City Council Special Meeting · Monday, October 27, 2025 · City Council Digest

2. SPECIAL BUSINESS

Police Chief Update on Federal Immigration Enforcement in Issaquah

15 min

Topics: Public SafetyEquity

4. AGENDA ITEMS

2025-26 Mid-Biennium Budget 2 hrs. Adjustment ID 1922

Kristin Garcia, Finance Director · packet pp.5–49

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 1:05:36 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

At the October 13, 2025 Council Committee of the Whole meeting, the proposed adjustments for the 2025/2026 biennium were presented. As part of that presentation, a forecast for 2025 and 2026 was also presented reflecting that the general fund ending fund balance is expected to fall below financial

4318 segments .txt ↗

0:08 ↗ Good evening everyone and welcome. I

0:10 ↗ call the October 27th special city

0:12 ↗ council meeting to order. Council member

0:15 ↗ Martz will not be joining us tonight. He

0:17 ↗ has an excused absence. This is a

0:20 ↗ special meeting of the city council to

0:22 ↗ discuss the 202526

0:25 ↗ midbian budget adjustment. However, due

0:28 ↗ to a terrible incident that late last

0:31 ↗ week, I have asked our police chief to

0:34 ↗ come to tonight to answer some of the

0:36 ↗ questions we've been getting about the

0:38 ↗ city's role in federal immigration

0:39 ↗ enforcement in Isiqua. And after the

0:42 ↗ chief's remarks, we'll move into public

0:44 ↗ comments. So, come on up, Chief Schwan.

0:49 ↗ Okay. And she's aware.

0:55 ↗ Council

1:05 ↗ members and our community, considering

1:07 ↗ recent news and events, I want to

1:09 ↗ address directly any concerns or fears

1:12 ↗ regarding a squat police department

1:13 ↗ position on the immigration status of

1:16 ↗ our residents.

1:18 ↗ Let me very let me be very clear. The

1:20 ↗ squat police department is here to serve

1:22 ↗ you regardless of immigration status.

1:24 ↗ Our policies are not changing. Our

1:27 ↗ department follows Washington state law

1:29 ↗ on this matter. Immigration law and

1:31 ↗ enforcement are the responsibility of

1:32 ↗ the federal government, not local

1:34 ↗ police.

1:36 ↗ The Isiqua Police Department remains

1:37 ↗ fully committed to serving and

1:39 ↗ protecting all our members of the

1:41 ↗ community regardless of immigration

1:42 ↗ status with fairness, respect, and

1:45 ↗ integrity. When our officers interact

1:47 ↗ with residents or visitors, we do not

1:49 ↗ ask about immigration status.

1:52 ↗ If someone is arrested, we do not

1:54 ↗ contact ICE to inform them that any

1:57 ↗ undocumented person is in custody. And

2:00 ↗ when someone is released, we provide no

2:02 ↗ information beyond what is already

2:03 ↗ publicly available.

2:05 ↗ If you ever see an incident that seems

2:07 ↗ suspicious, I urge you to call 911 or

2:10 ↗ our non-emergency line at 425-837-32000

2:16 ↗ and press option three to get our

2:17 ↗ dispatch directly.

2:20 ↗ from a safe distance. You may take

2:22 ↗ photos, record, and provide us with the

2:23 ↗ information such as license plate

2:25 ↗ numbers, any other information that you

2:27 ↗ can document and we can re um follow up

2:30 ↗ on. Our officers are happy to respond,

2:34 ↗ verify whether individuals claiming to

2:36 ↗ be federal agents are legitimate, and

2:38 ↗ ensure that children or others at the

2:40 ↗ scene are safe.

2:43 ↗ However, it's important to understand

2:44 ↗ that local police cannot interfere with

2:46 ↗ federal agents performing lawful duties.

2:50 ↗ Doing so could subject to our own

2:52 ↗ officers to arrest.

2:54 ↗ That said, if any officer witnesses an

2:56 ↗ altercation or sees someone in danger,

2:58 ↗ they are sworn to act and will intervene

3:01 ↗ to protect life. And that means

3:03 ↗ everybody's life. For any incidences of

3:06 ↗ suspected ICE activity in Isiqua,

3:08 ↗ including the recent incident at the

3:10 ↗ preschool that drew public attention, I

3:12 ↗ encourage witnesses to call 911. Our

3:14 ↗ officers will respond to verify

3:16 ↗ identities, ensure the safety of

3:18 ↗ everyone involved.

3:20 ↗ Following the incident, both the mayor

3:22 ↗ and I worked quickly to gather and share

3:24 ↗ accurate information with the family and

3:25 ↗ the community. We communicated directly

3:28 ↗ with witnesses and organizations that

3:29 ↗ provide resources to immigrant families

3:32 ↗ in Isiqua and also responded directly to

3:35 ↗ messages from residents who reached out

3:37 ↗ with questions and concerns.

3:40 ↗ I've also offered to host an online

3:41 ↗ forum and community for community

3:43 ↗ members who wish to learn more about

3:45 ↗ their rights and how to respond in

3:46 ↗ situations like this.

3:49 ↗ I'm open to some questions and thank you

3:51 ↗ for your time to allow me to address the

3:53 ↗ group.

3:53 ↗ >> Yes, Chief, thank you for coming in.

3:54 ↗ It's an important moment in our

3:56 ↗ community for sure. So, I thank you for

3:59 ↗ taking the time to address uh the

4:02 ↗ council and the audience we have here

4:03 ↗ tonight. I'm very grateful for our

4:06 ↗ police department's dedication to

4:07 ↗ protecting all members of our community,

4:09 ↗ regardless of immigration status.

4:12 ↗ Throughout my service as mayor, it was

4:14 ↗ extremely important to me that we

4:16 ↗ cultivate and nurture an inclusivity and

4:19 ↗ inclusive community. One where everyone

4:22 ↗ feels safe, supported, and valued. The

4:25 ↗ deportations, including the one that

4:27 ↗ took place last week in Isqua, are

4:29 ↗ absolutely horrifying. I'm outraged by

4:32 ↗ these actions, but as a mayor, I also

4:35 ↗ owe you the facts. For months now, I've

4:38 ↗ been working behind the scenes to

4:40 ↗ understand what we can do as a community

4:42 ↗ and connect community members with the

4:43 ↗ resources they need now more than ever.

4:47 ↗ If you have concerns about your

4:49 ↗ immigration status or the possibility of

4:52 ↗ deportation for you or someone you know,

4:54 ↗ several local organizations may be able

4:56 ↗ to help. I encourage you to know your

4:59 ↗ rights and take advantage of many local

5:01 ↗ resources. is just recently website uh

5:05 ↗ page that you can visit at

5:07 ↗ isiquawwah.gov/immigration

5:10 ↗ resources.

5:12 ↗ In addition, I understand that there are

5:14 ↗ urgent needs in our community for

5:15 ↗ additional resources, especially for

5:17 ↗ those directly impacted. In response,

5:20 ↗ tonight I'm recommending that the city

5:21 ↗ council approve a budget amendment to

5:23 ↗ allocate up to $50,000 in additional

5:26 ↗ grant funding to support immigration

5:28 ↗ services. Our extremely dedicated and

5:31 ↗ connected human services commission can

5:34 ↗ best decide how to allocate these

5:36 ↗ resources locally before December 31st.

5:39 ↗ And lastly, if there's anyone in the

5:41 ↗ community with questions, me directly at

5:44 ↗ mayoriswah.gov.

5:47 ↗ I'm here to help.

5:49 ↗ Is here to

5:51 ↗ Thank you. One

5:59 ↗ Is it kind of choppy?

6:01 ↗ >> Yeah.

6:01 ↗ >> Okay, let's do that.

6:09 ↗ As part of our special evening, a

6:11 ↗ special c uh city council meeting this

6:14 ↗ evening, we are also taking public

6:16 ↗ comments and so members of the public

6:18 ↗ may address council at this time in

6:20 ↗ person or virtually. Those who signed up

6:22 ↗ in advance to make con comments will be

6:24 ↗ called on first. And if you're joining

6:26 ↗ us virtually and would like to make

6:28 ↗ comments, please raise your virtual hand

6:30 ↗ or send the host a chat message. If

6:32 ↗ you've joined by computer or smartphone,

6:34 ↗ look for the hang icon. And if you're in

6:36 ↗ the room, please come up to the podium

6:38 ↗ in the center. There's a button on the

6:40 ↗ console that you can press to get the

6:41 ↗ red light on. Then we'll all be able to

6:43 ↗ hear you. Clerk, has anyone signed up to

6:45 ↗ speak for general audience comments or

6:47 ↗ indicated a desire to speak this

6:48 ↗ evening?

6:49 ↗ >> Yes.

6:50 ↗ >> Great. Thank you. So if you are making

6:52 ↗ comments, you're invited to address the

6:54 ↗ council regarding matters that are

6:55 ↗ directly related to Isiqua's programs,

6:58 ↗ projects, services, or events. Comments

7:01 ↗ related to polit political campaigns are

7:04 ↗ not permitted. Please direct comments to

7:06 ↗ the whole council and not individuals.

7:08 ↗ And while this is not a question and

7:09 ↗ answer session, we will contact you to

7:11 ↗ follow up if needed. When recognized,

7:14 ↗ unmute your microphone or if you're in

7:16 ↗ the room, please step up to the lectern.

7:19 ↗ State your name and address or

7:20 ↗ relationship to the city. Speak clearly

7:23 ↗ and pause frequently. And please try to

7:25 ↗ limit your comments to 5 minutes. If

7:28 ↗ you're attending virtually and you do

7:30 ↗ not respond after your name or phone

7:31 ↗ number is called or your connection is

7:33 ↗ lost, the meeting will still need to

7:35 ↗ proceed. You're encouraged to rejoin if

7:37 ↗ able. Personal attacks, obscene

7:40 ↗ language, derogatory remarks, and

7:42 ↗ disruptive behavior will not be

7:43 ↗ permitted. Public comments, written and

7:46 ↗ verbal, are important aspect of the

7:48 ↗ public process, and the city takes

7:49 ↗ comments seriously. We thank all those

7:52 ↗ that have come tonight to take time to

7:54 ↗ address the council. City clerk, can you

7:56 ↗ please identify the first person who

7:58 ↗ signed up to speak? Yes, we have 12

8:00 ↗ speakers tonight. For the sake of time,

8:02 ↗ I'm going to call up two names. If

8:03 ↗ you're the second name called, if you

8:05 ↗ could maybe just stand over to the side

8:06 ↗ so you're ready when it's your turn so

8:09 ↗ we can move a little more efficiently.

8:11 ↗ So the first speaker is James Markart

8:13 ↗ followed by Rick Shuel or Shewell.

8:23 ↗ Um first before uh saying anything, I'd

8:26 ↗ like to thank the council for u the

8:28 ↗ statements that's made. Um I came here

8:30 ↗ basically to recount everything that you

8:32 ↗ guys just said and this makes me feel

8:34 ↗ glad that the council is thinking about

8:36 ↗ this and listening to the chatter behind

8:38 ↗ me. It sounds like I'm not the only one

8:40 ↗ that's going to be talking about this

8:40 ↗ tonight. Um, but in regards to what

8:45 ↗ happened last week, um, as awful as this

8:48 ↗ was, um, I' I'd like to continue talking

8:50 ↗ about this, but I'm not here to talk

8:52 ↗ about how immigration enforcement is

8:54 ↗ handled in this country. Um, and I know

8:57 ↗ this was not Isiqua police um, in the

9:00 ↗ videos that we've seen of what was what

9:02 ↗ happened. Uh, but I'm here to ask a very

9:04 ↗ specific question that I think everyone

9:06 ↗ in our community uh should be thinking

9:07 ↗ about, should be asking themselves uh

9:09 ↗ when thinking about what happened last

9:10 ↗ week. Was what happened yet another

9:14 ↗ incident of illegal federal use of

9:16 ↗ public camera systems? On October 17th,

9:19 ↗ new cameras were activated along Newport

9:21 ↗ Way to help with drivers speeding in

9:23 ↗ front of our schools. Less than a week

9:25 ↗ later, along the route these cameras

9:27 ↗ were placed, the mother, who is now

9:28 ↗ separated from her children, was

9:30 ↗ followed and taken.

9:32 ↗ There have been documented incidents

9:34 ↗ with federal agents where federal agents

9:36 ↗ have illegally access public cameras uh

9:38 ↗ in Washington state. While I know that

9:41 ↗ most of these camera systems have dealt

9:42 ↗ with the Flock brand camera systems, I

9:46 ↗ strongly doubt this is the only place

9:48 ↗ where these attempts are happening.

9:51 ↗ I'd like to ask that the city ensure the

9:53 ↗ safety of its residents by making sure

9:55 ↗ our public cameras are not being used

9:57 ↗ outside of their intended purposes. We

10:00 ↗ can keep Isiqua residents safe without

10:02 ↗ contributing to incidents like what

10:04 ↗ happened last week. Thank you.

10:06 ↗ >> Thank you very much, James. Um, city

10:09 ↗ clerk, who's next on the signup list?

10:12 ↗ >> Next, we have Rick Shewell, followed by

10:14 ↗ Kristen Lana Balman.

10:20 ↗ Mayor Paulanne, members of the city

10:22 ↗ council, my name is Rick Shu. I live at

10:24 ↗ 35 Mount Olympus Drive Southwest. I'm

10:27 ↗ the pastor of Faith United Methodist

10:29 ↗ Church serving the communities of Isiqua

10:31 ↗ and Seamish. I'm here today with clergy

10:33 ↗ colleagues representing faith

10:35 ↗ communities in Isiqua and we have four

10:37 ↗ points of concern that we are hearing

10:39 ↗ from our community.

10:42 ↗ First,

10:43 ↗ we are afraid. I need to let you know

10:46 ↗ that I am afraid right now. I'm not

10:50 ↗ afraid of public speaking. I do that

10:52 ↗ just about every week. And if you don't

10:53 ↗ have a church or a pastor, I'd love to

10:55 ↗ have you join faith any Sunday.

10:58 ↗ >> I'm a Methodist. We don't waste an

11:00 ↗ opportunity.

11:01 ↗ No, I am afraid of being judged by the

11:04 ↗ color of my skin. 20 years ago this

11:07 ↗ month, when I was 21 years old, I was

11:09 ↗ beaten up and jailed by a police officer

11:11 ↗ for an outstanding littering ticket. As

11:13 ↗ I was being processed, I asked the

11:15 ↗ intake officer, who could tell that I

11:18 ↗ had been hurt, if this type of force was

11:20 ↗ normal for such a small offense. And he

11:23 ↗ told me with a little bit of remorse in

11:25 ↗ his voice, that this happened because I

11:27 ↗ wasn't white. It was the first time that

11:29 ↗ I felt the sting of an institutionalized

11:31 ↗ racism. Trust was broken. I thought that

11:35 ↗ I was safe in my community, and I never

11:38 ↗ thought that my skin color was enough to

11:40 ↗ put me in real danger.

11:42 ↗ I became afraid and I'm afraid today.

11:47 ↗ My friends and I represent more stories

11:49 ↗ of fear than we can tell. We cannot tell

11:52 ↗ those stories because there is no trust.

11:56 ↗ We know the stories of people taken by

11:58 ↗ armed men in unmarked cars to

12:00 ↗ destinations we do not know about. We

12:02 ↗ have lost a sense of due process. We

12:04 ↗ have lost the sense of law. We've been

12:07 ↗ told that people are not being

12:08 ↗ disappeared here. We've been told that

12:10 ↗ there are resources available, but we

12:12 ↗ have no trust that we can access those

12:14 ↗ resources safely. Am I safe to give my

12:18 ↗ address here when it's streamed? Am I

12:20 ↗ safe to speak? Am I safe when I go out

12:23 ↗ those doors?

12:25 ↗ The fear is real. Our city and our

12:28 ↗ community cannot thrive when there is

12:31 ↗ such fear and we need your help.

12:34 ↗ Secondly,

12:36 ↗ this Sunday there is a day of the dead

12:38 ↗ celebration at the community center in

12:40 ↗ Isqua. Will you help protect this

12:43 ↗ celebration and its participants? It is

12:46 ↗ a day of joy, a day of reunion with lost

12:49 ↗ ones. It is a day to celebrate the power

12:51 ↗ of love and life over the power of

12:54 ↗ death. And I invite you and I invite

12:56 ↗ everyone to be present to experience the

13:00 ↗ joy and the richness of this

13:01 ↗ celebration. protect the joy in our

13:05 ↗ community.

13:06 ↗ We need your presence, your solidarity,

13:09 ↗ and we need your support. [snorts] Your

13:11 ↗ presence makes a difference. Your

13:13 ↗ presence can provide safety and can be

13:16 ↗ the step to restoring trust and

13:19 ↗ overcoming fear with joy. Please show

13:22 ↗ up. I'll invite my colleagues to share

13:25 ↗ our next points. Thank you very much.

13:28 ↗ >> Thank you. Uh Kristen Lana.

13:33 ↗ >> Good evening, council members, mayor,

13:36 ↗ everybody here in the room. I so much

13:38 ↗ appreciate the opportunity to speak. My

13:41 ↗ name is Christine Luana Balman. I live

13:43 ↗ in Isukqua on Front Street and my church

13:46 ↗ is Our Savior Lutheran Church also on

13:48 ↗ Front Street.

13:51 ↗ I looked a little bit on the web page

13:53 ↗ because I've never been here at council

13:55 ↗ before. I don't live here for very long,

13:56 ↗ so I'm pretty new. And I was actually

13:59 ↗ impressed when the human services

14:02 ↗ element was formulated in the

14:04 ↗ comprehensive plan of the city. The city

14:07 ↗ decided to support and facilitate the

14:09 ↗ community's basic human needs for food,

14:12 ↗ clothing, shelter, primary health,

14:14 ↗ mental health, dental care, and

14:16 ↗ protection from abuse and neglect. And

14:19 ↗ the city is doing much to fulfill these

14:21 ↗ needs of community members. And I want

14:23 ↗ to thank you for that.

14:25 ↗ It is clear to me from the documents you

14:27 ↗ publish and the nonprofits you support

14:30 ↗ that you have a high awareness of the

14:32 ↗ community needs and the areas which call

14:34 ↗ for improvement like mental health

14:36 ↗ services, housing continuum, culture

14:39 ↗ pacific services and child care.

14:43 ↗ Nobody could have known when you

14:46 ↗ formulated this plan many years ago that

14:49 ↗ today Isiqua residents need protection

14:52 ↗ from unlawful arrests by unidentified

14:56 ↗ uniformed persons in unmarked cars who

14:59 ↗ we usually call ICE but nobody really

15:01 ↗ knows as they don't identify themselves.

15:04 ↗ It might be more to the point to call

15:06 ↗ them secret police. Now that is a

15:09 ↗ phenomenon I am familiar with. I hold

15:12 ↗ two nationalities. I'm American and

15:14 ↗ German. And I lived on the island of

15:17 ↗ West Berlin when the wall was still

15:20 ↗ standing.

15:22 ↗ I was there as a university student. And

15:26 ↗ my roommate Cena, she was actually

15:28 ↗ arrested by the Stazzi, the ministerium

15:31 ↗ for Ministry for State Security, the

15:35 ↗ secret police of communist Germany.

15:39 ↗ She was arrested during a trip to East

15:41 ↗ Berlin, a day trip. We still don't know

15:44 ↗ for sure why she was arrested.

15:47 ↗ But we do know that she spent four weeks

15:49 ↗ in an East Berlin jail.

15:52 ↗ I mean, I found out after maybe a week

15:54 ↗ when her family was notified by West

15:57 ↗ Berlin government officials uh that

15:59 ↗ their daughter had been arrested.

16:02 ↗ I just knew that she didn't come home,

16:04 ↗ that she didn't come to classes, that,

16:07 ↗ you know, she was just gone. I had no

16:09 ↗ idea what had happened to her.

16:13 ↗ That happened in the 1980s.

16:15 ↗ So today we learn about the Stazzy rule

16:18 ↗ of terror in museums and we read about

16:20 ↗ it in books. But here in the United

16:24 ↗ States of America, a similar story is

16:26 ↗ unfolding

16:28 ↗ right now, right here in front of our

16:31 ↗ eyes. Unidentified ICE officers are

16:34 ↗ arresting people right and left on the

16:37 ↗ streets, in courouses, in schools, at

16:38 ↗ work, at home. They're taking people of

16:41 ↗ all ages and health conditions. people

16:44 ↗ who are citizens or green card holders

16:46 ↗ or undocumented, it doesn't seem to

16:49 ↗ matter. The only thing which seems to

16:51 ↗ matter is that their skin is brown

16:53 ↗ enough to be identified as Hispanic by

16:57 ↗ the arresting officer.

16:59 ↗ Given this unanticipated change in

17:02 ↗ circumstances in our country and our

17:04 ↗ city, other needs than those previously

17:08 ↗ identified in city plans are rapidly

17:11 ↗ emerging. the need for legal

17:14 ↗ representation,

17:16 ↗ the need for basic and visible

17:19 ↗ solidarity,

17:21 ↗ the need for temporary parents.

17:25 ↗ We representatives of local faith

17:27 ↗ communities are grateful to hear that

17:30 ↗ you have dedicated $50,000 for

17:32 ↗ immigration services. And we ask that

17:35 ↗ you continue to set funds apart for this

17:39 ↗ purpose and maybe even start a rapid

17:43 ↗ response fund as other I believe other

17:46 ↗ East Site cities have done because the

17:49 ↗ money will be needed quick and it will

17:52 ↗ be needed in unusual ways and I myself

17:54 ↗ as a pastor know that it I mean even at

17:57 ↗ church there's a administrative process

17:59 ↗ to get funds to flow. I only have one

18:02 ↗ fund, the pastor's fund, where I can

18:04 ↗ take money and use, you know, at my own

18:07 ↗ discretion. And I believe something like

18:10 ↗ that is what you need, of course, to be

18:12 ↗ used for the right purposes, but um

18:16 ↗ please discuss it and talk about it and

18:18 ↗ make funds available. Thank you so much

18:22 ↗ for allowing me to speak. I do not take

18:24 ↗ it for granted.

18:26 ↗ >> Thank you, Kristen, Lana. Next up, Jen.

18:29 ↗ And after that, Ken Conigmark.

18:33 ↗ >> Okay.

18:36 ↗ >> Hello. Thank you for this opportunity.

18:38 ↗ My name is Jen Hegedorn and I'm the

18:40 ↗ pastor at Spirit of Peace United Church

18:42 ↗ of Christ here in Isiqua. And I stand

18:44 ↗ with my clergy colleagues and our

18:46 ↗ congregations and so many people of

18:48 ↗ conscience who are deeply, deeply

18:51 ↗ concerned about what unfolded last week

18:53 ↗ and what is continuing to unfold. You've

18:56 ↗ heard parts one and two. I'd like to

18:58 ↗ offer our third and final piece, which

19:00 ↗ is a plea. A plea to protect the

19:03 ↗ children.

19:05 ↗ I live just minutes away from the

19:08 ↗ Learning Nest preschool. I have a

19:11 ↗ toddler. I cannot imagine having to kiss

19:15 ↗ him and hug him and tell him I love him

19:18 ↗ and say goodbye, not knowing when I'd

19:20 ↗ get to hold him again.

19:22 ↗ But so many parents not only have to

19:25 ↗ imagine this, they have to prepare for

19:30 ↗ this. As we speak right here in

19:33 ↗ Isiziqua, parents are making photo

19:35 ↗ copies of their Americanborn children's

19:38 ↗ birth certificates and they're tucking

19:40 ↗ them into their little backpacks in case

19:42 ↗ they need to prove citizenship.

19:45 ↗ As we speak, parents are making safety

19:47 ↗ plans in case they don't make it to

19:50 ↗ school pickup. and no one knows what's

19:52 ↗ happened to them. As we speak, they are

19:55 ↗ deciding whether to send their child to

19:57 ↗ walk to school alone or to walk with

20:00 ↗ them, not knowing which is the greater

20:03 ↗ risk.

20:04 ↗ I have a congregant who works at Isakqua

20:06 ↗ Valley Elementary, which is just down

20:08 ↗ the street from the preschool. And the

20:11 ↗ day after ICE took our neighbor, she

20:13 ↗ told me that many of the students just

20:16 ↗ didn't come to school. They didn't show

20:18 ↗ up. I hope that you all have watched the

20:22 ↗ video from the rain cam. I imagine that

20:24 ↗ you have. The words that haunt me are

20:27 ↗ the one of the last things the ice agent

20:30 ↗ says um before leaving. He says, "Rain

20:33 ↗ check."

20:35 ↗ Rain check. As in, "I'm coming back for

20:38 ↗ you." This is what a man with a gun and

20:41 ↗ a vest says while standing outside of a

20:44 ↗ preschool just minutes from here. Rain

20:47 ↗ check.

20:48 ↗ ICE enforcement and deportations did not

20:51 ↗ begin with the current administration.

20:53 ↗ We all know this. But the tactics have

20:56 ↗ never been more violent physically and

20:58 ↗ psychologically.

21:00 ↗ Sensitive locations, churches,

21:02 ↗ hospitals, schools used to be offlimits,

21:06 ↗ but now nothing is off limits and no one

21:09 ↗ is off limits. as citizens are picked up

21:13 ↗ because of the color of their skin.

21:15 ↗ Assumed like the ICE agent standing on

21:18 ↗ that preschool porch assumed the teacher

21:20 ↗ who came to the door because of the

21:22 ↗ color of her skin was in his words

21:25 ↗ illegal.

21:27 ↗ And that means that a relatively

21:30 ↗ handsoff response. Refusing to cooperate

21:34 ↗ with ICE, not asking about immigration

21:36 ↗ status, connecting to resources. This is

21:39 ↗ all important. But in this unprecedented

21:42 ↗ time, it is not enough to protect our

21:46 ↗ neighbors.

21:48 ↗ I don't think any of us can fully

21:49 ↗ comprehend the impact that this is

21:51 ↗ having on children in our community. I

21:54 ↗ have a masters in public health from the

21:56 ↗ University of Washington. And so what I

21:58 ↗ can tell you is that data proves again

22:01 ↗ and again and again that experiences of

22:04 ↗ trauma known in the literature as

22:06 ↗ adverse childhood experiences aces

22:09 ↗ have longtime negative impacts on

22:12 ↗ children health well-being and even

22:14 ↗ opportunities into adulthood. The

22:17 ↗ reverberations of this will show up in

22:20 ↗ the public health data and research in

22:22 ↗ the lives and stories of so many in the

22:24 ↗ decades to come. And we cannot say that

22:26 ↗ we didn't know it was happening. Every

22:29 ↗ morning, children are walking to school

22:31 ↗ in the dark, afraid and alone. They're

22:34 ↗ walking right by that preschool and on

22:36 ↗ countless streets in our community. As

22:39 ↗ Christian clergy, I believe our

22:41 ↗ scripture when it says that what I do to

22:43 ↗ the least of these, I do to God. At a as

22:47 ↗ a resident of Isiziqua, I want to know

22:50 ↗ what my city council will do to protect

22:52 ↗ them. There are always limits. I know

22:56 ↗ there are limits on what we can do. Each

22:58 ↗ of us, I know that many of you are just

23:01 ↗ as appalled as I am. And I know you

23:04 ↗ can't unilaterally stop ICE. But we can,

23:08 ↗ each of us, build layers of protection

23:10 ↗ around the most vulnerable.

23:13 ↗ City council members, how can you work

23:15 ↗ with Isiqua School District to ensure

23:18 ↗ that all of our children truly have

23:20 ↗ access equal access to education?

23:22 ↗ Because with ICE roaming the streets,

23:24 ↗ they do not. How can you ensure that

23:27 ↗ their path to school is safe? And how

23:30 ↗ can you make it more difficult more

23:33 ↗ difficult for ICE to be in our community

23:34 ↗ operating in secret because they are

23:37 ↗ here. They have been here. They are here

23:39 ↗ now and they have promised to return.

23:42 ↗ Thank you.

23:42 ↗ >> Thank you, Jen. That little beep is the

23:45 ↗ end of five minutes, but you can also

23:47 ↗ see that when you're up as a speaker as

23:49 ↗ well. Um, thanks for sharing all of that

23:52 ↗ information and hopefully we'll be able

23:54 ↗ to provide some answers to the questions

23:55 ↗ that you asked as well. Ken,

23:58 ↗ >> evening. I get to follow three

24:00 ↗ preachers. I'm going to continue

24:02 ↗ preaching because this is a moral and

24:05 ↗ spiritual issue we're faced with. It's

24:08 ↗ more than just city. It's more than just

24:11 ↗ politics. It's right and justice. I'm a

24:14 ↗ West Point graduate who served this

24:16 ↗ country for 26 years in the uniform

24:19 ↗ while swearing an oath to defend the

24:21 ↗ Constitution against all enemies,

24:23 ↗ foreign and domestic. And I'm appalled

24:26 ↗ to watch our Constitution get shredded

24:28 ↗ nowadays and our rights taken away.

24:32 ↗ And I am thousands of other Isiqua

24:36 ↗ residents as well as millions across

24:38 ↗ America are now labeled as Antifa

24:41 ↗ terrorists, as the enemy within, as

24:45 ↗ someone to be arrested and put in jail.

24:49 ↗ What is wrong with this country? There's

24:50 ↗ something seriously wrong.

24:53 ↗ I didn't join a Hate America rally. I

24:56 ↗ joined a love America rally along with

24:58 ↗ people from nursing homes in wheelchairs

25:01 ↗ all who care deeply about the wrongness

25:04 ↗ that's happening in this country.

25:08 ↗ What has happened and where are we

25:09 ↗ headed may be the bigger question. We're

25:12 ↗ on a direct path to authoritarianism.

25:15 ↗ We have lost our moral moral and

25:17 ↗ spiritual compass and descended into a

25:20 ↗ darkness that must be stopped in isqua.

25:23 ↗ It's heart-wrenching that in my town at

25:26 ↗ a preschool of all places, a mother was

25:29 ↗ stripped of her child and hauled to

25:31 ↗ detention by a modern-day Gestapo. An

25:34 ↗ agent wearing an automatic weapon across

25:37 ↗ his chest at the door of a preschool.

25:39 ↗ Those kids and those teachers were

25:41 ↗ traumatized for life by that. Is this

25:44 ↗ what we want?

25:46 ↗ I know of other Isiqua volunteers who

25:48 ↗ have to walk children to school back and

25:51 ↗ forth each day because their parents are

25:53 ↗ afraid to be seen in public and cannot

25:56 ↗ go out with their own children.

25:59 ↗ What have we become? Did we not learn

26:02 ↗ anything from the terrible history of

26:04 ↗ slavery, Native American genocide,

26:06 ↗ Japanese American internment, and the

26:09 ↗ civil rights movement? These are fellow

26:12 ↗ humans, not aliens and invaders. And we

26:15 ↗ must stand up now and call out the

26:17 ↗ tragic wrongness of all of this. This is

26:20 ↗ not who we are. We all must join forces

26:23 ↗ to loudly, boldly proclaim, "Not in my

26:27 ↗ town." I urge the city to enact all

26:30 ↗ options to take the strongest stand

26:32 ↗ against ICE. To educate our community

26:35 ↗ about what their legal rights are and

26:37 ↗ what the limitations are on federal

26:39 ↗ agents. Most importantly, take a strong

26:43 ↗ public stand for what is right and

26:46 ↗ loudly and boldly proclaim, "We don't

26:49 ↗ want this here. Not in Isiqua, not in my

26:53 ↗ town, not in my country, not in my

26:56 ↗ world." Thank you.

26:57 ↗ >> Thank you, Ken. And thank you for your

26:59 ↗ service as well. Uh, next up, city

27:01 ↗ clerk.

27:02 ↗ >> We have Corby Castler followed by Anne

27:04 ↗ Fletcher.

27:11 ↗ Good evening, Madame Mayor, council

27:13 ↗ members, and audience. Um, I've been

27:15 ↗ here a couple times. I'm Corby Castler.

27:17 ↗ I'm the executive director of the

27:19 ↗ Downtown Isqua Association, and I sent

27:21 ↗ you a letter earlier this afternoon, but

27:24 ↗ I wanted to make a couple of points

27:25 ↗ about that letter. Um, the city's cuts

27:28 ↗ to DIA's funding were much deeper than

27:30 ↗ the 12% across other nonprofits. Please

27:32 ↗ reconsider.

27:34 ↗ Investing in DIA comes with a huge ROI.

27:36 ↗ And for those of you who don't know, DIA

27:38 ↗ is the downtown ISco Association.

27:40 ↗ [snorts] Investing in DIA comes with a

27:42 ↗ huge ROI. Through the tax credit

27:44 ↗ incentive program, your investment is 25

27:46 ↗ cents on the dollar. More important,

27:48 ↗ those monies stay here. The Main Street

27:51 ↗ program keeps the tax revenue within

27:53 ↗ your own community rather than having it

27:55 ↗ sent back to Olympia.

27:57 ↗ We ask that you review our request to

27:59 ↗ make the city council contribution of

28:01 ↗ 120,000 of what essentially is 30,000 on

28:04 ↗ the general fund given the main street

28:07 ↗ tax credit incentive program. So for

28:09 ↗ $120,000 investment really the bottom

28:12 ↗ line on your general fund is $30,000.

28:16 ↗ We have an opportunity and a simple

28:18 ↗ choice. Nowhere else will you get that

28:21 ↗ kind of ROI. And I really ask that you

28:23 ↗ really consider the amount of funding

28:25 ↗ given to DIA. and I thank you for your

28:26 ↗ attention to this. Thank you so much.

28:28 ↗ >> Thank you, Corby. City clerk.

28:33 ↗ >> Yes, we have Annne Fletcher followed by

28:34 ↗ David Kappler.

28:40 ↗ Good evening.

28:42 ↗ It's hard to speak after all of this.

28:45 ↗ Um, and I have a different subject, but

28:48 ↗ I am going to go ahead. Um,

28:53 ↗ I already sent comments to um the

28:56 ↗ council, written comments, and I'm not

28:58 ↗ going to go over those. Um, they still

29:01 ↗ stand. I have a few new uh comments that

29:04 ↗ I want to make about Metrolex.

29:08 ↗ Um, first of all, since uh the meeting

29:12 ↗ on the 29th, uh I have learned a lot

29:16 ↗ from reading this book called What If We

29:19 ↗ Get It Right? Visions of Climate

29:21 ↗ Futures. It's a really great book and I

29:24 ↗ wish I could buy you all a copy. Maybe I

29:26 ↗ will. Um and I'd like to just read you a

29:30 ↗ part of it because

29:32 ↗ um I just think we need to keep our

29:35 ↗ perspective. There's so much going on,

29:37 ↗ but we still need to remember um this

29:42 ↗ in this book. You'll find no sugar

29:44 ↗ coating or downplaying of scientific

29:46 ↗ projections or of the speed and scope of

29:49 ↗ change required in order to bur the

29:51 ↗ future where we have a chance to

29:53 ↗ flourish.

29:55 ↗ You also won't find wallowing.

29:58 ↗ We are learning lessons and looking

30:01 ↗ forward.

30:03 ↗ Fundamentally changing how we interact

30:05 ↗ with nature

30:07 ↗ and with each other certainly will not

30:11 ↗ be easy.

30:13 ↗ This transformation

30:14 ↗ will be messy.

30:18 ↗ It will require new ideas and

30:20 ↗ technologies

30:22 ↗ and ancient ones.

30:26 ↗ But we can do hard things.

30:29 ↗ Onward to the glorious mess. The only

30:32 ↗ way out is through.

30:39 ↗ After reading that book and I'm

30:40 ↗ continuing to read it, it's very

30:43 ↗ positive. It's very realistic. And I

30:47 ↗ probably am going to come to some future

30:49 ↗ meetings and read you more paragraphs to

30:52 ↗ keep it in your mind.

30:55 ↗ I did learn also at the previous meeting

30:58 ↗ that many council members at that time

31:00 ↗ were in favor of finding a way to retain

31:02 ↗ Metroflex um in the two in 2026.

31:07 ↗ um and that the city could disengage

31:09 ↗ from a contract uh if uh if if if they

31:13 ↗ were given proper notice

31:16 ↗ and that there could be other sources of

31:19 ↗ funding to um make the $57,000 extra for

31:24 ↗ Metroflex in 27 2026.

31:28 ↗ A significant portion of Metroflex users

31:30 ↗ are connecting with our transit centers

31:32 ↗ and business areas and that is really

31:35 ↗ good for both climate and economic

31:38 ↗ vitality.

31:40 ↗ A lowincome housing building in our area

31:43 ↗ without [clears throat] transit is a big

31:44 ↗ users of Metroflex and how can we extend

31:47 ↗ that to others that need it? Youth use

31:50 ↗ Metroflex to get home from

31:52 ↗ community-based afterchool services that

31:54 ↗ are outside the school activity bus

31:56 ↗ schedule.

31:58 ↗ And many of our immigrants have used

32:01 ↗ Metroflex to help them with the uh

32:06 ↗ getting getting driver's licenses so

32:08 ↗ they can eventually drive or other

32:10 ↗ services to integrate into our

32:12 ↗ community.

32:13 ↗ Um the cost uh of a trip as presented in

32:19 ↗ the data last time is no more than an

32:21 ↗ Uber or a lift and over half the trips

32:23 ↗ are shared by one or more rider.

32:26 ↗ If we renew our contract with Metroflex,

32:29 ↗ they will promote it with our community

32:31 ↗ and that along with additional community

32:34 ↗ support will help build our writership

32:36 ↗ and the cost effectiveness of the

32:38 ↗ program.

32:41 ↗ So, at the joint King County uh King

32:44 ↗ County Library, City of Isiqua

32:46 ↗ sustainability town hall on October

32:48 ↗ 15th, climate and equity were really

32:51 ↗ important topics.

32:53 ↗ So despite our tough budget, what could

32:57 ↗ be a more deserving example of these two

33:00 ↗ concepts than retaining Metrlex? Thank

33:03 ↗ you. Thank you, Anne. Next up, Mr.

33:07 ↗ Kappler.

33:15 ↗ >> Good evening, David Kappler. Um I was

33:19 ↗ amazed at the uh number of people here

33:22 ↗ and uh the shocking uh topic that uh

33:26 ↗ they spoke so well to and um but I'm

33:30 ↗ here originally for Metroflex

33:34 ↗ not um on in on this other issue. Um in

33:39 ↗ I'm asking you a little imagination

33:41 ↗ here. Think of a map of Isiziqua in your

33:44 ↗ mind and uh start get a red crayon out

33:48 ↗ and uh color in all the parts of

33:50 ↗ Isiziqua where transit or walking works

33:53 ↗ to get people to necessary services.

33:57 ↗ And um there's going to be still a lot

33:59 ↗ of white area on that map. Now, some of

34:02 ↗ those wide areas will be the most

34:03 ↗ expensive houses in Isiziqua that are

34:05 ↗ the tops of Talis, tops of um Isizua

34:09 ↗ Highlands or or top of Squawk Mountain

34:12 ↗ here. But there's going to be a lot of

34:14 ↗ people that um don't have the service,

34:17 ↗ the ability to get to the services that

34:20 ↗ they need, whether for food, health,

34:23 ↗ employment, or whatever. Some of those

34:26 ↗ people are older and and that live in

34:29 ↗ some of those um areas too that I

34:31 ↗ mentioned that um maybe do have more

34:33 ↗ finances and that kind of thing but uh

34:35 ↗ need some kind of help to get to uh

34:37 ↗ those services, the medical appointments

34:39 ↗ and the like. So I just encourage you to

34:42 ↗ um um restore the money for the

34:45 ↗ Metroflex program. Thank you.

34:48 ↗ >> Thank you, city clerk.

34:50 ↗ >> Next we have a spinner followed by Pat

34:53 ↗ Martin. Alicia,

34:56 ↗ do you want to speak tonight? Alicia's

34:59 ↗ passing. Followed by

35:02 ↗ Pat Martin. Pat, would you like to speak

35:06 ↗ >> in the room?

35:08 ↗ >> I can take it.

35:10 ↗ >> Uh, we have to sign up.

35:11 ↗ >> It's okay. We are Martin.

35:13 ↗ >> Oh, okay.

35:14 ↗ >> And I was thinking of something I would

35:16 ↗ like to say. Very short.

35:19 ↗ >> You have to push it to make it red.

35:22 ↗ >> She'll come and help. No problem. Seven

35:25 ↗ years old

35:26 ↗ >> and you all know everything I don't

35:27 ↗ know. Okay. But here's something you

35:30 ↗ need. You need to get you as well as

35:34 ↗ need to speak louder for me so I can

35:37 ↗ hear what you've got to say. Okay.

35:39 ↗ [laughter]

35:40 ↗ And maybe this could be moved over there

35:42 ↗ so we can see your faces too. I don't

35:44 ↗ know. But what I why I got up when you

35:46 ↗ called Pat Martin was because we don't

35:49 ↗ have a newspaper anymore in this town.

35:51 ↗ And that's where I would find the

35:53 ↗ information about what happened on

35:54 ↗ Friday. And that's where I would expect

35:57 ↗ people to write in with their opinions

35:58 ↗ and not have to come out here at night.

36:00 ↗ We don't drive at night metro. That'd be

36:01 ↗ good for us. Uh some transportation. Um

36:05 ↗ so I would like um the mayor, the

36:08 ↗ council uh to and I and when I got your

36:11 ↗ last email, excuse me, ma'am, but I

36:13 ↗ didn't you know it was all full of a

36:15 ↗ bunch of other things and then your

36:17 ↗ messages were in between that I got

36:18 ↗ yesterday. No, we know that Chris

36:22 ↗ Hayes's book says we have to catch

36:23 ↗ people's attention. Send out a clear,

36:27 ↗ spaced, larger font, interesting,

36:31 ↗ attention getting email. Let us know

36:33 ↗ what happens with ICE. Let us know what

36:36 ↗ we do, what I will you believe, and what

36:39 ↗ and the phone number that the police

36:41 ↗ person gave. If you think I could get

36:42 ↗ that that fast, I could barely hear her.

36:44 ↗ Okay, we need help with that. Let's see

36:46 ↗ what we can mark it. Put some flyers.

36:48 ↗ Well done. Copy it off. Put it in the

36:51 ↗ library for folks. See what you can do

36:52 ↗ to get the word out clearly. Okay.

36:55 ↗ >> Thank you, Pat.

36:56 ↗ >> Mhm.

36:57 ↗ >> City clerk. Next up,

37:00 ↗ >> uh, the next name I have is a little

37:02 ↗ hard for me to read. Starts with an L.

37:05 ↗ First name. Second name starts with a K.

37:09 ↗ Maybe Lesie. Maybe someone who doesn't

37:12 ↗ want to speak.

37:14 ↗ And after that, I have Mary and Claire.

37:17 ↗ Would

37:18 ↗ you like to make comments?

37:20 ↗ >> Excuse me.

37:21 ↗ >> Would you like to make public comment?

37:26 ↗ >> Yes.

37:28 ↗ >> My name is Mary and Claire. I live here

37:30 ↗ in uh I'm a new resident in Isiqua and

37:34 ↗ I've taken quite an interest in uh what

37:36 ↗ has been going on here. and um the

37:39 ↗ incident that happened that so many

37:41 ↗ people are talking about tonight about

37:44 ↗ the immigrant that was uh carried off

37:47 ↗ and her child left behind. I feel real

37:50 ↗ strongly about that as I've worked with

37:53 ↗ immigrants for many years when I was in

37:55 ↗ Seattle and I did not understand what

37:59 ↗ the officer said about

38:02 ↗ they are protecting and finding out who

38:06 ↗ is ICE and I wanted to ask the question

38:10 ↗ how are the police going about

38:12 ↗ identifying who's ICE if they don't wear

38:15 ↗ any kind of identification other than

38:17 ↗ their camo outfit and their guns.

38:20 ↗ some with masks and some are not masked.

38:23 ↗ So, how how are the police maybe I

38:26 ↗ missed it, maybe I haven't heard, but

38:28 ↗ how are the police doing uh any

38:31 ↗ identification of the so-called ICE

38:33 ↗ agents that are milling about and or I

38:37 ↗ would say marauding in Isiqua.

38:41 ↗ >> Thank you.

38:42 ↗ >> Is there an answer to that?

38:43 ↗ >> I'm going to have some closing comments

38:44 ↗ and I'll make sure I answer that

38:45 ↗ question as best I can.

38:46 ↗ >> Thanks very much.

38:47 ↗ >> Thank you, ma'am. Next on the list, city

38:49 ↗ clerk.

38:50 ↗ >> So, I have the one name I'm unsure

38:52 ↗ about, which looks like possibly Lesie.

38:54 ↗ Other than that, no one has signed up to

38:56 ↗ speak. We do have about 10 members of

38:58 ↗ the public with us virtually, but at

38:59 ↗ this point, none of them have uh raised

39:01 ↗ their hand.

39:02 ↗ >> So, I will look around the room as well.

39:03 ↗ Is there anyone who's here? Come on up

39:05 ↗ to the microphone and just identify

39:07 ↗ yourself. That would be great.

39:16 ↗ >> Good evening. Thank you. I arrived a

39:17 ↗ little late. My name is Julie Carr. I

39:20 ↗ live in the Sycamore neighborhood on

39:22 ↗ Southeast Sycamore Lean. Um, I'm very

39:26 ↗ grateful for the opportunity to speak.

39:29 ↗ It's one of the great privileges that we

39:31 ↗ can any of us come forward. So, thank

39:34 ↗ you. I wanted to comment on the two main

39:37 ↗ topics as I see for this meeting

39:38 ↗ tonight. Um, I do want to say that I

39:42 ↗ support every way we can increase safety

39:45 ↗ for our immigrant community members. I

39:48 ↗ know the Isiqua government has different

39:50 ↗ jurisdiction

39:51 ↗ and a different role than the federal

39:53 ↗ government. Still, I look to you all and

39:57 ↗ to all of us here tonight

40:02 ↗ to creatively and courageously do what

40:05 ↗ we can to make sure children are not

40:08 ↗ separated from their parents because of

40:11 ↗ ICE arrests. I want our neighbors here

40:14 ↗ in Isiqua, not in ICE detention in

40:17 ↗ Tacoma

40:19 ↗ or El Salvador, Guantanamo Bay, where

40:23 ↗ wherever. And I also came with the same

40:26 ↗ question as a previous speaker about

40:29 ↗ hearing recent um reporting that um

40:32 ↗ license plate footage was being um

40:36 ↗ accessed by ICE. And I would like to

40:38 ↗ know whether that has happened, is

40:41 ↗ happening or could happen here in Isqua.

40:44 ↗ Um I also am deeply um interested in the

40:49 ↗ Metroflex program and I want to voice my

40:52 ↗ support for continuing with that. Um

40:54 ↗ reducing greenhouse gases and traffic

40:57 ↗ congestion uh is something I I really

41:01 ↗ want is to continue to prioritize.

41:04 ↗ Metroflex is easy. It's affordable and

41:08 ↗ um for those who live here, it's so

41:11 ↗ innovative and it doesn't have the

41:12 ↗ stigma of the big buses. Uh I really

41:15 ↗ think it's something we should build on

41:17 ↗ and and give more time to. It's used by

41:21 ↗ those with transportation challenges and

41:23 ↗ that's really critical. Um this past

41:26 ↗ winter my parents were unable to use

41:28 ↗ their car because of some medical

41:29 ↗ issues. They're in their early 80s. they

41:31 ↗ live in Isiqua and having Metroflex as

41:34 ↗ an option for them was amazing. So, I

41:36 ↗ just want you to know it's really

41:38 ↗ important. I hope we can keep it going.

41:39 ↗ Thank you.

41:40 ↗ >> Thank you, Julia. Is there anyone else

41:42 ↗ in the room this evening that would like

41:44 ↗ to make comments? And I'll check with

41:46 ↗ city clerk. Is there anyone else online?

41:49 ↗ >> Yes.

41:49 ↗ >> Great. Thanks,

41:50 ↗ >> Tara. I'm going to make you a panelist

41:53 ↗ now.

41:55 ↗ You should now have the option to unmute

41:56 ↗ and can choose to turn your video on.

42:10 ↗ Can you hear me now?

42:13 ↗ Thumbs up. Anybody?

42:16 ↗ Um, fantastic. Uh, thank you. Um, just

42:20 ↗ because nobody else online um was going

42:22 ↗ to speak, I thought I should say

42:23 ↗ something. Thank you everyone for being

42:25 ↗ here tonight. Thank you for allowing us

42:27 ↗ the space to um to uh voice our concerns

42:32 ↗ and thank you to everyone who came out

42:34 ↗ physically and um showed the presence in

42:38 ↗ concern for all of these issues with our

42:39 ↗ community. Um I try not to meddle in

42:43 ↗ city affairs because I know it's a hard

42:44 ↗ job and

42:47 ↗ um and so but this was really alarming

42:51 ↗ to me. I'm a mother. Um, my son went to

42:54 ↗ to school at Ispaw High School. Um, this

42:57 ↗ community is incredible and I'm so

43:00 ↗ grateful to get to be a part of it. Um,

43:02 ↗ that being said, um, I think I think

43:05 ↗ about um, one of like my modern heroes

43:09 ↗ is Tim Schneider who wrote the book on

43:12 ↗ um,

43:14 ↗ I can't remember it's like on

43:15 ↗ authoritarity or on on dictatorship. Um,

43:18 ↗ but one of the things he always says in

43:20 ↗ his lectures is don't comply in advance.

43:23 ↗ And

43:25 ↗ when I hear when I'm looking for a

43:28 ↗ strong statement by leadership,

43:30 ↗ um, and it's and I don't hear it, then

43:34 ↗ then it's not reassuring. Um, ICS is

43:38 ↗ unidentified.

43:40 ↗ They are racial profiling. They are

43:44 ↗ carving anyone who attempts to hold them

43:47 ↗ accountable. I think our um the second

43:50 ↗ speaker tonight talked about her

43:52 ↗ roommate disappearing.

43:54 ↗ You know, if if I don't know if any of

43:56 ↗ us have ever just, you know, maybe had a

43:58 ↗ bad weekend or something and spent a day

44:00 ↗ in the slammer.

44:02 ↗ If you've ever just happened to be in a

44:05 ↗ facility where you realize that you

44:06 ↗ can't leave, it's frightening.

44:11 ↗ The thought of this mother sitting in a

44:13 ↗ place where she doesn't know what is

44:16 ↗ happening, where she does not have legal

44:18 ↗ representation, where she doesn't know

44:19 ↗ what's what happened to her kid after

44:21 ↗ she left, um, keeps me up at night

44:26 ↗ because it can happen to any of us. And

44:28 ↗ if we don't think that, that is not what

44:30 ↗ history shows us. Um, our laws matter

44:34 ↗ too in our state. We are a state. We are

44:37 ↗ a we are a a federation.

44:41 ↗ We do not agree with these laws. We They

44:44 ↗ are They are unclear. The federal laws

44:45 ↗ are unclear. They're being rewritten. Um

44:48 ↗ they are still pending. We have an

44:51 ↗ attorney general. We have a governor. We

44:56 ↗ have lots of resources. We are a very

44:59 ↗ intelligent community, which is

45:01 ↗ something I really love.

45:03 ↗ I and I don't hear this collective

45:06 ↗ cohesive,

45:08 ↗ you know, siding with the people instead

45:11 ↗ of siding with the people who are

45:13 ↗ snatching our neighbors off of the

45:15 ↗ street.

45:17 ↗ I promise you, if I saw a woman

45:18 ↗ screaming on the street, I'm not going

45:20 ↗ to I it's not about a badge.

45:23 ↗ She's a woman. That's a man. These

45:26 ↗ tactics are un inhumane

45:30 ↗ and they will leave the scars that we

45:32 ↗ heard about tonight. So I'm asking as we

45:35 ↗ go forward, I mean they are staying in

45:37 ↗ our community at one of the hotels in

45:40 ↗ downtown.

45:42 ↗ They are ICE is among us. They don't

45:45 ↗ just show they're here every single day

45:48 ↗ looking for more of our neighbors and we

45:50 ↗ need to take that very seriously.

45:53 ↗ Um,

45:55 ↗ and so I encourage anyone and everyone

45:57 ↗ to um

45:59 ↗ to just uh ponder on those words and

46:01 ↗ everything else we've heard tonight and

46:03 ↗ think about how we re revisit

46:08 ↗ the the tactics we've been taking now

46:10 ↗ and rethink what we are going to be

46:11 ↗ doing in the future to make our

46:13 ↗ neighbors safe because this is not going

46:15 ↗ to decelerate. It is not if we comply it

46:18 ↗ will not get better. That's not how this

46:20 ↗ works. So, thank you. Thank you for

46:22 ↗ letting me speak and thank you for for

46:24 ↗ your time tonight.

46:25 ↗ >> Thank you very much, Tara. City clerk,

46:27 ↗ is there anyone else indicating a desire

46:29 ↗ to speak?

46:29 ↗ >> No. Looking around the room, is there

46:31 ↗ anyone else who would like to address

46:33 ↗ tonight before I do some summary

46:35 ↗ comments? Well, I want to thank

46:37 ↗ everybody who came tonight. This is a

46:39 ↗ extremely traumatizing time in the

46:41 ↗ community, and you can hear it in

46:43 ↗ people's voices. You can hear it in the

46:45 ↗ language that they use in comparisons to

46:47 ↗ Nazi Germany and disappearing.

46:50 ↗ ICE has been in Isiqua since the

46:53 ↗ President Trump decided that that's what

46:55 ↗ they are going to do across the country

46:57 ↗ in order to create terror not only

46:59 ↗ amongst those that are undocumented but

47:01 ↗ amongst all community members. Um this

47:04 ↗ is a really difficult time. I have a

47:07 ↗ concern with um none of the language

47:11 ↗ that any of our folks chose to stay

47:13 ↗ tonight to say how strongly you feel

47:15 ↗ about this. I think the bigger concern

47:17 ↗ is some of the language that has been

47:19 ↗ used by local electeds has given the

47:21 ↗ impression that we do not have to comply

47:24 ↗ with um the the laws that we have. All

47:27 ↗ of my officers have sworn to obey the

47:30 ↗ law. So they there are no options for

47:32 ↗ them to start to do different things to

47:35 ↗ start to fight back against ICE. Their

47:37 ↗ message is clear. call 911 and let us

47:41 ↗ know if there are if there is parked

47:43 ↗ vehicles that are of concern to you that

47:45 ↗ we can run the license plates on. If you

47:47 ↗ see activity that's concerning, if it is

47:49 ↗ really a kidnapping or a disappearance,

47:53 ↗ not done by ICE, that is a criminal

47:55 ↗ invest invest uh action that we can

47:58 ↗ investigate. So, I want to make sure

48:00 ↗ that we're telling everybody the same

48:02 ↗ thing. Please call 911. Uh you do not

48:05 ↗ have to engage. I'm sorry, Tara, but I

48:08 ↗ would be horrified if you did engage and

48:11 ↗ were hurt or people around you were

48:13 ↗ hurt. So, we are not encouraging

48:16 ↗ residents and community members to get

48:18 ↗ between somebody that is attempting to

48:20 ↗ be detained and yourself. I'm not sure

48:23 ↗ that um that message is getting out

48:25 ↗ there enough, but we really want you to

48:27 ↗ call us. I did hear about the distrust

48:30 ↗ in police services from one of the

48:32 ↗ ministers that came tonight. He's had an

48:34 ↗ absolutely abominable experience

48:37 ↗ himself. This is a time we have to build

48:40 ↗ up the trust between the resources we do

48:42 ↗ have, which is our local police

48:43 ↗ department. The information out there

48:45 ↗ that has um given the impression that

48:48 ↗ they don't care, they're cooperating, or

48:50 ↗ they could do more, is false and

48:53 ↗ harmful. It is leading people to believe

48:55 ↗ that if ICE shows up at a school, police

48:58 ↗ officers can go on and stop a child from

49:00 ↗ being removed from the school. and it's

49:02 ↗ not true. So sometimes as mayor you're

49:06 ↗ trying to find the things and give the

49:07 ↗ information to the community that they

49:09 ↗ that can be done and sometimes you're in

49:11 ↗ this horrible position of saying this is

49:15 ↗ where the country is at this moment and

49:17 ↗ it's terrifying and my local police

49:20 ↗ department cannot do anything different

49:22 ↗ than what they're currently doing. The

49:24 ↗ governor is aware of the situation. I

49:25 ↗ talked with Senator Murray's staff as

49:27 ↗ well. They are all wanting to tell you

49:30 ↗ the same message. This is bad. This is

49:34 ↗ terrible. Call 911. At least the police

49:38 ↗ department may be able to find details

49:40 ↗ and information about detention,

49:42 ↗ verification of whether or not they're

49:43 ↗ really ICE officers, cuz believe me,

49:45 ↗ somebody is going to pretend to be an

49:47 ↗ ICE officer and kidnap somebody. That is

49:49 ↗ a crime we can investigate. But I just

49:52 ↗ want you to know that the council, the

49:54 ↗ mayor, the administration feel awful

49:57 ↗ about this and want you to have the

49:58 ↗ facts. And I heard tonight so many

50:00 ↗ people saying, "What's your action plan?

50:03 ↗ What are the police going to do

50:04 ↗ differently?" And I'm going to tell you,

50:06 ↗ there isn't anything they can do

50:07 ↗ differently. Hang on one second, please.

50:10 ↗ We're done. We're done with public

50:11 ↗ comments. So, there were some questions

50:14 ↗ today about flop cameras. There were

50:16 ↗ questions about speed cameras. And I

50:18 ↗ know that these are with our chief right

50:19 ↗ now for to get an understanding of

50:21 ↗ whether any of our data was compromised,

50:24 ↗ if any of our data was used to help them

50:27 ↗ find a resident in Isiqua. and we will

50:29 ↗ get you that information and we will

50:32 ↗ publicize it with a little more bold

50:33 ↗ lettering and more succinct messaging

50:35 ↗ because I hear that you want to hear the

50:38 ↗ facts but quickly. You want the

50:40 ↗ information, you want to be able to see

50:41 ↗ it and you want to hear about it. So

50:43 ↗ there is questions that I heard about um

50:47 ↗ uh deportations and um also wanted to uh

50:54 ↗ reiterate that we do have local agencies

50:56 ↗ here that provide refugee and immigrant

50:59 ↗ services and the messaging has been send

51:02 ↗ them a donation through a website,

51:04 ↗ volunteer to walk kids to school, to run

51:07 ↗ errands for people, um provide support

51:09 ↗ to the agencies that are providing

51:12 ↗ support directly to immigrants and

51:14 ↗ refugees. So, it's going to be

51:16 ↗ disappointing when I come out and the

51:19 ↗ governor and the, you know, federal

51:22 ↗ congress uh senators say there isn't

51:24 ↗ anything we can do until the federal

51:26 ↗ laws change. This is the state of the

51:28 ↗ land and it is awful. It is just awful.

51:32 ↗ I am sorry to have to tell you that that

51:35 ↗ we will continue on and take any

51:37 ↗ suggestions you have, answer any of the

51:39 ↗ questions that you have, but the

51:41 ↗ community needs to step up and help with

51:44 ↗ those services that are here and

51:46 ↗ continue to call 911 every time you see

51:48 ↗ something that is dangerous. Every time

51:50 ↗ you have a concern, we have been getting

51:53 ↗ photos of cars. We have been looking up

51:55 ↗ the license plates to verify if they're

51:56 ↗ government vehicles or not. We have not

51:59 ↗ ever been able to verify a government

52:01 ↗ vehicle yet from one of those calls, but

52:02 ↗ we take every single one that calls in

52:05 ↗ ever since the laws changed in January.

52:08 ↗ So, um, some of the other items, I know

52:10 ↗ this is going to be a topic for a while.

52:12 ↗ We'll be putting out more information as

52:15 ↗ we get it. It has taken over 3 to four

52:17 ↗ days even to get all the facts sorted

52:20 ↗ out as best that we know. So, we will

52:22 ↗ continue to send information out on

52:24 ↗ this. And as far as condemnation, we

52:27 ↗ will condemn it as loudly as everybody

52:29 ↗ else and so will the federal governments

52:31 ↗ and so will your governor. Condemnation

52:34 ↗ is important for the community to hear.

52:36 ↗ I just wanted to let you know on terms

52:38 ↗ of the side of action. I we are in a

52:42 ↗ really terrible position.

52:44 ↗ Um the other folks who came tonight came

52:47 ↗ to talk about the original special

52:48 ↗ business meeting which was on the

52:51 ↗ budget. We heard about Metroflex. We

52:53 ↗ also heard a request for local

52:55 ↗ newspapers again. Um, we heard from one

52:59 ↗ of our nonprofits about funding in the

53:01 ↗ budget. We heard from folks about

53:03 ↗ climate action and making sure we stay

53:05 ↗ true to our ideals of that. Um,

53:11 ↗ and I'm not sure if I've missed

53:13 ↗ everything or I think I I've captured

53:15 ↗ it. So, I want to thank you for coming

53:17 ↗ tonight. We are going to take a fivem

53:19 ↗ minute recess uh before we start with

53:21 ↗ our budget information because we know

53:23 ↗ many people here were primarily

53:24 ↗ interested in this um

53:28 ↗ horrible incident with the mom at the

53:29 ↗ daycare and the child. So we'll take a

53:32 ↗ 5minute recess. I'll make myself and

53:34 ↗ deputy city administrator Andrea

53:35 ↗ available if you have some questions of

53:37 ↗ other things that we need to follow up

53:38 ↗ on. That'd be great. So starting at uh

53:41 ↗ 7:25 we're going to take a fivem minute

53:43 ↗ break. Thanks.

1:04:55 ↗ Tim, I think we're ready to go back on

1:04:56 ↗ camera.

1:05:02 ↗ >> We are back from our recess and we are

1:05:06 ↗ one council member down. The

1:05:11 ↗ >> you get him. Okay, [laughter]

1:05:13 ↗ give us another minute or two. We need

1:05:14 ↗ to get council member Joe.

1:05:18 ↗ Yo Joe,

1:05:21 ↗ maybe what I will do is just do some

1:05:24 ↗ introduction. Um, so in closing uh

1:05:27 ↗ audience comments again, I just want to

1:05:29 ↗ make sure that the community knows that

1:05:31 ↗ they can write to their city council at

1:05:33 ↗ any time at city councilwah.gov.

1:05:36 ↗ And as we move into the agenda item for

1:05:38 ↗ this evening, uh, ID 1922, this is the

1:05:43 ↗ 202526

1:05:45 ↗ midbian budget adjustment. The city

1:05:48 ↗ council considered the budget

1:05:49 ↗ adjustments at their October 13th

1:05:51 ↗ committee of the whole meeting and most

1:05:53 ↗ recently at the October 20th council

1:05:56 ↗ meeting. The deliberations will continue

1:05:58 ↗ tonight. And um, Director Garcia, if you

1:06:01 ↗ want to come up, we'll just have you get

1:06:04 ↗ ready. So, when Council Member Joe is

1:06:07 ↗ here, we'll kick it off. So, we'll have

1:06:09 ↗ a few minutes.

1:06:13 ↗ Oh, okay. An update. He has uh another

1:06:17 ↗ commitment that he has to do right now

1:06:19 ↗ and so he will not be joining us for

1:06:21 ↗ this part of the presentation. Kristen,

1:06:23 ↗ you're on.

1:06:25 ↗ >> All right. Thank you, mayor, and good

1:06:26 ↗ evening, council. So, as the mayor

1:06:29 ↗ mentioned, this is in followup to um a

1:06:32 ↗ couple meetings that we had on our

1:06:33 ↗ midbanium adjustments. council had asked

1:06:36 ↗ for additional information to be brought

1:06:38 ↗ forward and that's what I'm here to

1:06:40 ↗ cover with you tonight. So, first um I'm

1:06:43 ↗ going to do a historical review of our

1:06:46 ↗ general fund unrestricted fund balance

1:06:48 ↗ looking back to 2020. How has that been

1:06:51 ↗ performing over time? Also going to have

1:06:53 ↗ some continued discussion on the

1:06:55 ↗ proposed amendments that we've discussed

1:06:57 ↗ in the the previous two meetings. And

1:07:00 ↗ then there's a couple new um policy

1:07:02 ↗ items that we want to talk about um in

1:07:05 ↗ relation to our general fund reserve

1:07:06 ↗ requirement policy and then an idea

1:07:09 ↗ about establishing an audit committee.

1:07:13 ↗ So no action will be asked uh for count

1:07:15 ↗ from council tonight. Uh we're just

1:07:17 ↗ seeking council input on the final

1:07:20 ↗ adjustments to be brought forward um in

1:07:23 ↗ on November 17th and we're also seeking

1:07:26 ↗ input on the two policy items. So, some

1:07:28 ↗ of the items I want council to think

1:07:30 ↗ about as I'm going through the

1:07:31 ↗ presentations are um I'm going to be

1:07:34 ↗ revisiting some of the budget

1:07:35 ↗ adjustments that we've talked about

1:07:37 ↗ previously. Are there any items that we

1:07:39 ↗ want to add? Are there any items that we

1:07:41 ↗ don't want removed? If if I'm presenting

1:07:44 ↗ something that we've removed from um the

1:07:47 ↗ adjustments, what is our target for

1:07:50 ↗ closing the fund balance gap? Is that a

1:07:52 ↗ 10% 12%? Do we need to get all the way

1:07:54 ↗ up to the 15% by the end of the bianium?

1:07:57 ↗ And then are there any other areas in

1:07:59 ↗ the budget that we might need to focus

1:08:01 ↗ on as to reach our target percentage? So

1:08:04 ↗ just some questions to think about as we

1:08:06 ↗ uh continue our discussion. So I want to

1:08:08 ↗ start out the presentation with a

1:08:10 ↗ historical review of how our fund

1:08:12 ↗ balance has been performing um since

1:08:15 ↗ 2020. So our um and again this is a just

1:08:19 ↗ a general overview and then I'm going to

1:08:20 ↗ walk through each of the years in the

1:08:22 ↗ next couple of slides. So, our

1:08:24 ↗ unrestricted fund balance has decreased

1:08:26 ↗ uh 53% between 2020 and 2024.

1:08:31 ↗ Uh our ongoing revenue hasn't been

1:08:33 ↗ keeping pace with our ongoing expenses.

1:08:36 ↗ Um the city through the budget adoption

1:08:38 ↗ process and the budget amendment process

1:08:40 ↗ has made one-time um one-time and

1:08:44 ↗ ongoing investments that did reduce fund

1:08:46 ↗ balance. And then there was some sizable

1:08:48 ↗ restricted revenue in the general fund

1:08:51 ↗ um making it a little bit less

1:08:53 ↗ transparent to see how our ongoing

1:08:55 ↗ revenue expenditures have been

1:08:56 ↗ performing over time. And then the

1:08:58 ↗ percent of of fund balance was

1:09:00 ↗ calculated on total expenditures meaning

1:09:04 ↗ restricted and unrestricted which as

1:09:07 ↗ expenditures increased then the

1:09:09 ↗ percentage needed for the unrestricted

1:09:11 ↗ fund balance would also increase.

1:09:15 ↗ So this is just a representation of what

1:09:18 ↗ the actual fund um general fund

1:09:21 ↗ performance has been over time. So in

1:09:24 ↗ 2020 our revenue was 50 million. Uh we

1:09:27 ↗ did see an uptick in 2021 and 2022 both

1:09:31 ↗ from restricted revenue u primarily ARPA

1:09:34 ↗ and affordable housing and from

1:09:36 ↗ unrestricted revenue. In 2023, uh,

1:09:39 ↗ revenue started to slow down and then

1:09:42 ↗ revenue in 2024 was 63 million. So, if

1:09:46 ↗ we compare our 2020 revenue at 50

1:09:49 ↗ million to our 2024 revenue at 63

1:09:52 ↗ million, we have 12.5 million in revenue

1:09:55 ↗ in 2024 than we had in 2020. Now,

1:09:58 ↗ comparing our expenditures in 2020 to

1:10:01 ↗ 2024, our expenditures increased by 21.5

1:10:05 ↗ million. Now, that does include both

1:10:08 ↗ unrestricted and restricted revenue, but

1:10:11 ↗ that's what I'm talking about when we're

1:10:13 ↗ starting to see that our ongoing revenue

1:10:15 ↗ isn't quite keeping pace with our

1:10:16 ↗ ongoing expenditures. And then our 2020

1:10:19 ↗ fund balance was 20 million and and then

1:10:23 ↗ in 2024, it was reduced down to 9

1:10:26 ↗ million or about 14% of expenditures.

1:10:31 ↗ So now I want to walk through um kind of

1:10:34 ↗ a little bit more in detail yearbyear on

1:10:37 ↗ uh what um actual performance has been.

1:10:41 ↗ So starting with the 2021 adopted

1:10:44 ↗ budget, we did expect a draw down of our

1:10:46 ↗ fund balance. So we did budget for a

1:10:48 ↗ draw down of our fund balance.

1:10:50 ↗ Subsequent to that, our forecast came

1:10:52 ↗ out and showed that the big four revenue

1:10:54 ↗ was outperforming our expectations. Um

1:10:57 ↗ at this time we also started uh

1:10:59 ↗ receiving some restricted revenues. Our

1:11:01 ↗ unrestricted fund balance increased by

1:11:04 ↗ about three million. So it actually

1:11:06 ↗ outperformed budget outperformed our

1:11:08 ↗ forecast. Um and that was due to revenue

1:11:11 ↗ increases in the Borg for revenue and we

1:11:14 ↗ had some under spends on the personnel

1:11:15 ↗ side. So our unrestricted fund balance

1:11:19 ↗ ended up outperforming both our budget

1:11:21 ↗ and forecast. So our fund balance was

1:11:23 ↗ increasing.

1:11:25 ↗ So again, this is just a 2020 or 2020

1:11:28 ↗ and 2021 comparison of what our actual

1:11:30 ↗ performance was. So in 2021, our

1:11:33 ↗ revenues are 65 million as compared to

1:11:35 ↗ 50 million in 2020. So again, that

1:11:38 ↗ increase is because of both restricted

1:11:40 ↗ and unrestricted revenue increases. Our

1:11:43 ↗ expenses are 53 million in 2021 as

1:11:46 ↗ compared to 46 million in 2020. A lot of

1:11:49 ↗ that spending uh was the restricted

1:11:52 ↗ revenue. And then our unrestrict

1:11:54 ↗ unrestricted fund balance increased from

1:11:57 ↗ 20 million to 2020 or 22 million and

1:12:01 ↗ stayed at that 43% of expenditures. And

1:12:04 ↗ again that was because of the big four

1:12:06 ↗ revenue increase and the underspend um

1:12:08 ↗ in personnel.

1:12:10 ↗ So now looking at our 2021 and 2022

1:12:14 ↗ actual comparison, our 2022 adopted

1:12:17 ↗ budget continued to show a decline in

1:12:19 ↗ our fund balance through 2026.

1:12:23 ↗ Subsequent to that, our updated forecast

1:12:25 ↗ once again showed that our revenue was

1:12:27 ↗ outperforming our budget and then an

1:12:30 ↗ intentional spendown of our fund balance

1:12:32 ↗ happened to pay down a portion of our

1:12:34 ↗ 2019 bonds in [snorts] 2022.

1:12:38 ↗ So in 2022, you can see the uptick in

1:12:41 ↗ revenue from 65 million to 67 million.

1:12:44 ↗ You also see an uptick in expenditures

1:12:46 ↗ both in restricted and the payown of the

1:12:49 ↗ debt on the 2019 bonds. So, our

1:12:51 ↗ unrestricted fund balance went down

1:12:54 ↗ again because we um intentionally paid

1:12:56 ↗ down the debt. So, the unrestricted fund

1:12:58 ↗ balance went um from 43% to 33%. Um that

1:13:03 ↗ was again because the intentional

1:13:04 ↗ spendown of the debt, but also um now

1:13:07 ↗ you'll see how the increase in

1:13:09 ↗ expenditures are affecting our

1:13:11 ↗ percentage of fund balance. So, the 64

1:13:13 ↗ million was an increase of the 53

1:13:15 ↗ million 2021. So as expenditures

1:13:18 ↗ increase, the amount required for our

1:13:21 ↗ fund balance also increases. And so

1:13:23 ↗ that's when we'll talk about later that

1:13:25 ↗ we want to um make a policy suggestion

1:13:28 ↗ to make sure that we're comparing our

1:13:29 ↗ unrestricted um fund balance to

1:13:32 ↗ unrestricted expenditures instead of

1:13:34 ↗ calculating it on the total because as

1:13:36 ↗ those expenditures go up the the more

1:13:38 ↗ required in fund balance.

1:13:41 ↗ Okay. So now a comparison of 2022 to

1:13:44 ↗ 2023 actuals. So again, our adopted

1:13:47 ↗ budget is still having um showing

1:13:49 ↗ concerns of long-term sustainability.

1:13:52 ↗ Um but now the forecast is starting to

1:13:54 ↗ show that signs that that the sales tax

1:13:57 ↗ is slowing down and now revenues are

1:14:00 ↗ starting to underperform the forecast.

1:14:03 ↗ So the forecast um does show a

1:14:05 ↗ significant drop in the percentage of

1:14:06 ↗ unrestricted fund balance as compared to

1:14:09 ↗ the previous year's forecast. So the

1:14:12 ↗ actual fund balance decreased um from

1:14:14 ↗ planned spending. Um that's the point in

1:14:17 ↗ time where we're starting to restore

1:14:19 ↗ staffing levels um from the pandemic

1:14:21 ↗ cuts and then made some one-time

1:14:23 ↗ investments through the budget and um

1:14:25 ↗ budget amendment process.

1:14:29 ↗ So looking at revenue, it is down

1:14:32 ↗ between 2022 and 2023. That is a

1:14:35 ↗ combination of both restricted and

1:14:37 ↗ unrestricted revenue. Um expenditures

1:14:40 ↗ are up in 2023. Uh we're starting to

1:14:43 ↗ spend down our ARPA funding. Uh we're

1:14:45 ↗ ending the compensated absences and

1:14:48 ↗ planned spending of unrestricted fund

1:14:50 ↗ balance. So you can see between 2022 and

1:14:53 ↗ 2023, our unrestricted ending fund

1:14:55 ↗ balance went from 21 million down to 14

1:14:58 ↗ million or uh 20%.

1:15:02 ↗ So now moving forward to 2023 and 2024

1:15:06 ↗ actuals. Uh we're continued spending

1:15:09 ↗ down a fund balance. Uh we are making

1:15:10 ↗ investments to continue to deliver more

1:15:13 ↗ programs and services. Um now though

1:15:16 ↗ we've added the ongoing 2023

1:15:18 ↗ expenditures when we were storing um

1:15:21 ↗ staffing positions and making other

1:15:23 ↗ investments. And in 2024 we had the

1:15:26 ↗ effects of the balm cyclone. And so the

1:15:28 ↗ further uh the fund balance further

1:15:30 ↗ reduced by the end of 2024.

1:15:33 ↗ So here you'll see that now in 2024 ARPA

1:15:37 ↗ is fully spent. And although our revenue

1:15:40 ↗ increased from 61 million to 63 million,

1:15:43 ↗ you can see um that our expenditures in

1:15:46 ↗ 2024 was 67 million. Revenues were 63

1:15:49 ↗ million. So our expenditures were more

1:15:51 ↗ than our revenue. So, our fund balance

1:15:54 ↗ declined again from 2023 at 14 million

1:15:57 ↗ down to 9 million or 14% in 2024.

1:16:02 ↗ So, now I just kind of want to recap

1:16:05 ↗ what all of that means. Um, so we

1:16:09 ↗ started coming out of the pandemic to uh

1:16:12 ↗ build conservative budgets. Coming out

1:16:13 ↗ of the pandemic, there was still a lot

1:16:15 ↗ lot of uncertainty in the economy. Our

1:16:18 ↗ budgets um consistently forecasted a

1:16:20 ↗ decline in fund balance. However, in

1:16:23 ↗ 2021 and 2022, there was an uptick in

1:16:26 ↗ revenue um exceeding the budget and

1:16:28 ↗ exceeding the forecast combined with an

1:16:30 ↗ underst spend in our expenditures. So

1:16:32 ↗ that was increasing fund balance in

1:16:34 ↗ those years. In 2023, then we started

1:16:37 ↗ seeing a slowdown in revenue and then

1:16:39 ↗ forecasts were adjusted down and then at

1:16:42 ↗ the same time we started to make

1:16:44 ↗ one-time and and ongoing investments to

1:16:47 ↗ spend down a fund balance. And then we

1:16:50 ↗ get to 2024, we have the bond cyclone

1:16:53 ↗ impacts to both 2024 and 2025. In 25, we

1:16:58 ↗ did have a planned uh spend down and

1:16:59 ↗ fund balance. And then the one time and

1:17:02 ↗ on ongoing um over the course of the

1:17:04 ↗ last few years has spent down the fund

1:17:06 ↗ balance. And now we're getting to a

1:17:08 ↗ point where even though 2026 is balanced

1:17:11 ↗ in terms of ongoing revenue

1:17:13 ↗ expenditures, the differential isn't

1:17:15 ↗ enough to add back and build up the fund

1:17:18 ↗ balance.

1:17:22 ↗ Okay. So that was the historical recap.

1:17:26 ↗ So now what I want to do is council had

1:17:28 ↗ a so council had asked for a historical

1:17:31 ↗ look back to show kind of what the fund

1:17:33 ↗ balance has been doing over time. Um

1:17:35 ↗ council also asked to bring back um what

1:17:39 ↗ adjustments could be made to restore our

1:17:42 ↗ 2026 percentage to the 15%. If you

1:17:46 ↗ recall, our original forecast when we

1:17:47 ↗ bought brought the budget adjustments

1:17:49 ↗ forward was projecting we'd been down to

1:17:51 ↗ 7%. So that's what I'm going to move

1:17:54 ↗ into now for the next part of the

1:17:56 ↗ presentation.

1:17:58 ↗ Um so our adjusted forecast, which

1:18:01 ↗ you'll see in a couple slides. So

1:18:03 ↗ there's a couple slides in between um

1:18:04 ↗ what I'll talk about now and then I'll

1:18:06 ↗ show you the numerical example of how

1:18:07 ↗ we're getting there. Um but our adjusted

1:18:09 ↗ forecast reflects ending fund balance in

1:18:12 ↗ 2025 of 9% and 10%. So that did move a

1:18:16 ↗ couple of percentage points up from our

1:18:18 ↗ original midbian presentation. Um the

1:18:21 ↗ proposed adjustments um I did itemize

1:18:24 ↗ those. Um they'll be they are reflected

1:18:26 ↗ in the forecast and and you'll see those

1:18:28 ↗ in a couple slides. Um I did want to

1:18:30 ↗ talk about Metroflex. Um there's been a

1:18:32 ↗ couple of questions on that and it has

1:18:34 ↗ been a a big part of discussions. Um so

1:18:37 ↗ in the original adopted budget uh we

1:18:40 ↗ budgeted 120,000 for Metroflex. Um I

1:18:43 ↗ know there's been some council

1:18:44 ↗ discussions about how we want to handle

1:18:45 ↗ that in in the midbanium adjustments. So

1:18:48 ↗ what you'll see um being brought forward

1:18:51 ↗ um reflected and and it's just for

1:18:53 ↗ discussion purposes. It's not an

1:18:55 ↗ official recommendation, but just for

1:18:57 ↗ discussion purposes that we removed the

1:19:00 ↗ 120,000 from the 2026 budget with the

1:19:03 ↗ thought that perhaps we could maybe fund

1:19:04 ↗ it um through the TBD fund. And um

1:19:07 ↗ you'll see a slide later where I have a

1:19:09 ↗ forecast of the TDBD fund so you can see

1:19:11 ↗ what the fund balance look like and if

1:19:13 ↗ that's something that you want to

1:19:14 ↗ entertain. But that's definitely a

1:19:16 ↗ question that we'll need to answer

1:19:18 ↗ throughout this process on uh what we

1:19:20 ↗ want to budget for that. Um also want to

1:19:23 ↗ make note that we've had conversations

1:19:25 ↗ previously about emergency management

1:19:27 ↗ fourth of July and World Cup. Nothing is

1:19:30 ↗ currently included in the adopted budget

1:19:33 ↗ nor in the midbanium adjustments. So

1:19:35 ↗ we'll need to um answer that question.

1:19:38 ↗ And then the percentage of unrestricted

1:19:40 ↗ fund balance is calculated for the

1:19:43 ↗ purposes of the 25 and 26 forecast on

1:19:46 ↗ unrestricted expenditures only. So we we

1:19:50 ↗ didn't want to do it as we historically

1:19:52 ↗ did on total expenditures. We wanted to

1:19:54 ↗ try to separate that again as a

1:19:56 ↗ mechanism to try to get closer to the

1:19:57 ↗ 15%.

1:19:59 ↗ Um, another item that we hadn't talked

1:20:01 ↗ about, but I felt like I u wanted to be

1:20:03 ↗ transparent and make note of it is we

1:20:06 ↗ did have um about 9.6 million in

1:20:09 ↗ proceeds from sales of property. That

1:20:11 ↗ money is currently sitting in the

1:20:13 ↗ general fund. That has been excluded

1:20:15 ↗ from any of the fund balance numbers um

1:20:18 ↗ that you're seeing tonight and have seen

1:20:19 ↗ previously. um considered that

1:20:22 ↗ restricted revenue and so I don't want

1:20:23 ↗ to over complicate things but just know

1:20:25 ↗ that money is in there and it's not

1:20:27 ↗ reflected in these fund balances. And

1:20:29 ↗ then another item um under spends we've

1:20:33 ↗ as I've talked about previously we've

1:20:35 ↗ historically had under spends in the

1:20:37 ↗ budget meaning we haven't spent all of

1:20:40 ↗ our planned expenditures um resulting in

1:20:43 ↗ increased fund balance. So for purposes

1:20:46 ↗ of the forecast we didn't anticipate any

1:20:48 ↗ under spends. That's not what we um have

1:20:51 ↗ been forecasting or seeing from the

1:20:53 ↗ departments with one exception. We had

1:20:56 ↗ budgeted um for a cola for

1:20:58 ↗ non-represented staff. The CPI came in

1:21:01 ↗ less than that. So we know that will be

1:21:03 ↗ an underspend. So we did reflect it in

1:21:05 ↗ our 2026 uh forecast which you'll see in

1:21:09 ↗ a little bit. Okay. So this is a summary

1:21:13 ↗ of our budget adjustments uh what I

1:21:15 ↗ called new spending in our general fund.

1:21:18 ↗ So, if we recall in our previous

1:21:20 ↗ presentation, we had some previously

1:21:23 ↗ approved um adjustments, meaning those

1:21:25 ↗ were one-time things that came before

1:21:27 ↗ council. They were already approved. We

1:21:29 ↗ just need to officially codify it in our

1:21:31 ↗ budget amendment. We [snorts] also had

1:21:32 ↗ some budget corrections that were not

1:21:35 ↗ new spending, but that were moving

1:21:36 ↗ budgets that were approved in one fund,

1:21:38 ↗ and we just need to move it to the other

1:21:40 ↗ fund. So, what this represents is things

1:21:43 ↗ that affect the general fund because

1:21:44 ↗ that's um primarily what we're talking

1:21:46 ↗ about that don't have any sources of

1:21:49 ↗ funding with a couple of se exceptions

1:21:51 ↗ that I want to talk about. Um so the

1:21:55 ↗ 30,000 for electric monitoring devices

1:21:57 ↗ for the defendants that will actually be

1:21:59 ↗ funded by the administrative office of

1:22:01 ↗ the court. So that does have a funding

1:22:03 ↗ source. So if we remove that item from

1:22:06 ↗ the budget adjustments, we remove the

1:22:08 ↗ related revenue. So that has a net zero

1:22:10 ↗ effect um to the budget. Um there has

1:22:13 ↗ been a couple questions on the ARPA fund

1:22:15 ↗ closeout. So I do want to talk about

1:22:17 ↗ that. We have fully spent ARPA. So that

1:22:20 ↗ technically isn't new spending. I just

1:22:22 ↗ didn't have another way to categorize it

1:22:24 ↗ um within the budget adjustments. But we

1:22:27 ↗ have fully spent ARPA. What that means

1:22:29 ↗ is we had spent money in the capital

1:22:31 ↗ projects fund on a project. That project

1:22:34 ↗ came in under what we thought we were

1:22:35 ↗ going to spend. So now we had this

1:22:37 ↗ $12,000 that we needed to apply in order

1:22:40 ↗ to close out the ARPA fundings. So we

1:22:42 ↗ just want to move those expenses that

1:22:44 ↗ were in the capital project fund to the

1:22:46 ↗ general fund um to audit costs which is

1:22:50 ↗ an allowable cost and now we can fully

1:22:52 ↗ close out ARPA um and we'll be done with

1:22:54 ↗ that. So that isn't new spending just

1:22:56 ↗ reallocating budget. The other item

1:22:58 ↗ that's had a couple questions that I

1:23:00 ↗ wanted to talk about are the two um

1:23:02 ↗ additional park positions. One of those

1:23:05 ↗ would be a maintenance position that

1:23:07 ↗ would be funded by the King County levy.

1:23:09 ↗ Um, that is a restricted revenue source.

1:23:12 ↗ It can only be used for new park

1:23:15 ↗ maintenance or park capital items. So,

1:23:18 ↗ we can't supplant with like existing

1:23:20 ↗ staff or existing items and that will be

1:23:23 ↗ funded for a six-year period. The second

1:23:25 ↗ position is a uh parks recreation

1:23:29 ↗ coordinator. So the idea is that that

1:23:31 ↗ position would be focused on bringing

1:23:34 ↗ new events in, generating more revenue,

1:23:36 ↗ which would offset the cost of the

1:23:38 ↗ position.

1:23:39 ↗ At the same time, we could reduce some

1:23:41 ↗ of our part-time costs, allocate what

1:23:44 ↗ was already approved in the budget to

1:23:46 ↗ help fund the other portion of that

1:23:48 ↗ position. So that that would have a no

1:23:51 ↗ net effect um on the budget as well. So

1:23:54 ↗ everything else that I haven't talked

1:23:56 ↗ about was kind of on the table, if you

1:23:58 ↗ will. um to try to make adjustments to

1:24:02 ↗ get us back up to the 15%.

1:24:05 ↗ >> Hey Kristen, it's okay for questions

1:24:07 ↗ now.

1:24:07 ↗ >> Of course.

1:24:07 ↗ >> Thanks, Council President.

1:24:09 ↗ >> Just a quick one on the

1:24:23 ↗ >> Thank you. Okay. um on the um King

1:24:26 ↗ County parks levy portion. Um you've put

1:24:29 ↗ this on a slide with general fund, but

1:24:31 ↗ is that are we considering it a

1:24:34 ↗ restricted

1:24:36 ↗ fund?

1:24:37 ↗ >> Um the King County levy technically is a

1:24:40 ↗ restricted revenue source. Yes.

1:24:42 ↗ >> Okay. So, we're considering expenditures

1:24:44 ↗ on that also restricted as well.

1:24:47 ↗ >> Correct.

1:24:48 ↗ >> Okay. Thanks.

1:24:49 ↗ >> Yes. Good question.

1:25:00 ↗ Okay for Oh, okay. Mayor,

1:25:03 ↗ >> that'd be great, Kristen. Thanks.

1:25:05 ↗ >> Okay, thank you.

1:25:07 ↗ Okay. So, now that I've kind of outlined

1:25:11 ↗ all the other adjustments that are kind

1:25:12 ↗ of on the table for consideration,

1:25:15 ↗ um this is a proposal that you'll you'll

1:25:18 ↗ see numerically in a couple of slides on

1:25:21 ↗ um what we tried to adjust to get back

1:25:24 ↗ up to the 15%. So, the leave payouts,

1:25:26 ↗ we're proposing to take those out of the

1:25:29 ↗ adjustments um and absorb those into our

1:25:31 ↗ operating uh budgets, hopefully offset

1:25:34 ↗ by underspend in other areas. Now, we

1:25:36 ↗ know we do have a cola under spend. So,

1:25:38 ↗ um that should cover a portion of that.

1:25:41 ↗ Uh use the streets fund balance to cover

1:25:44 ↗ LED lighting, copper theft, and bomb

1:25:46 ↗ cyclone costs. So, what that means is in

1:25:49 ↗ the original budget amendments, we had

1:25:52 ↗ money going from the general fund to the

1:25:54 ↗ streets fund. Then those costs are

1:25:56 ↗ actually captured in the streets fund.

1:25:57 ↗ So, what we're proposing is removing the

1:25:59 ↗ transfer from the general fund and just

1:26:02 ↗ having the streets fund um cover those

1:26:04 ↗ costs. and they do have um fund balance

1:26:06 ↗ to cover that.

1:26:08 ↗ And then the affordable housing study uh

1:26:11 ↗ removing that that was 150,000 and then

1:26:14 ↗ removing the pickerine barn generator

1:26:16 ↗ and server relocation.

1:26:18 ↗ So those are the expenditure items that

1:26:21 ↗ we're planning to and again these these

1:26:23 ↗ haven't been approved yet. Um these were

1:26:25 ↗ adjustments that were being brought

1:26:27 ↗ forward to spend in the next bianium.

1:26:29 ↗ So, we're just um indicating that we

1:26:32 ↗ would remove those um from the proposed

1:26:34 ↗ adjustments. The next item um should say

1:26:37 ↗ Oh,

1:26:37 ↗ >> do you want to uh the director to finish

1:26:39 ↗ the slide or

1:26:42 ↗ >> do you want to just finish this slide

1:26:43 ↗ and then we'll go to council member

1:26:45 ↗ Hall?

1:26:45 ↗ >> Absolutely. Yes. Um the next item should

1:26:48 ↗ be uh use of public safety sales tax in

1:26:50 ↗ 2026. I made a typo. It says 25, but um

1:26:53 ↗ our uh public safety sales tax doesn't

1:26:55 ↗ come online until next year. Um so what

1:26:58 ↗ this means is we're proposing to use the

1:27:01 ↗ revenue generated from the public safety

1:27:03 ↗ sales tax for these items which would

1:27:05 ↗ cover um the increased cost of public

1:27:08 ↗ defense would cover current existing

1:27:10 ↗ costs of salary and benefits and um

1:27:12 ↗ money toward the current fleet cost

1:27:15 ↗ allocation. So that would be shown as a

1:27:17 ↗ revenue ad in the budget adjustments.

1:27:20 ↗ >> Thank you Kristen. Council member Hall.

1:27:23 ↗ Thank you and thank you very much for

1:27:24 ↗ your detailed quick responses to my

1:27:26 ↗ email of questions uh earlier today. So

1:27:28 ↗ I just want to be really clear though

1:27:30 ↗ about so the affordable housing study

1:27:31 ↗ you said 150k is that how much we had

1:27:34 ↗ budgeted previously for that

1:27:36 ↗ >> that's the dollar amount that was

1:27:37 ↗ brought forward as a budget adjustment.

1:27:40 ↗ >> Okay. And so that would have been two

1:27:43 ↗ things right implementing the eco

1:27:46 ↗ northwest recommendations and updating

1:27:49 ↗ our housing strategy work plan. Is that

1:27:50 ↗ how we understand that?

1:27:52 ↗ Yes.

1:27:54 ↗ >> Yes.

1:27:54 ↗ >> Okay.

1:27:55 ↗ >> Those are those are one and the same.

1:27:57 ↗ >> I just wanted clarity clarity there.

1:27:59 ↗ Okay. I I just want to be really clear

1:28:00 ↗ because those are not I think to council

1:28:02 ↗ one and the same. So this item would is

1:28:06 ↗ that right? I mean we've talked

1:28:08 ↗ independently about these things being

1:28:10 ↗ very different at previous council

1:28:11 ↗ conversations. So I just wanted to make

1:28:12 ↗ sure that that 150,000

1:28:15 ↗ would cover the staff work necessary to

1:28:17 ↗ do both those two things. That was my

1:28:20 ↗ understanding that it was both of those

1:28:21 ↗ things.

1:28:21 ↗ >> Okay. I appreciate that clarity.

1:28:23 ↗ >> Yes. And thank you for asking that

1:28:25 ↗ question. Yes.

1:28:28 ↗ >> Okay. I

1:28:31 ↗ will continue on. So these are

1:28:33 ↗ additional items um for consideration.

1:28:37 ↗ Again, Metrflex there has been that has

1:28:41 ↗ been reflected as a possible reduction

1:28:43 ↗ to the general fund. I think what's up

1:28:45 ↗ for um question is whether we want to

1:28:48 ↗ keep that in. Do we want to remove it?

1:28:51 ↗ Do we want to consider using TBD? Um at

1:28:54 ↗ what level, if we do want to fund it, at

1:28:56 ↗ what level do we want to fund it? Um

1:28:58 ↗ again, emergency management, do we want

1:29:01 ↗ to use the TBD? Um do we want to add

1:29:03 ↗ that to the general fund? Um how do we

1:29:06 ↗ want to handle that in the budget

1:29:08 ↗ adjustments as well as the Fourth of

1:29:10 ↗ July and the World Cup? Um add to budget

1:29:12 ↗ adjustments. uh what funding source

1:29:14 ↗ general fund I know in the previous

1:29:16 ↗ conversations um we kind of talked about

1:29:19 ↗ maybe is that a lodging tax fund. So

1:29:21 ↗ again other than metrlex none of those

1:29:24 ↗ items have been reflected in the budget

1:29:26 ↗ adjustments. So that will be an area

1:29:29 ↗ that I I will need guidance on how we

1:29:31 ↗ move move forward with um the next round

1:29:34 ↗ of um draft adjustments.

1:29:40 ↗ Okay. So, I put this in there because I

1:29:42 ↗ had alluded that the TBD fund might be a

1:29:45 ↗ source for a couple of these items. So,

1:29:47 ↗ I just wanted to give council

1:29:49 ↗ perspective on what that looked like.

1:29:51 ↗ So, I want to start at the top at the

1:29:53 ↗ 2025 beginning fund balance. I did use

1:29:57 ↗ the actual, so the 1.244 million. I

1:30:00 ↗ wanted to use the actual fund balance

1:30:02 ↗ because it was actually lower than what

1:30:05 ↗ was budgeted and so I didn't want the

1:30:07 ↗ rest of the forecast to be overstated.

1:30:10 ↗ Um, other than that number, all of the

1:30:13 ↗ rest of it is what is actually included

1:30:15 ↗ in the 2025 and 2026 budget and then

1:30:18 ↗ what we have in the CIP going forward.

1:30:20 ↗ Um, so in 2027, uh, we plan to issue

1:30:23 ↗ some bonds for the Northwest Smamish uh,

1:30:26 ↗ road improvement project. And then

1:30:28 ↗ you'll see kind of at the bottom that

1:30:29 ↗ we're anticipating paying some debt

1:30:32 ↗ service on that. Another thing that I uh

1:30:34 ↗ want to note that

1:30:37 ↗ these are just estimated numbers.

1:30:40 ↗ Obviously uh we don't know what the full

1:30:42 ↗ cost of the projects will be until we go

1:30:43 ↗ out for bid. Um so any decisions that

1:30:46 ↗ you make now to use the TBD fund balance

1:30:49 ↗ could impact future projects. Um we'll

1:30:52 ↗ also start building our new banial

1:30:54 ↗ budget next year. likely we'll be

1:30:56 ↗ updating our CIP. So there might be

1:30:58 ↗ other transportation priorities that

1:31:00 ↗ haven't been captured here yet. So I

1:31:02 ↗ just want full disclosure that if we if

1:31:04 ↗ we do decide to use it now in the budget

1:31:06 ↗ uh adjustments for this bianium um even

1:31:09 ↗ though fund balance looks looks healthy,

1:31:11 ↗ we don't know what those future costs on

1:31:13 ↗ the projects that we already have

1:31:15 ↗ identified uh will look like. So that

1:31:17 ↗ was the purpose of this slide just to

1:31:19 ↗ give some context.

1:31:21 ↗ And then here's where I'm providing the

1:31:24 ↗ detailed um review of the preliminary

1:31:28 ↗ forecast in column one for 2025 versus

1:31:31 ↗ the updated forecast. So that's where

1:31:34 ↗ you see middle of the page uh where

1:31:36 ↗ we're removing the general fund um

1:31:38 ↗ transfer the street operations and we're

1:31:41 ↗ removing the retirement cash outs that

1:31:42 ↗ we talked about. And then in the updated

1:31:45 ↗ forecast on the very right hand side, um

1:31:47 ↗ we're removing um those items to show

1:31:50 ↗ you that we've got to 9% in 2025 and up

1:31:54 ↗ to 10% in 2026. So just a numerical

1:31:58 ↗ representation of what we're proposing

1:32:01 ↗ to change in the adjustments. And then

1:32:03 ↗ at the top um you'll see kind of the top

1:32:07 ↗ middle where we're reflecting the public

1:32:09 ↗ safety sales tax revenue of the 262,000

1:32:12 ↗ which will cover the increase in public

1:32:14 ↗ defense costs and then the 800,000 which

1:32:17 ↗ will help support existing costs for um

1:32:21 ↗ personnel and fleet.

1:32:26 ↗ >> Kristen, can we take a question?

1:32:27 ↗ >> We can. Yes,

1:32:28 ↗ >> President.

1:32:29 ↗ >> Thank you. Just trying to understand

1:32:31 ↗ this. I understand the idea of like

1:32:35 ↗ Metroflex that was in the budget you're

1:32:38 ↗ showing there in the updated forecast as

1:32:40 ↗ a negative because you're pulling it out

1:32:42 ↗ and moving it to another fund.

1:32:46 ↗ Can you

1:32:48 ↗ >> go ahead city deputy city administrator?

1:32:51 ↗ Uh, I believe what Kristen is showing is

1:32:54 ↗ not moving it to another fund, but to

1:32:56 ↗ help get to that 10%, we've removed the

1:33:00 ↗ funding for 2026.

1:33:02 ↗ >> Yes. So, we have the opportunity to talk

1:33:04 ↗ about that being in TBD, etc. Correct.

1:33:07 ↗ >> But that was something that was in our

1:33:09 ↗ adopted budget. That's correct.

1:33:10 ↗ >> For something else like the Pickering

1:33:12 ↗ Bard emergency generator, that wasn't in

1:33:15 ↗ our previous budget.

1:33:17 ↗ >> No. No. So the number so if we go from

1:33:21 ↗ in the 2026 updated forecast column if

1:33:24 ↗ you go down to the unrestricted the 67

1:33:26 ↗ million257 number

1:33:28 ↗ >> so that includes the adopted budget plus

1:33:32 ↗ all of the original amendments that we

1:33:35 ↗ had talked about previously. So now what

1:33:37 ↗ I'm doing is backing out

1:33:39 ↗ >> okay got it

1:33:40 ↗ >> some of those items. So they include

1:33:42 ↗ some of the ones that you previously

1:33:43 ↗ approved already. Um they also include

1:33:46 ↗ the park positions that were already

1:33:48 ↗ funded. So so that's how does that um

1:33:51 ↗ help clarify a little bit

1:33:53 ↗ >> toward that idea. If some of those are

1:33:55 ↗ in restricted funds, are you also

1:33:58 ↗ adjusting the restricted expenditures?

1:34:02 ↗ >> Um

1:34:04 ↗ yes, for purposes of the restricted, I

1:34:07 ↗ believe that's only really representing

1:34:09 ↗ affordable housing at this point.

1:34:11 ↗ >> Okay. Um,

1:34:13 ↗ >> but there's things like this park

1:34:15 ↗ expenditures and public safety.

1:34:18 ↗ >> Yes, there's there's still some more

1:34:20 ↗ work to do in terms of pulling out

1:34:22 ↗ restricted. Um, I would have to

1:34:25 ↗ understand the dollar amount of the King

1:34:27 ↗ County levy. It might not be as material

1:34:30 ↗ as like the ARPA or the affordable

1:34:32 ↗ housing. Um, that doesn't mean that

1:34:34 ↗ we're not tracking it at that level, but

1:34:36 ↗ enough to separate it another fund, it

1:34:39 ↗ might not warrant that. So, we're we're

1:34:41 ↗ still doing that analysis. We wanted to

1:34:43 ↗ start with the affordable housing

1:34:44 ↗ because that was definitely significant.

1:34:46 ↗ >> Okay. And on the public safety sales

1:34:48 ↗ tax, you have that under unrestricted

1:34:52 ↗ revenue,

1:34:53 ↗ but

1:34:54 ↗ >> that should be that would be restricted.

1:34:57 ↗ Technically, it's actually going to be

1:34:58 ↗ its own separate fund.

1:35:00 ↗ >> Yeah, exactly what I was going to say.

1:35:02 ↗ So you're representing that there as

1:35:06 ↗ revenue rather than pulling those things

1:35:09 ↗ out of [snorts] expenditures.

1:35:11 ↗ >> I for simplicity otherwise we would have

1:35:14 ↗ had to shown another slide with the

1:35:16 ↗ public safety sales. So we would

1:35:18 ↗ actually be pulling expenditures out of

1:35:20 ↗ the unrestricted to show the offset in

1:35:23 ↗ revenue. So we would have had to have a

1:35:24 ↗ whole another representation. So for

1:35:26 ↗ simplicity purposes, this will be

1:35:29 ↗ offsetting expenditures and those would

1:35:31 ↗ all move to a separate fund. Revenue and

1:35:33 ↗ expense.

1:35:35 ↗ >> Yeah. I'm just trying to think about it.

1:35:36 ↗ If we're calculating the percentage of

1:35:39 ↗ unrestricted expenditures, those are

1:35:42 ↗ technically areas that we are lowering

1:35:45 ↗ from

1:35:46 ↗ our adopted budget.

1:35:49 ↗ >> Yes.

1:35:51 ↗ They would be. Yes.

1:35:54 ↗ >> Okay. So, can we get an update then of

1:35:57 ↗ this slide because that obviously

1:35:59 ↗ changes the calculation.

1:36:01 ↗ >> So, you want to re just so I'm clear,

1:36:04 ↗ you want us to remove from the 67

1:36:07 ↗ million the 800,000 that we would apply

1:36:10 ↗ the public safety sales tax and move

1:36:12 ↗ that to restricted. So, we're

1:36:14 ↗ recalculating

1:36:15 ↗ >> that and the 262,000.

1:36:17 ↗ >> Yes. Okay.

1:36:18 ↗ >> Yeah.

1:36:19 ↗ >> No, that act that would actually be

1:36:21 ↗ correct.

1:36:22 ↗ >> Okay. Thanks.

1:36:23 ↗ >> Yes. Yeah, we can do that.

1:36:25 ↗ >> Um, deputy city administrator, the

1:36:27 ↗ Pickering Barn, um, suggested capital

1:36:30 ↗ improvements. Is that something that

1:36:32 ↗ came out of the bomb cyclone

1:36:35 ↗ >> or prior to?

1:36:37 ↗ >> It is something that we identified as a

1:36:39 ↗ need prior to the bomb cyclone.

1:36:41 ↗ Certainly, uh, when we have such natural

1:36:43 ↗ disasters, it highlights our need and

1:36:47 ↗ desire to build resiliency across our

1:36:50 ↗ response infrastructure. Um, so that

1:36:53 ↗ that was raised again during the bomb

1:36:55 ↗ cycle and that this is a need, but we've

1:36:57 ↗ identified that need prior.

1:36:58 ↗ >> That's great. Thanks.

1:37:01 ↗ >> Uh, Council Member Rejang, um, a couple

1:37:04 ↗ things. So, is the amount of money from

1:37:07 ↗ sale of properties that we're um,

1:37:09 ↗ holding for facilities. Is that in a

1:37:10 ↗ totally separate account at this point?

1:37:13 ↗ >> No, it's currently within the general

1:37:14 ↗ fund, but it's not represented in these

1:37:17 ↗ fund balances here at all. Um, we had

1:37:20 ↗ been talking about using that money for

1:37:22 ↗ the capital facilities for renovations

1:37:24 ↗ on IPD and the new city hall. So, I

1:37:27 ↗ didn't want to over complicate having

1:37:28 ↗ that in here, but it technically is in

1:37:31 ↗ the general fund and it would make our

1:37:33 ↗ unrestricted fund balance not 6.8

1:37:36 ↗ million in 2020. It'd be 9.5 million.

1:37:39 ↗ So, again, I I wanted to keep it out of

1:37:42 ↗ here so we didn't complicate the

1:37:44 ↗ restricted versus unrestricted any more

1:37:46 ↗ than it is already.

1:37:49 ↗ I guess you know to the points about

1:37:51 ↗ should we have separate accounts for

1:37:53 ↗ these types of restricted funds. Do you

1:37:54 ↗ think that like should we consider

1:37:56 ↗ moving that to its own separate account

1:37:58 ↗ for

1:38:00 ↗ >> I would suggest that we probably move it

1:38:02 ↗ to the capital facilities fund because

1:38:04 ↗ that appears to be what we're going to

1:38:06 ↗ intend to use that money for. So

1:38:09 ↗ >> okay

1:38:10 ↗ >> that that would be my suggestion to not

1:38:12 ↗ have it in the general fund. It should

1:38:13 ↗ be in the capital projects fund.

1:38:15 ↗ >> Okay. And then on the parks thing. So my

1:38:18 ↗ understanding was that Isiqua's

1:38:20 ↗ allocation from the parks levy was like

1:38:22 ↗ 400,000 per year. So do you think that

1:38:24 ↗ rises to the level where it should have

1:38:25 ↗ its own separate fund?

1:38:27 ↗ >> I think that's probably too small

1:38:30 ↗ administratively. Um on a the accounting

1:38:34 ↗ side it would require a lot of work to

1:38:37 ↗ have a a fund of that size. It would

1:38:39 ↗ Yeah. And and the auditor's best

1:38:42 ↗ practices we should have just as many

1:38:44 ↗ funds as as necessary. So I need to try

1:38:47 ↗ to balance, you know, audit best

1:38:51 ↗ practices to what does it make sense for

1:38:54 ↗ us to be able to understand our

1:38:56 ↗ financial data and something that's in

1:38:58 ↗ the multi-millions that rises to a level

1:39:01 ↗ that I think we need better

1:39:02 ↗ transparency. Additionally, the

1:39:05 ↗ affordable housing does require annual

1:39:07 ↗ reporting. So anything that requires

1:39:09 ↗ annual reporting, I think it's a lot

1:39:11 ↗ more efficient to track that separately.

1:39:13 ↗ whereas the King County levy to my

1:39:15 ↗ knowledge, excuse me, [clears throat]

1:39:16 ↗ doesn't require any annual reporting.

1:39:18 ↗ >> Okay, great. Thank you. Super helpful.

1:39:22 ↗ >> Thanks, director, if you want to

1:39:23 ↗ continue.

1:39:24 ↗ >> Okay, thank you.

1:39:25 ↗ >> Oh, sorry, we have one more question.

1:39:27 ↗ Deputy Council President. Yes,

1:39:28 ↗ >> I'm sorry. Um, so, um,

1:39:33 ↗ we heard tonight from a number of people

1:39:34 ↗ who thought that or at least have the

1:39:37 ↗ impression that we are removing Metrolex

1:39:39 ↗ and not funding it. And what I heard

1:39:42 ↗ from you is that instead we're thinking

1:39:44 ↗ we're taking the funds for Metroflex out

1:39:46 ↗ of the TBD. Is that correct?

1:39:48 ↗ >> That is a question that's on the table

1:39:51 ↗ for discussion tonight and okay

1:39:53 ↗ >> um that's an area that I would need

1:39:55 ↗ direction on how council wants that

1:39:58 ↗ reflected in the budget adjustments. So,

1:40:01 ↗ as an example, if council chooses to

1:40:04 ↗ fund that through the TBD, what that

1:40:06 ↗ would mean is I would do um I would

1:40:09 ↗ include that in the budget adjustments

1:40:11 ↗ as a TBD expenditure and not um and

1:40:15 ↗ remove it from the general fund. So,

1:40:17 ↗ you'd see a removal in the general fund

1:40:18 ↗ and then an add to the TBD fund. Just

1:40:21 ↗ logistically, that's how it would be

1:40:22 ↗ reflected.

1:40:23 ↗ >> Okay. I wanted to be sure that I heard

1:40:25 ↗ that correctly because when reading

1:40:27 ↗ through the packet and also hearing from

1:40:28 ↗ folks in the audience tonight, it uh I

1:40:32 ↗ did not see that. I I thought it was

1:40:34 ↗ being proposed to completely remove it

1:40:36 ↗ from the budget. So, I think we need to

1:40:38 ↗ be really clear about exactly what our

1:40:41 ↗ plans are for Metroflex and we can talk

1:40:43 ↗ about that under deliberation. So,

1:40:45 ↗ >> yes, absolutely.

1:40:48 ↗ >> I think you're good, director. Okay.

1:40:50 ↗ Thank you so much.

1:40:52 ↗ >> Okay. Okay, so that kind of concludes

1:40:54 ↗ the proposal for the adjustments. Now I

1:40:58 ↗ just want to talk about some of the the

1:40:59 ↗ policy items that I had alluded to

1:41:02 ↗ earlier. So this is a proposal for

1:41:05 ↗ language in the financial management

1:41:07 ↗ policies just to clean up the reserve

1:41:09 ↗ requirement. As I noted, um it's been a

1:41:12 ↗ historical practice to calculate the

1:41:14 ↗ unrestricted fund balance as a a

1:41:17 ↗ percentage of total expenditures. And so

1:41:19 ↗ what I would propose is that we just

1:41:21 ↗ clean that language up and make sure

1:41:23 ↗ that we're only calculating it on

1:41:25 ↗ unrestricted. So we're kind of matching

1:41:27 ↗ apples to apples. Um in the policy

1:41:30 ↗ language, it uses the term I want to

1:41:32 ↗ point I want to point out and just in

1:41:34 ↗ case there's a question, um we use the

1:41:36 ↗ term unassigned. That's an an accounting

1:41:39 ↗ term. We kind of internally have been

1:41:41 ↗ using restricted versus unrestricted. Um

1:41:44 ↗ they mean the same thing. Um unassigned

1:41:46 ↗ and unrestricted are the same thing. Um,

1:41:48 ↗ I also think we should include in there

1:41:50 ↗ a measurement date. So, what that means

1:41:53 ↗ is a specific point in time where we're

1:41:56 ↗ measuring for compliance to make sure

1:41:59 ↗ number one that we're consistent and

1:42:00 ↗ we're um staying on track. So, what I

1:42:03 ↗ would propose is because we adopt a

1:42:05 ↗ bianial budget using the official

1:42:08 ↗ measurement date the second year of the

1:42:10 ↗ bianium. So when the bianium ends we'll

1:42:12 ↗ look at our actual performance and then

1:42:16 ↗ do the calculation and measure that

1:42:18 ↗ against our policy. We'll still we'll

1:42:21 ↗ still measure it during our forecast.

1:42:23 ↗ We're still measuring in our budget. I'm

1:42:25 ↗ just meaning for the official

1:42:26 ↗ measurement date um based on actual

1:42:29 ↗ performance and if we're hitting the

1:42:30 ↗ target or not.

1:42:33 ↗ And then the second item is a a newer

1:42:36 ↗ item. Um just the idea about

1:42:38 ↗ establishing an audit committee and we

1:42:41 ↗ have some proposed functions that we

1:42:42 ↗ thought the audit committee would do. Um

1:42:45 ↗ that would be I think we're proposing a

1:42:47 ↗ council um committee um reviewing the

1:42:50 ↗ year uh financial performance and

1:42:52 ↗ compliance with policy. So just what I

1:42:55 ↗ talked about in the previous policy. So

1:42:56 ↗ we would get to that measurement date.

1:42:58 ↗ um we would bring that forward to the

1:43:00 ↗ committee and let them know whether we

1:43:02 ↗ hit the target or if we didn't and how

1:43:04 ↗ we want to address that. And then the

1:43:06 ↗ committee would participate in the

1:43:08 ↗ annual audit process. So attending the

1:43:11 ↗ entrance conferences, the exit

1:43:13 ↗ conferences, being available to the

1:43:15 ↗ auditors, which I know you all are

1:43:17 ↗ already available to the auditors, but

1:43:19 ↗ it'll just be more intentional. um

1:43:22 ↗ having access to them to conduct the

1:43:24 ↗ risk assessments and then if you have

1:43:26 ↗ any concerns with them then now you have

1:43:28 ↗ direct access to communicate that to the

1:43:30 ↗ auditors and then anytime that we want

1:43:32 ↗ to do updates to the financial

1:43:33 ↗ management policies we can talk to the

1:43:35 ↗ committee about what that looks like

1:43:36 ↗ before it comes to the full council

1:43:40 ↗ and then these are some items that I had

1:43:42 ↗ brought forward um I just wanted to

1:43:44 ↗ remind council just of some of the work

1:43:45 ↗ that we're continuing to do so again we

1:43:48 ↗ have planned on one of 2026 Six, moving

1:43:51 ↗ the affordable housing dollars out of

1:43:53 ↗ the general fund. It will be in its own

1:43:55 ↗ fund. We've also established the

1:43:57 ↗ structure of the public safety sales tax

1:43:59 ↗ fund. So when we start receiving those

1:44:01 ↗ revenues, they will automatically go

1:44:03 ↗ into a new fund. They will not be in the

1:44:05 ↗ general fund. We're also performing a

1:44:07 ↗ reconciliation of our capital projects

1:44:09 ↗ fund to identify any undesated sources

1:44:11 ↗ of funding. So, it's historically been

1:44:14 ↗ our practice when we budget, if we're

1:44:16 ↗ budgeting for projects using REIT money

1:44:18 ↗ or mitigation money or general fund

1:44:20 ↗ money, we tr make those transfers at the

1:44:22 ↗ beginning of the year based on what's

1:44:23 ↗ budget. Um, but we haven't um had a

1:44:27 ↗ practice of doing ongoing

1:44:29 ↗ reconciliations. So, I just want to see

1:44:31 ↗ um if there's any projects that maybe

1:44:33 ↗ that didn't happen or maybe had grant

1:44:36 ↗ funding that we had tended to use other

1:44:38 ↗ sources of funding. So there might be

1:44:40 ↗ sources of funding that can be uh

1:44:42 ↗ refunded either to the general fund or

1:44:43 ↗ the rate or mitigation. So we're we're

1:44:45 ↗ performing that analysis now. We're

1:44:46 ↗ going back to 2021 to perform that

1:44:49 ↗ reconciliation. And then I'll let

1:44:51 ↗ council know um as soon as I have the

1:44:53 ↗ results of that and then continuing

1:44:56 ↗ researching funding options for the IPD

1:44:59 ↗ renovations and the new city hall. And

1:45:02 ↗ we'll be coming back to council early

1:45:03 ↗ 2026 with some funding options. And we

1:45:05 ↗ got some great feedback from we had

1:45:07 ↗ those discussions earlier.

1:45:10 ↗ And then again I think I shared this

1:45:12 ↗ with council but just a reminder then

1:45:13 ↗ for the next bianium uh we certainly

1:45:15 ↗ want to continue our operational

1:45:17 ↗ balancing of ongoing activity. I think

1:45:19 ↗ we'll likely have some good discussions

1:45:21 ↗ about the fund balance percentage and

1:45:23 ↗ how we want to get there as we start

1:45:25 ↗ developing that budget. Um always

1:45:27 ↗ consider how our one-time budget

1:45:29 ↗ additions either one time or ongoing.

1:45:31 ↗ how is that impacting not only the

1:45:33 ↗ current fund balance but how is that

1:45:35 ↗ impacting um future fund balance and

1:45:38 ↗ then update our long range financial

1:45:40 ↗ plan.

1:45:42 ↗ So in terms of timing and next steps we

1:45:44 ↗ have two more meetings planned to

1:45:46 ↗ continue discussing our midbanium

1:45:48 ↗ adjustments. We have our next meeting on

1:45:50 ↗ November 10th. So this is where I'd be

1:45:53 ↗ seeking council input um on what to

1:45:56 ↗ bring back to you November 10th for that

1:45:58 ↗ continued discussion. And then November

1:46:00 ↗ 17th, I believe, is the date that we're

1:46:02 ↗ going to continue our public hearing. If

1:46:04 ↗ you remember, um, last Monday, we had

1:46:06 ↗ the public hearing. We kept that public

1:46:08 ↗ hearing open. We'll continue that public

1:46:10 ↗ hearing on the 17th, and then, uh,

1:46:12 ↗ council will be asked to adopt a budget

1:46:15 ↗ ordinance.

1:46:17 ↗ So, now is the point in time where I'm

1:46:19 ↗ happy to answer any additional

1:46:21 ↗ questions, but I would, um, love council

1:46:23 ↗ input on what my next step will be.

1:46:26 ↗ >> Thank you, director. And also, you've

1:46:29 ↗ been with us how long?

1:46:30 ↗ >> Um, I I'll be hitting four months, I

1:46:33 ↗ think, next week.

1:46:34 ↗ >> Shocking. Shocking that you were able to

1:46:36 ↗ do that research back that far to tell

1:46:40 ↗ this the narrative. That's really quite

1:46:42 ↗ exceptional work. So, I want uh council

1:46:44 ↗ to look at the questions that are there

1:46:46 ↗ and maybe start to jot some notes down

1:46:48 ↗ um because these are what will be going

1:46:50 ↗ around the table and getting you all to

1:46:53 ↗ if you have comments on any of these

1:46:54 ↗ bullet points, please provide them and

1:46:56 ↗ we'll go with questions first. And I

1:46:58 ↗ think it's council member Ray followed

1:47:00 ↗ by Council uh Deputy Council President

1:47:02 ↗ D. Michelle.

1:47:04 ↗ >> Uh thanks. Can we talk just for a brief

1:47:06 ↗ second about the last bullet on your um

1:47:10 ↗ budget items for consideration, the

1:47:11 ↗ Fourth of July World Cup? Um and

1:47:14 ↗ particularly what are the restrictions

1:47:16 ↗ or considerations relative to the

1:47:18 ↗ lodging tax? I mean, I know that um

1:47:21 ↗ there is a whole entity that makes

1:47:25 ↗ recommendations, but um are what the

1:47:28 ↗ ELTAC does recommendations um for our um

1:47:33 ↗ approval or do we have um voice? So,

1:47:36 ↗ tell me about what we can and can't do

1:47:37 ↗ with the lodging tax.

1:47:40 ↗ >> So, I can speak generally. Um I don't

1:47:43 ↗ know isqua specific pro uh process but

1:47:47 ↗ lodging tax can be used for the

1:47:49 ↗ promotion of tourism um marketing or

1:47:53 ↗ marketing facilities. Um state law does

1:47:56 ↗ require that there's a committee that

1:47:58 ↗ reviews applications and again I don't

1:47:59 ↗ know is specific timing on those

1:48:01 ↗ applications but there would be an

1:48:03 ↗ application process and then the

1:48:05 ↗ committee would um make some funding

1:48:07 ↗ recommendations.

1:48:08 ↗ >> Deputy city administrator.

1:48:10 ↗ >> Good evening. Uh yes, Director Garcia is

1:48:14 ↗ correct. Um generally, uh state law

1:48:17 ↗ prohibits and guides the use of these

1:48:19 ↗ funds um on certain types of

1:48:21 ↗ expenditures. So for a Fourth of July

1:48:24 ↗ event, for example, that's focused on

1:48:27 ↗ Isiqua community celebrations of the

1:48:29 ↗ Fourth of July, they likely would not be

1:48:32 ↗ eligible for ELTAC funds. Um if we had

1:48:35 ↗ events that were more targeting folks

1:48:37 ↗ from 50 plus miles away outside of the

1:48:40 ↗ county, etc. and encouraging hotel

1:48:42 ↗ stays. Those are eligible expenses. So,

1:48:45 ↗ in part, it depends on what are we

1:48:46 ↗ planning to do with these funds, but it

1:48:48 ↗ does make it difficult for us to use

1:48:50 ↗ Fourth of July funds um these funds,

1:48:54 ↗ ELTAC funds for the Fourth of July and

1:48:55 ↗ be compliant with state law. World Cup.

1:48:58 ↗ Um, that would that would depend and we

1:49:00 ↗ could ask uh we could ask the ELTAC the

1:49:03 ↗ lodging tax advisory committee to

1:49:06 ↗ consider opening up funding for uh World

1:49:09 ↗ Cup promotions and events.

1:49:11 ↗ >> Council member Ray, a couple of World

1:49:12 ↗ Cup updates. Um, local subscribers of

1:49:17 ↗ Fox News, which Fox News Fox Sports,

1:49:20 ↗ which will be carrying the games live,

1:49:23 ↗ does not require any sort of licensing

1:49:25 ↗ fee. And so it's avail it will be

1:49:27 ↗ available everywhere. It is available

1:49:29 ↗ now in town at restaurants and sports

1:49:31 ↗ bars. And there are some local groups

1:49:34 ↗ already wanting to come to Eltech

1:49:36 ↗ through Visit Isisqua for promotional

1:49:38 ↗ activities during that time that would

1:49:40 ↗ bring folks into town. So I think you're

1:49:42 ↗ going to find that you are going to be

1:49:44 ↗ potentially oversubscribed.

1:49:46 ↗ >> Yeah, I'm not surprised. And then I

1:49:48 ↗ wasn't even sure we'd be eligible. That

1:49:49 ↗ was kind of why I I asked the question

1:49:51 ↗ was to get that out on the table because

1:49:53 ↗ I don't want us kind of kicking around

1:49:54 ↗ the idea of that if that's not even

1:49:57 ↗ viable. And it I agree with over

1:49:59 ↗ subscription. I agree with not being

1:50:01 ↗ viable and I agree we're not really

1:50:03 ↗ necessarily a decision maker. We're just

1:50:04 ↗ another petitioner for the for the

1:50:06 ↗ funds.

1:50:08 ↗ >> Um so

1:50:10 ↗ that third bullet looks more like a

1:50:12 ↗ general fund hit to me.

1:50:13 ↗ >> Okay.

1:50:14 ↗ >> That was where I was going.

1:50:15 ↗ >> Got it. uh deputy council president dem

1:50:18 ↗ Michelle.

1:50:19 ↗ >> So this so I'm following up I had

1:50:21 ↗ exactly that question but uh a lot of

1:50:25 ↗ the World Cup from what I understand is

1:50:27 ↗ going to be a little bit beyond our

1:50:28 ↗ control. If for example we have big

1:50:31 ↗ crowds coming uh I would presume that

1:50:33 ↗ we're going to need more um law

1:50:35 ↗ enforcement. We're going to need

1:50:37 ↗ security. Uh we're going to need other

1:50:40 ↗ things. uh how are we I mean there's

1:50:43 ↗ going to be expenses whether we put it

1:50:45 ↗ into organizing World Cup or whether

1:50:47 ↗ people just come we're going to have

1:50:49 ↗ some expenses there. So I'm wondering uh

1:50:52 ↗ are we acknowledging the increased need

1:50:55 ↗ for for example for security and law

1:50:58 ↗ enforcement uh and other personnel if we

1:51:00 ↗ have huge crowds coming to Isiqua uh or

1:51:04 ↗ lots of people coming to stay here is

1:51:06 ↗ that reflected in our budget somewhere?

1:51:09 ↗ Andrea, do you want to generally u talk

1:51:12 ↗ to that?

1:51:15 ↗ >> Thank you, mayor. Um, we are we are

1:51:18 ↗ preparing for World Cup and increased uh

1:51:21 ↗ folks traveling through Isiqua,

1:51:23 ↗ increased stays at our hotels, etc. Um,

1:51:26 ↗ there's no major events planned at this

1:51:29 ↗ point in Isiqua city limits. Uh, but um,

1:51:34 ↗ yes, we acknowledge that this will

1:51:35 ↗ require a bit more overtime for our

1:51:37 ↗ police. We do budget generally for

1:51:40 ↗ overtime, noting that there's always um

1:51:43 ↗ there's always some events or need for

1:51:45 ↗ it here and there. So, I think

1:51:47 ↗ operationally we are preparing for the

1:51:49 ↗ event and acknowledge that there will be

1:51:51 ↗ more overtime for our police force.

1:51:54 ↗ >> Thank you, Council Member Hall.

1:51:59 ↗ >> Um I have five more questions. I'm

1:52:01 ↗ sorry. Okay. So, I hope that's okay and

1:52:03 ↗ but feel free to bounce between others

1:52:05 ↗ um if that's So, the first two are

1:52:07 ↗ requests for specific numbers like how

1:52:10 ↗ much something was would cost and I

1:52:11 ↗ didn't think of it when I was emailing

1:52:13 ↗ you earlier. So, if you need time to

1:52:15 ↗ figure that out and then at our next

1:52:16 ↗ touch present that that's fine too. So

1:52:18 ↗ the first one was I had noticed I

1:52:21 ↗ flipped through the banial budget again

1:52:24 ↗ earlier today and the one of the things

1:52:26 ↗ that we had budgeted to start doing in

1:52:28 ↗ 26 was um not updating the human

1:52:33 ↗ services strategic plan but um starting

1:52:35 ↗ to do the engagement work that we needed

1:52:37 ↗ to do to set up in 27 the update to the

1:52:41 ↗ human services strategic plan. Do we

1:52:42 ↗ know how much we budgeted for that? And

1:52:46 ↗ and that's just maybe something we can

1:52:47 ↗ look into. Um so I'll just move on from

1:52:50 ↗ that. Um the second request then based

1:52:52 ↗ on um the clarity that we've received

1:52:55 ↗ about the affordable housing study being

1:52:57 ↗ kind of incorporated of those two

1:52:58 ↗ different actions. Do we know how much

1:53:03 ↗ and this might require director Dolly

1:53:05 ↗ Wall to you is do we have a sense of

1:53:07 ↗ what the proportion of that 150k would

1:53:09 ↗ be for staff time to implement the eco

1:53:12 ↗ northwest recommendations and to have

1:53:14 ↗ conversations here with council as

1:53:16 ↗ opposed to updating the housing strategy

1:53:19 ↗ work plan. Um

1:53:21 ↗ >> I guess I'll take that one and get back

1:53:23 ↗ to you as well.

1:53:23 ↗ >> Yeah. So perfect. I appreciate that. Um

1:53:25 ↗ the other ones are kind of more broad um

1:53:28 ↗ use of of money questions. So the first

1:53:30 ↗ one was I had noticed for emergency oh

1:53:32 ↗ it's this slide for emergency management

1:53:34 ↗ um it says use of TBD funds. So is that

1:53:37 ↗ specific would that be specific

1:53:39 ↗ strategic transportation investments

1:53:41 ↗ around emergency management that

1:53:44 ↗ we would be doing there?

1:53:45 ↗ >> Uh what that specifically refers to and

1:53:47 ↗ I think that we've talked with council

1:53:49 ↗ about this somewhat in the past uh is

1:53:53 ↗ signs for emergency management. So, some

1:53:56 ↗ of the things we identified is uh the

1:53:58 ↗ desire to communicate with travelers. We

1:54:01 ↗ talk about evacuation routes and

1:54:03 ↗ evacuation times that we could use a few

1:54:05 ↗ more signs to provide realtime

1:54:08 ↗ uh information with folks who are using

1:54:11 ↗ the roads. It's also possible that we

1:54:14 ↗ could use those signs for other

1:54:15 ↗ transportation information in

1:54:17 ↗ non-emergency times. And so because it

1:54:20 ↗ would be transportation related um and

1:54:23 ↗ emergency management related, we could

1:54:26 ↗ we could use transportation benefit

1:54:28 ↗ district funds if it's transportation

1:54:29 ↗ related,

1:54:30 ↗ >> right? Dual purposes. Okay.

1:54:33 ↗ Um the next question I have is about the

1:54:36 ↗ change to the um financial policy

1:54:39 ↗ language.

1:54:40 ↗ >> Um and this is just kind of piggybacking

1:54:42 ↗ off of council member Jen over email had

1:54:43 ↗ asked about impact to potential impact

1:54:45 ↗ to bond rating. Is there any value, and

1:54:48 ↗ you can just say, "Zack, no, this is

1:54:50 ↗ stupid." Um, [laughter]

1:54:51 ↗ is there any value in not updating to

1:54:54 ↗ call out unassigned in our financial

1:54:57 ↗ policies until we've reached our target?

1:55:01 ↗ >> I think as we're calculating right now,

1:55:03 ↗ it's actually hurting the percentage

1:55:06 ↗ because right now we're calculating on

1:55:08 ↗ total expenditures including restricted

1:55:10 ↗ and unrestricted. So my intent was to

1:55:13 ↗ try to get away where the percentage

1:55:15 ↗ would improve with our policy.

1:55:18 ↗ >> Okay. So you you've thought through all

1:55:20 ↗ these things. Yeah. Okay. That's

1:55:21 ↗ >> and it's a good question, council

1:55:23 ↗ member. I think

1:55:24 ↗ >> I think one thing that besides using an

1:55:27 ↗ ending fund balance during an emergency

1:55:29 ↗ is that there is always fluctuation in

1:55:31 ↗ it depending on when different invoices

1:55:33 ↗ for services or major contracts come. So

1:55:35 ↗ it does move through the year and I

1:55:37 ↗ think you want to be careful to still

1:55:38 ↗ allow that. Yeah, that's a good point.

1:55:41 ↗ Um, okay, I appreciate that. Then, um,

1:55:45 ↗ the last question was what you had said

1:55:47 ↗ at the top of the meeting. So, you had

1:55:48 ↗ had a a potential, um, proposal for

1:55:53 ↗ nonprofit or funding for nonprofits. Is

1:55:55 ↗ there

1:55:55 ↗ >> any more information that could be

1:55:56 ↗ shared on that or is that something the

1:55:58 ↗ administration needs input from council

1:56:00 ↗ on tonight?

1:56:00 ↗ >> Do I do good of the order for that or?

1:56:02 ↗ >> Uh, well, also for discussion during

1:56:04 ↗ regular business tonight is really

1:56:06 ↗ anything pertaining to the budget. So,

1:56:08 ↗ what the mayor had um proposed at the

1:56:11 ↗ beginning of the meeting and her remarks

1:56:12 ↗ for the additional $50,000 in funding

1:56:15 ↗ for human services grants that would be

1:56:18 ↗ focused on immigration services. That is

1:56:21 ↗ part of your considerations tonight. So,

1:56:23 ↗ we would like feedback within uh this

1:56:26 ↗ this conversation question

1:56:28 ↗ >> uh this evening. So, we have Metroflex

1:56:30 ↗ emergency management 4th of July, but

1:56:32 ↗ also a new item of additional funding.

1:56:35 ↗ $50,000 is what the mayor has proposed

1:56:38 ↗ for uh uh to add to our human services

1:56:42 ↗ grants focused on im immigration

1:56:44 ↗ services.

1:56:45 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:56:46 ↗ >> Thanks. I think council president's

1:56:48 ↗ next.

1:56:50 ↗ >> Thank you. Um let's see two questions.

1:56:54 ↗ Um council member Jen, I think you had

1:56:57 ↗ pulled up some data about how much the

1:56:59 ↗ King County parks levy uh suggested that

1:57:02 ↗ would be about 400,000. What we're

1:57:04 ↗ proposing here is

1:57:08 ↗ 265,000,

1:57:10 ↗ but one's going to be covered by

1:57:13 ↗ uh additional revenue from events. So,

1:57:17 ↗ can you talk me through how whether

1:57:20 ↗ we're leaving money on the table or

1:57:22 ↗ whether we're allocating that to

1:57:24 ↗ anything else?

1:57:25 ↗ >> Um, I don't know if we're allocating it.

1:57:28 ↗ Um, Director Watling just indicated to

1:57:30 ↗ me that the increase would be designated

1:57:33 ↗ for the parks maintenance position. Um,

1:57:36 ↗ I don't know what the additional uh,

1:57:38 ↗ revenue at this time. I would have to

1:57:40 ↗ get back to you on that.

1:57:41 ↗ >> Okay. Yeah, I would be interested to

1:57:43 ↗ know about that because obviously if we

1:57:46 ↗ have money coming our way um, being able

1:57:48 ↗ to program that within the requirements

1:57:51 ↗ >> is a good idea.

1:57:52 ↗ >> Yes.

1:57:52 ↗ >> Versus not. Um

1:57:56 ↗ let's see. Um can you provide us as you

1:58:01 ↗ did with the TBD fund um a similar for

1:58:05 ↗ the fleet fund? Um one of the proposals

1:58:08 ↗ here is to take 300,000 out of the

1:58:11 ↗ public safety sales tax um and put it to

1:58:14 ↗ the fleet fund. and I just want to

1:58:17 ↗ figure out if that's, you know, where we

1:58:20 ↗ are on that fund and um whether or not

1:58:22 ↗ it's growing, decreasing, etc.

1:58:25 ↗ Um and then another question on the

1:58:29 ↗ proposed financial policy language. You

1:58:32 ↗ note a measurement date of 1231 of the

1:58:36 ↗ second year. Um I'm trying to figure out

1:58:40 ↗ how we would utilize that. Are you

1:58:42 ↗ proposing that as something that we

1:58:44 ↗ would look back at and say, did we

1:58:47 ↗ achieve that or not? Because I think the

1:58:49 ↗ way that we've used the financial policy

1:58:52 ↗ 15% undesated fund balance idea is when

1:58:56 ↗ we are planning our budget and figuring

1:58:59 ↗ out if we are within policy metrics. So

1:59:02 ↗ then is the idea that we would use it

1:59:05 ↗ when we're developing a two-year budget

1:59:07 ↗ to look at that end of the second year.

1:59:10 ↗ is the idea we would use it in the

1:59:12 ↗ middle of a two-year budget when we're

1:59:14 ↗ looking at that second year. Can you

1:59:16 ↗ talk through

1:59:17 ↗ >> the I we would do both. So, as we're

1:59:20 ↗ developing the banial budget, we would

1:59:22 ↗ definitely want to consider that our

1:59:25 ↗ we're budgeting to meet that targeted

1:59:26 ↗ percentage. What the policy would be

1:59:29 ↗ then is measuring our performance

1:59:31 ↗ against the budget. So, how we actually

1:59:33 ↗ end the bianium versus what we budgeted.

1:59:35 ↗ So, if we budget at 15%. But then at the

1:59:38 ↗ end of the benium we actually came in at

1:59:39 ↗ 10% I think that's valuable information

1:59:41 ↗ that we we need to know. So I think

1:59:43 ↗ having in the policy that we have a

1:59:46 ↗ dedicated time where we're actually

1:59:48 ↗ measuring that performance. So we would

1:59:49 ↗ do both. We would actually continue to

1:59:52 ↗ measure it when we do our quarterly

1:59:54 ↗ forecasts just to see okay we're we're

1:59:57 ↗ forecasting Q2 what we're going to do

1:59:59 ↗ through the end of the year. We could

2:00:00 ↗ continue to do all of that. I think it's

2:00:03 ↗ there's just value in having a

2:00:05 ↗ consistent point in time that we're

2:00:08 ↗ measuring our actual performance against

2:00:10 ↗ our forecast and against our budget.

2:00:13 ↗ >> I'm trying to understand when that would

2:00:16 ↗ be almost a forcing function on council

2:00:19 ↗ to make adjustments to come into

2:00:22 ↗ compliance with the financial policy.

2:00:25 ↗ So for so for example um we we will be

2:00:29 ↗ in the second year of the bianium in

2:00:31 ↗ 2026. So if we adopt this policy we will

2:00:34 ↗ do a formal evaluation of what our

2:00:39 ↗ um performances against policy that will

2:00:43 ↗ then inform how we're going to develop

2:00:45 ↗ our next banial budget. Because if we're

2:00:48 ↗ underperforming now we need to have some

2:00:50 ↗ policy discussions about what kind of

2:00:52 ↗ services we want to provide. if we want

2:00:54 ↗ to generate more revenue. So it's

2:00:56 ↗ intended to really inform policy for

2:00:58 ↗ future if that makes sense.

2:01:01 ↗ >> Okay. I guess I'm again if we adopted

2:01:04 ↗ this as is say today and then we're

2:01:08 ↗ going to adopt the midbian budget

2:01:12 ↗ adjustments

2:01:13 ↗ does that force our hand to say that we

2:01:16 ↗ have to be in compliance of the 15%.

2:01:20 ↗ >> I don't I don't think so. No.

2:01:22 ↗ >> Okay. No.

2:01:22 ↗ >> Thank you.

2:01:24 ↗ Thanks, director. Um, I was going to go

2:01:26 ↗ to council member Jen and I'm looking at

2:01:28 ↗ council member Joe as well. If you both

2:01:30 ↗ want to have any questions before we do

2:01:31 ↗ round two, it's great. I'm seeing a no

2:01:33 ↗ from council member Joe. Council member

2:01:34 ↗ Jen. Um, great. So, I have a quick

2:01:37 ↗ question on the uh TBD fund. So, um I'm

2:01:41 ↗ curious what the assumptions are for the

2:01:42 ↗ Northwest Seamish Road Bonds like term

2:01:45 ↗ and interest rate and then do I'm

2:01:46 ↗ curious if you have a guess on you know

2:01:48 ↗ what the error bars could be like. Could

2:01:49 ↗ it actually be like 1.6 six or 1.7

2:01:52 ↗ million per year or

2:01:54 ↗ >> um I don't have those numbers okay

2:01:57 ↗ >> with me that was included in the

2:02:00 ↗ assumptions those weren't new

2:02:01 ↗ assumptions that we had brought forward

2:02:03 ↗ so I would have to go back and see what

2:02:04 ↗ those original assumptions were

2:02:06 ↗ >> okay

2:02:07 ↗ >> council member Jang if I may um these

2:02:10 ↗ numbers that you see for the TBD funds

2:02:12 ↗ projected out to future years with both

2:02:14 ↗ expenses and with revenues are estimates

2:02:18 ↗ and so while it's the best information

2:02:21 ↗ we have today. So many other factors

2:02:23 ↗ come into play that are going to affect

2:02:25 ↗ these numbers and could uh provide uh a

2:02:30 ↗ significant difference to the numbers

2:02:31 ↗ that we see today. For example, the cost

2:02:34 ↗ estimates for this project were made

2:02:36 ↗ before tariff policy was changed and

2:02:40 ↗ tariffs are that policy is still in flux

2:02:44 ↗ and can have a heavy bearing. In fact,

2:02:46 ↗ we've already seen it have heavy uh

2:02:48 ↗ effects on some of our capital projects.

2:02:51 ↗ And so we know that as we get closer to

2:02:54 ↗ these projects, we continue to update

2:02:56 ↗ those cost estimates with the best

2:02:57 ↗ available information. So the numbers

2:02:59 ↗ that you see there, it's an estimate,

2:03:01 ↗ also an estimate on our revenues. It

2:03:03 ↗ could be that changes to the economy,

2:03:06 ↗ this is a sales tax revenue source,

2:03:08 ↗ which means it's a bit more volatile as

2:03:10 ↗ far as city revenues go. Uh so while the

2:03:15 ↗ TBD

2:03:16 ↗ ending fund balance shows $3 to $4

2:03:18 ↗ million, we expect that to be very

2:03:21 ↗ different uh when we get to future

2:03:23 ↗ years, just knowing that costs likely

2:03:26 ↗ will increase. Um could be the cost of

2:03:29 ↗ the project increases as we get closer

2:03:31 ↗ and finalized design, etc. So um it's

2:03:35 ↗ the best information we have today, but

2:03:36 ↗ we know it's going to change.

2:03:38 ↗ >> Cool. Thank you.

2:03:41 ↗ Um, keep going.

2:03:42 ↗ >> Yeah, I guess my other things were

2:03:44 ↗ comments, so I'll hold them to later.

2:03:45 ↗ >> Oh, great. Okay. Um, Deputy Council

2:03:48 ↗ President, do you have your microphone

2:03:49 ↗ up? There we go.

2:03:50 ↗ >> Yeah. Just another question on the on

2:03:52 ↗ the 4th of July. If it's not in our

2:03:55 ↗ budget, I'm going to presume that uh the

2:03:57 ↗ city is not going to play any role in

2:03:59 ↗ the 250th

2:04:01 ↗ anniversary

2:04:02 ↗ of the 4th of July. And if that if

2:04:04 ↗ that's incorrect, please correct me. Um,

2:04:08 ↗ uh, do we have a plan, uh, if we're not

2:04:11 ↗ going to expend funds or have the city

2:04:13 ↗ take take charge of that event, do we

2:04:16 ↗ have other alternative plans for the 4th

2:04:19 ↗ of July? Because the 250th anniversary

2:04:21 ↗ is sort of a special date. So,

2:04:25 ↗ >> is there anyone on the council working

2:04:27 ↗ on [laughter] that committee, Council

2:04:29 ↗ Member Ray?

2:04:30 ↗ >> Well, let me let me say this about that.

2:04:32 ↗ >> Okay. Oh,

2:04:33 ↗ >> um, it's the semi-quincentennial, just

2:04:35 ↗ to get that out there first. Um, yeah, I

2:04:38 ↗ mean, the city is working, uh,

2:04:39 ↗ diligently and actively on putting

2:04:41 ↗ together plans for a multi-event

2:04:44 ↗ celebration in the city. It would be

2:04:46 ↗ optimal if there was some city funding

2:04:49 ↗ available to support some of these

2:04:51 ↗ activities, but there's also going to be

2:04:54 ↗ some um soliciting of local locals and

2:04:58 ↗ fundraising to help support these

2:05:00 ↗ activities, too. So, um it's a it's a

2:05:03 ↗ public private partnership from my

2:05:05 ↗ perspective, but there's there's all

2:05:07 ↗ sorts of fun stuff that's being um kind

2:05:10 ↗ of um kicked around and uh thought about

2:05:13 ↗ and aimed at different uh different

2:05:16 ↗ audiences and different age groups and

2:05:18 ↗ different ethnicities and really

2:05:19 ↗ embracing that welcoming multi-

2:05:23 ↗ cultural multiaceted city that we are.

2:05:26 ↗ >> Thank you for your work on all of that,

2:05:28 ↗ Council Member Ray. It's great. Um,

2:05:30 ↗ additional questions.

2:05:34 ↗ Okay, I'm not seeing any at this time.

2:05:36 ↗ Um, we can move into comments. I just

2:05:39 ↗ want to remind everybody that there is

2:05:41 ↗ no final action tonight. We're just

2:05:43 ↗ looking for direction. And I'm assuming

2:05:45 ↗ there'll be two kinds of comments.

2:05:48 ↗ General comments about the budget

2:05:50 ↗ process itself as well as if you can

2:05:53 ↗ provide answers to the the three

2:05:56 ↗ questions that Kristen has proposed and

2:05:58 ↗ has put up on the screen. So, we can

2:06:00 ↗ start going around the table with

2:06:02 ↗ general comments or we can start going

2:06:04 ↗ around the table answering the

2:06:05 ↗ questions. Whatever your preference is.

2:06:08 ↗ Uh, Council Member Jen, Council Member

2:06:09 ↗ Hall. Um, great. Well, thank you so

2:06:12 ↗ much, Director Garcia, for putting all

2:06:14 ↗ this together. This is amazing. Um I

2:06:17 ↗ guess my overarching comment is that you

2:06:20 ↗ know looking at that slide where you

2:06:22 ↗ showed the total you know fund balance

2:06:24 ↗ unrestricted revenues versus

2:06:25 ↗ unrestricted expenditures even after

2:06:27 ↗ removing all the things that we you know

2:06:30 ↗ that we have been proposed we're still

2:06:33 ↗ running a deficit from unrestricted

2:06:35 ↗ revenues versus expenditures. I think

2:06:37 ↗ it's like, you know, the unrestricted

2:06:41 ↗ expenditures are going to be 150k higher

2:06:44 ↗ than unrestricted revenues. And given

2:06:46 ↗ that we have to be running, if we're

2:06:48 ↗ ever going to get back up to, you know,

2:06:51 ↗ 15%

2:06:52 ↗ uh of fund balance, we're going to have

2:06:55 ↗ to run surpluses in one way or another.

2:06:57 ↗ And so I think that concerns me. I think

2:07:02 ↗ in terms of you know the target for

2:07:04 ↗ closing fund balance gap this bianium I

2:07:06 ↗ think for me it's more just like are if

2:07:09 ↗ we continue what we're doing now are we

2:07:12 ↗ going to be on the right track and given

2:07:15 ↗ that you know our unrest you know just

2:07:17 ↗ given where we are with limitations on

2:07:19 ↗ raising revenue and all that we're not

2:07:22 ↗ quite there so it makes me feel a little

2:07:25 ↗ bit um uncomfortable just because you

2:07:27 ↗ know I think at least for me personally

2:07:29 ↗ I think the absolute latest that I would

2:07:31 ↗ want us to get to of that 15% is the end

2:07:33 ↗ of the next benium which is 2028 and so

2:07:36 ↗ I would you know if we spread if we look

2:07:38 ↗ and okay we spread that amount over like

2:07:41 ↗ three years what is the amount that we

2:07:42 ↗ need to get to by the end of next year

2:07:44 ↗ so that we can you know kind of linearly

2:07:46 ↗ go in 26 and 27 or I guess it would be

2:07:50 ↗ 27 and 28 um cuz I think you know the

2:07:54 ↗ more I I don't want to like keep kicking

2:07:57 ↗ the can down the road and risk having

2:07:59 ↗ our uh bond rating lowered which could

2:08:01 ↗ be really bad. Um, council member Jen,

2:08:04 ↗ I'm going to take that as a question as

2:08:05 ↗ well because I think there is a

2:08:06 ↗ financial strategy that the director has

2:08:08 ↗ done and it was not to make you make the

2:08:10 ↗ leap all at once just because of the

2:08:12 ↗ amount of cuts that you would have to

2:08:14 ↗ do. Plus, there are things that the

2:08:16 ↗ council wants to consider adding and

2:08:19 ↗ those mean more cuts. So I think um if

2:08:22 ↗ uh the director could provide for the

2:08:24 ↗ council sort of the overall strategy of

2:08:26 ↗ why she selected the level and maybe

2:08:28 ↗ there's a quick answer tonight. I don't

2:08:30 ↗ know but that's a that's a good

2:08:31 ↗ question. Okay.

2:08:33 ↗ >> Yeah. The overall strategy I was trying

2:08:36 ↗ to focus on

2:08:38 ↗ not looking at cutting current services.

2:08:41 ↗ My strategy was just looking at what had

2:08:44 ↗ been brought forward to add to the

2:08:46 ↗ budget and start there. Um, knowing that

2:08:48 ↗ we've been in a fund balance decline for

2:08:50 ↗ the past 5 years, I think it would be a

2:08:52 ↗ huge step to try to rectify that by the

2:08:55 ↗ end of the next year. Um, that's one of

2:08:58 ↗ the reasons why I want to start updating

2:09:00 ↗ the financial plan because I think these

2:09:02 ↗ questions will be answered and we can

2:09:04 ↗ develop um, a longer term strategy to

2:09:07 ↗ get to the 15% by the next bianium and

2:09:09 ↗ that that update to the financial plan

2:09:11 ↗ will show how we'll we'll do that.

2:09:14 ↗ >> Okay. And I will go to the deputy city

2:09:16 ↗ minister next, but I just wanted to add

2:09:17 ↗ for those that have been serving through

2:09:20 ↗ multiple terms. Um, for me, this is my

2:09:23 ↗ 12th year. We've seen this coming. This

2:09:25 ↗ is the structural deficit. This is when

2:09:27 ↗ you are spending more than you're

2:09:28 ↗ bringing in and your tools are no longer

2:09:31 ↗ there to change things. So, it's a

2:09:34 ↗ painful time and not great answers of

2:09:36 ↗ what we can do. Deputy City

2:09:38 ↗ Administrator.

2:09:39 ↗ >> Thank you, Mayor. I think I just really

2:09:41 ↗ wanted to underscore what you just said,

2:09:43 ↗ which is we anticipate this to be a

2:09:45 ↗ difficult budget process ahead of us uh

2:09:48 ↗ as we address the structural deficit uh

2:09:50 ↗ as we get back to that 15%. Um, so I

2:09:54 ↗ think while we have some strategies to

2:09:57 ↗ do that, we look forward to your

2:09:58 ↗ feedback tonight and future discussions

2:10:00 ↗ with council in 27 as we create the 2728

2:10:04 ↗ budget. And we do anticipate uh some

2:10:07 ↗ more expenditure cuts and for it to be

2:10:09 ↗ difficult process.

2:10:11 ↗ >> So council member Jang um along with

2:10:13 ↗ your comment, if you had more general

2:10:15 ↗ comments, great. Did you want to go

2:10:16 ↗ through your feedback to them on the

2:10:19 ↗ proposed three questions as well?

2:10:21 ↗ Yeah, I think um I guess you know in

2:10:25 ↗ terms of the final adjustments, I think

2:10:27 ↗ if everyone else agrees that we

2:10:29 ↗ shouldn't look into funding into cutting

2:10:31 ↗ current services at all, then that's

2:10:33 ↗ probably fine. But I would be curious to

2:10:36 ↗ see if there's any other areas we might

2:10:39 ↗ consider cutting current services. Um

2:10:43 ↗ you know, just as another option that's

2:10:45 ↗ on the table. Um, and then I'm

2:10:48 ↗ supportive of the proposed update to the

2:10:49 ↗ reserve policy as well as the proposal

2:10:51 ↗ to establish the audit committee uh,

2:10:53 ↗ audit committee and I would be

2:10:55 ↗ interested in joining.

2:10:56 ↗ >> I was just going to say, are you putting

2:10:57 ↗ your hand up?

2:10:58 ↗ >> Yes, you are. Okay, that is great. Thank

2:11:00 ↗ you, Council Member Joe.

2:11:09 ↗ [laughter]

2:11:09 ↗ >> Great introduction. Thank you.

2:11:12 ↗ >> Thank you, director, for all of your

2:11:13 ↗ hard work this evening. Appreciate that.

2:11:16 ↗ um just to answer a few of the

2:11:18 ↗ questions. Uh we used to have a a budget

2:11:20 ↗ committee that that would meet once a

2:11:22 ↗ month and uh they always put the new guy

2:11:25 ↗ on there. So I was on there in 2000 I

2:11:27 ↗ think it was a very exciting committee

2:11:29 ↗ to be on because you get to look at all

2:11:31 ↗ the different categories, the different

2:11:32 ↗ columns and see where you are with

2:11:34 ↗ things. So, I think it's a good idea to

2:11:36 ↗ have that um reinstalled as a way for us

2:11:40 ↗ to monitor where the budget is going and

2:11:41 ↗ then to have um some people that have

2:11:44 ↗ been tagged with the knowledge and

2:11:47 ↗ tagged with the burden or uh honor of

2:11:51 ↗ going to the audit committee meeting as

2:11:53 ↗ well uh to um to give their um feedback

2:11:58 ↗ and they really would have a good

2:11:59 ↗ understanding what's going on with that.

2:12:01 ↗ Um, I do believe the proposed update to

2:12:03 ↗ the reserve policy is is solid. It's a

2:12:06 ↗ good idea for us to kind of hammer that

2:12:08 ↗ down a little bit more. I like the

2:12:09 ↗ language in there that is more um, you

2:12:12 ↗ know, we shall um, the the general fund

2:12:16 ↗ may never fall below 15 of operating

2:12:19 ↗ expenditures unless authorized by city

2:12:21 ↗ council. Um, seems to be uh, very little

2:12:24 ↗ room for us to wiggle around. And I

2:12:26 ↗ think that's a good idea because we want

2:12:28 ↗ to make sure that we are um staying true

2:12:30 ↗ to ourselves on that particular uh topic

2:12:32 ↗ along the way. Um I don't have any other

2:12:36 ↗ items that I would like to add. I

2:12:37 ↗ understand it's a tough budget year. Um

2:12:40 ↗ the um target that I would see for the

2:12:44 ↗ closing fund balance to gap um would be

2:12:48 ↗ more of a progressive one perhaps to go

2:12:52 ↗ maybe 12% this year with the goal of

2:12:54 ↗ going 15 in the next budget. Um I I just

2:12:58 ↗ don't want us to um put that fund

2:13:01 ↗ balance up really high while at the same

2:13:04 ↗ time having to to cut a lot of programs

2:13:06 ↗ that we might want to might want to

2:13:08 ↗ keep. But I'll leave that to my

2:13:09 ↗ colleagues to consider as they go

2:13:11 ↗ forward as well. But overall, thank you

2:13:13 ↗ so much for your hard work on this and I

2:13:15 ↗ can't believe you've only been with

2:13:16 ↗ you've only been with us for four

2:13:17 ↗ months. Thank you.

2:13:18 ↗ >> It's pretty amazing. Thank you, Council

2:13:20 ↗ Member Joe, Council Member Hall.

2:13:22 ↗ >> Yeah, thanks. Uh, so I'll just go down

2:13:24 ↗ the list. So, items to add. Um, I would

2:13:27 ↗ definitely support um the proposal you

2:13:29 ↗ mentioned earlier about increasing human

2:13:31 ↗ services grant funding for local

2:13:32 ↗ nonprofits, uh, supporting our immigrant

2:13:34 ↗ community. So, I'm sure we'll have more

2:13:36 ↗ conversation about um that at future

2:13:38 ↗ meetings. Um items to avoid removing. Um

2:13:43 ↗ I'll start with Metroflex first. I am

2:13:45 ↗ happy I was really concerned about what

2:13:47 ↗ the outlook potentially of the

2:13:48 ↗ transportation benefit district kind of

2:13:50 ↗ fund um forecast would look like. I am

2:13:52 ↗ happy to see well I'll just say it's

2:13:55 ↗ much healthier than I thought with the

2:13:57 ↗ caveats that were put in place earlier

2:13:59 ↗ and and especially even with the

2:14:01 ↗ assumptions of um dedicating uh debt

2:14:05 ↗ service to pay down um bonding for

2:14:07 ↗ Northwest Samish Road and kind of some

2:14:09 ↗ of the other general expenditures that

2:14:10 ↗ were in there. Of course it being one of

2:14:13 ↗ the other major things that we were

2:14:15 ↗ [clears throat and cough]

2:14:16 ↗ um planning for that fund um since its

2:14:19 ↗ inception. Um so u personally I would

2:14:21 ↗ feel comfortable using um this fund but

2:14:23 ↗ I think there are three distinct

2:14:25 ↗ discussions here that I want to get into

2:14:27 ↗ with regard to TBD and um keep wanting

2:14:31 ↗ to say multiflex instead of metrlex

2:14:33 ↗ metrlex.

2:14:35 ↗ >> One I think is um for council comfort

2:14:38 ↗ level of using TBD on metrlex. Second is

2:14:41 ↗ how we use TBD funding best or

2:14:44 ↗ strategically in uh the future

2:14:47 ↗ recognizing like was said earlier costs

2:14:49 ↗ are going to shift tariffs I hadn't even

2:14:51 ↗ thought about until you and I had spoke

2:14:52 ↗ about this and then also just the

2:14:54 ↗ everchanging landscape of cost of

2:14:56 ↗ materials and labor um over time and

2:14:59 ↗ then also our as a council our

2:15:02 ↗ priorities have kind of changed in the

2:15:04 ↗ transportation space too lately um we've

2:15:06 ↗ had a much more active renewed

2:15:08 ↗ conversation around north South

2:15:10 ↗ transportation and what we what can we

2:15:12 ↗ really do to address what the community

2:15:14 ↗ tells us time and time again is number

2:15:15 ↗ one. Um we've heard in committee that we

2:15:18 ↗ want to be quicker on uh IT

2:15:20 ↗ implementation and how can we deploy

2:15:22 ↗ these technologies quicker. We have a

2:15:24 ↗ lot of large capital projects that are

2:15:26 ↗ huge priorities. Northwest Samish road

2:15:28 ↗ that dang retaining wall you know lots

2:15:30 ↗ of things right. So while I think TBD

2:15:33 ↗ funding makes sense for Metroflex for

2:15:35 ↗ right now, I think council should have

2:15:37 ↗ that broader discussion about future

2:15:38 ↗ priorities and kind of strategic

2:15:40 ↗ direction of the fund uh in the future

2:15:42 ↗ and then make sure we also um learn from

2:15:45 ↗ our mistake, make sure we allocate staff

2:15:47 ↗ resources too uh in the budget to be

2:15:49 ↗ able to have that discussion and I think

2:15:51 ↗ it's going to be very timely next year

2:15:52 ↗ with CIP coming up anyways. So those are

2:15:54 ↗ kind of two distinct conversations. The

2:15:56 ↗ third one then kind of goes back to

2:15:57 ↗ 100%.

2:15:58 ↗ >> So how when you say add resources, are

2:16:00 ↗ you wanting to add that reser resource

2:16:02 ↗ to this adjustment so that the staff is

2:16:05 ↗ on board for next year for those

2:16:06 ↗ conversations because if you don't add

2:16:08 ↗ it, they still won't be here.

2:16:13 ↗ >> No, but perhaps it'll make more sense

2:16:15 ↗ when I finish my comments because I

2:16:17 ↗ think some of this starts with us kind

2:16:19 ↗ of setting the strategic tone of as a

2:16:22 ↗ council having policy discuss.

2:16:23 ↗ >> It's not a specific ask.

2:16:24 ↗ >> Yeah. And maybe I'll put a pin in that

2:16:26 ↗ and come back to it at the end too

2:16:28 ↗ because that's I think a a good point

2:16:30 ↗ that we want to make sure we don't lose.

2:16:32 ↗ So I think kind of the third distinct

2:16:33 ↗ thing here is going back to our last

2:16:35 ↗ meeting around goals and outcomes for um

2:16:38 ↗ Metrolex in particular. Um and so my

2:16:41 ↗ suggestion would be and maybe this gets

2:16:43 ↗ folded into that scope of work what you

2:16:45 ↗ had just mentioned before having staff

2:16:47 ↗ in place to have um um uh details on

2:16:52 ↗ proposals and stuff like that. I would

2:16:54 ↗ suggest maybe mobility and

2:16:55 ↗ infrastructure they have a few touches

2:16:57 ↗ in the new year to take a swing first at

2:16:59 ↗ updating okay what specific problem are

2:17:01 ↗ we trying to solve with uh with the

2:17:02 ↗ program. Um what does success look like

2:17:05 ↗ spec specifically and then what are the

2:17:07 ↗ full range of alternatives that are

2:17:08 ↗ available to us? Um so by the time this

2:17:11 ↗ new contract ends we know whether or not

2:17:13 ↗ one we've achieved what we want to

2:17:15 ↗ achieve and then number two if not we

2:17:16 ↗ have a clear idea of what to try next.

2:17:18 ↗ >> So let me go to deputy city

2:17:20 ↗ administrator for a second. Does that

2:17:21 ↗ require staff resources in 2026?

2:17:28 ↗ >> Uh, yes.

2:17:32 ↗ >> Anyway, let's put a pin in it again.

2:17:34 ↗ >> Yeah. Well, let's Yeah, let's put a pin

2:17:36 ↗ in that and tease out what would require

2:17:38 ↗ staff resources, too, because I think

2:17:39 ↗ maybe like the what are the alternatives

2:17:42 ↗ certainly would require um staff

2:17:44 ↗ resources, but I think maybe saying

2:17:46 ↗ what's what do we want success to look

2:17:49 ↗ like as a policy level? what problem are

2:17:51 ↗ we trying to solve at a policy level?

2:17:52 ↗ Those are things I think council and

2:17:53 ↗ committee can

2:17:54 ↗ >> still likely a policy conversation that

2:17:56 ↗ is not allocated in the current work

2:17:58 ↗ plan unless there's a body. So I think I

2:18:00 ↗ think that's worth sussing out, but

2:18:01 ↗ let's go through all of your points.

2:18:03 ↗ >> Yeah. Okay. Um

2:18:07 ↗ All right. Well, anyway, so those are

2:18:08 ↗ kind of the three things in my head for

2:18:10 ↗ Metroflex. Okay. using it now. Let's

2:18:12 ↗ think about how to use those funds

2:18:14 ↗ strategically in the future and also

2:18:16 ↗ goals and outcomes around um metrlex. Um

2:18:20 ↗ the next thing on my mind to avoid

2:18:22 ↗ removing um and we're going to wait on

2:18:24 ↗ more information so um this isn't a full

2:18:27 ↗ fully formed thought yet, but is the eco

2:18:29 ↗ northwest implementation. So, this was a

2:18:32 ↗ top priority of the council at our

2:18:33 ↗ retreat this summer. Um, which I think

2:18:36 ↗ was like the first time that council and

2:18:38 ↗ you had interactions around budget and

2:18:40 ↗ stuff like that too, going back to that

2:18:42 ↗ meeting. And then we just recently had

2:18:44 ↗ the community planning and development

2:18:45 ↗ kind of rep prioritization of their

2:18:47 ↗ current work plan discussion too. And

2:18:49 ↗ this also rose as a top priority there.

2:18:51 ↗ Um, so that's why I asked about kind of

2:18:53 ↗ the breakdown between

2:18:55 ↗ the housing strategy work plan and

2:18:57 ↗ implementation of this. So, I look

2:18:58 ↗ forward to seeing that number at our

2:19:00 ↗ next budget touch. Um, so we can at

2:19:02 ↗ least consider what it would look like

2:19:04 ↗ to include that. Of course, that's also

2:19:06 ↗ going to be a trade-off discussion. So,

2:19:07 ↗ I'll just acknowledge that as well. Um,

2:19:10 ↗ so those are the items on my mind for

2:19:12 ↗ avoid removing for target for closing uh

2:19:15 ↗ the fund balance gap. Um, I kind of

2:19:17 ↗ agree. I don't think it's realistic to

2:19:19 ↗ hit the 15% mark by the end of this

2:19:21 ↗ bienium. Um, supportive of maybe seeing

2:19:24 ↗ as close as we can get to that 12%

2:19:26 ↗ target. I don't necessarily know what

2:19:29 ↗ the delta is between where we are and

2:19:31 ↗ 12% in terms of real dollars though. Um

2:19:35 ↗ so I but but I think recognizing it's

2:19:38 ↗ going to take some time. We've

2:19:40 ↗ identified a problem midbenium with how

2:19:42 ↗ we accounted for restricted and

2:19:43 ↗ unrestricted. Um and I think we need a

2:19:45 ↗ ramp going into the next banium. It

2:19:47 ↗ sounds like that's kind of the plan that

2:19:48 ↗ you're already thinking through right

2:19:49 ↗ now and what some of the other council

2:19:51 ↗ members are are supporting. So that's

2:19:53 ↗ certainly where my mind is right now,

2:19:54 ↗ especially because I feel as if staff

2:19:57 ↗ has gone through the exercise of trying

2:19:59 ↗ to find cost saving cost savings here at

2:20:01 ↗ the city of Isqua in several budgets now

2:20:03 ↗ over the years. And so um we are already

2:20:06 ↗ running kind of comparatively lean um

2:20:10 ↗ areas of focus to target for reaching um

2:20:13 ↗ the target. Um this is kind of difficult

2:20:16 ↗ u for me to be able to say oh you should

2:20:18 ↗ look here to find cost savings. I think

2:20:20 ↗ um my mind my instinct is to say avoid

2:20:24 ↗ as best as possible cuts or cost savings

2:20:26 ↗ to public safety and human services just

2:20:29 ↗ given the kind of scale of the moment

2:20:31 ↗ that we're in right now. Um and

2:20:34 ↗ potentially look at what are our

2:20:36 ↗ one-time capital costs. Um you had

2:20:39 ↗ mentioned capital underspend. These

2:20:40 ↗ kinds of things that maybe we could

2:20:42 ↗ identify that um can help us save money

2:20:44 ↗ in general fund. Um, and then the last

2:20:47 ↗ thing was just new financial policy

2:20:49 ↗ language. I think that looks good to me.

2:20:50 ↗ I was also thinking about, well, if

2:20:52 ↗ we're going to stand up a new committee,

2:20:53 ↗ um, does it make sense to have other

2:20:55 ↗ things within the charter of that

2:20:57 ↗ committee? I like us all to be in the

2:20:59 ↗ weeds on the kind of budget discussions

2:21:01 ↗ though. But perhaps I'll just throw it

2:21:03 ↗ to the administration. If you think

2:21:05 ↗ there's a particular need that should

2:21:06 ↗ show up in a committee um, in addition

2:21:08 ↗ to audit, maybe that's something the

2:21:10 ↗ council considers as well. But

2:21:11 ↗ otherwise, I think that language looks

2:21:12 ↗ good. And those are my comments.

2:21:14 ↗ >> Great. Council member Ray,

2:21:17 ↗ >> oh, so much to say. Um,

2:21:22 ↗ we've been really fortunate in the

2:21:23 ↗ recent past be in a period of revenue

2:21:26 ↗ growth. Um, and that's over and we are

2:21:30 ↗ seeing uh sales tax flatten out and we

2:21:33 ↗ are clearly seeing the structural

2:21:35 ↗ deficit that we knew would happen with

2:21:36 ↗ property tax. And so we have difficult

2:21:39 ↗ difficult times ahead. And I say this

2:21:42 ↗ because I don't think it is smart to

2:21:45 ↗ say, "Well, let's just ease back into

2:21:47 ↗ getting to the 15%." Because you'll

2:21:49 ↗ never get there. I guarantee you will

2:21:51 ↗ never get there in the current uh

2:21:53 ↗ financial situation you were in. Um um

2:21:56 ↗ you are going to have declining revenues

2:21:58 ↗ relative to your expenses. Just no new

2:22:01 ↗ services, no new anything just because

2:22:04 ↗ that your ability to keep up with

2:22:05 ↗ inflation is uh upside down. So,

2:22:10 ↗ you can kick the can as long as you want

2:22:12 ↗ to kick the can, but at some point it's

2:22:13 ↗ going to be zero. Um, and so you got to

2:22:16 ↗ say, what am I not going to do? And

2:22:18 ↗ we're not good at that. Matter of fact,

2:22:19 ↗ we're really bad at that. So, we're

2:22:21 ↗ going to have to figure out how to say

2:22:22 ↗ no to stuff. So, we've been able to

2:22:24 ↗ leverage some uh one-time kind of tax

2:22:27 ↗ increases. So, we're leveraging TBD. I

2:22:30 ↗ think if we're going to include uh

2:22:31 ↗ continue Metroflex, it needs to be a TD

2:22:33 ↗ TBD initiative, but not at the expense

2:22:37 ↗ of not doing the the transportation

2:22:40 ↗ related work that we have committed to

2:22:43 ↗ such as South Lake Seamish,

2:22:45 ↗ um not its

2:22:48 ↗ >> and a number of other initiatives. Um we

2:22:51 ↗ have an opportunity with the public

2:22:53 ↗ safety uh sales tax and I'll just you

2:22:55 ↗ know put it out there. it that money is

2:22:57 ↗ fungeible. And so what we're going to do

2:22:59 ↗ is displace um some general fund

2:23:02 ↗ expenditures with uh revenue from that

2:23:04 ↗ source and that will keep our general

2:23:07 ↗ fund afloat for a little bit longer, but

2:23:09 ↗ it's a one-time thing. So it's it's um

2:23:13 ↗ it's really time for discipline. And

2:23:15 ↗ when we wrote the last update, the last

2:23:17 ↗ couple of updates to the financial

2:23:19 ↗ policy, um I was saying uh 15 was too

2:23:23 ↗ low of a a target. 15 is too low of a

2:23:26 ↗ target. And if you read the language, it

2:23:28 ↗ says the target is 15 to 20 with a floor

2:23:31 ↗ of 15, not a oh somewhere around that.

2:23:34 ↗ And that's by design to focus on being

2:23:38 ↗ disciplined about not spending money

2:23:40 ↗ that you don't have because these are

2:23:43 ↗ really risky and uncertain times. And

2:23:45 ↗ that 15% oh what is it? Seven is our

2:23:48 ↗ shock absorber. That's what helps us,

2:23:50 ↗ you know, deal with the ups and downs in

2:23:52 ↗ these uncertain times. And I'm very

2:23:54 ↗ concerned that if we like, oh, you know,

2:23:57 ↗ I'm just going to take from my reserve

2:23:59 ↗ fund at home because I want to go on

2:24:01 ↗ that really great uh vacation or I I

2:24:04 ↗ need to do something that's at all

2:24:06 ↗ discretionary. Um, that's kind of bad

2:24:09 ↗ management at my personal funds. Um, and

2:24:13 ↗ then I'm going to need a new washer and

2:24:15 ↗ I'm not going to be able to afford the

2:24:17 ↗ new washer and it's it's not a

2:24:18 ↗ non-discretionary thing. So, um, I worry

2:24:21 ↗ about that a lot. Do you have a request

2:24:23 ↗ in there? Would you like to see what

2:24:26 ↗ kind of cuts would come to get to 15%.

2:24:28 ↗ >> I would love to see what kind of cuts

2:24:30 ↗ would come to get to 15% um at the

2:24:33 ↗ midbian. That would be my my desire, but

2:24:37 ↗ definitely by the end of the bienium

2:24:38 ↗ that we know how we're going to get to

2:24:40 ↗ 15 by the end of the bienium to get in

2:24:42 ↗ compliance with the policy. And just a

2:24:44 ↗ question for um deputy administrator and

2:24:47 ↗ finance director. Is that information

2:24:49 ↗ that we have available for them prior to

2:24:52 ↗ their next meeting where they could see

2:24:54 ↗ what um cut round two cuts would look

2:24:57 ↗ like in order to get to 15% faster.

2:25:01 ↗ >> Uh Mayor Pauly, we seek direction from

2:25:03 ↗ council this evening about um where they

2:25:06 ↗ would like us to target. And so based we

2:25:09 ↗ don't have that information today. We're

2:25:11 ↗ looking for direction from council. Is

2:25:13 ↗ 10% is it 12? Is it

2:25:16 ↗ >> okay

2:25:16 ↗ >> 15? My microphone's kind of cut cutting

2:25:18 ↗ out.

2:25:18 ↗ >> They're being weird tonight for sure.

2:25:20 ↗ The microphone.

2:25:20 ↗ >> So, so I think we seek direction from

2:25:22 ↗ full counsel about um what they would

2:25:25 ↗ like to see us work towards and come

2:25:27 ↗ back to council for a proposal. So, if

2:25:29 ↗ majority of council directs us and says

2:25:31 ↗ we want you to get to the 15%, we will

2:25:33 ↗ come back prepared with that

2:25:35 ↗ information. But you also, if you get

2:25:36 ↗ that information tonight, want the

2:25:38 ↗ council to provide direction on where

2:25:39 ↗ they want to make the cuts.

2:25:41 ↗ >> That would be very helpful. Where they

2:25:43 ↗ want the cuts also is helpful, as

2:25:45 ↗ council member Hall mentioned earlier,

2:25:47 ↗ where not to touch for cuts. So, we're

2:25:49 ↗ looking for council priorities tonight

2:25:52 ↗ in areas to maintain funding or to

2:25:54 ↗ decrease funding.

2:25:55 ↗ >> Okay,

2:25:56 ↗ >> great.

2:25:57 ↗ >> So, let me respond to that because I

2:25:58 ↗ think that uh Council Member Hall is

2:26:01 ↗ spot on. it's easier and it's more

2:26:03 ↗ appropriate actually talk about what

2:26:04 ↗ your priorities are not what your dep

2:26:06 ↗ priorities are. So in terms of of from

2:26:09 ↗ my perspective the areas I would not um

2:26:12 ↗ want us to cut deeply into is is public

2:26:15 ↗ safety and or um um transportation.

2:26:20 ↗ Those are the two things that the public

2:26:22 ↗ says are most important to them. So

2:26:24 ↗ that's where I would say um sustain that

2:26:27 ↗ and everything else is fair game.

2:26:30 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you. And you have more

2:26:32 ↗ questions here, too.

2:26:33 ↗ >> No, I Oh, I do have more questions. Uh,

2:26:35 ↗ no, I talked well I talked about the

2:26:37 ↗ reserve policy. I think the language is

2:26:39 ↗ fine. I think I'm okay with doing

2:26:41 ↗ measurement at the end of the bienium,

2:26:42 ↗ not at the mid bienium point. Um I just

2:26:45 ↗ think that we make a commitment to a

2:26:47 ↗ number, we stick to that number and I

2:26:49 ↗ think um

2:26:51 ↗ you know we had a ad hoc financial

2:26:54 ↗ management committee back in the day and

2:26:57 ↗ that you know that was the successor to

2:26:59 ↗ the committee that uh council member Joe

2:27:02 ↗ talked about and that was a group that

2:27:04 ↗ got together on an as needed basis and

2:27:06 ↗ that might not be a bad thing for

2:27:08 ↗ >> for the council to consider going into

2:27:11 ↗ the next uh into the next year. Thank

2:27:13 ↗ you for that suggestion.

2:27:15 ↗ Um, Deputy Council President.

2:27:23 ↗ >> Okay, everybody pay attention. Deputy

2:27:24 ↗ Council President is speaking now.

2:27:26 ↗ >> Um, all right. So, I'm going to start uh

2:27:29 ↗ instead of being overall, I'm just going

2:27:30 ↗ to start on um on the areas where I'm

2:27:35 ↗ most concerned so I can get those

2:27:37 ↗ thoughts out of my head and then we'll

2:27:38 ↗ talk about some of the bigger picture.

2:27:40 ↗ So, um I definitely want to talk about

2:27:43 ↗ the $50,000 proposal, which I very much

2:27:46 ↗ appreciate, uh that would go to support,

2:27:49 ↗ uh organizations that are helping our

2:27:52 ↗ immigrant community. Um I would like to

2:27:55 ↗ see that fasttracked as much as

2:27:58 ↗ possible. Um we know that the emergency

2:28:01 ↗ is here. Let's call it an emergency

2:28:03 ↗ because it is for those families that

2:28:04 ↗ are um experiencing this. And not only

2:28:07 ↗ that, but as we saw through the

2:28:09 ↗ testimony uh tonight, uh it affects the

2:28:13 ↗ wider community as well. This is not

2:28:15 ↗ just focused on those families. This is

2:28:18 ↗ a community emergency. And we heard the

2:28:21 ↗ passion tonight and um we know from all

2:28:24 ↗ the emails we received and and other

2:28:27 ↗ conversations that this is really

2:28:28 ↗ important and needs to be addressed

2:28:31 ↗ soon, sooner than later. I do appreciate

2:28:34 ↗ the idea that we need to follow a

2:28:36 ↗ process and that there are multiple

2:28:38 ↗ organizations that can help on this. So

2:28:41 ↗ that yes needs to be um worked through

2:28:44 ↗ but whatever we can do to fasttrack this

2:28:47 ↗ so that we get the money into the hands

2:28:49 ↗ of the people that need it as soon as

2:28:50 ↗ possible I would really appreciate. So

2:28:54 ↗ >> you did have some good conversation I

2:28:55 ↗ think with the B city administrator

2:28:57 ↗ about that today.

2:28:58 ↗ >> Yes.

2:28:59 ↗ >> Yes. I did. I I had a suggestion for how

2:29:01 ↗ we might do that. All right. So, do you

2:29:03 ↗ want me to discuss that or not?

2:29:06 ↗ >> You can discuss that now. Sure.

2:29:07 ↗ >> Oh, okay. [laughter] Well, I and then uh

2:29:10 ↗ our lawyer weighed in and said we

2:29:12 ↗ couldn't do it that way. I was hoping

2:29:13 ↗ that maybe we could take lawyers. I know

2:29:16 ↗ lawyers.

2:29:17 ↗ >> I was hoping that maybe we could take a

2:29:19 ↗ vote tonight, not specifically on what

2:29:22 ↗ we were going to do, but giving

2:29:23 ↗ permission to go forward, but we can't

2:29:26 ↗ even, according to our lawyer, we can't

2:29:28 ↗ even do that. Rachel, we really

2:29:30 ↗ appreciate you. [laughter] Thank you so

2:29:31 ↗ much.

2:29:33 ↗ But uh if we can fasttrack it, let's

2:29:35 ↗ let's do it. Okay. So that that is one

2:29:38 ↗ item. Um I'm very happy to hear and

2:29:41 ↗ again uh I think there was some

2:29:43 ↗ miscommunication. There were several of

2:29:45 ↗ us up at Providence Point earlier this

2:29:47 ↗ morning. They were very concerned about

2:29:49 ↗ Metroflex

2:29:50 ↗ um and thinking that it was being zeroed

2:29:53 ↗ out of this budget when that is not the

2:29:55 ↗ case. So, uh, I think we need to do some

2:29:58 ↗ communications and let people know. Uh,

2:30:01 ↗ we're moving out of the general fund and

2:30:03 ↗ we're thinking about taking it over and

2:30:05 ↗ taking out TBD. So, um,

2:30:07 ↗ >> I and I think you're going to have to

2:30:09 ↗ make that as your budget, you know, when

2:30:11 ↗ you're doing your budget and then we can

2:30:13 ↗ message because right now it's not in

2:30:15 ↗ the budget,

2:30:15 ↗ >> right?

2:30:16 ↗ >> And so, we we need you to provide that

2:30:18 ↗ direction, approve the budget, then we

2:30:20 ↗ can mess this job.

2:30:21 ↗ >> Okay. Uh again talking to uh um again at

2:30:26 ↗ Providence Point this morning, our

2:30:28 ↗ seniors, our disabled people, uh people

2:30:31 ↗ of low income and our immigrant

2:30:33 ↗ community are all using this. It's

2:30:35 ↗ serving a portion of our population that

2:30:37 ↗ really really needs transportation

2:30:39 ↗ services. Um and I think we need to be

2:30:42 ↗ aware of that. I also wanted to add

2:30:44 ↗ something that I forgot to talk about at

2:30:46 ↗ my last report on the regional transit

2:30:48 ↗ committee. I did mention that Metro is

2:30:51 ↗ planning to do an analysis of Metroflex

2:30:53 ↗ in 2026 and that of course will be

2:30:56 ↗ looking at services that they might

2:30:58 ↗ cancel. But the other part of it is they

2:31:01 ↗ are looking at turning some of those

2:31:02 ↗ metrlex routes into permanently funded

2:31:05 ↗ routes. And so uh part of what we need

2:31:08 ↗ to be looking at, I believe some one of

2:31:10 ↗ the other council members mentioned this

2:31:11 ↗ is strategic use of our transportation

2:31:14 ↗ funds to make sure that we're

2:31:16 ↗ communicating that the service is

2:31:17 ↗ available. um seeing if we can boost the

2:31:20 ↗ writership all of that because um there

2:31:23 ↗ is going to be this major review of

2:31:25 ↗ Metroflex and I think we want to make a

2:31:28 ↗ really strong case that this community

2:31:30 ↗ needs Metroflex.

2:31:32 ↗ So those are the the two items that are

2:31:34 ↗ really on top of my top of my head. Um,

2:31:39 ↗ I I am comfortable with this taking two

2:31:41 ↗ years to get to the 15%. But I have to

2:31:44 ↗ say that I agree with the other council

2:31:46 ↗ members that when you look at the amount

2:31:48 ↗ of funds that are in that undesated

2:31:50 ↗ funds, I mean, the bomb cyclone took

2:31:53 ↗ $3.6 million.

2:31:56 ↗ And if we were to have some emergency

2:31:58 ↗ like that anytime soon, we would really

2:32:01 ↗ be in trouble. So, we want to be working

2:32:03 ↗ toward I I mean, I'd love to see us at

2:32:06 ↗ 12%.

2:32:07 ↗ At the end of, you know, at the uh for

2:32:11 ↗ the next I'm sorry, for the next half of

2:32:14 ↗ the bianium and then we make sure we hit

2:32:17 ↗ 15% two years from now. So, so I I don't

2:32:20 ↗ want us to stay at 9% for sure. I think

2:32:22 ↗ we should be working toward getting at

2:32:24 ↗ least halfway there and then achieve the

2:32:26 ↗ goal the next time around. Um, I am

2:32:30 ↗ totally in favor of the audit committee.

2:32:33 ↗ I agree with council member Hall. All of

2:32:35 ↗ us should be involved in the budget

2:32:36 ↗ process. [laughter]

2:32:38 ↗ So, I don't want three council members

2:32:40 ↗ doing the budget. I want us all to be

2:32:41 ↗ involved in that. But um I have attended

2:32:45 ↗ almost every one of the audit report

2:32:47 ↗ meetings and uh I think it's really

2:32:49 ↗ important for us to understand what the

2:32:51 ↗ state auditors are telling us about the

2:32:53 ↗ the um uh fiscal responsibility that we

2:32:58 ↗ have and where we can make improvements

2:33:00 ↗ and the overall look from an outside

2:33:03 ↗ organization is really important. So I

2:33:06 ↗ would really uh support the idea of an

2:33:08 ↗ audit committee. I don't think it needs

2:33:09 ↗ to meet every month, but uh quarterly

2:33:12 ↗ perhaps, but um I think it's a great

2:33:15 ↗ idea for us to do that. Um and then I I

2:33:20 ↗ do I think the proposed update to the

2:33:22 ↗ reserve policy is is just fine. So, um

2:33:25 ↗ is there I mean there's so much to

2:33:26 ↗ comment on here. Did I forget anything?

2:33:28 ↗ I I think you hit all of the questions.

2:33:31 ↗ And again, I know it's uncomfortable,

2:33:33 ↗ but if we are going to find additional

2:33:36 ↗ cuts, do you have any areas that

2:33:38 ↗ >> Yeah, I think I brought this up last

2:33:40 ↗ time. I would love to have the history

2:33:41 ↗ of the pavement management program, one

2:33:43 ↗ of my very favorite funds, and I'm

2:33:46 ↗ looking to see if possibly we can find

2:33:48 ↗ some savings there. So, uh that is my

2:33:51 ↗ suggestion for at least something that

2:33:53 ↗ we should look at.

2:33:54 ↗ >> We can definitely find information.

2:33:56 ↗ Okay,

2:33:56 ↗ >> great.

2:33:58 ↗ >> Council President,

2:34:00 ↗ >> thank you. Let's see. Going through

2:34:02 ↗ this. Um, I think my big concept on this

2:34:07 ↗ is it's better to have the information.

2:34:10 ↗ It's better to take action on it than to

2:34:13 ↗ not know. I don't want to

2:34:18 ↗ overcorrect

2:34:20 ↗ something that I think when we do a few

2:34:22 ↗ calculations we're going to be on a much

2:34:25 ↗ better trajectory on. Um I do think we

2:34:28 ↗ need to have a future conversation about

2:34:32 ↗ how we can be a more productive city.

2:34:35 ↗ Um, and I mean that in phrase of like if

2:34:38 ↗ we look at our big four revenue areas,

2:34:42 ↗ there are certain things obviously like

2:34:44 ↗ property tax that we are limited by

2:34:47 ↗ state. Um

2:34:50 ↗ but there's other things like sales tax

2:34:53 ↗ where

2:34:55 ↗ when we are able to add businesses and

2:35:00 ↗ invest in business that can be more

2:35:03 ↗ productive and effective in the economy,

2:35:05 ↗ we actually see a return on that. And so

2:35:08 ↗ one of the things I'd really like us to

2:35:10 ↗ do is have a sense of

2:35:14 ↗ what can we do to push the needle on

2:35:18 ↗ revenues so that we don't sit in a

2:35:21 ↗ scarcity mindset continually

2:35:25 ↗ um with the idea that there is nothing

2:35:28 ↗ that we can do. Um so that that would be

2:35:32 ↗ the one of the big picture things that

2:35:34 ↗ comes to mind for me. Um, as far as this

2:35:37 ↗ situation, any items to add? Um,

2:35:40 ↗ Metrolex, um, I feel really comfortable

2:35:44 ↗ with the information from the

2:35:46 ↗ transportation benefit district fund

2:35:47 ↗ balance to use that for 2026. Um, and

2:35:52 ↗ then, uh,

2:35:54 ↗ I think we are probably fine to have a

2:35:57 ↗ policy conversation with council without

2:36:00 ↗ the need of an additional staff on what

2:36:03 ↗ are our goals for that program. How do

2:36:05 ↗ we feel about utilizing that within the

2:36:08 ↗ TBD as something as a part of our next

2:36:11 ↗ bienium budget?

2:36:12 ↗ >> Council President, I want Deputy City

2:36:14 ↗ Administrator to weigh in on that

2:36:15 ↗ because I the people who resource the

2:36:18 ↗ meeting say they need resources. So, I

2:36:20 ↗ think if we're going to have those

2:36:22 ↗ conversations and the recommendation is

2:36:24 ↗ that we need more resources, then I

2:36:26 ↗ think that needs to be part of the

2:36:27 ↗ budget discussion as well.

2:36:31 ↗ >> Uh, thank you, Mayor Paulie. I think for

2:36:34 ↗ a policy discussion and to facilitate a

2:36:36 ↗ policy discussion with council on goals

2:36:39 ↗ of Metroflex, I think that's something

2:36:40 ↗ that the administration feels

2:36:42 ↗ comfortable we can do with the resources

2:36:43 ↗ we have. I think it's what comes out of

2:36:46 ↗ that discussion and the expectations

2:36:48 ↗ from council how we um need to then

2:36:51 ↗ evaluate the program or evaluate

2:36:53 ↗ alternatives and what direction comes

2:36:55 ↗ from that. we may need it. I I would

2:36:57 ↗ anticipate needing additional resources

2:37:00 ↗ um for the followup and looking at

2:37:01 ↗ >> the proposal then so it's clear for

2:37:03 ↗ everybody would be to have policy

2:37:05 ↗ conversations only and stop work until

2:37:09 ↗ they go through the next budget cycle

2:37:12 ↗ planning for the next ban where they

2:37:13 ↗ could add resources to do the work

2:37:16 ↗ >> unless council wants to add resources

2:37:19 ↗ midcycle which um is they certainly have

2:37:22 ↗ the ability to do that.

2:37:23 ↗ >> Thank you. That's great clarification.

2:37:25 ↗ Yeah. And I think with that policy

2:37:27 ↗ conversation as we are going through

2:37:29 ↗ that we may figure out you know is this

2:37:33 ↗ something that we directionally want to

2:37:35 ↗ do or are we going to take that six

2:37:37 ↗ month out you know what what are the

2:37:39 ↗ goals that we have for the program are

2:37:42 ↗ we able to achieve them um etc. But if

2:37:47 ↗ we need more data on that, um, I think

2:37:50 ↗ we could at that point look at staff or

2:37:54 ↗ consultants. But I think it's pretty

2:37:56 ↗ important to me that we continue the

2:37:58 ↗ Metrolex program so that we can continue

2:38:01 ↗ to build wrership. Um, I still strongly

2:38:04 ↗ believe that we need to change out um

2:38:08 ↗ the map boundaries and that can make it

2:38:11 ↗ an even more productive um contract with

2:38:15 ↗ that. Um the $50,000 for immigration

2:38:20 ↗ funding um I feel a real urgency on

2:38:22 ↗ that. I think we have a very clear

2:38:25 ↗ understanding

2:38:27 ↗ that

2:38:30 ↗ how do I put this? When we were facing

2:38:33 ↗ the

2:38:34 ↗ pandemic and housing crisis, um we went

2:38:38 ↗ with the organizations that we knew were

2:38:40 ↗ on the ground that had capacity to

2:38:43 ↗ provide services. We did not necessarily

2:38:48 ↗ go to a commission to evaluate that for

2:38:53 ↗ a month or so before giving that money

2:38:55 ↗ out. Um I I feel pretty strongly that we

2:38:58 ↗ know the organizations on the ground and

2:39:01 ↗ that I trust our administration to make

2:39:04 ↗ those decisions so that we can get that

2:39:07 ↗ out quickly. Um

2:39:10 ↗ >> let me get clarification on that.

2:39:13 ↗ Uh, is it possible, and maybe it's a

2:39:15 ↗ Rachel question, for council to provide

2:39:18 ↗ direction that says that the mayor just

2:39:22 ↗ does the review and issues checks? Is

2:39:25 ↗ that something? No, I'm getting a no.

2:39:28 ↗ I'm getting a no.

2:39:29 ↗ >> But it's $50,000. Isn't that under the

2:39:32 ↗ mayor's ability to sign and execute a

2:39:35 ↗ contract?

2:39:36 ↗ >> Come on up.

2:39:40 ↗ Rachel's in the spotlight. it is. So,

2:39:43 ↗ while the council can't give direction

2:39:45 ↗ on it tonight, the mayor could certainly

2:39:48 ↗ do what the mayor is authorized to do

2:39:50 ↗ under her signing authority and let

2:39:53 ↗ everyone know about it later.

2:39:58 ↗ >> Yeah.

2:39:59 ↗ >> At this point in time, we have not

2:40:01 ↗ received any requests or any information

2:40:04 ↗ about any of our agencies. So there is

2:40:07 ↗ some work that needs to be done to

2:40:09 ↗ assess the need and the capabil like who

2:40:12 ↗ is already on contract that we can do it

2:40:14 ↗ with. We don't have time to negotiate a

2:40:16 ↗ new contract and get it signed. So um I

2:40:19 ↗ just think we need to maybe have some

2:40:20 ↗ more clarity over with um our lawyer and

2:40:23 ↗ with the administration about how to

2:40:25 ↗ speed it up because I just don't know

2:40:28 ↗ that we have landed on the plane landed

2:40:29 ↗ that plane yet.

2:40:33 ↗ >> Deputy say administrator.

2:40:35 ↗ Uh, Madame Mayor, if I may, um, in, uh,

2:40:40 ↗ working with the parks and community

2:40:41 ↗ services staff today, and there's a park

2:40:44 ↗ board meeting at this time, otherwise,

2:40:46 ↗ director Jeff Watling, uh, would be

2:40:47 ↗ joining us, but we were trying to

2:40:50 ↗ examine how we could uh, deploy more

2:40:54 ↗ resources to organizations that support

2:40:57 ↗ immigrant families in Isiqua the

2:40:59 ↗ quickest we possibly could, certainly

2:41:01 ↗ within the confines of city policy and

2:41:04 ↗ uh, state law and um and so we believe

2:41:08 ↗ we have a a quick path though it would

2:41:11 ↗ um include working with the human

2:41:13 ↗ services commission but uh that we could

2:41:16 ↗ look at the contracts that we have amend

2:41:18 ↗ the contracts that we have versus um

2:41:21 ↗ organize new contracts and so um so

2:41:25 ↗ that's that's our proposal at this point

2:41:28 ↗ to try to deploy those resources as

2:41:30 ↗ quick as we possibly can. Thanks.

2:41:35 ↗ >> Okay. I'm I'm just going to push back on

2:41:38 ↗ the idea that this needs to go to a

2:41:40 ↗ commission. I I appreciate professional

2:41:42 ↗ advice from staff. Um I think we heard

2:41:46 ↗ from the community that they would like

2:41:48 ↗ us to take action. We know a particular

2:41:52 ↗ group on the ground that is providing

2:41:55 ↗ these resources is cashstrapped.

2:42:00 ↗ So, I will just put my strong idea out

2:42:03 ↗ there that this we should not get in the

2:42:07 ↗ way of getting that money out into the

2:42:09 ↗ community and getting that done. Um,

2:42:12 ↗ moving on. Uh, any other items to add?

2:42:16 ↗ Um, I think the Eco Northwest report and

2:42:19 ↗ the implementation on that is really

2:42:20 ↗ important. I am willing to sacrifice the

2:42:24 ↗ housing strategy work plan portion of

2:42:27 ↗ that and so I agree with Council Member

2:42:28 ↗ Hall. I'd like to break down on that and

2:42:31 ↗ see what we can do in order to just be

2:42:34 ↗ able to implement the Eco Northwest um

2:42:36 ↗ stuff.

2:42:38 ↗ Um any areas that should not be removed?

2:42:41 ↗ Uh you've done a great job scrubbing,

2:42:43 ↗ pulling, you know, all of that. So, uh,

2:42:47 ↗ the only feedback I have there is on the

2:42:49 ↗ Eco Northwest portion of that and then

2:42:51 ↗ moving the Metrlex into TBD

2:42:55 ↗ um target for closing the fund

2:43:00 ↗ uh balance gap this bienium. I I'm

2:43:03 ↗ aiming toward I think 12% but from my

2:43:06 ↗ point of view it's more about a

2:43:08 ↗ trajectory on that. Um, and so I agree

2:43:11 ↗ with the idea of being able to close the

2:43:13 ↗ gap in two years is probably good. Um,

2:43:16 ↗ I'm not a math person, but I did do a

2:43:18 ↗ back of the napkin calculation. Just

2:43:20 ↗ moving the public safety sales tax stuff

2:43:24 ↗ um, out of unrestricted expenditures and

2:43:28 ↗ that on my calculation gets us to 11.7%.

2:43:32 ↗ So I think I feel pretty comfortable we

2:43:34 ↗ can move in that direction just by

2:43:37 ↗ getting our math right. Um, that being

2:43:40 ↗ said, I am absolutely willing to do a

2:43:43 ↗ scrub of existing services to find a h

2:43:46 ↗ 100red or 200 or $300,000 or delay a

2:43:49 ↗ capital improvement project that would

2:43:51 ↗ provide opportunities to get there

2:43:54 ↗ faster. I think the goal is to get there

2:43:57 ↗ in like a two-year period from my

2:44:00 ↗ perspective. And so

2:44:03 ↗ that should be um one of the focuses

2:44:06 ↗ toward that end. Um the public safety

2:44:09 ↗ sales tax um right now what we are

2:44:14 ↗ showing for 2026 is programming for

2:44:18 ↗ um

2:44:20 ↗ 1.062

2:44:22 ↗ million out of the 2.2 million. And so

2:44:26 ↗ I'd like a better understanding of what

2:44:28 ↗ the rest of that was cuz my initial

2:44:31 ↗ understanding was only 750,000

2:44:34 ↗ to um savings for facilities. If that

2:44:38 ↗ has been changed, let me know. But it

2:44:41 ↗ seems like there's an additional

2:44:42 ↗ $250,000

2:44:44 ↗ there that isn't

2:44:47 ↗ allocated. We had designated about 150

2:44:50 ↗ for other capital needs that isn't

2:44:54 ↗ currently identified, but we wanted to

2:44:55 ↗ have a placeholder in case there were

2:44:57 ↗ some priorities that came up, but only

2:44:59 ↗ 750,000 has been truly identified for

2:45:02 ↗ public facilities.

2:45:05 ↗ Okay. Um I think I think council should

2:45:10 ↗ have a clear conversation about the

2:45:13 ↗ public safety sales tax and what we want

2:45:15 ↗ to use it for for 2026.

2:45:18 ↗ rather than

2:45:20 ↗ necessarily

2:45:25 ↗ peacemailing it as we are um right now.

2:45:28 ↗ So, I would like to have that

2:45:30 ↗ conversation with council

2:45:33 ↗ um

2:45:35 ↗ toward that point. Um I'd like to look

2:45:38 ↗ at our fleet fund balance. I'm willing

2:45:41 ↗ to consider whether that 300,000 should

2:45:45 ↗ come out of the public safety sales tax

2:45:47 ↗ or from fleet fund balance. So that's um

2:45:51 ↗ a question for me. Um looking through

2:45:55 ↗ some of the other notes that I took. Um

2:45:56 ↗ revenues from sale of properties. I

2:45:58 ↗ would really prefer to keep that in the

2:46:00 ↗ general fund for flexibility in the case

2:46:03 ↗ of emergencies or something like that.

2:46:06 ↗ if we pull it out into another fund and

2:46:08 ↗ put it as a designated thing that that

2:46:12 ↗ just I I remember um Beth Basley, our

2:46:15 ↗ one of our previous finance directors,

2:46:17 ↗ always wanted us to have the flexibility

2:46:20 ↗ with our funds and I think that is one

2:46:22 ↗ that just

2:46:26 ↗ scares me from moving it out. But I

2:46:28 ↗ guess if we are if we spend that money

2:46:30 ↗ at some point it'll be gone. But that's

2:46:32 ↗ my thoughts there. um 4th of July. Since

2:46:35 ↗ there is currently no specific ask, I

2:46:38 ↗ don't feel ready to allocate funds and

2:46:41 ↗ so I would leave that off of this

2:46:43 ↗ proposed budget at this point. Um World

2:46:46 ↗ Cup, I would like to hear about the

2:46:49 ↗ ELTAC options. Um and then I would ask

2:46:52 ↗ the council and maybe the administration

2:46:55 ↗ to look at um additional operation costs

2:46:59 ↗ from safety and police and all of those

2:47:02 ↗ things. Could those could we consider

2:47:05 ↗ that those could be covered by

2:47:08 ↗ additional sales tax revenue from the

2:47:10 ↗ additional people that would come into

2:47:12 ↗ town? You know, as as an idea, we are

2:47:15 ↗ not currently programming or

2:47:16 ↗ anticipating an increase in sales tax

2:47:19 ↗ revenue.

2:47:21 ↗ So, should we not go ahead and in

2:47:24 ↗ anticipate an increase in um operational

2:47:27 ↗ expenditures? I think those might play

2:47:30 ↗ out well together.

2:47:32 ↗ Um and then finally I will just mention

2:47:36 ↗ construction sales tax. Um I think

2:47:38 ↗ having that conversation about

2:47:41 ↗ how much of that is programming and

2:47:44 ↗ going into our ongoing expenditures is

2:47:47 ↗ important. And so I'd like to understand

2:47:50 ↗ how we are utilizing that in 2026.

2:47:53 ↗ Um how much of that is ongoing versus

2:47:56 ↗ one time. um just so that we have

2:48:00 ↗ awareness and if anything's there are

2:48:03 ↗ one time I might suggest

2:48:07 ↗ um pushing those off and delaying them

2:48:09 ↗ and utilizing that to increase our

2:48:11 ↗ ending fund balance um because as we are

2:48:15 ↗ looking at revenues in revenues out

2:48:18 ↗ anything that is ongoing and stable

2:48:20 ↗ needs to be for ongoing and stable

2:48:23 ↗ expenses and in a case like this when we

2:48:26 ↗ have a lower fund balance. Delaying or

2:48:31 ↗ um pushing out projects that are from

2:48:34 ↗ revenue sources that can be in the

2:48:36 ↗ general fund should be one of our

2:48:38 ↗ priorities.

2:48:40 ↗ >> Thank you, Council President. Um well,

2:48:43 ↗ Kristen, thank you. Wonderful, wonderful

2:48:45 ↗ job. Deputy City Administrator and

2:48:46 ↗ Rachel, the bad girl over in the corner.

2:48:48 ↗ Thank you for all of your stuff. Oh,

2:48:51 ↗ yeah. Um so we will um do a second round

2:48:55 ↗ if there are a couple more comments and

2:48:57 ↗ clarifications and then we'll wrap it

2:48:58 ↗ up. Council member Hall and Council

2:49:00 ↗ Member Jen and Council Member Hall.

2:49:03 ↗ Yeah, I guess um I would want to

2:49:05 ↗ reiterate that I would like to see what

2:49:07 ↗ cuts would be needed to get to that 15%

2:49:10 ↗ by the end of 2026.

2:49:13 ↗ that that doesn't necessarily mean we

2:49:14 ↗ have to adopt that, but I would like to

2:49:16 ↗ see, you know, both what would it take

2:49:17 ↗ to get to 12% and what would it take to

2:49:19 ↗ get to 15% so that we can have both

2:49:21 ↗ options totally on the table.

2:49:23 ↗ >> Um, I think in terms of where we should

2:49:27 ↗ make cuts, I I this is more of like a

2:49:30 ↗ revenue thing, but did we ever decide

2:49:32 ↗ that we were going to raise the jail

2:49:34 ↗ rates to get full cost recovery?

2:49:36 ↗ Sorry, that's a question.

2:49:38 ↗ >> It's kind of a question, but she can

2:49:39 ↗ answer.

2:49:41 ↗ We have made adjustments to the jail

2:49:43 ↗ rates to get closer to cost recovery. I

2:49:46 ↗ don't believe that we are fully there at

2:49:48 ↗ this point. So, we still are needing to

2:49:51 ↗ um evaluate that as part and we

2:49:53 ↗ anticipate doing that as part of the

2:49:55 ↗ 2728 budget process.

2:49:57 ↗ >> Okay. Because we need time to work with

2:50:00 ↗ our partners who use our jail services

2:50:02 ↗ and alert them of any cost increases.

2:50:04 ↗ >> Yeah. Yeah. because that's definitely an

2:50:06 ↗ area where I mean we are really not in a

2:50:08 ↗ position to be able to be subsidizing

2:50:10 ↗ other cities use our facilities.

2:50:13 ↗ >> Um I'm also curious. So I a couple weeks

2:50:17 ↗ back when we first started talking about

2:50:18 ↗ this I went through the budget and one

2:50:20 ↗ thing that stuck out to me is that we're

2:50:21 ↗ spending like $2 million a year on

2:50:23 ↗ software and through my work with

2:50:26 ↗ nonprofits and through my work you know

2:50:28 ↗ we've successfully renegotiated software

2:50:30 ↗ contracts because the marginal cost to

2:50:32 ↗ them of providing it is not that high.

2:50:34 ↗ Um, so I'm wondering if trying to just,

2:50:37 ↗ you know, squeeze our vendors a little

2:50:39 ↗ bit on that is something we've

2:50:40 ↗ considered.

2:50:43 ↗ >> Thank you for the suggestion.

2:50:44 ↗ >> Um, and then in terms of Metrolex, I

2:50:47 ↗ think, you know, putting it into the TBD

2:50:50 ↗ sales tax for next year is fine. Um, I

2:50:54 ↗ also think, um, there's a King County

2:50:56 ↗ report about, you know, it's like their

2:50:59 ↗ cost whatever service analysis or

2:51:01 ↗ whatever. they have very specific

2:51:02 ↗ criteria of how they evaluate metrlex of

2:51:05 ↗ what what makes it you know what

2:51:07 ↗ criteria it has to meet to get to be a

2:51:09 ↗ fully funded one. So I think we should

2:51:11 ↗ definitely understand that understand

2:51:12 ↗ where we are relative to that and see if

2:51:14 ↗ it's actually realistic for us to ever

2:51:16 ↗ get to a fully funded metrlex uh by

2:51:19 ↗ metro or not. Um, one thing I've also

2:51:23 ↗ noticed, uh, because I went on a whole

2:51:25 ↗ rabbit hole of the King County budget,

2:51:27 ↗ but they actually in the King County

2:51:29 ↗ metro budget for, uh, because their

2:51:31 ↗ bienium is offset from ours, it's 27 26

2:51:33 ↗ to 27, they have a line item in there

2:51:35 ↗ for, um, helping fund a shuttle system

2:51:39 ↗ within Seattle. And so I think if that's

2:51:42 ↗ something that we discuss and is that

2:51:46 ↗ you know something we want to move

2:51:47 ↗ towards we need to get it on their radar

2:51:49 ↗ before they do the next their next

2:51:50 ↗ budget in 2028. And that's one of the

2:51:53 ↗ options that I'd like to consider when

2:51:54 ↗ we have this um bigger uh greater uh

2:51:57 ↗ council discussion. Um, and then you

2:52:00 ↗ know in terms of the additional funding

2:52:01 ↗ for immigration resources, I think just

2:52:03 ↗ compared to the whole size of our

2:52:06 ↗ deficit, I mean it's like it's three

2:52:09 ↗ million and this 50,000 is such a drop

2:52:12 ↗ in the bucket compared to that and it is

2:52:15 ↗ such a critical need in our community

2:52:16 ↗ right now. So I'm fully in support of

2:52:17 ↗ whatever we need to do to get that into

2:52:19 ↗ the community as quickly as possible.

2:52:21 ↗ And even, you know, at a personal level,

2:52:24 ↗ like I'm thinking, you know, what can I

2:52:26 ↗ do to support that more in my personal

2:52:28 ↗ life cuz, you know, yeah, thank you for

2:52:32 ↗ that last comment because that's been

2:52:33 ↗ part of our message as well is that we

2:52:36 ↗ are encouraging folks to donate to

2:52:38 ↗ agencies that they know. We are

2:52:39 ↗ encouraging folks to reach out to

2:52:41 ↗ certain individuals at these agencies

2:52:43 ↗ that are willing to take on volunteers.

2:52:45 ↗ and we're encouraging folks to come out

2:52:46 ↗ for the Day of the Dead, which is a a

2:52:50 ↗ celebration that's going to be happening

2:52:51 ↗ a week Sunday at our community center um

2:52:54 ↗ hosted by one of our local partners. And

2:52:57 ↗ the more people that show up there, the

2:52:59 ↗ more the communities that feel

2:53:00 ↗ threatened will feel like we're all here

2:53:02 ↗ for them. So, thank you for mentioning

2:53:04 ↗ that personal commitment. Much

2:53:05 ↗ appreciated. I think it's Council Member

2:53:07 ↗ Hall and then Council Member Joe.

2:53:10 ↗ >> Well, I had two clarifying questions

2:53:12 ↗ just for staff. Do you feel like you

2:53:14 ↗ have good direction from council about

2:53:17 ↗ what to do with

2:53:19 ↗ >> with Metroflex funding in particular

2:53:21 ↗ because because and and you now you've

2:53:24 ↗ talked about TBD so now four of us had

2:53:26 ↗ mentioned that but before that only

2:53:27 ↗ three so I just wanted to

2:53:29 ↗ >> make sure

2:53:30 ↗ >> I I believe we do. Thank you.

2:53:31 ↗ >> Okay cool. And then the other thing is

2:53:34 ↗ um there's been a lot of asks tonight

2:53:37 ↗ for information

2:53:39 ↗ scenarios for getting to 15 by the end

2:53:41 ↗ of this year scenarios are getting for

2:53:43 ↗ 15 by the end of next year or 12% and

2:53:47 ↗ then in two years or three years getting

2:53:49 ↗ to 15%. Does the staff do does council

2:53:52 ↗ need another touch? Do we need another

2:53:54 ↗ special meeting or do we feel like the

2:53:59 ↗ schedule of next steps we have is enough

2:54:01 ↗ time?

2:54:05 ↗ >> The people who schedule the meetings are

2:54:06 ↗ looking at each other.

2:54:08 ↗ >> I think to to respond to that, Council

2:54:10 ↗ Member Hall, um we're going to do our

2:54:12 ↗ best effort to give you all the

2:54:14 ↗ information you need by the next

2:54:16 ↗ meeting. That said, if council needs

2:54:19 ↗ more time, has more questions, we have

2:54:21 ↗ it available. So we want to do the

2:54:23 ↗ midbyenium adjustment by the end of the

2:54:26 ↗ year. So if we need to have another

2:54:28 ↗ meeting following November 10th, we can

2:54:30 ↗ always do that and talk about the

2:54:32 ↗ budget. So we do have a little bit of

2:54:34 ↗ time. That said, I think we're going to

2:54:35 ↗ push forward and provide you uh the best

2:54:38 ↗ information we can produce in two quick

2:54:41 ↗ weeks and um and then see if we need to

2:54:45 ↗ add additional meetings after that.

2:54:48 ↗ >> Great questions, Council Member Joe.

2:54:50 ↗ >> Thank you. Um, as chair of the ELTAC

2:54:53 ↗ committee, I just thought I would um,

2:54:55 ↗ jump in a little bit on the comments

2:54:57 ↗ made about ELTAC. Um, at our next

2:55:00 ↗ meeting in November, we'll be going over

2:55:02 ↗ the application that we put together.

2:55:04 ↗ And those applications will be due

2:55:06 ↗ January 31st. And they're primarily for

2:55:09 ↗ um, local businesses and nonprofits that

2:55:12 ↗ want to um, seek initiatives or do

2:55:15 ↗ initiatives that'll bring in people from

2:55:17 ↗ over 50 miles away. Um, we provide help

2:55:20 ↗ for marketing operations and activities

2:55:22 ↗ to increase the tourism. Um, so it's a

2:55:25 ↗ little bit I' I've been going through

2:55:27 ↗ the rules and it's a little bit strange

2:55:29 ↗ because technically the city would have

2:55:31 ↗ to apply to ELTAC for a grant.

2:55:35 ↗ >> Correct.

2:55:35 ↗ >> But the council is the one that approves

2:55:37 ↗ the grants. So, um if you I think if you

2:55:41 ↗ just put a piece of paper together and

2:55:42 ↗ said council wants money uh for World

2:55:45 ↗ Cup and gave it to us, then we would

2:55:47 ↗ probably um have to put it through the

2:55:49 ↗ committee to approve, but then you would

2:55:51 ↗ approve the final allocation. So, um

2:55:54 ↗ it's a little bit of a round circle, but

2:55:57 ↗ uh it is possible. But as council member

2:56:00 ↗ Ray pointed out, uh it will probably be

2:56:03 ↗ overprescribed in terms of the number of

2:56:05 ↗ organizations that apply for normal

2:56:07 ↗ funding money, which is only $50,000

2:56:10 ↗ during the year and then you'll be

2:56:11 ↗ stacking World Cup requests on top of

2:56:14 ↗ that. So,

2:56:16 ↗ it will be difficult to get funding for

2:56:18 ↗ the city from that source of funds. So,

2:56:20 ↗ just wanted to clarify that for

2:56:22 ↗ >> everyone that was talking about. Thank

2:56:23 ↗ you.

2:56:24 ↗ >> Um, so we're sort of in a second round

2:56:26 ↗ wrap-up. Are there any other council

2:56:28 ↗ members who would like to speak again?

2:56:31 ↗ >> Seeing head nods. No. Um, and uh, the

2:56:35 ↗ city deputy city administrator would

2:56:36 ↗ like to speak.

2:56:37 ↗ >> Go ahead.

2:56:38 ↗ >> Uh, well, first I just want to correct

2:56:40 ↗ an earlier statement that I made. The

2:56:41 ↗ next time we discuss the budget with

2:56:43 ↗ council is on November 17th. Thank you

2:56:45 ↗ to Clerk Geyser for correcting me on

2:56:47 ↗ that. her mind is a little more sharp

2:56:49 ↗ about council meetings than mine at this

2:56:50 ↗ late hour. Um, so November 17th is the

2:56:53 ↗ next time we return. Uh, we're going to

2:56:55 ↗ do our best, like I said, to provide the

2:56:56 ↗ information as requested by council.

2:56:59 ↗ Thank you so much for the discussion and

2:57:01 ↗ the direction this evening. Uh, really

2:57:03 ↗ appreciate the discussion.

2:57:05 ↗ >> That's great. And director, you have uh

2:57:07 ↗ you've heard gotten a ton of feedback

2:57:09 ↗ tonight, but pretty clear in what the

2:57:11 ↗ council expectations are.

2:57:13 ↗ >> Yes, thank you. I appreciate the

2:57:14 ↗ feedback.

2:57:15 ↗ >> That is great. Well, thank you for that

2:57:17 ↗ discussion. Super robust. Uh, budgets

2:57:20 ↗ are difficult and we're in a difficult

2:57:22 ↗ time. So, thanks for that. The next item

2:57:24 ↗ on the agenda this evening is good of

2:57:26 ↗ the order. Does anybody have anything

2:57:27 ↗ for good of the order?

2:57:32 ↗ >> Council president.

2:57:34 ↗ >> Thank you. Um after hearing from the

2:57:38 ↗ community and council members, um deputy

2:57:40 ↗ council president and I have um put

2:57:43 ↗ together a statement um from the council

2:57:48 ↗ um that we would like council members to

2:57:50 ↗ review. It should be in your email. And

2:57:53 ↗ so my understanding is we cannot adopt

2:57:56 ↗ anything tonight because of the way that

2:57:59 ↗ the meeting was structured. Um, but we

2:58:03 ↗ would like to get

2:58:07 ↗ feedback,

2:58:08 ↗ >> feedback, a sense of is this the

2:58:11 ↗ direction you would like to move forward

2:58:14 ↗ with being able to make a statement both

2:58:17 ↗ condemning um the inclusion of um this

2:58:22 ↗ in our community and talking to ways

2:58:26 ↗ that um our police is not involved with

2:58:30 ↗ this. Um and also that we are looking to

2:58:33 ↗ uh

2:58:35 ↗ make some changes. So, Deputy Council

2:58:37 ↗ President, did you have

2:58:38 ↗ >> Excuse me.

2:58:39 ↗ >> Sorry.

2:58:39 ↗ >> Deputy Council President, this feels

2:58:41 ↗ like a committee of the whole meeting.

2:58:43 ↗ It's a special council meeting. Deputy

2:58:45 ↗ Council President,

2:58:46 ↗ >> I I'm just going to suggest that the

2:58:47 ↗ council president read the statement out

2:58:49 ↗ loud so that the public can hear it. I

2:58:51 ↗ think it's important that we have it on

2:58:53 ↗ the record tonight. Uh even though we're

2:58:55 ↗ not going to be voting on it, I I think

2:58:58 ↗ it's still something very important. So,

2:59:00 ↗ I would turn it back to the council

2:59:01 ↗ president to read it out loud.

2:59:03 ↗ >> That sounds great, council president.

2:59:05 ↗ Thank you. Um, the Isiakiqua community

2:59:09 ↗ was rocked when a mother delivering her

2:59:11 ↗ child to an Isqua preschool was taken

2:59:13 ↗ into custody by Immigration Customs

2:59:16 ↗ Enforcement, ICE. Council members have

2:59:18 ↗ received numerous heart heartfelt emails

2:59:21 ↗ expressing concern, outrage, fear, and

2:59:24 ↗ empathy for this young family that is

2:59:26 ↗ now torn apart. Although we do not yet

2:59:29 ↗ know the exact details of the mother's

2:59:31 ↗ circumstances, the Isiqua Council can

2:59:33 ↗ affirm the following. Every person,

2:59:37 ↗ citizen and non non-citizen,

2:59:39 ↗ community member, uh, no matter their

2:59:42 ↗ immigration status, deserves the

2:59:44 ↗ constitutional right to due process

2:59:45 ↗ under the law, including the right to be

2:59:47 ↗ treated with dignity, protection from

2:59:50 ↗ illegal searches and seizures, the right

2:59:52 ↗ to legal counsel, and the right to have

2:59:54 ↗ their case heard by an impartial judge.

2:59:57 ↗ Every person has the right to know their

3:00:00 ↗ accusers, beginning with the

3:00:02 ↗ identification of the arresting

3:00:04 ↗ officers, identification of the agency

3:00:06 ↗ the officers represent, individual badge

3:00:09 ↗ numbers, and uncovered faces.

3:00:12 ↗ Every person has the right to access

3:00:14 ↗ education, worship, the justice system,

3:00:18 ↗ and health care without fear of

3:00:21 ↗ abduction. Schools, churches, courts,

3:00:24 ↗ and hospitals should be off limits to

3:00:26 ↗ ICE activity as they have been under

3:00:29 ↗ previous presidential administrations.

3:00:32 ↗ And no person should be targeted for

3:00:35 ↗ arrest based solely on the color of

3:00:36 ↗ their skin, the language they speak, the

3:00:39 ↗ religion they practice, or their

3:00:41 ↗ immigration status. These are

3:00:43 ↗ fundamental American principles

3:00:45 ↗ confirmed over two centuries by American

3:00:47 ↗ courts and the American people.

3:00:50 ↗ The Isiqua City Council commends the

3:00:52 ↗ Isiqua Police Department, IPD, and Chief

3:00:55 ↗ Schwan for abiding by the Keep

3:00:56 ↗ Washington Working Act, which prohibits

3:00:59 ↗ local police from enforcing federal

3:01:01 ↗ immigration laws, and for IPD's

3:01:03 ↗ proactive efforts to protect Isiqua

3:01:05 ↗ residents from hate crimes,

3:01:07 ↗ inappropriate federal use of automated

3:01:10 ↗ license plate reading cameras, and

3:01:12 ↗ harmful actions by those who seek to

3:01:14 ↗ divide us.

3:01:15 ↗ We share the pain and sorrow of this

3:01:18 ↗ moment with our entire community. The

3:01:20 ↗ Esqua City Council pledges to work with

3:01:22 ↗ county, state, and federal elected

3:01:24 ↗ officials to promote justice, establish

3:01:27 ↗ further human rights protections, and

3:01:29 ↗ provide resources for all. We call on

3:01:32 ↗ these same elected officials to enact

3:01:33 ↗ protections called out here, which

3:01:35 ↗ cannot be legislated at the local level.

3:01:38 ↗ Isiqua faces an uncertain and

3:01:40 ↗ challenging future, but Isiqua residents

3:01:42 ↗ have demonstrated through two recent

3:01:44 ↗ crises that we are resilient and

3:01:47 ↗ innovative people. By upholding our

3:01:49 ↗ values and working together, we believe

3:01:51 ↗ that Isiqua can and will continue to be

3:01:53 ↗ a safe, healthy, and welcoming community

3:01:55 ↗ for all.

3:01:57 ↗ >> Thank you.

3:01:58 ↗ >> Thank you, Council President. And that

3:01:59 ↗ does provide the public with the

3:02:01 ↗ opportunity before seeing a council

3:02:02 ↗ package to understand what you would be

3:02:04 ↗ voting on next time. Is there any other

3:02:06 ↗ items for good of the order? Uh, council

3:02:09 ↗ member Hall.

3:02:09 ↗ >> Well, just a question then. Since some

3:02:11 ↗ of that does intersect with potentially

3:02:13 ↗ our legislative agenda, is this

3:02:15 ↗ something we'll consider um as part of

3:02:17 ↗ that process too?

3:02:18 ↗ >> It's interesting. The governor's office

3:02:20 ↗ so far has not found a way to be able to

3:02:22 ↗ change the protections within the state

3:02:24 ↗ from the federal uh changes that have

3:02:26 ↗ happened and it's been difficult for

3:02:28 ↗ them to figure out what kind of

3:02:30 ↗ statement to make to the community. The

3:02:32 ↗ keeping Washington working is great. Uh

3:02:35 ↗ but the senator Senator Patty Murray

3:02:38 ↗ staff that I spoke to today also said

3:02:39 ↗ the work needs to be done at the federal

3:02:41 ↗ level and currently the federal level is

3:02:44 ↗ not functioning in many many ways.

3:02:46 ↗ >> Completely agree. There are some things

3:02:49 ↗ in particular in this letter that the

3:02:50 ↗ state is currently working on like the

3:02:52 ↗ ALPR like things like that at the

3:02:54 ↗ legislative level. And so I was just

3:02:56 ↗ thinking maybe we bring Shel into the

3:02:57 ↗ conversation. She would have a good lay

3:02:59 ↗ of the land.

3:02:59 ↗ >> Absolutely. Sounds great.

3:03:01 ↗ >> But you're absolutely right. there are

3:03:02 ↗ things that no matter what would be much

3:03:04 ↗ better if if happen.

3:03:05 ↗ >> And I I want to make sure our community

3:03:06 ↗ members are knowing the the the defects

3:03:12 ↗ and defaults that we have in our current

3:03:14 ↗ federal criminal justice system and that

3:03:16 ↗ as much as community members, myself and

3:03:19 ↗ others would love to say it's we're

3:03:21 ↗ going to make it safer for kids to go to

3:03:23 ↗ school, we need to be able to deliver on

3:03:26 ↗ that if we're going to say it. And right

3:03:27 ↗ now the tools that are out there and the

3:03:29 ↗ language that is out there is not

3:03:30 ↗ helpful. So, I just want to make sure

3:03:32 ↗ that the community understands that

3:03:34 ↗ you've done everything you need can do

3:03:36 ↗ and advocacy is going to be a part of

3:03:38 ↗ your work and we'll see where this all

3:03:40 ↗ comes out. Council President,

3:03:44 ↗ >> thank you. I think it's important to

3:03:46 ↗ recognize that not all things can be

3:03:48 ↗ solved and addressed within a government

3:03:50 ↗ context. Um, we have lots of limitations

3:03:54 ↗ and so, uh, there may be opportunities

3:03:58 ↗ for community members, as has been

3:04:00 ↗ stated earlier, to organize ways to walk

3:04:04 ↗ kids to school,

3:04:05 ↗ >> to be there at the end of school when

3:04:08 ↗ kids are being released and stay around

3:04:11 ↗ a little bit longer as a protective

3:04:13 ↗ force to attend events that are of

3:04:16 ↗ cultural significance and understand,

3:04:20 ↗ you know,

3:04:21 ↗ my ability to exist in that situation as

3:04:25 ↗ someone presenting as I do who is not

3:04:27 ↗ going to be targeted um by immigration

3:04:31 ↗ enforcement and so use that privilege

3:04:33 ↗ and opportunity. Um I would encourage

3:04:36 ↗ anyone who is looking for those um to

3:04:40 ↗ reach out. Many of us know some of the

3:04:42 ↗ organizations that are doing that work

3:04:44 ↗ that could use additional helping hands

3:04:47 ↗ and additional funds um and a community

3:04:50 ↗ coming around and support them is

3:04:54 ↗ is a very important um next step as as

3:04:58 ↗ we look at whether or not people feel

3:05:01 ↗ comfortable and welcome within our

3:05:03 ↗ community.

3:05:05 ↗ >> That is the other side of the coin.

3:05:06 ↗ Thank you for reinforcing that the

3:05:08 ↗ community here is so strong, is so

3:05:10 ↗ generous, and is so concerned and has

3:05:12 ↗ opportunities to participate. That's a

3:05:14 ↗ message that we just need to keep

3:05:15 ↗ echoing out there. Is there any other

3:05:17 ↗ items for good of the order?

3:05:20 ↗ Seeing none, we are adjourned at 9:35.

3:05:23 ↗ Thanks for all your comments tonight.

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (6)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Russell Joe

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh

Kelly Jiang

Staff (4)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Andrea Lehner, Deputy City Administrator

Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Excused

Tola Marts