1 00:00:04,099 --> 00:00:06,820 Hello, I'm your host, Brian Callinan. 2 00:00:06,820 --> 00:00:09,605 New concerns about public safety are rising around the 3 00:00:09,605 --> 00:00:12,723 University of Washington after the murder of a student, a 4 00:00:12,723 --> 00:00:14,698 19-year-old transgender woman. 5 00:00:14,698 --> 00:00:17,219 So what's the City of Seattle doing about it? 6 00:00:17,219 --> 00:00:20,521 Plus what's the latest on the plan to increase the capacity 7 00:00:20,521 --> 00:00:22,338 of homeless shelters citywide? 8 00:00:22,338 --> 00:00:25,378 I'm talking with position 8 at-large council member Alexis 9 00:00:25,378 --> 00:00:28,199 Mercedes-Rink about these issues and the questions 10 00:00:28,199 --> 00:00:29,539 you're sending in too. 11 00:00:29,539 --> 00:00:32,520 Coming up on City Inside Out, Council Edition. 12 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,259 South End, Southeast Seattle has sacrificed enough for transit, 13 00:00:37,259 --> 00:00:39,880 and so now is not a moment to be cutting corners. 14 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,667 All that and more coming up next on City Inside 15 00:00:42,667 --> 00:00:44,060 Out, Council Edition. 16 00:01:02,658 --> 00:01:05,509 And here she is, Alexis Mercedes-Rink, the council 17 00:01:05,509 --> 00:01:09,019 member in the position eight at large role for the city council. 18 00:01:09,019 --> 00:01:10,120 Great to have you here. 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,358 Always a pleasure to be here, Brian. 20 00:01:11,358 --> 00:01:13,325 And I know we're smiling right now, but I need to start 21 00:01:13,325 --> 00:01:15,379 with something that's really difficult to talk about, 22 00:01:15,379 --> 00:01:18,795 a recent and horrifying event, the murder of a 19-year-old 23 00:01:18,795 --> 00:01:21,310 woman, a UW student, happened to be a transgender 24 00:01:21,310 --> 00:01:23,468 woman, stabbed to death in the laundry room of a 25 00:01:23,468 --> 00:01:24,799 student housing apartment. 26 00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:26,438 A suspect has been arrested. 27 00:01:26,438 --> 00:01:31,031 It's not clear what motivated this attack, but there's a 28 00:01:31,031 --> 00:01:33,180 lot of concern about this. 29 00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:36,159 The UW Trans Collective offered some condolences, of course, 30 00:01:36,159 --> 00:01:39,239 And I wanted to put in a brief excerpt from their post here. 31 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:40,319 Here's what they wrote. 32 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,224 Trans women, particularly trans women of color, are 33 00:01:43,224 --> 00:01:46,459 among the most vulnerable populations to violent crimes. 34 00:01:46,459 --> 00:01:48,566 You've been an advocate for trans rights on the city 35 00:01:48,566 --> 00:01:49,840 council ever since you joined. 36 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,519 Before that, too, I wanted your perspective on what's 37 00:01:52,519 --> 00:01:55,319 happening because a lot of people are scared about this. 38 00:01:55,319 --> 00:01:58,519 I mean, it is absolutely devastating. 39 00:01:58,519 --> 00:02:03,549 And just in the past 24 hours, we've learned the name of the 40 00:02:03,549 --> 00:02:06,965 woman who our community has lost, and her name 41 00:02:06,965 --> 00:02:08,240 was Juniper Blessing. 42 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,300 And may her memory be a blessing. 43 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:13,300 This is absolutely tragic. 44 00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:17,423 And I think for many in community, while at this time 45 00:02:17,423 --> 00:02:21,288 we don't know a motive, this is being felt by our LGBTQIA 46 00:02:21,288 --> 00:02:23,877 community, because we know that trans women 47 00:02:23,877 --> 00:02:28,447 experience disproportionately high rates of violence against 48 00:02:28,447 --> 00:02:32,960 them and have a lower life expectancy because of that. 49 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,443 And so what has really come up in this moment is, too, also 50 00:02:36,443 --> 00:02:39,883 the work that we've been doing on council trying to reckon with 51 00:02:39,883 --> 00:02:42,639 this reality and also reality where right now across the 52 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,485 United States we have over 700 pieces of anti-trans 53 00:02:46,485 --> 00:02:50,240 legislation being considered across the country 54 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,639 with 23 anti-trans pieces of legislation actually 55 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:55,300 passing this year alone. 56 00:02:55,300 --> 00:02:57,038 And I've read about this in the Seattle Gay News. 57 00:02:57,038 --> 00:02:59,901 Just to jump on this, it sounds like a lot of people are 58 00:02:59,901 --> 00:03:02,217 migrating to Seattle to try to escape some of it. 59 00:03:02,217 --> 00:03:03,419 Can you talk about that? 60 00:03:03,419 --> 00:03:05,937 We're in a moment of a lot of internal displacement, 61 00:03:05,937 --> 00:03:08,280 and this year I actually sponsored a resolution 62 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,502 for Trans Day of Visibility, which in this moment right now 63 00:03:11,502 --> 00:03:14,758 where many states are trying to erase trans people, felt 64 00:03:14,758 --> 00:03:16,217 really important to do. 65 00:03:16,217 --> 00:03:20,538 And we brought in folks from our LGBTQIA Commission, folks from 66 00:03:20,538 --> 00:03:23,942 trans-led organizations such as Gender Justice League, 67 00:03:23,942 --> 00:03:26,241 Lavender Rights Project, Utopia Washington, to 68 00:03:26,241 --> 00:03:29,173 really talk about what's happening in this country to our 69 00:03:29,173 --> 00:03:32,419 trans community and how Seattle must be a refuge to the trans 70 00:03:32,419 --> 00:03:34,925 community. And what we're hearing on the ground from 71 00:03:34,925 --> 00:03:36,979 mutual aid organizations that we have a lot 72 00:03:36,979 --> 00:03:40,151 of folks coming into our city and because of our affordability 73 00:03:40,151 --> 00:03:43,193 challenges are having trouble finding a place to live. 74 00:03:43,193 --> 00:03:45,375 And so I'm trying to really approach 75 00:03:45,375 --> 00:03:48,185 this work in a way where we're supporting our new 76 00:03:48,185 --> 00:03:50,913 neighbors coming in who are frankly fleeing and I 77 00:03:50,913 --> 00:03:53,413 think are much more akin to refugees in this moment. 78 00:03:53,413 --> 00:03:54,645 Is it a state of emergency type 79 00:03:54,645 --> 00:03:57,485 thing? I know a few people have talked about that. 80 00:03:57,485 --> 00:04:00,830 Yeah, it's, I think we need to be approaching 81 00:04:00,830 --> 00:04:05,109 this like it is an emerging issue and an emergency because 82 00:04:05,109 --> 00:04:09,157 the Lemkin Institute, Policy Institute, has actually 83 00:04:09,157 --> 00:04:11,806 put forward a red flag notice for the United States marking 84 00:04:11,806 --> 00:04:14,752 that we're in the early stages of genocide against 85 00:04:14,752 --> 00:04:15,877 trans people. 86 00:04:15,877 --> 00:04:18,240 And so us as a city, you know, I'll be working 87 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,019 and have been working with advocates 88 00:04:20,019 --> 00:04:22,519 and trans-led organizations to get an idea 89 00:04:22,519 --> 00:04:24,500 of what are we currently seeing within our communities 90 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:25,899 and what are the needs right now. 91 00:04:25,899 --> 00:04:27,720 And my office is working with the mayor's office 92 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:30,040 to incorporate what we're hearing from community 93 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,560 into concrete actions the city can take 94 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,040 to really build on the work that we have been doing 95 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,860 to make sure that trans folks are able to not just live here 96 00:04:37,860 --> 00:04:38,920 but thrive here. 97 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:39,500 - Yeah, yeah. 98 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:42,446 And I want to touch on a larger public safety issue at UW and 99 00:04:42,446 --> 00:04:45,699 around the area there, beyond the concerns about trans people. 100 00:04:45,699 --> 00:04:47,519 Ava wrote this message. 101 00:04:47,519 --> 00:04:50,617 University of Washington is now on lists of the top ten most 102 00:04:50,617 --> 00:04:52,259 dangerous campuses in the U.S. 103 00:04:52,259 --> 00:04:54,802 due to regularly reported assaults, stray bullets 104 00:04:54,802 --> 00:04:57,612 through a sorority last year, and tragically, a woman 105 00:04:57,612 --> 00:05:00,278 was murdered while doing her laundry this week. 106 00:05:00,278 --> 00:05:02,278 And this is the case we're referring to here. 107 00:05:02,278 --> 00:05:04,141 What are you doing to improve the safety and 108 00:05:04,141 --> 00:05:06,519 security of the campus and surrounding neighborhood? 109 00:05:06,519 --> 00:05:08,560 Thank you very much for that email, Ava. 110 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,399 And I've seen at least one list where UW was 111 00:05:10,399 --> 00:05:12,720 on the top 10 most dangerous colleges. 112 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,139 Others show it might be the top 30. 113 00:05:14,139 --> 00:05:17,079 But regardless, there are some major continuing concerns 114 00:05:17,079 --> 00:05:18,778 around campus here, a place where you've worked, 115 00:05:18,778 --> 00:05:20,480 where you got your master's degree. 116 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:21,338 Talk to me about this. 117 00:05:21,338 --> 00:05:24,160 Ava wants to know what the city's doing about public safety 118 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,160 in and around the University of Washington. 119 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,519 Yeah. It's a -- thank you for the question, Ava. 120 00:05:28,519 --> 00:05:31,399 I know as someone who lived in the neighborhood for some time 121 00:05:31,399 --> 00:05:33,579 when I was a grad student and after. 122 00:05:33,579 --> 00:05:36,720 And also when I was an employee at the UW, 123 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,060 there had been a number of assaults 124 00:05:39,060 --> 00:05:41,399 that had happened during my time working at the UW 125 00:05:41,399 --> 00:05:43,199 and even just living in the neighborhood, 126 00:05:43,199 --> 00:05:45,100 experienced and saw things myself. 127 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:48,240 And so we need to be clear that beefing 128 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,800 up our response systems are tremendously important. 129 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,420 So having timely responses, but we need to be working 130 00:05:53,420 --> 00:05:54,720 in the realm of prevention too. 131 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,480 And so partnering with the university, 132 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,778 I think there's a bit of a bifurcation that happens 133 00:05:58,778 --> 00:06:00,360 when things happen on UW campus. 134 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:01,379 You know, the UW... 135 00:06:01,379 --> 00:06:02,319 UW cops take care of that. 136 00:06:02,319 --> 00:06:05,175 Yes, we have the UW PD, and I know actually a former 137 00:06:05,175 --> 00:06:07,625 council member, Sally Clark, now heads over public 138 00:06:07,625 --> 00:06:08,360 safety over there. 139 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,500 But we need to do our part to really bridge that connection 140 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:11,819 between city and campus work 141 00:06:13,079 --> 00:06:15,199 to be working on some strategies. 142 00:06:15,199 --> 00:06:15,860 The U District partnership 143 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,500 has been a really great partner to the city 144 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:22,420 in identifying some of those street-level challenges 145 00:06:22,420 --> 00:06:26,857 challenges and working towards activating outreach resources 146 00:06:26,857 --> 00:06:29,737 and having a real target approach to be really 147 00:06:29,737 --> 00:06:32,348 reaching out to folks who may be experiencing 148 00:06:32,348 --> 00:06:34,987 homelessness in the area, identifying what's happening 149 00:06:34,987 --> 00:06:36,723 on the street level and trying to problem solve. 150 00:06:36,723 --> 00:06:38,829 Beefing up that work is going to be really important 151 00:06:38,829 --> 00:06:41,620 because while responding is part of it, we need to be preventing 152 00:06:41,620 --> 00:06:43,375 things from happening in the first place. 153 00:06:43,375 --> 00:06:44,475 Okay, so potentially some 154 00:06:44,475 --> 00:06:46,324 more police in the area, potentially some of these 155 00:06:46,324 --> 00:06:48,278 groups that can help prevent things a little more sensitive. 156 00:06:48,278 --> 00:06:50,735 Well, I'd lift up that we have some of the, when I'm talking 157 00:06:50,735 --> 00:06:53,802 about targeted outreach, talking about law enforcement 158 00:06:53,802 --> 00:06:57,019 assisted diversion programs, so our LEAD program. 159 00:06:57,019 --> 00:07:00,177 They have an acronym they call SNF, which 160 00:07:00,177 --> 00:07:04,079 is like a neighborhood framework for engagement, 161 00:07:04,079 --> 00:07:06,137 for understanding what is happening and diverting 162 00:07:06,137 --> 00:07:07,000 folks when possible. 163 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,680 But just trying to problem solve, what is 164 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,100 the exact ecosystem? 165 00:07:11,100 --> 00:07:13,473 what are the kind of activities that we're seeing and how can 166 00:07:13,473 --> 00:07:15,494 we bring in service providers and also redirect 167 00:07:15,494 --> 00:07:17,439 to the appropriate systems where needed. 168 00:07:17,439 --> 00:07:18,560 Thank you very much for that. 169 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,230 I want to make sure I move on with you and get an 170 00:07:20,230 --> 00:07:22,807 update on the city's work to expand the amount of shelter 171 00:07:22,807 --> 00:07:25,939 space it has for people who are experiencing homelessness. 172 00:07:25,939 --> 00:07:27,459 The mayor promoted this legislation. 173 00:07:27,459 --> 00:07:30,197 She wants 1,000 new units of emergency housing 174 00:07:30,197 --> 00:07:31,459 by the end of the year. 175 00:07:31,459 --> 00:07:33,759 You pushed for two amendments to this legislation, 176 00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:36,093 having staff on site 24 hours a day in these 177 00:07:36,093 --> 00:07:38,759 sanctioned encampments, making sure there are 178 00:07:38,759 --> 00:07:41,295 case managers for people who might have more needs, too. 179 00:07:41,295 --> 00:07:42,860 Why did you make those amendments? 180 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:44,992 And bottom line it for me, what kind of impact 181 00:07:44,992 --> 00:07:47,699 should Seattleites expect from these new encampments? 182 00:07:47,699 --> 00:07:52,406 Well, at the top, I would state that it is really refreshing 183 00:07:52,406 --> 00:07:56,175 to see some urgency behind scaling housing options and 184 00:07:56,175 --> 00:07:57,831 emergency housing options. 185 00:07:57,831 --> 00:08:00,660 So appreciation to Mayor Wilson and her team for 186 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:02,475 really pushing this forward. 187 00:08:02,475 --> 00:08:04,793 The legislation that was just considered by the 188 00:08:04,793 --> 00:08:06,379 Land Use Committee that I had amendments on is 189 00:08:06,379 --> 00:08:08,733 part of a suite of three pieces of legislation, 190 00:08:08,733 --> 00:08:11,007 two of which that have already passed council. 191 00:08:11,007 --> 00:08:12,309 One of those is a budget bill 192 00:08:12,309 --> 00:08:14,788 to allocate the initial round of funding for this 193 00:08:14,788 --> 00:08:15,879 shelter expansion. 194 00:08:15,879 --> 00:08:17,420 The other piece is related to 195 00:08:17,420 --> 00:08:20,149 assigning authority to FAS, which should help 196 00:08:20,149 --> 00:08:23,160 in expediting bringing online some of these sites. 197 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,548 And the last piece is what we're calling the census legislation, 198 00:08:27,548 --> 00:08:30,785 which allows for additional, basically to expand the 199 00:08:30,785 --> 00:08:32,893 number of allowable units on a given site. 200 00:08:32,893 --> 00:08:34,519 Now, I think me and my colleagues 201 00:08:34,519 --> 00:08:38,043 in many ways want to make sure that we're not only 202 00:08:38,043 --> 00:08:41,480 bringing online more housing, more emergency 203 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,960 housing and shelter options, but we want to make sure that it is 204 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,596 a quality, that the livability in these communities and 205 00:08:49,596 --> 00:08:52,389 the shelter is going to be good for the folks living 206 00:08:52,389 --> 00:08:55,373 there. And so in many ways, that means services. 207 00:08:55,373 --> 00:08:57,950 And so I know from my work previously in 208 00:08:57,950 --> 00:09:00,543 human services, I mean, I've heard from folks 209 00:09:00,543 --> 00:09:03,118 experiencing homelessness who maybe got into a service 210 00:09:03,118 --> 00:09:05,798 and they were like, gosh, I thought I'd have a case manager. 211 00:09:05,798 --> 00:09:06,682 I never see them. 212 00:09:06,682 --> 00:09:08,706 I thought, you know, we'd be able to get 213 00:09:08,706 --> 00:09:11,740 these services and some kind of a breakdown on that point. 214 00:09:11,740 --> 00:09:14,778 And in that same vein, I've talked to frontline human 215 00:09:14,778 --> 00:09:17,821 services providers who are like, I have a caseload of 216 00:09:17,821 --> 00:09:20,721 over 35 folks, and I can't spend that time with that 217 00:09:20,721 --> 00:09:24,038 person and helping them for their path to stabilization. 218 00:09:24,038 --> 00:09:26,802 And so the two amendments that I put forward are really 219 00:09:26,802 --> 00:09:29,570 rooted on this fact that, one, we want to make sure that 220 00:09:29,570 --> 00:09:32,519 there's folks on site managing whatever may be coming up. 221 00:09:32,519 --> 00:09:34,375 It could be a normal, normal day, but making 222 00:09:34,375 --> 00:09:36,538 sure there's somebody there who's just managing. 223 00:09:36,538 --> 00:09:39,706 There's at least two staff there that are managing operations, 224 00:09:39,706 --> 00:09:41,440 particularly in overnight hours. 225 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,339 And then the second amendment I put forward is related 226 00:09:44,339 --> 00:09:47,575 to a case management ratio, specifically speaking to 227 00:09:47,575 --> 00:09:50,764 setting a goal for our high acuity or how we might 228 00:09:50,764 --> 00:09:52,278 say high needs clients 229 00:09:53,519 --> 00:09:56,620 for one case manager for every 15 folks. 230 00:09:56,620 --> 00:09:59,519 And this is something that's been derived from a lot of the 231 00:09:59,519 --> 00:10:02,538 folks who work really closely with high needs individuals. 232 00:10:02,538 --> 00:10:05,714 we need to make sure that we have a case management 233 00:10:05,714 --> 00:10:08,500 ratio so we have a worker able to like really 234 00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:10,870 show up and tend to that person's needs as they're 235 00:10:10,870 --> 00:10:13,360 navigating whatever their life circumstances may 236 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,548 be so really my amendments that I put forward are rooted in just 237 00:10:16,548 --> 00:10:20,239 wanting to make this work and I think having a well-supported 238 00:10:20,239 --> 00:10:24,639 workforce is going to be really key to delivering on successful 239 00:10:24,639 --> 00:10:26,552 successful villages, not just for the folks who 240 00:10:26,552 --> 00:10:28,418 are working in them, the folks who are living in 241 00:10:28,418 --> 00:10:30,490 them, but also the surrounding neighborhoods. 242 00:10:30,490 --> 00:10:32,460 Right. And I want to talk about paying for this 243 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:34,831 and doing it in a sustainable way, because there was 244 00:10:34,831 --> 00:10:36,820 an interesting move by the mayor recently. 245 00:10:36,820 --> 00:10:39,225 She talked with me here on the Seattle Channel about some 246 00:10:39,225 --> 00:10:40,355 of her budget priorities. 247 00:10:40,355 --> 00:10:41,666 Now, normally these kinds of 248 00:10:41,666 --> 00:10:43,879 discussions happen in late summer, early fall, 249 00:10:43,879 --> 00:10:46,624 but with a budget deficit of about $150 million 250 00:10:46,624 --> 00:10:47,677 for next year. 251 00:10:47,677 --> 00:10:49,200 She wants to discuss this right now. 252 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,240 She's asking city departments to look at 5%-- 253 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,200 excuse me, 5% to 10% reductions in spending. 254 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,240 We are taking the next step, which is basically going back 255 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,798 and having those departments, like, go into more depth 256 00:11:00,798 --> 00:11:03,019 in terms of understanding what it would look like 257 00:11:03,019 --> 00:11:04,500 to cut, you know, a certain amount 258 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:06,543 of some program or service, like, what the 259 00:11:06,543 --> 00:11:07,879 impact set would be. 260 00:11:07,879 --> 00:11:10,798 And so that's kind of, like, the process 261 00:11:10,798 --> 00:11:11,759 that we are in right now. 262 00:11:11,759 --> 00:11:13,700 So, yes, it is premature for us to say, like, 263 00:11:13,700 --> 00:11:16,340 We're going to slash this or slash this, right? 264 00:11:16,340 --> 00:11:19,081 And then at the same time, we are looking at what 265 00:11:19,081 --> 00:11:20,557 our revenue options are. 266 00:11:20,557 --> 00:11:23,195 What do you think about this process and what the mayor is 267 00:11:23,195 --> 00:11:24,538 considering for the budget? 268 00:11:24,538 --> 00:11:26,278 It feels like she's pushing this a little early. 269 00:11:26,278 --> 00:11:28,129 And I know the council doesn't like to get pushed 270 00:11:28,129 --> 00:11:29,240 around on this kind of stuff. 271 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:30,360 What's going on? 272 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,471 Yeah, I don't know if I'd characterize 273 00:11:32,471 --> 00:11:34,605 it as a push per se, but rather, you know, 274 00:11:34,605 --> 00:11:37,221 this is a new mayoral administration and one that 275 00:11:37,221 --> 00:11:40,278 has inherited a substantial structural budget deficit. 276 00:11:40,278 --> 00:11:42,863 So I'm actually relieved that she's spending time now when 277 00:11:42,863 --> 00:11:45,129 we're not in the throes and the heat of budget season 278 00:11:45,129 --> 00:11:46,500 where things are really tense. 279 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:48,855 But we're trying to hash out what kind of options do 280 00:11:48,855 --> 00:11:51,104 we even have on the table so we can have a much more 281 00:11:51,104 --> 00:11:52,620 robust discussion come budget. 282 00:11:52,620 --> 00:11:55,158 And so I appreciate the work so we can try 283 00:11:55,158 --> 00:11:57,600 and sort out, you know, what are the kind of 284 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,235 policy considerations that we have to have if we're 285 00:12:00,235 --> 00:12:01,460 looking at reductions? 286 00:12:01,460 --> 00:12:04,139 and also what are the revenue options? 287 00:12:04,139 --> 00:12:07,437 And we got here as the result of many previous 288 00:12:07,437 --> 00:12:11,360 mayoral administrations and councils' decisions. 289 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,537 And, you know, I know that through exploring really 290 00:12:15,537 --> 00:12:18,639 every possible option, it's going to give us 291 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:21,374 the ability to just think more creatively about 292 00:12:21,374 --> 00:12:22,740 how we get through this. 293 00:12:22,740 --> 00:12:24,671 If we're going to fix this, we are going to need 294 00:12:24,671 --> 00:12:27,192 everyone working together to really sort out 295 00:12:27,192 --> 00:12:30,220 what are our priorities and how we get here. 296 00:12:30,220 --> 00:12:32,700 But I know that we have a lot of big brains 297 00:12:32,700 --> 00:12:35,139 in the city budget office and finance office, 298 00:12:35,139 --> 00:12:37,538 the dedicated leadership of our executive departments 299 00:12:37,538 --> 00:12:40,000 and the work of my council colleagues and their teams 300 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,139 and our central staff. 301 00:12:41,139 --> 00:12:42,639 We're going to figure this out. 302 00:12:42,639 --> 00:12:44,778 I did want to talk about, I saw a recent headline 303 00:12:44,778 --> 00:12:45,940 in Publicola about this. 304 00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:48,177 The mayor of the council might be considering 305 00:12:48,177 --> 00:12:49,778 creating a fire district in Seattle 306 00:12:49,778 --> 00:12:51,720 so the fire department could get funding 307 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,139 from a separate levy, which would help the budget gap. 308 00:12:54,139 --> 00:12:56,500 This is basically how the parks are set up 309 00:12:56,500 --> 00:12:58,259 through the Parks District here. 310 00:12:58,259 --> 00:12:59,360 I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, 311 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,259 the SFD is a pretty critical service. 312 00:13:02,259 --> 00:13:04,440 Do we need a separate levy to support this? 313 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:05,677 Can you talk about this idea? 314 00:13:05,677 --> 00:13:07,580 I know it's still in the early stages here, 315 00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:08,259 but what's going on? 316 00:13:08,259 --> 00:13:10,080 Yeah, it's still being cooked up a little bit. 317 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,181 Just by way of background, the state legislature 318 00:13:13,181 --> 00:13:16,580 gave municipalities like City of Seattle, 319 00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:19,120 authorized us to be able to establish a fire district 320 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,633 and with some set funding sources. 321 00:13:21,633 --> 00:13:23,283 I think what we're trying to 322 00:13:23,283 --> 00:13:26,466 grapple with as a city is we're approaching the caps to 323 00:13:26,466 --> 00:13:30,100 what is the allowable amount we can raise with property taxes. 324 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:33,701 I think this entire situation speaks to the reality that 325 00:13:33,701 --> 00:13:37,397 municipalities across Washington are facing structural budget 326 00:13:37,397 --> 00:13:40,360 deficits. We're constrained on the types of revenue that we can 327 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,817 raise and I've been a force - force is an 328 00:13:43,817 --> 00:13:47,849 overstatement - I've been active in Olympia trying to push 329 00:13:47,849 --> 00:13:50,580 our state delegation to be working with their 330 00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:53,504 colleagues to allow us to have additional 331 00:13:53,504 --> 00:13:57,142 options more and expand authority for jurisdictions 332 00:13:57,142 --> 00:14:00,278 around for jurisdictions to be able to raise new 333 00:14:00,278 --> 00:14:03,302 kinds of funding but this was a a tax that was 334 00:14:03,302 --> 00:14:06,346 authorized in the most recent in session and it's an 335 00:14:06,346 --> 00:14:07,557 option that has in the city. 336 00:14:07,557 --> 00:14:11,278 And so I think in service of us really getting creative 337 00:14:11,278 --> 00:14:14,440 around how can we have continuity of services, 338 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,840 I understand why this is on the table. 339 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,080 I'm waiting to see, you know, what ultimately comes before us 340 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:21,720 in terms of a proposal. 341 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,220 But this is one of the options that is available 342 00:14:24,220 --> 00:14:25,519 to us at this time. 343 00:14:25,519 --> 00:14:28,000 And again, all options need to be on the table 344 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:29,980 as we're navigating this budget deficit. 345 00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:30,340 Thank you. 346 00:14:30,340 --> 00:14:31,860 I know we're really early with that piece, 347 00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:33,259 but I appreciate the commentary. 348 00:14:33,259 --> 00:14:35,541 I want to talk about another economic challenge if I 349 00:14:35,541 --> 00:14:37,821 could and that would be the budget of the King County 350 00:14:37,821 --> 00:14:40,307 Regional Homelessness Authority It's been around for 351 00:14:40,307 --> 00:14:42,759 six years as you know It's had continuing financial 352 00:14:42,759 --> 00:14:45,245 problems including at least eight million dollars 353 00:14:45,245 --> 00:14:47,672 of its budget that is unaccounted for according to 354 00:14:47,672 --> 00:14:50,291 this recent forensic audit Seattle City Council member 355 00:14:50,291 --> 00:14:52,820 council member Rivera said at a recent press conference 356 00:14:52,820 --> 00:14:55,759 it's actually time to shut the KCRHA down. 357 00:14:55,759 --> 00:15:00,278 This latest forensic evaluation is just the last straw. 358 00:15:00,278 --> 00:15:05,187 The evaluation shows a pattern of mismanagement of funds that 359 00:15:05,187 --> 00:15:07,360 can no longer be tolerated. 360 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,138 It is time to find a different way to make this 361 00:15:10,138 --> 00:15:11,940 very important work happen. 362 00:15:11,940 --> 00:15:14,460 I know you've been working on this with Councilmember Foster. 363 00:15:14,460 --> 00:15:16,091 Is it time to end the KCRHA? 364 00:15:16,091 --> 00:15:17,500 Where are we with this? 365 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:20,658 Yeah, let's start just on the point that the findings 366 00:15:20,658 --> 00:15:23,460 of the KCRHA forensic evaluation are serious. 367 00:15:23,460 --> 00:15:27,157 They require immediate but thoughtful action as we 368 00:15:27,157 --> 00:15:30,940 work to address the very real financial challenges. 369 00:15:30,940 --> 00:15:32,899 You're not saying shut it down tomorrow, it sounds like. 370 00:15:32,899 --> 00:15:35,216 But we can't cause further harm to people 371 00:15:35,216 --> 00:15:36,918 experiencing homelessness. 372 00:15:36,918 --> 00:15:40,572 And moving with a kind of knee-jerk reaction could 373 00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:42,658 cause a lot of ultimate harm. 374 00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:47,346 So that is why myself and Councilmember Foster 375 00:15:47,346 --> 00:15:50,677 actually have sponsored a resolution to really 376 00:15:50,677 --> 00:15:52,758 navigate what is a really complex moment 377 00:15:52,758 --> 00:15:53,918 for all of us right now. 378 00:15:53,918 --> 00:15:56,653 And this resolution actually just passed out of my 379 00:15:56,653 --> 00:15:58,019 committee this morning. 380 00:15:58,019 --> 00:16:00,855 I chair over our Human Services, Labor and Economic 381 00:16:00,855 --> 00:16:02,240 Development Committee. 382 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,038 But I'd also uplift that myself and Councilmember Foster 383 00:16:05,038 --> 00:16:07,721 actually sit on the King County Regional Homelessness 384 00:16:07,721 --> 00:16:09,120 Authority Governing Board. 385 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,778 We are both new to the governing board. 386 00:16:12,778 --> 00:16:15,652 It was at our second meeting that we received 387 00:16:15,652 --> 00:16:17,360 the forensic evaluation. 388 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,250 And what we have been focused on in trying to navigate 389 00:16:20,250 --> 00:16:23,403 this moment has been really holding center that we need to 390 00:16:23,403 --> 00:16:26,494 resolve the fiscal challenges, financial challenges, 391 00:16:26,494 --> 00:16:29,581 and keep an eye towards maintaining services for people 392 00:16:29,581 --> 00:16:32,538 experiencing homelessness wherever we go from here. 393 00:16:32,538 --> 00:16:35,013 And so we've put together this resolution, and it 394 00:16:35,013 --> 00:16:36,220 does a couple of things. 395 00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:38,918 It summarizes the findings of the forensic evaluation. 396 00:16:38,918 --> 00:16:42,248 It summarizes the timeline and deliverables of KCRHA over 397 00:16:42,248 --> 00:16:45,440 the coming months, including a corrective action plan. 398 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,572 It requests that the mayor's office make a recommendation 399 00:16:48,572 --> 00:16:51,639 and an initial assessment on that corrective action plan 400 00:16:51,639 --> 00:16:54,884 and then requires the mayor's office to make an official 401 00:16:54,884 --> 00:16:58,475 recommendation on whether we should dissolve, restructure, 402 00:16:58,475 --> 00:16:59,860 or continue with KCRHA. 403 00:16:59,860 --> 00:17:01,052 And that's by August 1st? 404 00:17:01,052 --> 00:17:02,019 Did I say that right? 405 00:17:02,019 --> 00:17:02,980 Yes, that is correct. 406 00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:04,298 There is a timeline here. 407 00:17:04,298 --> 00:17:06,057 Yes, we are working under a timeline. 408 00:17:06,057 --> 00:17:09,596 And so the public should really be tuned in on some key dates. 409 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,813 With what we've initially requested of KCRHA, they've 410 00:17:13,813 --> 00:17:16,391 actually delivered on their first deliverable, 411 00:17:16,391 --> 00:17:17,460 which was on May 8th. 412 00:17:17,460 --> 00:17:21,440 They submitted a response to address the high-risk findings. 413 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,490 Coming next is a deliverable on the 23rd of May, submitting 414 00:17:25,490 --> 00:17:28,796 their corrective action plan with a timeline on 415 00:17:28,796 --> 00:17:30,778 addressing audit findings. 416 00:17:30,778 --> 00:17:33,721 On June 15th, within our resolution, we're asking 417 00:17:33,721 --> 00:17:37,155 actually the executive to report back on their evaluation 418 00:17:37,155 --> 00:17:38,837 of the May 23rd deliverable. 419 00:17:40,180 --> 00:17:41,357 We're getting into it now. 420 00:17:41,357 --> 00:17:43,198 Yes, we're really getting into the weeds, but I just want 421 00:17:43,198 --> 00:17:44,019 to be clear on this point. 422 00:17:44,019 --> 00:17:46,803 But then that brings us to really August 1st is 423 00:17:46,803 --> 00:17:49,951 when we're asking for that recommendation from the 424 00:17:49,951 --> 00:17:53,539 executive on what is their recommendation on dissolving, 425 00:17:53,539 --> 00:17:55,519 restructuring, or continuing. 426 00:17:55,519 --> 00:17:58,499 And if we're going towards dissolving, we are actually 427 00:17:58,499 --> 00:18:01,153 asking for information on a variety of different 428 00:18:01,153 --> 00:18:04,200 elements in our current homelessness response system. 429 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,286 So the homelessness response system in our 430 00:18:07,286 --> 00:18:09,000 region is very complex. 431 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,035 KCRHA right now holds a lot of responsibilities, 432 00:18:12,035 --> 00:18:15,217 not just to administering Seattle's contracts and 433 00:18:15,217 --> 00:18:18,250 King County's contracts, but also state funding 434 00:18:18,250 --> 00:18:19,880 and also federal funding. 435 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,451 And administering and holding key data systems 436 00:18:22,451 --> 00:18:25,278 that are required by housing and urban development. 437 00:18:25,278 --> 00:18:25,720 Unpacking this. 438 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:26,720 Unpacking all of that. 439 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,778 And so I offer those things just to say we're taking this 440 00:18:29,778 --> 00:18:32,903 resolution approach to really map out, you know, we want 441 00:18:32,903 --> 00:18:34,499 to be clear on our timelines. 442 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:38,163 We want to be clear on when we're expecting information 443 00:18:38,163 --> 00:18:41,663 on how they're going to correct or evaluating if they 444 00:18:41,663 --> 00:18:45,326 can correct some of these challenges and also starting 445 00:18:45,326 --> 00:18:47,240 to chart our course forward. 446 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,326 Our course moving forward as it relates to the status 447 00:18:50,326 --> 00:18:51,660 of all of these things. 448 00:18:51,660 --> 00:18:53,963 Especially as we consider any type of restructuring 449 00:18:53,963 --> 00:18:54,700 or dissolution. 450 00:18:54,700 --> 00:18:56,835 And I wanted to make sure I asked a question that 451 00:18:56,835 --> 00:18:57,817 a viewer sent in here. 452 00:18:57,817 --> 00:19:00,221 Mark has a question about the entire approach to homelessness 453 00:19:00,221 --> 00:19:01,240 that our region's taking. 454 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:02,259 He wrote this. 455 00:19:02,259 --> 00:19:05,510 "San Francisco's new mayor has moved away from the housing 456 00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:08,343 first, low barrier housing When are we going to finally 457 00:19:08,343 --> 00:19:09,420 wake up and do the same? 458 00:19:09,420 --> 00:19:12,036 With summer almost here, we are going to see a wave of drug 459 00:19:12,036 --> 00:19:14,553 addicted, mental health street folks moving here 460 00:19:14,553 --> 00:19:15,700 from San Francisco. 461 00:19:15,700 --> 00:19:17,117 Let's finally fix the problem. 462 00:19:17,117 --> 00:19:19,720 It's not as complex as people think it is. 463 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,538 Just looking at this, the city of San Francisco 464 00:19:21,538 --> 00:19:24,077 has this new model that says it's seeing its lowest level 465 00:19:24,077 --> 00:19:26,019 of unsheltered homelessness in 15 years 466 00:19:26,019 --> 00:19:29,240 with a treatment-first approach, not a housing-first approach. 467 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:30,980 Is it time to make that change in Seattle? 468 00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:31,837 Mark wants to know. 469 00:19:31,837 --> 00:19:33,240 - Hmm. 470 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,880 I think what's interesting about what Mark's raising-- 471 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:37,057 and thank you for the question, Mark, 472 00:19:37,057 --> 00:19:40,097 because I think it speaks to the general public's frustration 473 00:19:40,097 --> 00:19:43,117 about how we haven't made the progress that we've needed to. 474 00:19:43,117 --> 00:19:46,357 And not every single person experiencing homelessness 475 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,259 also has substance use disorder. 476 00:19:49,259 --> 00:19:50,900 That's often what we see. 477 00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:52,180 It's a very visible part of it. 478 00:19:52,180 --> 00:19:55,077 There's visible homelessness and there's invisible homelessness. 479 00:19:55,077 --> 00:19:59,298 And currently we serve a lot of that invisible homelessness 480 00:19:59,298 --> 00:20:00,969 through so many different systems, our 481 00:20:00,969 --> 00:20:01,980 family shelter system. 482 00:20:01,980 --> 00:20:05,211 There's folks who are much lower acuity who get into a 483 00:20:05,211 --> 00:20:08,586 shelter bed and then really just need support with like 484 00:20:08,586 --> 00:20:11,817 first and last month of rent to get back into housing. 485 00:20:11,817 --> 00:20:14,460 And so and then we have a lot of folks who are sleeping in 486 00:20:14,460 --> 00:20:17,276 their vehicles, folks who just got evicted and, you know, 487 00:20:17,276 --> 00:20:20,268 had something happen in their life, got evicted and are still 488 00:20:20,268 --> 00:20:23,259 working, but living out of their car and just trying to get by. 489 00:20:23,259 --> 00:20:26,000 And so I lift those things up to say we need different 490 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,000 approaches to really meet the needs of different folks. 491 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:33,038 And in this moment with so much in flux with KCRHA, also with 492 00:20:33,038 --> 00:20:35,097 the federal government, too, 493 00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:38,970 it is clear from the executive orders issued by 494 00:20:38,970 --> 00:20:41,699 the Trump administration, by some of the initial 495 00:20:41,699 --> 00:20:44,171 directives and information we've seen out of HUD, 496 00:20:44,171 --> 00:20:46,817 as they've indicated with continuum of care funding. 497 00:20:46,817 --> 00:20:48,680 They're really pushing for treatment first, too. 498 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,913 They're moving away from treatment first, or 499 00:20:50,913 --> 00:20:53,380 they're moving towards treatment first instead. 500 00:20:53,380 --> 00:20:55,355 So we as a region aren't going to have to grapple 501 00:20:55,355 --> 00:20:56,220 with this question. 502 00:20:56,220 --> 00:20:58,902 I think there is still sufficient evidence that 503 00:20:58,902 --> 00:21:02,117 suggests that housing first and really making sure we can 504 00:21:02,117 --> 00:21:05,403 stabilize and have someone in one place as we start working 505 00:21:05,403 --> 00:21:06,880 on recovery is important. 506 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,113 But as we're really in this delicate moment with our 507 00:21:10,113 --> 00:21:13,045 approach to homelessness, we need to have this 508 00:21:13,045 --> 00:21:15,000 conversation with providers. 509 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,778 I think we should be leading with data. 510 00:21:16,778 --> 00:21:20,160 And evidence still suggests that housing first is one of 511 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,538 the best ways to support folks in their path to recovery. 512 00:21:23,538 --> 00:21:27,337 But we also are in a really challenging moment 513 00:21:27,337 --> 00:21:29,538 with the fentanyl crisis. 514 00:21:29,538 --> 00:21:32,173 And we do not have enough behavioral health 515 00:21:32,173 --> 00:21:33,640 services and supports. 516 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,057 Now, I do want to uplift one other thing because 517 00:21:36,057 --> 00:21:38,597 I think it speaks to how we're trying to do things. 518 00:21:38,597 --> 00:21:41,396 We're trying to pilot and innovate, especially when 519 00:21:41,396 --> 00:21:44,577 it comes to addressing the fentanyl and overdose epidemic. 520 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,000 You know, we had a bunch of our public safety agencies. 521 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,576 So Health One are within Seattle Fire Department 522 00:21:52,576 --> 00:21:56,680 in partnership with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion. 523 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:01,548 And other organizations actually provide a event over the 524 00:22:01,548 --> 00:22:06,720 course of a couple of days to offer, pardon me, buprenorphine. 525 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:07,759 Buprenorphine, yes. 526 00:22:07,759 --> 00:22:09,019 Yes, shot treatments. 527 00:22:09,019 --> 00:22:09,778 Yes, right. 528 00:22:09,778 --> 00:22:11,817 Which last for a number of weeks. 529 00:22:11,817 --> 00:22:13,380 So folks can start at a point. 530 00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:14,317 Get off of the fentanyl. 531 00:22:14,317 --> 00:22:17,564 Yes. With the last number that was shared with me 532 00:22:17,564 --> 00:22:21,133 was about 30 participants from that point as a pop-up 533 00:22:21,133 --> 00:22:23,077 event within Little Saigon. 534 00:22:23,077 --> 00:22:25,817 So when we're talking about being able to start folks 535 00:22:25,817 --> 00:22:28,555 on a pathway to treatment, this is one that we've seen 536 00:22:28,555 --> 00:22:29,798 some good success from. 537 00:22:29,798 --> 00:22:30,903 They held it last year. 538 00:22:30,903 --> 00:22:32,817 They had another one a couple weeks ago. 539 00:22:32,817 --> 00:22:35,126 And, you know, the challenge will be, of course, still 540 00:22:35,126 --> 00:22:37,538 finding those folks and reaching them so we can continue 541 00:22:37,538 --> 00:22:38,720 that pathway to treatment. 542 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,720 but we are trying new things as well. 543 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,440 But I think I'd say holistically in this moment, 544 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,617 we're in a moment of pivot. 545 00:22:44,617 --> 00:22:48,759 We need to make sure that we are being thoughtful 546 00:22:48,759 --> 00:22:49,940 about where we go from here. 547 00:22:49,940 --> 00:22:50,880 Okay, thank you. 548 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,500 I want to talk about the moratorium 549 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:53,880 on building new detention centers 550 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:55,298 you sponsored on the council. 551 00:22:55,298 --> 00:22:56,857 That measure recently passed here. 552 00:22:56,857 --> 00:22:58,660 The hope is that it'll be helpful 553 00:22:58,660 --> 00:23:00,440 to Seattle's immigrant communities. 554 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:01,420 Why'd you sponsor this? 555 00:23:01,420 --> 00:23:03,337 What kind of impact do you think this is going to have? 556 00:23:03,337 --> 00:23:04,200 Yeah, certainly. 557 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:05,742 Thank you so much. 558 00:23:05,742 --> 00:23:08,422 This has been one of the actions 559 00:23:08,422 --> 00:23:12,748 that we can take as a city to try and address the real 560 00:23:12,748 --> 00:23:17,586 harm and that this federal administration is causing to 561 00:23:17,586 --> 00:23:20,057 our immigrant communities. 562 00:23:20,057 --> 00:23:24,787 And so I'd take us back to actually December of 2025, where 563 00:23:24,787 --> 00:23:29,905 we saw the initial posting on SAM.gov about really new funding 564 00:23:29,905 --> 00:23:34,337 to stand up a new detention center in the Seattle area. 565 00:23:35,357 --> 00:23:37,640 Naturally, that raised a lot of concern. 566 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,238 And to draw a dotted line here, there was about $45 567 00:23:41,238 --> 00:23:45,097 billion approved in the Big Bad Betrayal Bill, 568 00:23:45,097 --> 00:23:46,597 Or Big Beautiful Bill, as some people know. 569 00:23:46,597 --> 00:23:49,046 As some people may see, I think it was a betrayal 570 00:23:49,046 --> 00:23:50,298 to the American people. 571 00:23:50,298 --> 00:23:53,680 But $45 billion allocated specifically to new 572 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,759 detention center capacity. 573 00:23:55,759 --> 00:23:57,720 So expanding capacity or standing up new sites. 574 00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,597 And so then we had that action happen. 575 00:23:59,597 --> 00:24:02,179 We see a SAM.gov posting around initial, like a 576 00:24:02,179 --> 00:24:03,700 pre-solicitation notice. 577 00:24:03,700 --> 00:24:07,230 And we took action to say, well, what kind of levers can 578 00:24:07,230 --> 00:24:08,960 we pull on the local level? 579 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,000 Land use and zoning is one of them. 580 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,923 And so by putting forward a one-year moratorium, and 581 00:24:14,923 --> 00:24:17,585 I do want to be clear on this point because I think 582 00:24:17,585 --> 00:24:20,843 there's confusion or curiosity in the community about why 583 00:24:20,843 --> 00:24:22,240 it's not an outright ban. 584 00:24:23,298 --> 00:24:26,380 We put in place a moratorium. 585 00:24:26,380 --> 00:24:29,240 We can do moratoriums of about one year as we develop 586 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:30,640 permanent regulations. 587 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,153 And because of land use code and requirements 588 00:24:33,153 --> 00:24:36,000 around environmental review, it does take a while. 589 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,441 And we wanted to be able to take a legislative path that allowed 590 00:24:39,441 --> 00:24:42,615 us to move quickly to stop or prevent anything from coming 591 00:24:42,615 --> 00:24:45,856 online and be able to set the stage towards a permanent ban. 592 00:24:45,857 --> 00:24:47,538 And so that is ultimately what we did. 593 00:24:47,538 --> 00:24:49,640 We introduced this as emergency legislation. 594 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:50,817 So actually required seven votes. 595 00:24:50,817 --> 00:24:53,980 It has a higher threshold when we do emergency legislation. 596 00:24:53,980 --> 00:24:57,778 and we put in place a moratorium for one year. 597 00:24:57,778 --> 00:25:00,337 Council has the ability to extend that moratorium 598 00:25:00,337 --> 00:25:03,103 if we need additional time, and right now our departments 599 00:25:03,103 --> 00:25:05,506 are working to figure out, you know, how do we work 600 00:25:05,506 --> 00:25:08,317 on permanent legislation to address this issue. 601 00:25:08,317 --> 00:25:11,180 I'm interested still in a permanent ban. 602 00:25:11,180 --> 00:25:15,259 I think detention centers do not align with our city's values, 603 00:25:15,259 --> 00:25:16,940 nor do I think we should be assisting 604 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:18,900 in this federal regime's agenda. 605 00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:22,596 And I say that, too, because of the, I mean, the continuing 606 00:25:22,596 --> 00:25:26,601 headlines we're seeing out of the Northwest Detention Center 607 00:25:26,601 --> 00:25:28,680 of abuses, human rights abuses. 608 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,269 The UW Center for Human Rights covers a lot of 609 00:25:31,269 --> 00:25:32,880 what they're seeing there. 610 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,529 There are we're hearing about things of people not 611 00:25:36,529 --> 00:25:40,616 getting medical attention or basic health care, sexual 612 00:25:40,616 --> 00:25:42,880 violence allegations as well. 613 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,260 And so we we do not want to expand or allow for more of 614 00:25:47,260 --> 00:25:50,077 that to happen in our community. 615 00:25:50,077 --> 00:25:51,336 Okay. Thank you for that. 616 00:25:51,336 --> 00:25:52,950 I want to try to move to what might 617 00:25:52,950 --> 00:25:55,701 be a light topic, light rail, but I'm not sure about this 618 00:25:55,701 --> 00:25:58,093 one. Although, folks, I want you to look at this. 619 00:25:58,093 --> 00:26:00,066 One of Councilmember Rink's many viral 620 00:26:00,066 --> 00:26:03,056 videos on social media here documenting a trip on light rail 621 00:26:03,056 --> 00:26:06,163 across Lake Washington at the end of March where you connected 622 00:26:06,163 --> 00:26:09,334 with your friend Redmond City Councilmember Jessica Forsyth. 623 00:26:09,334 --> 00:26:12,202 A beautiful moment there, of course, but something not so 624 00:26:12,202 --> 00:26:15,075 beautiful. Sound Transit has announced it's not going to 625 00:26:15,075 --> 00:26:18,125 make it to Ballard anytime soon, which voters said yes to with 626 00:26:18,125 --> 00:26:19,557 Sound Transit 3 back in 2016. 627 00:26:19,557 --> 00:26:21,337 I know you're a big transit supporter here. 628 00:26:21,337 --> 00:26:23,509 You're vice chair of the council's transportation 629 00:26:23,509 --> 00:26:25,278 committee, and I know you've rallied with 630 00:26:25,278 --> 00:26:27,837 Ballard Light Rail supporters in the past. 631 00:26:27,837 --> 00:26:29,278 What do you tell them now? 632 00:26:29,278 --> 00:26:32,449 We just had such an amazing moment as a region when we had 633 00:26:32,449 --> 00:26:34,817 the Cross Lake Connection come online. 634 00:26:34,817 --> 00:26:37,650 I mean, we had the second highest day of service 635 00:26:37,650 --> 00:26:40,480 of ridership in the entire system, our history 636 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,577 of Sound Transit on that opening day. 637 00:26:42,577 --> 00:26:46,940 I think it was over 200,000 people rode light rail that day. 638 00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:48,651 And we broke a world record. 639 00:26:48,651 --> 00:26:50,807 We put a train on a floating bridge. 640 00:26:50,807 --> 00:26:53,780 So just a feat of innovation, something we could 641 00:26:53,780 --> 00:26:54,750 all celebrate. 642 00:26:54,750 --> 00:26:57,651 And immediately after that tremendous day for 643 00:26:57,651 --> 00:27:01,221 transit and for connection across our region, really the 644 00:27:01,221 --> 00:27:04,567 news about the future of ST3 and how we fully deliver on 645 00:27:04,567 --> 00:27:07,990 the voter approved measure kind of came in and now folks 646 00:27:07,990 --> 00:27:11,558 are grappling with, are they ever going to get light rail? 647 00:27:11,558 --> 00:27:12,740 I've got about 30 seconds left. 648 00:27:12,740 --> 00:27:13,192 Keep going. 649 00:27:13,192 --> 00:27:13,807 Yeah. Yeah. 650 00:27:13,807 --> 00:27:16,451 So we, I've been active in advocating for 651 00:27:16,451 --> 00:27:20,182 Ballard Light Rail and fully completing the Ballard Link 652 00:27:20,182 --> 00:27:23,680 extension, including getting a date on the calendar. 653 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,115 That is one of my asks of the Sound Transit Board, to get a 654 00:27:26,115 --> 00:27:28,712 date on the calendar for Ballard Link extension, as well as 655 00:27:28,712 --> 00:27:30,038 delivering on Graham Street. 656 00:27:30,038 --> 00:27:32,507 I think there's a real equity problem that's been 657 00:27:32,507 --> 00:27:35,153 put to the forefront that we've continued to defer on 658 00:27:35,153 --> 00:27:36,538 the Graham Street station. 659 00:27:36,538 --> 00:27:38,200 We've upzoned in the neighborhood. 660 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,460 We've planned for growth. 661 00:27:39,460 --> 00:27:42,208 And now we need to be able to move people and really deliver 662 00:27:42,208 --> 00:27:43,636 and make good on that promise. 663 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,855 You know, the south end, southeast Seattle has 664 00:27:46,855 --> 00:27:49,077 sacrificed enough for transit. 665 00:27:49,077 --> 00:27:52,211 And so now is not a moment to be cutting corners and really 666 00:27:52,211 --> 00:27:53,880 backing up with that promise. 667 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,613 And so I'm going to continue being a strong advocate for 668 00:27:56,613 --> 00:27:59,346 completing full Ballard Link extension, which, again, 669 00:27:59,346 --> 00:28:02,019 would have the highest ridership projected numbers. 670 00:28:02,019 --> 00:28:07,471 I believe it's up to 147,000 additional people every day 671 00:28:07,471 --> 00:28:10,259 in that line and continuing. 672 00:28:10,259 --> 00:28:12,019 And we need to deliver on Graham Street Station. 673 00:28:12,019 --> 00:28:13,420 I know there's a lot still ahead with that. 674 00:28:13,420 --> 00:28:14,817 Council Member Rink, thank you very much. 675 00:28:14,817 --> 00:28:15,640 I'm Brian Callinan. 676 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:17,900 We'll see you next time on City Inside Out Council Edition. 677 00:28:19,317 --> 00:28:35,720 ♪♪ ♪♪. 678 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:36,720 ♪ ♪