i would like to make a motion

1:02:20 ↗ please i'll move to

1:02:24 ↗ adopt or move to endorse the issaquah

1:02:27 ↗ police accountability equity and human

1:02:29 ↗ services action plan as presented

1:02:32 ↗ deputy council president right yeah this

1:02:35 ↗ is chris roy i'll second that motion

1:02:37 ↗ so it's been moved and seconded um thank

1:02:40 ↗ you council member mertz

1:02:41 ↗ uh let's go back to councilmember welsh

1:02:44 ↗ thank you i will come back to chancellor

1:02:47 ↗ welsh

1:02:48 ↗ um so my concern

1:02:51 ↗ at this point um is merely that

1:02:55 ↗ the items that are listed in the

1:02:58 ↗ short and medium and long term really

1:03:01 ↗ from my perspective

1:03:02 ↗ look at reform um they look like

1:03:05 ↗ individual piecemeal items that are

1:03:07 ↗ talking about

1:03:09 ↗ training and reporting and things like

1:03:12 ↗ that

1:03:13 ↗ and i think the period of our time right

1:03:15 ↗ now

1:03:16 ↗ calls not for reform which has been done

1:03:19 ↗ before many other police departments

1:03:21 ↗ um but it calls for reimagining and so

1:03:24 ↗ my only

1:03:25 ↗ question becomes is that something that

1:03:28 ↗ we

1:03:28 ↗ are willing to look at as a city are we

1:03:32 ↗ waiting for the human services

1:03:34 ↗ commission

1:03:34 ↗ to present that idea and if it comes up

1:03:38 ↗ is it something that we're willing to

1:03:40 ↗ take on and

1:03:42 ↗ and ask about because i don't see that

1:03:45 ↗ in here

1:03:46 ↗ and i talked to city administrator bob

1:03:48 ↗ quits earlier

1:03:49 ↗ um it's his perspective that he sees

1:03:52 ↗ some of that in

1:03:54 ↗ these individual items but as i'm

1:03:56 ↗ reading it i'm not seeing a reimagining

1:03:58 ↗ i'm seeing a piecemeal

1:04:00 ↗ reform which i think is a step but not

1:04:02 ↗ the step that

1:04:04 ↗ i think i've heard other council members

1:04:06 ↗ and myself express in the community

1:04:08 ↗ express

1:04:09 ↗ um and so that's my concern with this

1:04:12 ↗ that's

1:04:12 ↗ not saying i'm against

1:04:15 ↗ creating this plan and going forward

1:04:17 ↗ only that i hope that

1:04:19 ↗ it does not stop merely at reform

1:04:22 ↗ thank you thank you councilmember walsh

1:04:25 ↗ councilmember mertz

1:04:29 ↗ thank you madam mayor this is

1:04:30 ↗ councilmember mart so

1:04:32 ↗ uh so 30 years ago ken burns

1:04:36 ↗ in the civil war documentary

1:04:39 ↗ for me the most powerful moment was near

1:04:42 ↗ the end when historian barbara fields

1:04:44 ↗ said the civil war wasn't really over it

1:04:47 ↗ shocked me when i heard this but she

1:04:50 ↗ said you can say there's no such thing

1:04:51 ↗ as slavery we're all citizens

1:04:53 ↗ but if we're all citizens then we have

1:04:55 ↗ to ask to d then we have to ask to do

1:04:57 ↗ to make sure that that too is not a joke

1:05:00 ↗ if some citizens live in houses and

1:05:02 ↗ others live on the street the civil war

1:05:04 ↗ is still going on

1:05:05 ↗ it's still to be fought and regrettably

1:05:07 ↗ it can still be lost

1:05:09 ↗ i've thought about that quote many times

1:05:11 ↗ over the last six months

1:05:12 ↗ and it seems to me that we as leaders

1:05:17 ↗ have heard a clearing call of our

1:05:19 ↗ residents and our neighbors and our

1:05:21 ↗ friends near and far

1:05:22 ↗ to do what we can as we fit our station

1:05:26 ↗ to help heal these long festering wounds

1:05:29 ↗ i'm extremely proud of this plan

1:05:32 ↗ often when a body is asked

1:05:35 ↗ to urgently address a situation there is

1:05:37 ↗ a tug of war between the tactical

1:05:39 ↗ and the strategic and the best and the

1:05:42 ↗ good

1:05:43 ↗ and what i really like is that by

1:05:46 ↗ separating things

1:05:47 ↗ into near-term more tactical

1:05:50 ↗ things we can do right away that are

1:05:53 ↗ easily agreed upon and more longer-term

1:05:55 ↗ strategic things that take more

1:05:58 ↗ consideration

1:06:00 ↗ we've we've addressed both ends of the

1:06:03 ↗ spectrum

1:06:04 ↗ um this is i feel a rapid thoughtful and

1:06:08 ↗ brave response

1:06:10 ↗ uh really a lightning rod that a lot of

1:06:12 ↗ cities have been

1:06:13 ↗ avoiding thus far we did a comparison

1:06:17 ↗ around cities

1:06:18 ↗ and issaquah was already running

1:06:21 ↗ when some other cities were

1:06:23 ↗ metaphorically still getting their pants

1:06:24 ↗ on

1:06:25 ↗ and it felt good we've we've

1:06:28 ↗ created a charge to come up with

1:06:30 ↗ solutions to problems but not

1:06:32 ↗ prescribing those solutions and i'll

1:06:34 ↗ give an example

1:06:35 ↗ as the police department budget and

1:06:37 ↗ operations review

1:06:38 ↗ we say to consider body cameras but we

1:06:40 ↗ don't say go

1:06:41 ↗ implement body cameras we want solutions

1:06:44 ↗ to make

1:06:45 ↗ our community feel more safe and be more

1:06:48 ↗ safe

1:06:49 ↗ and i believe that this action plan

1:06:52 ↗ uh encompasses both

1:06:56 ↗ the easy things and the path to the hard

1:06:58 ↗ things and so i'm extremely excited to

1:07:00 ↗ be supporting this bill this evening

1:07:02 ↗ additionally i've talked about this plan

1:07:04 ↗ with some of my friends that are people

1:07:06 ↗ of color

1:07:07 ↗ and they love that issaquah is is moving

1:07:09 ↗ this way

1:07:11 ↗ my friends have universally said they

1:07:13 ↗ think it's a pragmatic

1:07:15 ↗ response to a difficult set of problems

1:07:17 ↗ we've heard tonight that it doesn't go

1:07:19 ↗ far enough for some people it goes

1:07:21 ↗ way too far for other people but i feel

1:07:24 ↗ extremely comfortable supporting it this

1:07:25 ↗ evening and i thank the administration

1:07:27 ↗ for coming up with such a thoughtful

1:07:29 ↗ bill in such a timely fashion

1:07:31 ↗ to such an urgent uh cry from our

1:07:34 ↗ community

1:07:35 ↗ and communities across the nation thank

1:07:37 ↗ you

1:07:38 ↗ thank you councilmember moritz uh it

1:07:40 ↗ looks like council president hunt has a

1:07:41 ↗ question

1:07:44 ↗ thank you this is council president hunt

1:07:47 ↗ um i do have a question

1:07:49 ↗ which is um um i thought of this

1:07:52 ↗ question

1:07:53 ↗ listening to council member walsh's

1:07:54 ↗ comments um

1:07:56 ↗ and the question is about what does it

1:07:57 ↗ actually mean to

1:07:59 ↗ endorse the plan um what is

1:08:02 ↗ what is the word endorse usually we

1:08:04 ↗ would adopt but in this case we're

1:08:06 ↗ endorsing

1:08:06 ↗ endorsing the mayor's line

1:08:10 ↗ maybe i'll start this is the mayor and

1:08:11 ↗ then hand it off to wally if i

1:08:13 ↗ don't do a great job at this um

1:08:16 ↗ this is an action plan and not a

1:08:18 ↗ strategic plan so

1:08:20 ↗ under you know many situations either

1:08:23 ↗ required by code or required by practice

1:08:25 ↗ we'll bring a plan for adoption by the

1:08:28 ↗ council because that's required

1:08:30 ↗ this is not a that kind of document what

1:08:33 ↗ it is

1:08:34 ↗ is it's a work plan a list of tasks and

1:08:36 ↗ items that

1:08:37 ↗ we're going to go through with our

1:08:40 ↗ commissions and our department

1:08:41 ↗ in order to begin to address and

1:08:44 ↗ identify

1:08:45 ↗ the action the the work that we need to

1:08:48 ↗ do the work that we want to do

1:08:49 ↗ and so i think because the council has

1:08:52 ↗ been involved in this difficult year and

1:08:54 ↗ talking with

1:08:55 ↗ and listening to residents of uh all

1:08:58 ↗ different backgrounds and the struggles

1:09:00 ↗ that they've had

1:09:01 ↗ with the pandemic with their economic

1:09:03 ↗ well-being

1:09:05 ↗ and um with the social injustice and

1:09:08 ↗ inequities that it

1:09:09 ↗ didn't seem appropriate that we would

1:09:11 ↗ just do this within the police

1:09:12 ↗ department or

1:09:13 ↗ i prefer to say within our public safety

1:09:16 ↗ providers which is both police and fire

1:09:19 ↗ at this point in time

1:09:20 ↗ and to some degree swedish hospital we

1:09:21 ↗ all work in partnership and we have to

1:09:23 ↗ go through this together

1:09:24 ↗ uh it just felt like it needed to come

1:09:26 ↗ to the council

1:09:28 ↗ as a an opportunity for the council to

1:09:31 ↗ comment to the community about their

1:09:33 ↗ support for this

1:09:34 ↗ important work administrator bob quits

1:09:36 ↗ did you want to add to that

1:09:38 ↗ no ma'am oh there you go

1:09:41 ↗ okay um do you also have a comment at

1:09:45 ↗ this time or are you going to

1:09:47 ↗ come back later on council president

1:09:48 ↗ hunt um i do have a comment

1:09:51 ↗ right uh so this council president hunt

1:09:56 ↗ um firstly i think that i i also

1:09:59 ↗ applaud the administration for creating

1:10:02 ↗ an action plan for having

1:10:03 ↗ actions in the short term as well as

1:10:05 ↗ medium term and long term

1:10:07 ↗ to me it looks like a timeline that is

1:10:11 ↗ possible we will see with the budget

1:10:13 ↗ what that looks like in the budget

1:10:15 ↗ i think that it's important to recognize

1:10:18 ↗ that we've had so many comments from

1:10:21 ↗ members of our community that are

1:10:22 ↗ specifically already on the budget which

1:10:24 ↗ is

1:10:26 ↗ which is different than at least my past

1:10:28 ↗ years on council and so i really

1:10:30 ↗ appreciate that

1:10:31 ↗ members of the community have looked to

1:10:33 ↗ our budget allocation our allocation of

1:10:35 ↗ resources

1:10:36 ↗ as a way to as a way to give us feedback

1:10:40 ↗ on the outcomes that they want for their

1:10:42 ↗ community

1:10:43 ↗ and we've heard as i mentioned when i'm

1:10:46 ↗ summarizing the email comments we have

1:10:48 ↗ heard

1:10:48 ↗ from members of the community that want

1:10:50 ↗ to decrease funding for police increase

1:10:53 ↗ funding for police

1:10:54 ↗ and keep funding for police the same

1:10:56 ↗ we've heard all three of those

1:10:58 ↗ and i hope that we will continue to have

1:11:00 ↗ this level of engagement on the budget

1:11:02 ↗ with

1:11:03 ↗ people providing their comments and

1:11:05 ↗ their arguments

1:11:06 ↗ of why things should be funded because

1:11:08 ↗ in the end this is

1:11:09 ↗ the budget is really our most powerful

1:11:12 ↗ way

1:11:12 ↗ of defining what we what we want to see

1:11:15 ↗ in the city what we want to change and

1:11:17 ↗ how we want to do that

1:11:19 ↗ i um i will look very much look forward

1:11:22 ↗ to hearing

1:11:23 ↗ in our budget conversations how this

1:11:25 ↗ plan will be implemented with the budget

1:11:27 ↗ i

1:11:27 ↗ very much take to heart the comments

1:11:29 ↗ that we heard about the

1:11:31 ↗ human services budget in general being

1:11:33 ↗ inadequate i think that we should

1:11:36 ↗ consider that and we should think about

1:11:37 ↗ how we can better support

1:11:40 ↗ the human services needs in our city as

1:11:42 ↗ we go into budgeting

1:11:43 ↗ recognizing of course that this is a

1:11:45 ↗ difficult budget year

1:11:47 ↗ but i do believe we've been asked to

1:11:48 ↗ pivot i

1:11:52 ↗ i also just lastly i um

1:11:55 ↗ i appreciate that this is both about the

1:11:58 ↗ police as well as a broader

1:12:00 ↗ um conversation around equity a lot of

1:12:03 ↗ our comments have focused on police but

1:12:04 ↗ i think there's a lot more conversations

1:12:06 ↗ to be had around

1:12:07 ↗ the rest of the way that

1:12:10 ↗ we operate as a city in terms of equity

1:12:13 ↗ i

1:12:14 ↗ have started reading just the very

1:12:16 ↗ beginning but the color of law

1:12:17 ↗ which is a book about how inequity has

1:12:21 ↗ been

1:12:22 ↗ continued through a number of different

1:12:24 ↗ land use practices

1:12:25 ↗ and um i think that there's there's a

1:12:29 ↗ lot of things that we could look at

1:12:30 ↗ about how we can address

1:12:31 ↗ equity throughout the city i'm looking

1:12:33 ↗ forward to the council training

1:12:35 ↗ and i will be supporting this plan um

1:12:38 ↗ and following our progress in this and i

1:12:40 ↗ i also appreciate that it's a living

1:12:42 ↗ document because i think we will have

1:12:43 ↗ work to do and things to add

1:12:46 ↗ thank you council president hunt next up

1:12:48 ↗ is council member hall

1:12:54 ↗ thank you mayor paulie this is

1:12:55 ↗ councilmember zach hall

1:12:57 ↗ i'll just start by echoing council

1:12:59 ↗ president's

1:13:00 ↗ council president hunt's comments on the

1:13:02 ↗ budget and i'll save my own

1:13:04 ↗ comments as they were very similar

1:13:07 ↗ um you know like councilmember martz uh

1:13:10 ↗ i also had a number of quotes on my mind

1:13:12 ↗ lately

1:13:12 ↗ uh that i want to share with with you um

1:13:16 ↗ because i believe they so perfectly

1:13:18 ↗ capture the moment that we find

1:13:20 ↗ ourselves in

1:13:21 ↗ in our community within the nation um

1:13:26 ↗ the country demands bold persistent

1:13:28 ↗ experimentation

1:13:30 ↗ it is common sense to take a method and

1:13:32 ↗ try it if it fails

1:13:34 ↗ admit it frankly and try another but

1:13:36 ↗ above

1:13:37 ↗ all else try something and

1:13:40 ↗ to improve is to change to perfect is to

1:13:43 ↗ change often

1:13:45 ↗ so in my mind this action plan it

1:13:47 ↗ doesn't need to be perfect

1:13:49 ↗ yet but what's important now is that we

1:13:51 ↗ simply begin

1:13:53 ↗ and that we continue to look for

1:13:54 ↗ opportunities to perfect and to change

1:13:56 ↗ often i agree that we should be

1:13:59 ↗ realistic about our timeline i agree

1:14:01 ↗ that this action plan in ways is a

1:14:03 ↗ function

1:14:04 ↗ of reform but i'm also more than

1:14:07 ↗ comfortable

1:14:08 ↗ admitting frankly that we need to change

1:14:10 ↗ course a year from now or six months

1:14:12 ↗ from now

1:14:12 ↗ or next month or tomorrow hopefully it's

1:14:14 ↗ not tomorrow but

1:14:15 ↗ um i'm happy to support this action plan

1:14:18 ↗ tonight and

1:14:19 ↗ um i would just invite all of us to

1:14:23 ↗ continue to look for ways where we can

1:14:25 ↗ change and perfect

1:14:28 ↗ thank you councilmember hall deputy

1:14:30 ↗ council president ray i hope you've got

1:14:32 ↗ a few good quotes up your sleeves

1:14:35 ↗ hi thank you mayor paulie this is chris

1:14:36 ↗ ray i'm sorry i will only i will

1:14:38 ↗ disappoint

1:14:39 ↗ um i just have my own um

1:14:43 ↗ i really like this action plan i think

1:14:45 ↗ it is a necessary first step

1:14:46 ↗ i thought it was very thoughtful i

1:14:48 ↗ thought that it was very responsive to

1:14:50 ↗ the

1:14:51 ↗ request that we made of the

1:14:52 ↗ administration

1:14:54 ↗ to bring us back a short term medium

1:14:55 ↗ term and long term thank you

1:14:57 ↗ councilmember martz for that um

1:14:59 ↗ inspiration

1:15:00 ↗ when we did that i also am very excited

1:15:04 ↗ about this being a living

1:15:05 ↗ and uh document that will will change

1:15:08 ↗ and will be added to and we will find

1:15:09 ↗ new ways to make it

1:15:11 ↗ um better and we will embrace council

1:15:14 ↗ member hall's

1:15:15 ↗ call for continuous improvement

1:15:18 ↗ i think to i'm just going to thank

1:15:20 ↗ everybody on the council for this one

1:15:22 ↗ to pick up on council member walsh we do

1:15:24 ↗ have an opportunity here

1:15:25 ↗ to reimagine policing and to reimagine

1:15:27 ↗ public service and to reimagine public

1:15:29 ↗ safety

1:15:30 ↗ um but i believe that as we move forward

1:15:33 ↗ with this action plan

1:15:35 ↗ and we get bold and we start to look for

1:15:38 ↗ new things

1:15:39 ↗ and we look at how we might reimagine

1:15:43 ↗ how we serve the people of issaquah

1:15:47 ↗ it's going to require broad involvement

1:15:49 ↗ active engagement

1:15:51 ↗ and consistent participation i know that

1:15:54 ↗ we want to take advantage of our human

1:15:56 ↗ services commission because this is

1:15:57 ↗ something that is near and dear to them

1:15:59 ↗ but in listening to council president

1:16:01 ↗ hunt

1:16:02 ↗ um talking about the um the broadness of

1:16:06 ↗ inequities and it's it's land use and

1:16:09 ↗ its parks and its police and it is human

1:16:11 ↗ services

1:16:12 ↗ and that possibly what we really need to

1:16:14 ↗ do here is take a step back and say

1:16:16 ↗ we need something new that really will

1:16:18 ↗ look at um

1:16:20 ↗ the inequities that are in our society

1:16:22 ↗ from all of these different perspectives

1:16:24 ↗ and and provide that broad involvement

1:16:28 ↗ um different points of view actively

1:16:30 ↗ engage with the community and

1:16:33 ↗ give people an opportunity to be

1:16:34 ↗ consistently involved in helping us

1:16:36 ↗ craft

1:16:36 ↗ what the future vision for not only

1:16:39 ↗ policing but

1:16:40 ↗ for making issaquah the welcoming and

1:16:43 ↗ just society that the mayor

1:16:45 ↗ started this discussion with thank you

1:16:48 ↗ thank you

1:16:48 ↗ deputy council president ray uh council

1:16:51 ↗ member d michelle

1:16:52 ↗ i apologize that you missed the question

1:16:54 ↗ and answer piece but

1:16:55 ↗ you we see you now and we can hear you

1:16:57 ↗ which is great

1:16:58 ↗ so you are up thank you yes yeah

1:17:02 ↗ i had a little internet issue at my

1:17:04 ↗ place

1:17:05 ↗ so thank you for accommodating that

1:17:08 ↗ um i too am proud of this

1:17:11 ↗ document proud to be here tonight who

1:17:14 ↗ proud to be

1:17:15 ↗ uh part of this conversation i think uh

1:17:18 ↗ it is

1:17:19 ↗ uh we've we've got a work plan in front

1:17:22 ↗ of us

1:17:23 ↗ that allows us to focus on dialogue with

1:17:26 ↗ our community on many different levels

1:17:28 ↗ going deep into a subject where a lot of

1:17:31 ↗ people have not wanted to talk about it

1:17:33 ↗ have not wanted to address it and we

1:17:36 ↗ have a

1:17:36 ↗ action plan that makes us helps us

1:17:41 ↗ pushes us forward to talk about many

1:17:44 ↗ tough subjects

1:17:46 ↗ over the next 18 months and i appreciate

1:17:48 ↗ that part of the plan

1:17:50 ↗ i want to thank mr paulie for accepting

1:17:52 ↗ my suggestion

1:17:54 ↗ to add the wording or restore the

1:17:57 ↗ wording back into the

1:17:59 ↗ section 10. um i wanted to share

1:18:03 ↗ a couple of conversations i had today

1:18:05 ↗ with various people

1:18:07 ↗ one was with a man who

1:18:10 ↗ is heading up a new group on the east

1:18:13 ↗ side

1:18:14 ↗ made up of black leaders who are wanting

1:18:18 ↗ to

1:18:19 ↗ do a lot of advocacy work with different

1:18:22 ↗ municipalities

1:18:24 ↗ the organization is called the right to

1:18:26 ↗ breathe and i don't want to

1:18:27 ↗ speak for him so i will just say that

1:18:30 ↗ his review of the work plan was that he

1:18:33 ↗ praised it

1:18:34 ↗ very very highly and said that issaquah

1:18:37 ↗ is

1:18:37 ↗ quite ahead of the curve here so

1:18:41 ↗ i thought those were really good

1:18:42 ↗ comments the other conversation i had

1:18:46 ↗ this afternoon was with a young woman

1:18:48 ↗ who reached out to me

1:18:49 ↗ she's just starting her career in social

1:18:52 ↗ work

1:18:53 ↗ and she had taken the time to review the

1:18:56 ↗ plan

1:18:56 ↗ as well and she wanted to talk to me

1:18:59 ↗ about several things but the

1:19:00 ↗ one thing i really wanted to bring

1:19:02 ↗ forward tonight is

1:19:04 ↗ she said if we talk about marginalized

1:19:06 ↗ people often

1:19:08 ↗ one group that is ignored or overlooked

1:19:11 ↗ are those who have mental

1:19:12 ↗ illness or who have experienced mental

1:19:15 ↗ illness

1:19:16 ↗ and so she urged us to include them

1:19:19 ↗ in those conversations that we have

1:19:21 ↗ about

1:19:24 ↗ incorporating mental health counselors

1:19:27 ↗ and behavioral health specialists

1:19:29 ↗ into our police work from their point of

1:19:32 ↗ view

1:19:33 ↗ what is most helpful how can we be

1:19:37 ↗ the most helpful as we go to that

1:19:40 ↗ discussion about

1:19:41 ↗ integrating into uh police work

1:19:44 ↗ those specialties i thought that was a

1:19:46 ↗ really astute

1:19:47 ↗ comment from one of our young members of

1:19:50 ↗ our community

1:19:52 ↗ and then finally i just wanted to talk a

1:19:55 ↗ little bit about that integration

1:19:57 ↗ of mental health specialists into the

1:20:00 ↗ police

1:20:01 ↗ department that has been something that

1:20:04 ↗ has

1:20:04 ↗ i've been a long advocate for and

1:20:08 ↗ believe that this will be a really

1:20:10 ↗ profound

1:20:11 ↗ change to the way we address problems in

1:20:14 ↗ our community

1:20:16 ↗ there are many many models about how to

1:20:18 ↗ do that and

1:20:19 ↗ i hope that this will be a discussion

1:20:22 ↗ that we take up again

1:20:24 ↗ uh that we bring a lot of voices to the

1:20:27 ↗ table a lot of expertise in the table

1:20:29 ↗ look at all the many models and also

1:20:31 ↗ what is going to work best for issaquah

1:20:34 ↗ there are lots of ways to do it and i

1:20:37 ↗ think that we can

1:20:38 ↗ again be leaders in this area

1:20:43 ↗ if if we continue to follow the path

1:20:45 ↗ that we have which is listening to our

1:20:47 ↗ community

1:20:48 ↗ listen to the people who would be most

1:20:50 ↗ affected by the decisions we make

1:20:53 ↗ so i too will be supporting this

1:20:55 ↗ wholeheartedly and

1:20:57 ↗ i agree with others who've said it right

1:21:00 ↗ to me it's a platform

1:21:01 ↗ platform for us to dialogue and grow

1:21:05 ↗ as we learn and so it's not perfect

1:21:09 ↗ but that's okay thank you

1:21:12 ↗ thank you councilmember d michelle

1:21:13 ↗ councilmember goodman

1:21:15 ↗ thank you madam mayor councilmember

1:21:16 ↗ goodman here um i too will be supporting

1:21:19 ↗ this plan

1:21:20 ↗ and i appreciate all the hard work that

1:21:23 ↗ has gone into

1:21:24 ↗ it to date so far particularly the

1:21:27 ↗ administration and staff and

1:21:28 ↗ um everybody who has paid attention and

1:21:31 ↗ participated

1:21:32 ↗ from the public it's um i'm proud of

1:21:34 ↗ this plan

1:21:35 ↗ as well one of the um things that i like

1:21:38 ↗ about it the most

1:21:39 ↗ um is that it's a measured plan and that

1:21:42 ↗ it's not

1:21:43 ↗ just a knee-jerk response and

1:21:45 ↗ identifying things that we are going to

1:21:46 ↗ do

1:21:48 ↗ just as a knee jerk just because it

1:21:50 ↗ feels good

1:21:51 ↗ the list here largely are items that

1:21:55 ↗ need assessment and need further

1:21:57 ↗ assessment as

1:21:58 ↗ specifically identified in the plan and

1:22:00 ↗ we're not doing things

1:22:02 ↗ like whacking budgets um with random

1:22:05 ↗ numbers

1:22:06 ↗ just to say we did something and i'm

1:22:08 ↗ really glad we're not we're not doing

1:22:09 ↗ that

1:22:10 ↗ what we will be doing from what i review

1:22:13 ↗ what i see in the document from my

1:22:14 ↗ reading

1:22:15 ↗ is like i said assessment and furthered

1:22:17 ↗ assessment um to make sure that we

1:22:20 ↗ um specifically identify

1:22:24 ↗ what particular problems we're trying to

1:22:26 ↗ solve and whatever actions we decide to

1:22:28 ↗ take

1:22:29 ↗ out of this plan that they are

1:22:33 ↗ actions that specifically solve the

1:22:35 ↗ problems that we have identified and

1:22:38 ↗ that we are listening to the entire

1:22:39 ↗ community so i

1:22:41 ↗ again i support it wholeheartedly i

1:22:43 ↗ agree

1:22:44 ↗ that uh it appears to me that not only

1:22:47 ↗ is isla

1:22:48 ↗ ahead of the curve which i'm extremely

1:22:50 ↗ proud of

1:22:51 ↗ but that i believe that we are going

1:22:52 ↗ about it in a very responsible way

1:22:55 ↗ and so i i want to again thank the

1:22:57 ↗ mayor's office for all the work that

1:22:59 ↗ you've done so i will be supportive

1:23:01 ↗ thank you

1:23:02 ↗ thank you councilmember goodman i do

1:23:04 ↗ have a question for the city clerk

1:23:05 ↗ before we proceed and that is council

1:23:07 ↗ member walsh had made a suggestion about

1:23:09 ↗ a potential edit of moving

1:23:11 ↗ a section of starting work it

1:23:15 ↗ at one point and time and providing a

1:23:17 ↗ report out at a second point in time

1:23:19 ↗ would she make a motion to amend the

1:23:22 ↗ main motion to add that or is that

1:23:24 ↗ something

1:23:25 ↗ how would she go ahead and do that if

1:23:26 ↗ she'd wanted to do that

1:23:29 ↗ is it something that you're agreeable to

1:23:31 ↗ or

1:23:33 ↗ then i would indicate as you did with

1:23:35 ↗ the other

1:23:36 ↗ comment on the change that

1:23:40 ↗ a council member d michelle offered that

1:23:42 ↗ you would simply incorporate that in

1:23:44 ↗ if that's not your wish then you could

1:23:46 ↗ put it to the to the council

1:23:48 ↗ yeah council member walsh i think that's

1:23:50 ↗ fine to you know

1:23:51 ↗ um begin our conversation and maybe

1:23:53 ↗ we'll finish it faster than

1:23:55 ↗ than you think but at least there's some

1:23:56 ↗ safety in there to to get it done to a

1:23:58 ↗ good point

1:23:59 ↗ so i'm i'm in agreement with what you

1:24:01 ↗ were proposing so therefore i don't

1:24:02 ↗ think

1:24:03 ↗ we need to do anything else i'm going to

1:24:05 ↗ look at the chat box to see if anybody

1:24:07 ↗ else would like to comment but all seven

1:24:08 ↗ council members

1:24:10 ↗ had had at least a first chance

1:24:13 ↗ and if not i will go back to oh come to

1:24:16 ↗ president hunt

1:24:20 ↗ thank you this is council president hunt

1:24:21 ↗ i wanted to follow up on the

1:24:23 ↗ discussion that we had earlier regarding

1:24:25 ↗ the school resource

1:24:26 ↗ officers sro council member

1:24:30 ↗ uh council deputy president ray and i

1:24:33 ↗ did meet with the

1:24:34 ↗ school board representatives for their

1:24:36 ↗ leadership on

1:24:37 ↗ july 1st and so uh we

1:24:40 ↗ we will be meeting with them again but

1:24:42 ↗ we

1:24:44 ↗ absolutely welcome feedback from council

1:24:46 ↗ members

1:24:47 ↗ on this topic so that we can go into

1:24:49 ↗ that meeting um

1:24:50 ↗ being prepared and so that we can

1:24:53 ↗ represent

1:24:54 ↗ council's views on that topic so i think

1:24:56 ↗ this is this will be an ongoing

1:24:58 ↗ discussion and perhaps we could discuss

1:25:00 ↗ that go to the order at a different

1:25:02 ↗ meeting

1:25:03 ↗ or you could get in touch with us but

1:25:05 ↗ definitely we we will be in touch with

1:25:06 ↗ the school and we will

1:25:07 ↗ not be making a decision without working

1:25:10 ↗ with the school but also i want to make

1:25:12 ↗ sure that

1:25:12 ↗ we get feedback from council

1:25:16 ↗ thank you very much council president

1:25:18 ↗ i'll go back

1:25:20 ↗ to the motion it has been moved and

1:25:21 ↗ seconded to endorse the issaquah police

1:25:24 ↗ accountability equity and human

1:25:26 ↗ services action plan uh and

1:25:30 ↗ they're going to look to the clerk for

1:25:32 ↗ help here

1:25:34 ↗ there were a couple of minor amendments

1:25:35 ↗ do i need to say that into motion

1:25:38 ↗ or no well you can indicate that it was

1:25:40 ↗ as presented

1:25:42 ↗ and accepted by you present okay as

1:25:44 ↗ presented and accepted

1:25:46 ↗ uh and i'll go back to city clerk for a

1:25:48 ↗ roll call vote

1:25:50 ↗ thank you i'll start with council

1:25:52 ↗ president hunt

1:25:55 ↗ hi councilmember mark

1:25:58 ↗ hi deputy council president ray

1:26:04 ↗ councilmember walsh aye council member d

1:26:08 ↗ michelle

1:26:09 ↗ aye councilmember goodman aye

1:26:14 ↗ councilmember hall aye thank you

1:26:17 ↗ with seven eyes

1:26:29 ↗ madam mayor i will unmute you if you'd

1:26:32 ↗ like

1:26:33 ↗ there you are thank you

1:26:36 ↗ that passes unanimously that's only one

1:26:39 ↗ time tonight that's pretty good

1:26:40 ↗ thank you the next item of business on

1:26:42 ↗ our special meeting agenda this evening

1:26:44 ↗ is ab-8019

1:26:47 ↗ memorandum of understanding with

1:26:48 ↗ teamsters 117

1:26:50 ↗ police sergeants and this is the first

1:26:52 ↗ time that this item is before council

1:26:54 ↗ i'd like to invite senior human

1:26:56 ↗ resources analyst lauren knox to make a

1:26:58 ↗ presentation

1:26:59 ↗ lauren will be jointly presenting this

1:27:01 ↗ agenda bill

1:27:03 ↗ and the next item on the agenda this

1:27:05 ↗ evening which is ab8020 welcome lauren

1:27:10 ↗ uh thank you madam mayor and members of

1:27:12 ↗ the council and

1:27:13 ↗ let me just take a few moments to get

1:27:15 ↗ slides

1:27:16 ↗ up okay and madame do you mind

1:27:20 ↗ confirming that you can

1:27:22 ↗ see that cannot see it yet lauren

1:27:25 ↗ okay thank you

1:27:33 ↗ looks like it's coming up okay great

1:27:38 ↗ okay so as the mayor mentioned my name

1:27:41 ↗ is lauren knox senior human resources

1:27:43 ↗ analyst

1:27:45 ↗ and i have two items to present this

1:27:47 ↗ evening i'll present them jointly

1:27:50 ↗ as they are related both are memorandums

1:27:53 ↗ of understanding with teamsters 117

1:27:57 ↗ moving forward just a little bit

1:27:59 ↗ teamsters 117 represents two unions in

1:28:02 ↗ the city

1:28:03 ↗ police sergeants and police commanders

1:28:07 ↗ our police sergeants union has only five

1:28:09 ↗ members

1:28:10 ↗ and our police commanders union has only

1:28:13 ↗ two members

1:28:14 ↗ so both very small although that does

1:28:17 ↗ not change our obligation to bargain in

1:28:19 ↗ good faith with each

1:28:21 ↗ unit separately i will also just briefly

1:28:24 ↗ mention that these are both

1:28:26 ↗ law enforcement unions and as we've

1:28:28 ↗ talked with council about previously

1:28:31 ↗ that means that their interests

1:28:32 ↗ arbitration eligible

1:28:34 ↗ um if anyone has you know questions

1:28:37 ↗ about that i'm happy to answer them

1:28:39 ↗ or for members of the community we

1:28:40 ↗ presented on that topic on july 20th

1:28:43 ↗ if you'd like to view that presentation

1:28:48 ↗ so moving forward both of these

1:28:50 ↗ memorandums of understanding

1:28:52 ↗ represent attempts to save costs in

1:28:56 ↗ 2020.

1:28:57 ↗ as the council is aware we've been

1:29:00 ↗ working with each of our employee groups

1:29:01 ↗ to come up with cost-saving measures in

1:29:03 ↗ 2020

1:29:05 ↗ and i think it was council member d

1:29:07 ↗ michelle who used this term but

1:29:09 ↗ shared sacrifices the idea to

1:29:13 ↗ share the burden across all city staff

1:29:15 ↗ so that we could save as many positions

1:29:17 ↗ as possible

1:29:19 ↗ council has previously approved similar

1:29:22 ↗ memorandums of understanding and items

1:29:24 ↗ for our non-represented staff

1:29:26 ↗ afscme which is our general employees

1:29:28 ↗ union

1:29:29 ↗ and teamsters 763 representing public

1:29:32 ↗ works

1:29:32 ↗ operations our police officers union

1:29:36 ↗ ipoa took a wage freeze in 2020 in lieu

1:29:40 ↗ of furloughs and concessions

1:29:43 ↗ and our police support union opted to

1:29:46 ↗ do a layoff instead of furloughs and

1:29:48 ↗ concessions

1:29:50 ↗ and just very briefly i'll explain what

1:29:52 ↗ 457 is

1:29:53 ↗ for anyone who might be worth watching

1:29:55 ↗ 457 is the governmental version of a

1:29:57 ↗ 401k

1:29:58 ↗ and that comes up a few times on this

1:30:00 ↗ slide so just to be explicit about that

1:30:03 ↗ um approval of these mous will represent

1:30:07 ↗ participation and cost savings

1:30:08 ↗ efforts from every employee group in the

1:30:11 ↗ city

1:30:13 ↗ so a brief description of each

1:30:16 ↗ memorandum of understanding

1:30:18 ↗ for our police sergeants the proposal

1:30:21 ↗ is a furlough of 40 to 48 hours

1:30:25 ↗ depending on

1:30:26 ↗ assignment one rotation of furlough

1:30:30 ↗ a pause and 457 contribution matches

1:30:33 ↗ through the end of this year this group

1:30:34 ↗ is eligible for a 300

1:30:36 ↗ a month match and in exchange

1:30:40 ↗ to use it or lose it annual days to be

1:30:42 ↗ used in 2021

1:30:48 ↗ uh our the proposed memorandum of

1:30:51 ↗ understanding with our police commanders

1:30:53 ↗ unit is just a little bit different

1:30:55 ↗ um and represents an attempt to

1:30:59 ↗ balance some staffing issues along with

1:31:02 ↗ uh

1:31:03 ↗ need to i mean i'll use the term

1:31:06 ↗ pre-bargain some issues

1:31:08 ↗ that we would normally bargain in the

1:31:10 ↗ context of contract negotiations

1:31:13 ↗ so for this group we have 40 hours of

1:31:15 ↗ furlough

1:31:17 ↗ 457 frees through the end of the year

1:31:20 ↗ and then a few benefits changes that we

1:31:23 ↗ have our

1:31:23 ↗ council has already seen and approved

1:31:25 ↗ for non-represented staff

1:31:27 ↗ those include elimination of hour for

1:31:29 ↗ our compensatory time

1:31:31 ↗ to be replaced with use it or lose it

1:31:34 ↗ management time

1:31:35 ↗ elimination of sick leave conversion to

1:31:37 ↗ pay elimination of education merit pay

1:31:41 ↗ and elimination of the orthodontic pool

1:31:43 ↗ to be replaced

1:31:45 ↗ with an orthodontic writer to the delta

1:31:47 ↗ dental plan

1:31:52 ↗ and that's largely what i have for you

1:31:54 ↗ this evening a very brief item

1:31:57 ↗ administration does recommend approval

1:31:58 ↗ of these memorandums of understanding

1:32:01 ↗ to officially achieve cost savings

1:32:04 ↗ measures from each employee group in the

1:32:06 ↗ city

1:32:07 ↗ i don't think that's the metric that we

1:32:08 ↗ were hoping to use this year for

1:32:11 ↗ staffing however that is where we are

1:32:14 ↗ with the pandemic

1:32:15 ↗ and we appreciate the cooperation of our

1:32:17 ↗ unions to get to this point

1:32:19 ↗ um human resources will continue to

1:32:21 ↗ bargain with

1:32:22 ↗ these two new unions for

1:32:26 ↗ 2021 and beyond contracts

1:32:29 ↗ both of these unions were

1:32:32 ↗ non-represented at the beginning of this

1:32:34 ↗ year

1:32:34 ↗ and you know as of may for the sergeants

1:32:37 ↗ july for the commanders

1:32:39 ↗ were officially certified as unions

1:32:42 ↗ and they did receive you know the same

1:32:45 ↗ wage increase and class comp adjustment

1:32:47 ↗ that our non-represented staff

1:32:50 ↗ received at the beginning of this year

1:32:51 ↗ so we anticipate that first contracts

1:32:53 ↗ will

1:32:54 ↗ likely be january 2021 and beyond

1:32:58 ↗ um so i will pause there if anyone has

1:33:01 ↗ questions

1:33:03 ↗ thank you lauren thank you for the

1:33:04 ↗ presentation and also

1:33:07 ↗ like i mentioned in my mayor's report i

1:33:09 ↗ think a week ago

1:33:11 ↗ amazing amount of work that the very

1:33:13 ↗ small team that we have that does human

1:33:15 ↗ resources has really

1:33:17 ↗ accomplished this year in august is

1:33:19 ↗ quite amazing

1:33:20 ↗ um i am not at this point in time seeing

1:33:23 ↗ uh

1:33:24 ↗ too many folks with questions but i will

1:33:26 ↗ go to the

1:33:27 ↗ president hunt to see if there is any

1:33:29 ↗ emails that need to be subject on this

1:33:31 ↗ topic and give people a chance to

1:33:33 ↗ actually

1:33:34 ↗ line up for questions is council

1:33:36 ↗ president hunt thank you this is council

1:33:38 ↗ president hence we did not receive

1:33:40 ↗ email comments on this agenda item okay

1:33:44 ↗ at this point i am not seeing a lot of

1:33:46 ↗ comments or questions or questions at

1:33:48 ↗ least

1:33:48 ↗ in the chat box so is anyone prepared to

1:33:51 ↗ make a motion

1:33:57 ↗ council president hunt thank you this is

1:34:00 ↗ council president hunt i

1:34:01 ↗ moved to ratify the memorandum of

1:34:04 ↗ understanding between the city and the

1:34:06 ↗ teamsters local number

1:34:07 ↗ 117 police sergeants regarding furloughs

1:34:11 ↗ and benefit concessions

1:34:12 ↗ effective retroactively to august 1 2020

1:34:15 ↗ and authorize the mayor to execute the

1:34:17 ↗ memorandum of understanding

1:34:20 ↗ deputy council president ray this is

1:34:22 ↗ chris wright i second that motion

1:34:24 ↗ it's removed and seconded is there any

1:34:26 ↗ discussion

1:34:29 ↗ please let me know through the chat box

1:34:31 ↗ if you have a comment

1:34:37 ↗ seeing none i will turn to the clerk for

1:34:40 ↗ a roll call vote

1:34:43 ↗ thank you i'll start with councilmember

1:34:46 ↗ martz

1:34:51 ↗ um somebody was pressing i think i was

1:34:53 ↗ pressing mute at the same time as

1:34:55 ↗ somebody else or on mute rather

1:34:56 ↗ this is council member marks i thank you

1:35:01 ↗ deputy council president ray aye

1:35:04 ↗ council member walsh aye

1:35:08 ↗ councilmember d michelle aye

1:35:11 ↗ councilmember goodman

1:35:13 ↗ council member hall aye council

1:35:16 ↗ president hunt

1:35:17 ↗ aye thank you the seven eyes

1:35:21 ↗ thank you that passes unanimously uh

1:35:26 ↗ checking in the chat box uh council

1:35:28 ↗ president hunt to care to make a motion

1:35:30 ↗ thank you this is council president hunt

1:35:32 ↗ i would like to make a motion

1:35:33 ↗ i move to ratify the memorandum of

1:35:36 ↗ understanding

1:35:37 ↗ between the city and the teamsters local

1:35:40 ↗ number 117 police commanders regarding

1:35:42 ↗ furloughs and benefit concessions

1:35:44 ↗ effective upon execution of the

1:35:45 ↗ memorandum of understanding by both

1:35:47 ↗ parties

1:35:48 ↗ and authorize the mayor to execute the

1:35:50 ↗ memorandum of understanding

1:35:52 ↗ deputy council president ray this is

1:35:54 ↗ chris ray ii that motion

1:35:56 ↗ is there any discussion and i'll look to

1:35:58 ↗ the chat box and see if anyone raises

1:36:00 ↗ their hand

1:36:03 ↗ council president hunt thank you

1:36:06 ↗ i just very briefly wanted to thank

1:36:10 ↗ lauren for the

1:36:11 ↗ information that was presented and also

1:36:12 ↗ for her work to

1:36:14 ↗ get these memorandums of understanding

1:36:16 ↗ in place and

1:36:17 ↗ um thank you to all the human resources

1:36:19 ↗ staff for all of your work on this

1:36:20 ↗ thanks that's very kind words thank you

1:36:23 ↗ council president hunt

1:36:25 ↗ uh now go to the city clerk for

1:36:28 ↗ um roll call vote yes thank you i'll

1:36:31 ↗ start with

1:36:32 ↗ deputy council president ray hi

1:36:36 ↗ councilmember walsh aye councilmember d

1:36:39 ↗ michelle

1:36:40 ↗ aye councilmember goodman aye

1:36:44 ↗ councilmember hall aye council president

1:36:47 ↗ hunt

1:36:48 ↗ aye council member mark right

1:36:51 ↗ thank you that's seven eyes thank you

1:36:54 ↗ city clerk that passes unanimously

1:36:56 ↗ and the next item of business this

1:36:58 ↗ evening is an executive session

1:37:01 ↗ um this session this evening will be to

1:37:03 ↗ discuss property acquisition for

1:37:06 ↗ 42.30.110 per n1 prime b

1:37:09 ↗ the item is expected to last 30 minutes

1:37:12 ↗ no action is anticipated to follow in

1:37:14 ↗ open session

1:37:15 ↗ so we will now reves into executive

1:37:17 ↗ session at

1:37:19 ↗ pm and i asked the city clerk to move

1:37:22 ↗ anyone who's not part of the closed

1:37:23 ↗ session to the virtual lobby

1:37:25 ↗ and those in the lobby are more than

1:37:27 ↗ welcome to stay on the line until the

1:37:28 ↗ meeting is reconvened

1:37:34 ↗ you

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)

Barbara de Michele

Stacy Goodman

Zach Hall

Victoria Hunt

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh

Motions and votes (3)

Endorse the Issaquah Police Accountability, Equity and Human Services Action Plan as presented with additional edits accepted by the Mayor. 08-10-20 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 8437 . c)

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

Carried 7-0

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh

Ratify the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Teamsters Local No. 117, Police Sergeants, regarding furloughs and benefit concessions effective retroactively to August 1, 2020, and authorize the Mayor to execute the Memorandum of Understanding. . d)

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

Carried 7-0

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh

Ratify the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Teamsters Local No. 117, Police Commanders, regarding furloughs and benefit concessions effective upon execution of the Memorandum of Understanding by both parties, and authorize the Mayor to execute the Memorandum of Understanding. .

Moved by HUNT · seconded by REH

Carried 7-0

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Stacy Goodman, Zach Hall, Victoria Hunt, Tola Marts, Chris Reh, Lindsey Walsh