[1:05] The December 11th, 2025 De Mo City

[1:08] Council meeting is now called to order.

[1:10] Council member Mahoney is now going to

[1:12] lead us in the pledge. Please stand if

[1:14] you're able.

[1:17] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:20] United States of America and to the

[1:23] republic for which it stands. One nation

[1:26] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:29] justice for all.

[1:31] >> Yes.

[1:35] » Well, welcome tonight on this dark,

[1:38] rainy, cold night. I we appreciate you

[1:40] all being here so much. Uh, I just want

[1:43] to give a special shout out to my family

[1:45] back there coming tonight. I appreciate

[1:47] them being here. Thanks. Uh, if you're

[1:50] attending on channel 21 or watching

[1:53] online, please recognize that we can't

[1:55] attend to our phones from the dis. So,

[1:57] if you have any technical problems while

[1:59] you're watching the meeting tonight, you

[2:00] can email the city clerk at city clerk

[2:03] at de moinewah.gov.

[2:05] Please let the record show that all

[2:07] council me council members are present

[2:09] and that council member Nutting will be

[2:11] participating remotely.

[2:13] Do [clears throat] we have any

[2:14] correspondence not previously received

[2:16] by council?

[2:17] >> No, mayor.

[2:18] >> All right. Thank you so much. So now

[2:21] it's time for comments from the public.

[2:23] Tonight we will we will have two public

[2:25] hearings uh will where there will be

[2:28] separate public comment and that's uh in

[2:30] regard to our budget amendments and a

[2:32] Wesley master plan. Uh please understand

[2:36] that when you do come to give public

[2:38] comment, we cannot uh we can't respond

[2:40] or interact with you. However, we do

[2:43] take note of what you say and we welcome

[2:45] your input.

[2:47] Uh we ask that if you come forward,

[2:50] please keep your comments respectful. Oh

[2:52] yes. And then if you have comments with

[2:55] regard to the those of two public

[2:57] hearing segments, we ask that you hold

[2:59] those public comments until that segment

[3:02] so that your public comment can be part

[3:03] of the record. Thank you so much. So now

[3:06] if you do come forward during this

[3:08] portion, we ask that you keep your

[3:10] comments respectful and you can keep

[3:12] your comments to three minutes. Please

[3:14] state the your name and the where you

[3:17] reside, the city where you reside. So,

[3:20] we have several people up tonight. First

[3:22] up is Chris Delar Roza. Come on up to

[3:24] the podium.

[3:32] » Hello, my name is Chris Del Roza, a

[3:34] resident of De Moines. I'm following up

[3:36] on my public comment for the last

[3:38] meeting concerning the 13 flocked

[3:41] cameras operating in the city. As

[3:43] detailed in my written statement emailed

[3:45] to you and the chief of police, the the

[3:47] continued use of these cameras pose an

[3:49] unacceptable risk to our citizens due to

[3:52] security settings that include the use

[3:54] of multiffactor authentication, MFA,

[3:58] Washington Public Records Act ruling,

[4:01] vulnerabilities of human misuse, and

[4:03] physical hacking.

[4:06] I want to highlight a critical point

[4:08] that the chief of police and I discussed

[4:10] after the last meeting.

[4:12] If the city is using standard MFA where

[4:15] an officer just taps uh approve on their

[4:18] phone to type in a code uh that is not

[4:22] secure for fishing. Only fishing

[4:26] restricted MFA which requires a physical

[4:28] security token or smart card offers true

[4:31] protection against human error and

[4:32] hacking. My purposes tonight is to

[4:35] request a formal time timeline for

[4:38] action. Council, I respectfully ask for

[4:42] clarification on the timeline for this

[4:44] action. Specifically, when will a

[4:47] resolution or motion to decommission and

[4:50] remove and permanently disable the 13

[4:53] block cameras

[4:55] be placed on upcoming council agenda for

[4:58] official vote? So, pretty much asking

[5:01] when are we going to see this on the

[5:02] agenda? We urge you to follow the clear

[5:05] president set by your peers in Olympia

[5:08] and Redmond to protect the citizens and

[5:10] safety of the privacy. They disabled

[5:13] their cameras. Thank you.

[5:17] >> Thank you, Chris. Next up is Dave

[5:19] Kaplan.

[5:23] » Good evening, council. Uh Dave Kaplan,

[5:25] resident and former council member and

[5:28] mayor, not wearing my work hat tonight.

[5:32] Um, I wanted to say a few words

[5:34] regarding public service. First, I

[5:36] wanted to thank um all seven council

[5:38] members for their service to our

[5:40] community. I think people uh don't

[5:43] understand the amount of hours, the

[5:45] amount of reading, the amount of

[5:46] engagement with the public, not only at

[5:49] the council meetings, but otherwise. Um,

[5:51] and all of that goes into your ability

[5:54] to be able to do the job that you chose

[5:57] to do. Uh, which is not an easy job.

[6:00] there are a lot of decisions that you

[6:01] wind up having to make that are the

[6:03] benefit of the city as a whole uh that

[6:06] might impact the neighborhood. Um but

[6:09] because it's to the benefit of the city

[6:10] of the whole those are the kinds of

[6:12] things that you wind up having to make

[6:13] those tough decisions about. There are

[6:15] other things where where there are

[6:17] tradeoffs where there are no good

[6:18] options and yet you've done that. I'd

[6:22] like to particularly call out Council

[6:24] Member Mahoney and Mayor Buckston and um

[6:28] both have served with distinction uh as

[6:33] mayor and as council member for the last

[6:35] eight years. They you can argue about

[6:39] the way the they approach things some a

[6:42] little more robustly than others. Um,

[6:44] but both of you have exemplified

[6:47] leadership in terms of moving the city

[6:49] forward on important issues,

[6:51] particularly regarding economic

[6:52] development and diversifying our

[6:55] community, making it a place that people

[6:57] will want to come visit as a way to help

[7:00] sustain the city's finances going

[7:02] forward. And um, you know, there's been

[7:05] a lot of back and forth over the decades

[7:07] in that regard. and I appreciate the

[7:10] fact that you've continued the effort to

[7:11] try and make sure that the city is a

[7:13] place that people will want to come to

[7:15] regardless of what elements are included

[7:18] in that. Um, I'm personally very proud

[7:22] of the fact that we went forward with

[7:23] the steps. Um, for decades I heard about

[7:27] the need to connect the downtown and the

[7:29] marina. Heard it from the marina owners

[7:31] and heard it from boat owners and heard

[7:33] it from the people in downtown, the

[7:35] businesses in downtown. you're finally

[7:37] you that's moving forward. It's

[7:39] something that needs to happen. It's

[7:40] something that needs to support the city

[7:42] as a whole. Things never change unless

[7:45] you take the first step forward. So,

[7:48] from the bottom of my heart, I want to

[7:50] thank you for your service, all seven of

[7:51] you, for the service on the council and

[7:53] for you two in particular, for the very

[7:56] hard work you've done over the last

[7:57] eight years to make our city that much

[7:59] better. Thank you.

[8:02] >> Thank you, Dave. So appreciated.

[8:05] Next up is Betatina Carrie.

[8:12] » Good evening everyone. I'm Betina Kerry

[8:15] and a resident of the Marina District

[8:17] speaking as myself.

[8:20] But um tonight I'd like to uh talk for

[8:23] all of us to celebrate someone who has

[8:25] led our city with heart, vision, and

[8:28] unwavering devotion to community. Mayor

[8:31] Tracy Buckton. Tracy has lived in De

[8:34] Moines for more than 40 years and she

[8:36] has poured her that love into our hearts

[8:39] every day of her service. Since joining

[8:41] the city council in 2017 and becoming

[8:44] mayor in 2024, she has guided us with

[8:47] grace, steadiness, and a remarkable gift

[8:50] for bringing people together. This past

[8:53] year, she was also elected as president

[8:55] of the Sound Cities Association. A

[8:58] tremendous honor for leaders across 38

[9:00] cities who recognize what we've always

[9:03] recognized about you, and that is that

[9:06] you're compassionate, collaborative, and

[9:08] incredibly effective.

[9:10] And as you prepare to leave office in

[9:13] January, I want to acknowledge you as a

[9:16] council member and also to acknowledge

[9:18] council member Matt Mahoney for his

[9:20] contributions and partnerships alongside

[9:23] you and during this chapter. Um I've

[9:26] only been here less than three years and

[9:28] it's been amazing to watch what's gone

[9:30] on in here. And he is also in part

[9:33] responsible for helping me see De

[9:34] Moines's true potential.

[9:38] the reason I proudly call this my

[9:39] forever home. Mayor Tracy Buckton,

[9:43] you've done an amazing job. Matt

[9:45] Mahoney, former mayor, you've done an

[9:47] amazing job. We are grateful and we

[9:49] celebrate you both tonight. Thank you so

[9:50] much for your leadership.

[9:53] >> Thank you, Betina.

[9:55] Next up, Chuck Coleman.

[10:04] Good evening, Madame Mayor, city

[10:05] council, city manager, and the public.

[10:08] Uh, happy holidays and merry Christmas

[10:10] to everyone. Uh, Mayor Buckton and

[10:14] Council Member Mahoney. Uh, this is a

[10:17] letter that was from the Redondo

[10:19] Community Association. Uh on behalf of

[10:22] them, we want to extend our sincere

[10:24] appreciation for your years of service

[10:26] to the city of De Moines and to our

[10:29] waterfront community. Public leadership

[10:32] requires resilience, patience, and no

[10:35] small amount of personal sacrifice. We

[10:38] are grateful for the time and energy you

[10:40] devoted to the city during your tenure

[10:42] on the council and as mayor. You're

[10:45] consist you consistently showed up to

[10:47] meet with our community to listen and to

[10:50] engage especially during moments when

[10:52] Roondo was seeking direction, clarity,

[10:55] or simply a hearing. We noticed and

[10:58] appreciated your willingness to be

[11:00] present. You played a role in bringing

[11:02] strong administrative leadership to the

[11:04] city, notably with the hiring of city

[11:06] manager Katherine Cathrey, whose impact

[11:09] on the city has already been

[11:10] significant. Your support of efforts to

[11:13] improve safety, including the

[11:15] installation of speed cameras and

[11:17] recognition on the on the boardwalk as a

[11:19] park are deeply appreciated. We are also

[11:23] grateful for the support you lent to

[11:24] city initiatives that lifted up Red

[11:26] Roondo's unique identity, particularly

[11:29] recognition of the sixgill shark, the

[11:32] partnership with the mass center, and

[11:33] the rebuilding of the fishing pier.

[11:36] These efforts help shine a light on a

[11:38] part of the city that has had great

[11:40] potential and they are contributing to a

[11:43] growing sense of pride. As you step away

[11:46] from elected office, we want want you to

[11:48] know that your efforts had an impact.

[11:51] The relationship between Roondo

[11:53] residents and the city is stronger, more

[11:56] engaged, and more forward moving today

[11:58] than it ever was. We appreciate your

[12:01] role in that progress and wish you the

[12:03] very best in whatever comes next. Thank

[12:06] you.

[12:07] >> Thank you, Chuck.

[12:10] >> Next up, Judy Gran.

[12:20] » Hi, my name is Judy Grandandy and I live

[12:22] in De Moines. Um, earlier today I sent

[12:25] all of the city council members, the

[12:27] police chief, the city clerk, and the

[12:29] city may manager an email today about

[12:32] the flock safety cameras, which use the

[12:34] automatic license plate recognition,

[12:36] also known as ALPR technology. This

[12:39] technology is used for mass

[12:42] surveillance, and 13 cameras have been

[12:44] installed throughout De Moines at an

[12:46] annual cost of $37,500.

[12:49] This surveillance system compiles

[12:51] mountains of sensitive data about De

[12:54] Moines residents locations into an

[12:56] easily searchable database. The system

[12:59] is an enormous target for abuse both

[13:01] internally and externally. The system

[13:04] can also be physically and/or

[13:06] electronically hacked. Um, a recent

[13:09] Scadget County court case proved that

[13:12] anyone can request access to APL ALPR

[13:17] data through a Washington public records

[13:20] request. Residents in Olympia, Redmond,

[13:23] and other Washington towns have

[13:25] requested to have their flock cameras

[13:27] deactivated or suspended because of the

[13:30] many opportunities for abuse. I'm

[13:32] requesting that the city council call

[13:34] for a vote either today or at the first

[13:36] city council meeting in January to

[13:39] decommission the De Moines flock

[13:41] cameras.

[13:43] Please respond to my quest to my email

[13:45] if you have any questions um and to let

[13:48] me know what your response is to my

[13:49] request. Thank you.

[13:52] >> Thank you, Judy.

[13:54] Next up, Tina Orwell.

[14:02] That's senator in baby talk. [laughter]

[14:06] Tina Arwal. I have the honor of

[14:07] representing the 33rd legislative

[14:09] district in um in Olympia and I live in

[14:13] the beautiful city of De Moine. And I'm

[14:15] here tonight to thank um you mayor and

[14:18] council member Mahoney for your service

[14:20] to our community. Um I have been so

[14:25] impressed by your presence in De Moines.

[14:28] I think of all the activities and events

[14:31] um you've been there. You've been there

[14:33] for the community. You've also been in

[14:35] there for the community in things that

[14:37] people maybe don't often see like around

[14:40] domestic violence and supporting

[14:42] survivors. I also want to thank you for

[14:45] your partnership on the airport. Uh, one

[14:48] of the things, um, Mayor Buckton is when

[14:50] we worked on fixing the failed packages,

[14:52] you showed up in Olympia and your

[14:55] testimony and support was critical to

[14:57] moving that bill. So, I just want to say

[14:59] you both have been outstanding leaders

[15:02] and you're going to be missed and I know

[15:04] you're still living here. We're still

[15:05] going to tap you, but again, your your

[15:07] service has really made a difference to

[15:09] our community. Thank you.

[15:13] >> Thank you. [clears throat] Very

[15:14] meaningful. Thank you, Tina.

[15:16] So, uh, is there anyone I normally ask,

[15:19] is there anyone who came tonight wishing

[15:22] to speak during public comment and

[15:24] didn't recognize that you needed to sign

[15:26] in? This is an opportunity for you to

[15:28] speak if you'd like.

[15:32] Okay.

[15:37] Next up is our regional committee

[15:39] reports. We're not operating uh accord

[15:41] on our traditional committee uh modality

[15:45] right now. Uh but we do have uh

[15:48] committee uh council members who serve

[15:51] on committees out in the region. So this

[15:54] is a time for them to report out about

[15:56] uh subjects at those tables that might

[15:59] be of interest to our citizens. Is there

[16:01] any council member that would like to

[16:03] report out right now? Council member

[16:05] Harris.

[16:06] >> Uh thank you. Um, Wednesday was supposed

[16:10] to be the last meeting of the emergency

[16:13] management advisory committee. However,

[16:16] the meeting was scrubbed, sort of moved

[16:19] to something else because the uh

[16:21] emergency operations center was

[16:23] activated due to the flooding and all of

[16:26] this stuff. Um I just wanted to note

[16:30] that um especially for incoming council

[16:33] members um based on what uh Mayor Kaplan

[16:37] said um you can do things um these

[16:43] little things in regional committees

[16:46] that make a difference. when I got

[16:48] involved with the EMAC

[16:50] there, frankly, there's been a code

[16:53] alert um notification system for phones,

[16:57] but it um

[17:00] didn't work all the time as well as it

[17:02] should have. And um you know, one of the

[17:05] little things contributions we've been

[17:08] able to make is to get that fixed. And I

[17:12] encourage everyone who has not signed

[17:15] up, please sign up for code alert. It is

[17:18] for more than floods. It is things like

[17:20] these storms and it provides resources

[17:24] to people um in any kind of emergency

[17:28] situation like this past week. So um

[17:33] please as you come into the council

[17:36] consider that there are other services

[17:38] that will benefit beyond um just what

[17:42] happens up here every couple of weeks.

[17:44] Thank you.

[17:46] >> Thank you. Council member, anyone else?

[17:48] Council member Mahoney,

[17:50] >> I attended today the last um Puttown

[17:53] Regional Council Transportation Policy

[17:54] Board and really the big subject was the

[17:57] regional transportation plan. That'll be

[18:00] released next week to the public and

[18:02] everybody will have until the end of

[18:04] January to respond. And so it was a

[18:07] great honor to be on that and try to

[18:09] influence uh as much as I could to

[18:11] benefit our city. Hopefully my

[18:13] conversations about fairies and so forth

[18:15] uh had some hit some hit some land and

[18:18] we'll see what happens. Not that that that's like a bad pun or crossover.

[18:22] But anyway, [clears throat] it was uh it

[18:24] was an honor to finally get on. I tried

[18:26] for six years before I got on it and I

[18:27] was really glad that I I could I could

[18:29] get that influence at that level. Thank

[18:31] you.

[18:32] >> Well, you were a good pick for that. I

[18:34] appreciate your expertise that you built

[18:35] over the years here. So, thank you for

[18:37] serving. Anyone else?

[18:40] All right. So, we'll move on to the city

[18:43] manager's report. I'll pass the baton to

[18:45] city manager Katherine Capri.

[18:47] >> Uh, mayor and council, we have one item

[18:49] on the agenda that is very important

[18:51] that we're going to get to in just a

[18:52] moment, so do not leave everybody. But

[18:54] before that, uh, Victoria Andrews from

[18:57] our citizen advisory board. Last night,

[18:59] we had our last meeting of the year. And

[19:02] so, uh, as a representative from CAB,

[19:04] Victoria is going to give a brief kind

[19:05] of overview on some of the things CAB

[19:07] did this year and then we'll move into

[19:08] the highlights of the city manager

[19:11] report tonight.

[19:12] >> Thank you, city manager Cafrey, and good

[19:15] evening everyone. Uh, I am proud to

[19:17] represent the citizens advisory board,

[19:19] the CAB or the CAB for this report to

[19:23] the council. Three of you are intimately

[19:25] aware of what we have been doing. And I

[19:27] want to begin by thanking our board

[19:29] liaison, council member Oxiger, outgoing

[19:32] mayor Buckston, and especially our

[19:34] chair, deputy manager, deputy mayor

[19:37] Steinmets. Thanks to to former mayor

[19:39] Mahoney for launching us into existence

[19:42] in 2023. And I want to express our

[19:45] appreciation to our staff liaison, Tara

[19:47] Vaughn, and to Alex Reyes and Bonnie

[19:49] Wilkins for the administrative support

[19:51] they're providing to Tara and our board.

[19:54] For those of you here or watching who

[19:57] may not be aware of what the CAB is, we

[19:59] are two dozen current and retired

[20:02] professionals from a variety of public

[20:04] and private affiliations. We volunteered

[20:06] for this board because we all want to

[20:08] provide meaningful emphasize support to

[20:11] the city and we've pushed hard for that.

[20:14] We recognize and appreciate that the

[20:15] city is allocating staff resources to

[20:18] this body and we want to prove we are

[20:20] worth the investment. I believe that

[20:22] after the last six weeks we have

[20:24] demonstrated that we are and that we can

[20:26] do more. We were challenged to engage

[20:29] with citizens around the survey that is

[20:31] kicking off the city's strategic plan

[20:33] called charting our course. Colleen Gant

[20:36] abley chaired our efforts to engage with

[20:38] as many citizens as possible. First our

[20:40] neighbors, then our networks. Then

[20:44] working behind the scenes, Colleen

[20:45] enlisted us to distribute surveys at the

[20:47] holiday farmers market, the food bank,

[20:49] both libraries, four senior living

[20:51] communities, daycare centers, and at the

[20:54] tree lighting. We helped the city garner

[20:56] around a thousand

[21:00] » surveys. and city manager Caffrey said

[21:02] that number would not have been possible

[21:04] without us. The survey input will help

[21:06] the council and staff crystallize what

[21:08] our citizens think of De Moines's

[21:10] currently and what they hope it will

[21:11] look like in 5 to 10 years. A word that

[21:14] came up the most often in describing the

[21:16] current city was potential.

[21:19] Some see that as a negative. The cab

[21:23] sees that word as a positive and we say

[21:26] yes. How can we help? The CAB

[21:29] restructured and expanded this year. In

[21:31] addition to representatives from the

[21:33] nine neighborhoods, it also has members

[21:35] at large. And within the board are three

[21:37] subcommittees. Each presented their 2026

[21:40] work plans at our meeting last night.

[21:42] Briefly, the arts subcommittee chaired

[21:44] by Jeff Cromp has done an amazing amount

[21:47] of work in a very short time. They have

[21:49] six really excellent bands under

[21:51] contract for the summer beach park

[21:52] concert series and are seeking

[21:54] sponsorships to help offset the cost as

[21:56] well as planning a poster contest to

[21:58] promote the concerts. A sculpture walk

[22:01] is planned on April 25th to coincide

[22:04] with international sculpture day walk.

[22:06] In the works is a jazz blues festival in

[22:08] Backstage Alley with the CAB and the De

[22:11] Moines Legacy Foundation as co-sponsors.

[22:14] They're also working on finding local

[22:15] businesses to sponsor new artistic

[22:17] utility wraps, summer flower baskets,

[22:19] and Christmas decorations. And a digital

[22:22] short video contest for high school

[22:24] students on why they like living in De

[22:26] Moines is another idea the group is

[22:28] considering. The human services

[22:30] subcommittee is chaired by Karine

[22:32] Anderson Ketchmark. Their purpose is to

[22:34] recommend grant funds to nonprofits that

[22:36] can demonstrate they provide safety net

[22:38] services to our neediest citizens, those

[22:41] dealing with homelessness, mental health

[22:43] issues, domestic violence, sexual

[22:45] assault, pregnancy, or food insecurity.

[22:48] The city's budget for these grants is

[22:50] not large, so it partners with a South

[22:52] King County consortium of neighboring

[22:54] cities to pull funds for a bigger

[22:56] impact. In the past, a full-time staff

[22:59] member attended monthly meetings,

[23:01] coordinated the grant process, and

[23:03] produced financial and service progress

[23:04] reports. The subcommittee evaluated and

[23:07] prioritized the grants proposals, and

[23:10] made a final recommendation to council

[23:11] on which would best serve our residents.

[23:14] Staff support now has been reduced but

[23:16] not eliminated.

[23:19] And we are currently in midf funding

[23:21] cycle. So each member will likely be

[23:23] assigned to review a number of proposals

[23:25] after applications go out in March.

[23:27] Summer should be busy before the final

[23:29] recommendations are made in the fall.

[23:32] And finally the senior services

[23:33] subcommittee is chaired by Eileen Evans.

[23:35] They are planning periodic meetings to

[23:38] lay liaison with Wesley Homes, Judson

[23:40] Park, Huntington Park, and the Adriana,

[23:43] sharing information and soliciting ideas

[23:46] about events they are interested in

[23:48] because other CAB members are part of

[23:49] these communities. There's a lot of

[23:51] collaboration going on with this sub

[23:53] subcommittee as well as the arts

[23:55] subcommittee. For example, finding

[23:57] volunteers willing to transport

[23:58] residents who are in catered living so

[24:01] they can attend summer concerts. The

[24:03] volunteers of the citizens advisory

[24:05] board have each demonstrated how much

[24:07] they care about our city. We ask the

[24:09] council and staff to, as I put it, use

[24:12] us, and we do feel we have become a

[24:15] valuable partner to supplement what the

[24:16] staff of a city our size is able to do.

[24:19] We're all excited to help with the

[24:21] strategic plan process, to solicit

[24:23] community input on how how budget

[24:25] dollars should be spent, and to keep

[24:27] pushing to find ways to engage

[24:29] uninvolved citizens. Thank you so much.

[24:33] Victoria. Appreciate

[24:35] it.

[24:37] >> Okay, I am actually going to come down

[24:39] to the podium for this next.

[24:50] don't normally come down here so this

[24:52] feels different but um we are going to

[24:56] recognize um council member Matt Mahoney

[24:59] and then maybe you'll agree to a picture

[25:02] when you get this lovely um more than a

[25:06] plaque I don't know what else to call it

[25:07] glass sailboat um and then we can move

[25:10] on to Mayor Buckston and then we'll do a

[25:12] brief recess so family and friends can

[25:14] take pictures and things like that so uh

[25:16] I'm Katherine Cafrey I'm the city

[25:18] manager um but on behalf of staff. We'd

[25:21] like to recognize council member Matt

[25:23] Mahoney for his service to our

[25:25] community. Matt has been part of the

[25:27] city council since 2018. He served as

[25:30] deputy mayor from 2020 to 2021 and then

[25:32] mayor from 2022 to 2023.

[25:36] Matt, your impact is visible across our

[25:38] community. You helped lead the

[25:40] revitalization of the memorial triangle.

[25:43] You championed the Marina steps. You've

[25:45] strengthened the city's partnership with

[25:47] the Mast Center. and you've supported

[25:48] the development of a passenger ferry.

[25:51] You took on quality of life issues like

[25:53] championing legislation to ban

[25:55] aftermarket mufflers. You also carried

[25:58] forward important traditions and

[25:59] touchstones in our community. You've

[26:01] continued the recognition of Steven J.

[26:03] Underwood's legacy and you have uh

[26:05] advocated for veterans uh in a multitude

[26:08] of ways and you have been um a

[26:11] consistent leader organizing our

[26:12] Veterans Day event each year. So, these

[26:15] contributions will continue to shape De

[26:17] Moines long after your term. And while

[26:19] all these accomplishments matter, when I

[26:21] reached out to senior staff and asked

[26:23] them to share some of their kind of

[26:25] favorite things about you, um what staff

[26:28] spoke most about was the kind of leader

[26:30] you were. You were a champion for staff,

[26:32] not blindly, but with a real respect for

[26:34] the work it takes to keep this city

[26:36] running. You recognized effort,

[26:39] encouraged us to think boldly, and

[26:41] trusted that we could rise to the

[26:42] challenge. Your integrity and

[26:44] willingness to stand for what you

[26:45] believed in, especially when it meant

[26:48] choosing the harder path, left a strong

[26:50] impression. We also saw the very human

[26:53] side of your service. Your eagerness to

[26:55] help community members whenever you

[26:57] could, even when it sometimes caused you

[26:59] a little trouble. Your generosity, I

[27:02] will say this staff person said you were

[27:03] particularly generous with your scotch

[27:05] collection. I can't really speak to

[27:06] that, but apparently he is. uh and your

[27:10] deep unwavering support for everything

[27:12] wide. So from the mass center and SR3 to

[27:16] coastal cleanup and tenant associations,

[27:18] our marina team in particular um shared

[27:21] how much your engagement has meant to

[27:22] them. So Matt, thank you for your

[27:24] leadership, your conviction, and your

[27:26] support for this organization,

[27:28] especially during my first year here. Um

[27:30] we are grateful for your service and

[27:32] wish you the very best.

[27:44] » [applause]

[27:50] » and and council. I was thinking when we

[27:52] break for the reception, we could do

[27:54] like full photos with you all, but

[28:07] » [clears throat]

[28:14] » Mayor, do you want to say anything about

[28:16] Council Member Mahoney and then we'll

[28:18] talk about

[28:19] >> Oh, heavens. Uh, oh my goodness.

[28:23] Well, in this in this playing field as

[28:26] far as um people that I met, he was the

[28:30] first to become my friend. And um I felt

[28:35] like a like a brother kind of. I mean,

[28:37] we ran at the same time, got elected at

[28:39] the same time. We've been to every we

[28:41] were at every single council meeting all

[28:44] along the time that we ran together and

[28:47] championed a lot of the same things. I

[28:49] thought a couple of other things,

[28:50] Waterland Way, I mean, that was kind of

[28:53] born out of and a real champion in a

[28:56] backstage alley. So, I have appreciated

[28:59] Matt so much, his support. I mean, that

[29:02] guy, I've been jealous at how prepared

[29:04] he can come to to a meeting and how

[29:07] eloquent he can be in supporting the

[29:10] things that are important to him. He's

[29:14] above and beyond. Uh, anybody who gets

[29:17] him for the energy of the rest of his

[29:19] life is blessed. and so I've been really

[29:23] honored to serve alongside of him. Thank

[29:25] you, Matt.

[29:30] » Yeah, I I wanted to to share a little

[29:32] bit about um I met Matt during the 2017

[29:37] campaign when I ran the first time and

[29:40] somebody else beat me

[29:43] and she's gone on to great things. Uh

[29:45] but Matt Matt and I during the campaign

[29:48] kept showing up at all the same events

[29:50] and we started talking. and and we

[29:51] actually became friends uh during that

[29:54] process. Um he's really just a great guy

[29:58] who's full of energy and was always

[30:00] concerned about what he thought was best

[30:03] for De Moines and how to do that and how

[30:06] to get people how to bring them along to

[30:09] his vision. Uh, I think one thing that

[30:12] hasn't been mentioned here tonight is

[30:14] that when Matt became mayor, it was

[30:16] during COVID and it was during a period

[30:19] that was incredibly

[30:21] uh turbulent. Uh, that was then followed

[30:24] of course by hyperinflation

[30:26] and budgeting became a nightmare. uh and

[30:30] yet he managed to sort of keep that

[30:34] steady

[30:35] pace uh keep things on a very steady

[30:39] course uh for the city of De Moines. Um

[30:43] and I think that you know we forget

[30:47] sometimes what happened u but boy he did

[30:52] just an incredible job of sort of

[30:54] keeping a lid on everything. The other

[30:57] thing, Matt, uh, that really stands out

[30:58] is Matt is the kind of guy to just take

[31:02] the bull by the horns and deal with a

[31:04] problem. Um, and he'd certainly done

[31:08] that on a number of occasions. It

[31:09] stepped on some toes uh, occasionally,

[31:12] but he is also the one uh, that

[31:15] recognizing that the former city uh,

[31:18] manager needed to leave uh, and went in

[31:21] and negotiated that exit. Uh, and you

[31:25] know that just that's a hard thing to

[31:27] do. I don't know if everybody recognizes

[31:30] how difficult that could be. Um,

[31:32] particularly somebody that had sort of

[31:34] been an ally. Uh, but it was time and

[31:37] Matt saw that and he just took the lead

[31:40] uh and managed to do that. He has uh, as

[31:44] I me has been mentioned, he was deputy

[31:46] mayor and then became uh, mayor. He's

[31:50] always been focused on economic issues.

[31:53] Uh

[31:54] he's a veteran and championed the

[31:57] Veterans Memorial. Uh he was actually

[31:59] the one that made the motion to take

[32:02] $100,000 away from the steps and put it

[32:05] towards the Redondo Pier so we could get

[32:08] it done. And that is one of the things

[32:11] that has really characterized Matt's

[32:13] time on the council is getting something

[32:16] done and seeing the path to do that. So,

[32:20] I just want to say, Matt, thank you very

[32:22] much for your time. You've been a good

[32:23] friend, and I appreciate it.

[32:38] » So, we would like to recognize Mayor

[32:40] Tracy Buckton for her service to our

[32:42] community. Tracy has been a part of the

[32:43] city council since 2018. She served as

[32:46] deputy mayor 2022 to 2023 and mayor 2024

[32:50] through 2025.

[32:52] Tracy, your leadership has made a

[32:53] lasting impact on De Moines. You were

[32:55] fiercely committed to improving our

[32:57] community engagement and communications.

[33:00] You always make sure residents feel

[33:02] informed and connected. You advanced the

[33:04] public park zone speed safety program.

[33:07] You've championed the steps. You've

[33:08] supported the passenger ferry. And you

[33:10] continue to work with regional partners

[33:12] to really bring services to De Moines.

[33:14] You've also strengthened our regional

[33:16] presence. You've helped moved Skip

[33:18] forward and represented our city as vice

[33:20] president and now president of the Sound

[33:22] Cities Association, which is a

[33:24] collection of 38 cities in King County.

[33:27] And Tracy is the president. Your

[33:29] advocacy from human services and mental

[33:31] health support to small businesses and

[33:33] public safety have shaped our city's

[33:35] direction in meaningful ways. So many of

[33:38] the comments I heard from staff were

[33:40] about who you were as um a guiding force

[33:43] for our organization. They consistently

[33:45] shared how seriously you approached the

[33:47] responsibility of being mayor, how

[33:49] intentional you are in your decisions,

[33:51] and how deeply you care about serving

[33:53] the community well. They talked about

[33:55] your sincerity, your authenticity, and

[33:58] the genuine way you showed up for

[33:59] people, whether in big moments or small

[34:01] gestures.

[34:03] Man, I kind of tear. I got to stop

[34:05] looking at you. Okay, I'm going to look

[34:06] over here. Uh Tracy's engagement with

[34:09] the community was unmatched. You were

[34:11] truly everywhere. You were listening,

[34:14] encouraging, making people feel valued.

[34:17] Your support for employees has been

[34:18] evident. Your enthusiasm for our

[34:21] waterfront has brought energy and

[34:22] momentum to ideas that will shape our

[34:25] future. And on a personal note, I was at

[34:27] the Sound Cities Association annual

[34:29] meeting last week where Tracy was

[34:31] recognized for her service and their

[34:34] executive director began his comments by

[34:36] saying, "Oh, cry. Working for Tracy

[34:39] Buckton is one of the best things that

[34:41] happened to me this year." So, let me

[34:43] now say, "Working for Tracy Buckton is

[34:46] one of the best things that happened to

[34:47] me this year." So, I am forever grateful

[34:50] for you being you during this past year

[34:52] of tremendous transition in our

[34:54] organization and community. We thank you

[34:56] so much and wish you all the best with

[34:58] what you do next.

[35:05] [applause]

[35:14] » [applause]

[35:21] » Thank you.

[35:28] Photoshop.

[35:56] So, I don't know if the council wanted

[35:58] to say anything. Yeah, go ahead, Deputy

[35:59] Mayor.

[36:01] Yeah, I just want to echo that working

[36:03] with Tracy is one of the best things

[36:05] that's ever happened to me. So, she is

[36:08] um

[36:10] she has truly taught me the power of

[36:12] kindness

[36:14] both in this job and other things. And

[36:16] it's really um you know, her tenure

[36:19] began in 2018 after what was really just

[36:23] a great campaign between the two of us.

[36:26] Uh we talked about the city, how we saw

[36:30] it, and the future. Um and that's the

[36:34] way campaign should be. It shouldn't be

[36:37] about criticizing uh other people. So,

[36:40] um Tracy and I don't always agree on

[36:43] everything. Um but, you know, we are

[36:48] usually able to work it all out. Um and

[36:50] even if we ended up on the other side uh

[36:53] of of issues, that never carried over.

[36:56] uh her commitment to,

[37:01] you know, local improvements,

[37:03] her commitment to municipal facilities,

[37:06] community programs, on top of her

[37:09] regional leadership that she brought to

[37:11] this job. I mean, you know, every mayor

[37:16] everywhere.

[37:17] It's just absolutely amazing the

[37:20] connections uh that she's been able to

[37:22] make. Uh and her style of constantly

[37:27] reaching out, constantly talking to

[37:29] people um has really, I think, brought

[37:34] this city back together uh in a way uh

[37:38] that it desperately needed to do. And

[37:41] so, um, I just want to say that I

[37:44] really, really appreciate everything

[37:46] that Tracy has done. Her focus on

[37:49] economic development, environmental

[37:51] stewardship, public safety, and building

[37:54] those regional partnerships has made De

[37:57] Moines a better place and a place that

[38:00] people want to come to. So, uh, thank

[38:02] you very much for your time.

[38:05] >> Appreciate you.

[38:08] >> Thank you.

[38:11] I didn't know we were going to make

[38:13] statements, so so I'm not as prepared.

[38:15] Um, you guys

[38:16] >> notice you're going to make statements

[38:19] >> in this particular area. Yeah. Um, but

[38:22] no, uh, this city's fortunate to have

[38:24] somebody like Tracy that loves this city

[38:26] so much, you can only hope you get

[38:29] somebody like her in the future. Um

[38:32] she's one of those people that is so

[38:35] kind and um I almost in some ways I

[38:39] might have been the bad cup when she was

[38:40] the good cop. Um, and [clears throat] so

[38:43] be it. But you need that yin and yang.

[38:45] And we were we were an effective team

[38:47] together in that regard. And uh, we saw

[38:51] the same visions of the city and we

[38:53] could see the repeated struggles and the

[38:56] in cycle of insanity. We continued to

[38:58] follow and we knew we needed to break

[39:00] that. And uh, I just appreciated that

[39:04] she was steadfast in that vision as much

[39:06] as anybody was. And uh

[39:10] from the bottom of my heart, we weren't

[39:12] as close the last couple years. We had

[39:14] our differences, but one thing that I

[39:17] can say about Tracy that

[39:20] uh that is genuine is that she never

[39:24] stopped loving this community and being

[39:26] everywhere and every in every place and

[39:30] her enthusiasm

[39:32] was at an affection level stronger than

[39:35] any co could ever be. Thank you.

[39:38] [laughter]

[39:40] » Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[39:43] >> Well, if you want to take a quick break

[39:44] for some photos. Absolutely. A quick

[39:47] break about 10 minutes.

[39:53] Do you mind doing the photo real quick?

[40:00] Oh, yeah. Grab our

[41:23] family members.

[52:01] The De Moines City Council meeting is

[52:03] now called back to order. The next item

[52:05] on our agenda tonight is the consent

[52:07] calendar. Could the clerk please read

[52:09] the calendar for us?

[52:10] >> Item one, approval of vouchers. Item

[52:13] two, approval of minutes. Item three,

[52:16] creating public safety sales tax fund.

[52:18] Second reading. Item four, 2026 vehicle

[52:22] purchase. Item five, 2026 to 2027 on

[52:26] call on on call consultant agreements

[52:28] for civil engineering services. Item

[52:30] six, planning commission ordinance,

[52:32] second reading. Item seven, marina steps

[52:35] innovative storm water bio retention

[52:37] testing on call general engineering

[52:40] services task assignment with Somas.

[52:42] Item eight, animal control contract.

[52:44] Item nine, 16th Avenue, pipe project

[52:47] consultant on call agreement task

[52:49] assignment for engineering services. And

[52:51] that concludes the consent agenda.

[52:52] Mayor,

[52:53] >> thank you so much. Do I have a motion?

[52:55] Council member Mahoney.

[52:56] >> So moved.

[52:59] >> Do I have a second?

[53:00] >> Second.

[53:00] for Deputy Mayor Steinmets. Is

[53:03] there is there an item that any council

[53:05] member wishes to pull?

[53:08] All right. All in favor, raise your

[53:10] right hand.

[53:12] It looks like it's unanimous. Thank you

[53:14] so much.

[53:17] >> Yeah. Excellent. Okay. Up next is uh

[53:22] public hearing number one in regard to

[53:24] our bianial budget. The purpose of this

[53:26] item is for the council to consider

[53:28] amending the 2025 2026 bianial budget. I

[53:32] will now open the public hearing.

[53:35] We'll begin with a staff presentation

[53:36] with finance director Jeff Friend.

[53:41] >> Uh good evening, Mayor uh council.

[53:43] members of the public and also I'd like

[53:44] to add a happy holiday season for

[53:46] everybody. Uh Jeff Friend, finance

[53:49] director, uh presenting the 202526

[53:52] banual budget amendments. Uh this is the

[53:54] second reading. The first reading was on

[53:56] November 13th uh last month.

[54:00] We're going to begin with an overview um

[54:04] a little refresher with about the budget

[54:06] u bianial budgeting process. Uh then

[54:09] we're going to talk about the general

[54:10] fund, spend some time there since the

[54:12] general fund is our daily uh day-to-day

[54:14] operations, and then uh finish up with

[54:17] uh some slides on the other funds

[54:19] outside of the general fund. So bianial

[54:22] budgeting, biianial budgeting, I don't

[54:25] know why I can't say it tonight. Uh what

[54:26] it is, budgeting two years at a time

[54:29] instead of one. So u municipalities have

[54:32] uh a choice the state uh allows. You can

[54:35] budget annually uh for one year at a

[54:38] time or bianually uh budgeting two years

[54:41] at a time and uh early last year uh the

[54:45] council approved the change from

[54:47] budgeting annually uh to bianually. So

[54:50] this is our first the 202526 budget is

[54:54] the first uh bianial budget uh the city

[54:56] has done and how it works is year one uh

[55:00] which is uh in this case with this

[55:03] budget was 2024. So that is when the

[55:06] budget is adopted. So council approves

[55:07] the budget for both years. Uh so last

[55:09] year uh about a year ago uh the council

[55:13] approved uh the budget for 2025 and they

[55:17] approved the budget uh for 2026. all at

[55:20] once. Uh year two, which is this year

[55:23] 2025, uh state law requires that a

[55:26] midbian review is done. So we review the

[55:29] revenues, expenditures, and priorities

[55:32] uh and make adjustments as needed. So um

[55:35] if you do budget two years at a time,

[55:38] you can't adopt a budget for two years

[55:40] and then do nothing for a year. Uh and

[55:43] the reason you would want to do a mid

[55:45] bianium review anyway is because you

[55:46] learn more as time progresses. You know,

[55:49] different uh transactions occur and

[55:51] whatnot.

[55:53] So bianial budgeting the advantages were

[55:55] it saves time and resources. It improves

[55:57] long-term planning. Uh it enhances

[56:00] oversight and it's less there's less

[56:01] politization uh of the budget process

[56:04] because it does not occur during an

[56:05] election year. So it saves times and

[56:08] resources and enhances oversight.

[56:10] They're kind of related because uh

[56:12] department heads and uh staff members

[56:15] who are managing a budget spend less time doing paperwork uh with this

[56:21] process than if they had to build from a

[56:23] budget from scratch every year and

[56:25] enhances oversight because they're not

[56:27] doing all that uh paperwork uh every

[56:30] year. That gives them more time to over

[56:32] um have oversight over the performance

[56:34] of their programs. and where we are now.

[56:37] Uh we are at the tail end of the midbian

[56:40] review. Uh so we reviewed the um 2026

[56:44] budget and we have recommended um made

[56:47] budget amendment recommendations. Uh I

[56:49] want to clarify is not a new budget. So

[56:51] we're just making adjustments to the

[56:54] budget that was adopted uh for 2026 uh

[56:57] last year and also for 2025.

[57:01] So this is a schedule that shows the

[57:04] timeline of the med bianium review and

[57:08] you are here December 11th we're at the

[57:10] end.

[57:13] So um there's a lot of work that went

[57:15] that took place before we got to the end

[57:18] to the second reading of the amendments.

[57:20] Um, beginning earlier this year back in

[57:22] July, uh, we did a call uh, to out to

[57:25] departments uh, for amendments and

[57:27] adjustments. And then in late July into

[57:30] August, um,

[57:33] I believe it was July, oh, August,

[57:35] around August, we had budget meetings

[57:37] with each department and, uh, went line

[57:39] by line through the budgets, uh, looked

[57:41] at their projections. Uh, when we got

[57:44] into September, we updated the forecast.

[57:46] Uh then if you were at earlier meetings

[57:49] uh you might have seen uh we had public

[57:51] hearings in regard to property tax

[57:53] levies and also u there was a budget

[57:55] presentation to the citizens advisory

[57:57] board. So all of those things took place

[57:59] earlier this year. uh we got into

[58:02] November. November we had the first um

[58:05] reading of the budget amendments for the

[58:07] bianial budget and now a month later due

[58:11] to the you know Thanksgiving holiday and

[58:12] whatnot uh we are at the second public

[58:15] hearing for the amendments.

[58:18] So on to the general fund

[58:21] um the general fund in the budget

[58:23] amendments. So we're working on both

[58:25] years and amending them both. So, uh,

[58:27] adjustment to revenue, we are

[58:29] increasing, uh, overall revenue for, uh,

[58:33] 2025 by about $95,000

[58:36] and in 2026, we are decreasing our re

[58:40] our expectations by about $317,000.

[58:43] Um, I want to also comment that the

[58:45] details of everything is in the packet

[58:48] uh, in the agenda item. And so, these

[58:50] slides are very much an overview and and

[58:52] highlights u of those amendments. So it

[58:55] doesn't have the slides don't have

[58:57] everything but they have the most uh

[58:58] pertinent items that we felt should be

[59:00] on display on the slides. So uh 2025 um

[59:05] the reason you might see the schedule on

[59:08] the bottom of the slide uh that shows

[59:10] the revenue categories of uh sales tax

[59:13] and BNO tax there and those reductions.

[59:16] Um, so

[59:18] you say, well, you're reducing it a lot.

[59:20] Um, in that 2025 column on the right,

[59:24] yet on the schedule above, it says we're

[59:27] increasing it by $95,000. So overall for

[59:30] both years, um, we needed to adjust our

[59:32] expectations for sales tax and BNO tax.

[59:35] And we have different types. We have

[59:37] regular sales tax and BNO tax and

[59:39] one-time sales tax and BNO tax. And the

[59:42] difference is is if there's a project uh

[59:45] construction project happening in the

[59:47] city that's permitted at $50 million or

[59:49] more, we consider that to be one-time

[59:52] funds. So that's not something that's

[59:54] going to happen every day. So we we

[59:56] classify that one differently. And then

[59:57] regular sales taxes that you buy

[59:59] something from Amazon, uh the city gets

[1:00:01] sales tax. That's just regular sales

[1:00:04] tax. You know, if you go shopping in the

[1:00:05] city or do online ordering. So that's

[1:00:08] the difference between the two. We break

[1:00:09] them out on the accounting side. And the

[1:00:11] square footage tax we've talked about in

[1:00:13] a few meetings uh this year. That's a

[1:00:15] new tax that was uh adopted at the end

[1:00:18] of last year, implemented for the first

[1:00:20] time this year. So in regards to all

[1:00:23] these taxes, you'll see that the sales

[1:00:25] tax for one-time uh transactions and BNO

[1:00:28] tax also for one-time transactions uh

[1:00:31] are being reduced this year. that they

[1:00:33] were just um BNO regular BNO tax was

[1:00:36] just over budgeted and then the one-time

[1:00:38] sales taxes because we didn't have we

[1:00:41] had projects that were on the horizon

[1:00:45] but we weren't too clear on the the

[1:00:47] timing of when they were going to begin

[1:00:48] back when we were budgeting in 2024. Uh

[1:00:51] so those uh we hadn't seen the revenue

[1:00:53] come in yet. So that's why we have to

[1:00:55] reduce our expectations for that. Um the

[1:00:57] square footage tax again um it was an

[1:01:00] issue of difficulty of ramping up that

[1:01:03] tax this year uh implementing it uh for

[1:01:05] the first time and uh believe in the

[1:01:08] first quarter we had collected $30,000.

[1:01:11] Um and as you can see we budgeted 840 so

[1:01:14] it wasn't a great start. Um by the

[1:01:18] second quarter we had 103,000 but

[1:01:20] through November we had about 300 uh I

[1:01:22] believe 26,000. So, um, through all the

[1:01:26] work of of getting businesses to comply

[1:01:28] with the tax and collecting that tax,

[1:01:31] uh, it seemed like reality was saying

[1:01:33] $515,000

[1:01:35] was a more realistic expectation than

[1:01:38] $840 and $865,000.

[1:01:41] Uh and then lastly um yeah then sales

[1:01:45] regular sales tax um for 2026 we were

[1:01:48] reducing by $70,000 uh just because of

[1:01:51] economic uncertainty. Uh uncertainty has

[1:01:54] just been a key word in discussing the

[1:01:56] economy this year uh like with our

[1:01:58] broker that we invest with. They said

[1:02:01] they have almost like a swear jar for

[1:02:02] anytime anybody says [laughter]

[1:02:04] uncertainty. Um so we just we did a

[1:02:06] minor reduction. We expect it just to

[1:02:08] kind of stay flat hopefully. Um, but we

[1:02:11] didn't want to overestimate

[1:02:13] um how well the economy would do or

[1:02:15] sales tax growth. If it if it comes in

[1:02:16] higher, that's great. Um, but we didn't

[1:02:18] want to rely on revenue that might not

[1:02:21] be there.

[1:02:24] Okay. For expenditures, um, I mentioned

[1:02:27] that we had department uh budget

[1:02:29] meetings

[1:02:31] uh where we had line by line review uh

[1:02:33] with all the leadership of each uh

[1:02:35] department. Um, so that was the initial

[1:02:38] uh approach. Uh then when all that

[1:02:41] information is collected uh the

[1:02:43] assistant city manager, city manager and

[1:02:44] myself uh three of we look at everything

[1:02:47] and then that's when we that's when

[1:02:49] decisions are made. Um because these are

[1:02:52] really requests by the department. Um

[1:02:54] but we see how everything shakes out

[1:02:56] once we gather everybody's information.

[1:02:58] And then so after that took place um

[1:03:02] following the city manager's direction

[1:03:04] uh departments were asked uh for

[1:03:06] scenarios where they cut just across the

[1:03:08] board 3% of their budget and 5% of their

[1:03:10] budget. So and again not that that we

[1:03:13] didn't incorporate every suggestion but

[1:03:16] again that was just again we pull that

[1:03:18] together see where we're at um and then

[1:03:20] more decisions were made and that those

[1:03:22] are are reflected in these amendments.

[1:03:24] But the goal throughout the whole

[1:03:26] process is to minimize the impact of

[1:03:28] city services as much as we can. So we

[1:03:31] look where there can be cuts, you know,

[1:03:33] look at where maybe that somebody's

[1:03:34] projecting less than what was budgeted

[1:03:36] for their expenditures and and go from

[1:03:39] there.

[1:03:41] Um cost drivers. So what's the challenge

[1:03:44] for the city is I believe I heard the

[1:03:46] word nightmare earlier in return uh in

[1:03:48] regards to budgeting uh is inflation.

[1:03:51] So, uh, we've had a lot of inflation,

[1:03:53] uh, this decade and, uh, so it's been,

[1:03:57] it was on the decrease a little bit at

[1:03:59] the end of the last year and creeping

[1:04:01] up, uh, throughout, uh, this year since

[1:04:03] April. Um, not as high as it was a

[1:04:06] couple years ago. Uh, but we still have

[1:04:09] to deal with inflation. Uh, we also have

[1:04:10] bargaining bargaining agreements. So,

[1:04:12] the the city has three bargaining units

[1:04:15] um, to negotiate uh, collective

[1:04:17] bargaining agreements with. Uh, health

[1:04:19] insurance premiums. I'm sure a lot of

[1:04:21] people know those were uh shot dramatic

[1:04:24] increases this year. And also uh Score

[1:04:27] Jail has had some challenges of their

[1:04:30] own and the city is an owner city of

[1:04:32] Score Jail. So um they had a contract

[1:04:36] from the state that the um state

[1:04:39] withdrew. So that got um was about three

[1:04:43] and a half million of revenue that they

[1:04:45] did not receive. And also their

[1:04:46] insurance is going up about 150%. So,

[1:04:49] there's some cost challenges that the

[1:04:51] jail has. Uh, and that filters through

[1:04:53] to the owner cities and the owner cities

[1:04:56] pay based on how much we use the jail.

[1:04:58] And that's where we're thankful for the

[1:04:59] city of Auburn because they use a lot of

[1:05:02] that jail. So, [laughter]

[1:05:05] [clears throat] I live in Auburn, so you

[1:05:06] know, as a taxpayer, not too thrilled,

[1:05:09] but as a finance director in city of De

[1:05:11] Mo, pretty happy. Um, general

[1:05:13] expenditures. So total adjustments

[1:05:16] overall for both years in the general

[1:05:18] fund would be an increase of $718,000

[1:05:22] in uh 2025 but a decrease of 340,000 um

[1:05:26] next year. So for 2025

[1:05:29] um we have some unbudgeted items. And

[1:05:31] when we do budget amendments, it's

[1:05:33] because things usually it's something

[1:05:36] happens that we didn't anticipate. Um so

[1:05:38] for example, the homeless encampment

[1:05:40] cleanup wasn't on our radar in 2024. um

[1:05:44] but it occurred. Uh so we incurred that

[1:05:46] cost. Um the body cam refresh is another

[1:05:50] example. However, that item is also

[1:05:53] being paid for um with grant funds that

[1:05:56] are budget amendment on the revenue

[1:05:58] side. So that's really not costing the

[1:05:59] city anything, but we do need to capture

[1:06:01] it in the budget on the expenditure

[1:06:03] side. Well, on both sides, but um the

[1:06:06] police salary, that's again um that's

[1:06:07] kind of a placeholder for the collective

[1:06:10] uh bargaining agreement. that's um

[1:06:13] between the police guild and the city.

[1:06:15] Um so the guild members have been paid

[1:06:18] according to the old contract all year

[1:06:20] and we've got to catch them up once

[1:06:22] everything's in place. Uh so that

[1:06:24] they've been paid throughout 2025 at

[1:06:27] what the contract stipulates. Um staff

[1:06:30] reduction costs were not included. Um we

[1:06:32] there was a couple of director positions

[1:06:34] that were um terminated and there's

[1:06:37] employee contracts related to those and

[1:06:40] so those um need to be included in the

[1:06:42] budget as well. Uh for 2026 um

[1:06:47] we have a number of decreased um

[1:06:50] expenditures at least as far as what

[1:06:53] we're planning. Um so there's extra

[1:06:56] higher wages for the 52,000. There is a

[1:06:58] position um that uh is no longer filled

[1:07:02] uh no longer needed. Um we have some

[1:07:05] public defenders expense that we'd like

[1:07:07] to move from the general fund to um a

[1:07:10] new public sa sales tax sa public safety

[1:07:13] sales tax fund which we'll see a few

[1:07:15] slides from now. Um insurance costs

[1:07:19] we think it looks like we're going to

[1:07:20] have a little bit of a decrease next

[1:07:22] year. So it was decreasing about 37,000.

[1:07:25] Um and then uh city currents uh will

[1:07:28] also be um produced in-house instead of

[1:07:32] um outsourced to a printer. Um and then

[1:07:35] some lease I'm sorry police leases also

[1:07:37] we'd see a reduction of 80,000. So so

[1:07:40] those are some of the highlights of the

[1:07:41] um reduction in expenditures and the

[1:07:45] bottom line you see there is a

[1:07:46] contingency and it's not a reduction but

[1:07:48] that's an increase of 50,000 and our

[1:07:50] next slide I believe talks about that.

[1:07:54] Um, so budgeting a contingency.

[1:07:57] So a contingency is defined as a

[1:08:00] potential occurrence of a negative event

[1:08:02] in the future. So it's a little bit like

[1:08:06] a rainy day fund, but it's building a

[1:08:07] little bit of a buffer in the budget for

[1:08:10] when something shows up that we're not

[1:08:12] anticipating. Um, we have a pretty tight

[1:08:16] budget. So when something unexpected

[1:08:18] happens that maybe there's a lot of

[1:08:20] dollars attached to it, it really

[1:08:22] affects our city because we're not, you

[1:08:23] know, we're not a large city. So, and we

[1:08:26] have a tight budget right now. So

[1:08:28] unexpected things um

[1:08:31] have an impact. And so one of the ways

[1:08:33] to budget and kind of plan for that is

[1:08:35] to have a contingency built in. So it

[1:08:37] builds flexibility, strengthen

[1:08:39] stability, um and it would we'd like it

[1:08:41] to increase over time. So you saw it was

[1:08:43] $50,000.

[1:08:45] That's not a huge amount of money. we'd

[1:08:46] like to see it grow over time to at

[1:08:48] least, you know, maybe 200,000.

[1:08:51] Um,

[1:08:54] and then one of the things I had read is

[1:08:56] like, well, why would you budget for

[1:08:58] this now when things are tight, why not

[1:09:00] wait for when things, you know, you have

[1:09:02] more resources, things are good. But

[1:09:05] when the comment was, when things are

[1:09:08] good and you're not really worried about

[1:09:10] anything, you tend to not, you know, you

[1:09:12] tend to forget things are nice. And so

[1:09:15] even if you take a little baby step when

[1:09:16] things are tough, at least you're

[1:09:18] building in your dis discipline when

[1:09:20] you're thinking about how important it

[1:09:21] is. So that's why we decided at this

[1:09:23] point in time to budget um $50,000 for a

[1:09:27] contingency.

[1:09:29] And also that last line says it requires

[1:09:31] council approval for expenditure. So

[1:09:34] that budget line can't u be there's no

[1:09:36] expenditure is going to be coming from

[1:09:38] there unless it is approved by council.

[1:09:43] As uh previously mentioned, health

[1:09:44] insurance costs have increased. So this

[1:09:46] year uh Kaiser Perente uh we saw an

[1:09:49] 11.6% increase in premiums. Uh Regents,

[1:09:54] I should rephrase that for next year. We

[1:09:56] see these uh increases. Uh Regents is

[1:10:00] going to go up 8.7% and the left trust

[1:10:03] is going up 5%. Um so this of course

[1:10:07] puts a burden on the budget. uh because

[1:10:10] in 2024 we weren't really seeing you

[1:10:13] know we wouldn't have known that they

[1:10:15] were going to go up this much. Um one of

[1:10:17] the strategies that we addressed this

[1:10:19] with uh in the budget amendments was

[1:10:21] that non-represented employees

[1:10:24] um actually in practice this is being

[1:10:26] implemented. Uh the non-represented

[1:10:28] employees are going to increase their

[1:10:30] share of that premium uh by 3%. So the

[1:10:33] city pays one piece of the premium the

[1:10:35] employees pay pay another. the employees

[1:10:37] will be paying 3% more than they have in

[1:10:38] the past.

[1:10:41] Um council budget uh this is aside um in

[1:10:47] the first reading there was an initial

[1:10:49] um proposal of $5,000 increase for

[1:10:53] training and professional uh development

[1:10:55] and then uh 30 about $3,700 uh for a

[1:10:59] potential membership dues to the

[1:11:01] National League of Cities. Uh following

[1:11:03] that um proposal, there was council

[1:11:06] discussion. Uh that council discussion

[1:11:09] has resulted in an increase in training

[1:11:11] and professional development of $9,000.

[1:11:13] And it is um

[1:11:16] and to not include the U NLC membership

[1:11:20] at this time. So on the schedule above,

[1:11:22] you can see that the new training

[1:11:24] professional development at $9,000 for

[1:11:27] next year is an increase.

[1:11:32] This is the forecast uh based on our

[1:11:34] projections uh with the um revised

[1:11:37] budget. So the first column is the

[1:11:39] amended annual budget for this year. Uh

[1:11:42] the second column is projected actuals

[1:11:44] for this year. Third is the revised

[1:11:46] budget and then the forecast is from

[1:11:49] 2027 out. Um what we do in in this the

[1:11:55] [clears throat] forecast that has a

[1:11:56] beginning cash balance and an ending

[1:11:58] cash balance which you see in yellow. um

[1:12:01] at the end of every year and this is per

[1:12:04] the the uh municipal code is um there's

[1:12:08] a requirement that states that the

[1:12:11] city's fund balance for the general fund

[1:12:14] or um operating reserves need to be

[1:12:17] 16.67. So those are two metrics. Um we

[1:12:20] report on a cash basis and so we try to

[1:12:23] look at the cash uh balances. Um cash

[1:12:27] balance uh percentages as you see along

[1:12:30] the bottom of the schedule tend to be

[1:12:32] lower than they would be for the fund

[1:12:35] balance. And we do calculate both after

[1:12:37] the year is done. Um because the fund

[1:12:41] balance because it involves more items

[1:12:43] from uh the balance sheet. Uh it

[1:12:46] involves more than cash. it tends to be

[1:12:47] higher. Um, but we want to focus on cash

[1:12:50] because we want to have a strong cash

[1:12:51] position because we know if that's

[1:12:53] strong, we have enough resources for our

[1:12:56] operations. Um, the 16.67%

[1:13:00] um

[1:13:02] is a um recommended threshold by the U

[1:13:06] government finance offices association.

[1:13:08] It basically means you have enough to

[1:13:10] cover two months of expenses. Uh so

[1:13:13] looking at these columns you see none of

[1:13:15] those numbers are above 16.67%. Uh we

[1:13:18] have a goal of getting our cash above

[1:13:20] that so that we have enough cash to

[1:13:22] cover two months of expenditures. But it

[1:13:24] does grow in the next um couple years

[1:13:28] according to the forecast. If you look

[1:13:30] at the ending cash balance that's shaded

[1:13:32] in yellow uh projected actuals would

[1:13:34] have us at 3.3 million. Um we began at

[1:13:39] two almost 2.9 million so that we would

[1:13:42] have grown about 461,000

[1:13:44] uh in our cash position and then u the

[1:13:48] revised budget if things were going to

[1:13:50] go according to plan as of course they

[1:13:52] always go according to plan

[1:13:54] [clears throat] we'd end 2026 with a

[1:13:56] cash position of 3.6 million. So, um,

[1:14:01] so that goes back to our overall goal of

[1:14:03] stability is really if we build our cash

[1:14:05] balances, we're going to be that much

[1:14:07] more stable.

[1:14:11] So, key highlights for the general fund

[1:14:13] uh is improvement to the city's ending

[1:14:15] fund balance and cash reserves. Uh, we

[1:14:17] want to align uh revenues with more

[1:14:20] conservative expectations.

[1:14:22] Uh we targeted expense reductions with

[1:14:24] minimal service impact and uh we

[1:14:27] introduced uh a contingency.

[1:14:30] So this reflects the administration's

[1:14:32] long-term strategy to stabilize the

[1:14:34] city's financial foundation over the

[1:14:36] next several years.

[1:14:38] So that was the general fund and we'll

[1:14:41] go pretty quickly through the other

[1:14:43] funds.

[1:14:44] Uh public safety sales tax fund. I

[1:14:47] believe that was last week that um this

[1:14:51] fund was created and approved uh after

[1:14:54] two readings by the council. Uh we

[1:14:56] anticipate about $450,000

[1:14:59] of uh annual revenue and the anticipated

[1:15:03] expenditures would be about 240,000 for

[1:15:06] a sworn police officer, 100,000 for

[1:15:09] animal control and about $110,000 for

[1:15:12] public defenders. So, if you remember

[1:15:13] from the general fund slide, um we

[1:15:16] decreased the public defenders uh

[1:15:19] budgeted amount

[1:15:21] in the general fund uh for next year by

[1:15:23] 110, but we're adding it into this fund

[1:15:25] for 110. And as far as public defenders

[1:15:28] costs go, um the reason that's important

[1:15:30] is there the state uh mandated a

[1:15:33] decrease in the case load for public

[1:15:35] defenders, which is going to increase

[1:15:36] the number of public defenders, which

[1:15:38] will increase our costs. Um, currently

[1:15:40] there's an RFQ that the city issued uh

[1:15:43] for a contract of the services that are

[1:15:46] currently working through. So, we'll

[1:15:47] have more information on what those

[1:15:49] costs actually will be uh early next

[1:15:52] year

[1:15:55] on the marina.

[1:15:58] Uh the real highlight here uh for next

[1:16:01] year is you'll see monthly mortgage rate

[1:16:03] increase resulting in million dollar uh

[1:16:06] increase in revenue. Um, and then you

[1:16:10] can see expenditures, capital

[1:16:11] improvements. Uh, we're increasing the

[1:16:14] budget there, $820,000.

[1:16:17] And the $820,000, I believe, represents

[1:16:20] uh expenditures related to the tenant

[1:16:22] restroom

[1:16:25] service water management uh similar in the sense that we're increasing uh

[1:16:31] the budget in 2025 and 2026 uh related

[1:16:35] to capital improvements. So what we um

[1:16:38] this year the capital improvements plan

[1:16:40] was passed for 2026 to 2031

[1:16:44] uh and money moves around between

[1:16:45] projects um and things change timing of

[1:16:48] projects changes and so what we want to

[1:16:50] do is we want to bring the budget into

[1:16:52] alignment with the capital improvements

[1:16:53] plan. So as a result you'll see changes

[1:16:56] in the budget here uh for both years for

[1:16:58] the capital improvements uh for service

[1:17:00] water management and then next year also

[1:17:03] you'll notice a department of ecology

[1:17:05] grant and local grants um there's

[1:17:07] expected revenue of 120,000 $190,000 so

[1:17:11] we want to increase the budget for that

[1:17:15] on the horizon.

[1:17:17] So uh February

[1:17:20] uh there during the February study

[1:17:22] session there's a planned overview for

[1:17:24] of long range financial forecast and

[1:17:26] revenue enhancement options. Uh so in

[1:17:29] the last uh few months uh staff have

[1:17:32] brought revenue enhancement options to

[1:17:34] council uh for uh feedback. uh that

[1:17:37] study session we're going to I believe

[1:17:39] we're going to present them all um with

[1:17:41] a model uh to see their impacts um and

[1:17:45] get more feedback then uh so we'll

[1:17:48] include a high level forecast uh through

[1:17:50] 2040 for the general fund marina and

[1:17:52] surface water management and again as I

[1:17:55] mentioned uh there will be a model that

[1:17:57] will be very dynamic because my

[1:17:58] department is making it so make it good

[1:18:02] capture everyone's attention but um no

[1:18:03] it'll be uh help see like well if we do

[1:18:06] this revenue option and not that one.

[1:18:08] What's the impact on the numbers and

[1:18:10] then um we can see it in that model and

[1:18:13] we can say welcome to our world in

[1:18:15] finance. So

[1:18:18] um that brings us to the final slide

[1:18:20] that has the motion.

[1:18:23] All right,

[1:18:25] it's now time for the public comment

[1:18:26] portion of this public hearing. Please

[1:18:28] recognize that we'll not be able to

[1:18:30] interact with you or answer any

[1:18:31] questions during the segment, but your

[1:18:33] comments will become part of the public

[1:18:35] record on the subject and we'll

[1:18:36] thoughtfully note your input. Please

[1:18:39] keep your comments respectful. Please

[1:18:40] state your name and city of residence

[1:18:42] and you'll have three minutes to speak.

[1:18:44] Okay. Okay. So, no one signed up to

[1:18:47] speak. Is there anyone who didn't sign

[1:18:50] up to speak who wishes to speak on this

[1:18:52] subject?

[1:18:54] Second call is anyone who didn't sign up

[1:18:55] or wishes to speak on this subject.

[1:18:58] Third call. Is there anyone who didn't

[1:19:00] sign up to speak and wishes to speak on

[1:19:02] the subject?

[1:19:03] All right, council. Now it's time for

[1:19:06] questions. Do you have any questions?

[1:19:09] Council member Harris.

[1:19:11] >> Um, yeah. Thank you so much. Um, can you

[1:19:14] sort of provide a brief overview of what

[1:19:18] goes into developing the forecast? like

[1:19:21] how do you know what's going to happen

[1:19:22] in four years?

[1:19:25] >> That's a good question.

[1:19:26] >> Thank you.

[1:19:28] >> Well, I'd probably preface it by saying

[1:19:30] you could you you would do when you do a

[1:19:33] forecast, what you're doing is you're

[1:19:35] applying the trends of right now

[1:19:39] uh to the data going forward. So it's

[1:19:42] not that I know what's going to happen

[1:19:44] in four years, but we can see what four

[1:19:47] years from now would look like if the

[1:19:49] trends of today held. Um so

[1:19:54] one of the probably the first step we

[1:19:56] would do is um just look at our do

[1:19:58] historical trend analysis and see um

[1:20:02] like for sales tax for example, how is

[1:20:04] it growing? You know, we can look at

[1:20:06] that from month to month. Um so what are

[1:20:08] those trends? Um, and then there's also,

[1:20:12] uh, King County has an economist that

[1:20:14] issues forecasts. So, there's also like

[1:20:16] the state, so we can look at what

[1:20:18] information they're working off of that

[1:20:20] can inform our forecast. So, um, it's a

[1:20:23] little bit of looking at our own data,

[1:20:25] paying attention to what's happening outside the city, you know,

[1:20:28] with the county and those things, and

[1:20:30] then we kind of we bring that together.

[1:20:32] Um,

[1:20:34] and then that would form the forecast.

[1:20:36] But it's I mean I just would reemphasize

[1:20:39] that we're we're applying the

[1:20:41] information we have today and then

[1:20:44] that's why we do budget amendments

[1:20:45] because 10 months from now that

[1:20:47] information is going to be different. So

[1:20:49] it's always the when you forecast the

[1:20:52] clo the the more years you go out the

[1:20:55] less valuable those years are. So um

[1:21:00] because you don't because you don't know

[1:21:01] the future basically. But when we

[1:21:04] forecast, we'll we'll take what we know

[1:21:07] today, apply those trends to the next

[1:21:11] few years, and then if those are

[1:21:13] alarming, then you know, you can take

[1:21:14] action, and if they're, you know, what's

[1:21:17] really the purpose of the forecast?

[1:21:19] >> Yeah. No, I'm not I that was that was

[1:21:21] meant to be a softball then, believe it

[1:21:24] or not. You know, um I mean, is it just

[1:21:26] more of like well, you know, inflation

[1:21:28] is 2.8

[1:21:29] or bond yields are this or whatever, but

[1:21:32] it's not like um I I I'm just always

[1:21:36] wondering if anybody ever goes back and

[1:21:38] says, "Gee, I wonder, you know, how did

[1:21:41] we hit them?" I I'm I've got airport on

[1:21:43] the brain and I'm just always stunned at

[1:21:46] how they can forecast 20 years out

[1:21:51] >> within like a percent, right?

[1:21:53] >> And I and but other things is a

[1:21:56] crapshoot. So I just was wondering if

[1:21:59] there was any accepted, you know,

[1:22:02] boundaries for what you guys do and

[1:22:05] that's all trying [clears throat] to be

[1:22:07] >> No, I I when I think of forecast, I

[1:22:09] think of of uh finance people doing

[1:22:12] forecasts in 2019,

[1:22:14] you know, so they might have had their

[1:22:16] trends that year, but they didn't

[1:22:17] wouldn't know what's coming the next

[1:22:18] year. So

[1:22:20] >> brother, you [clears throat] whistle and

[1:22:22] Dixie. Thank you so much.

[1:22:23] >> Right. Thank you. Any other questions?

[1:22:27] uh along those lines. So what one thing

[1:22:29] that you are are you saying that uh you

[1:22:33] can't include let's say our planning

[1:22:35] department has a backlog of pretty

[1:22:37] significant projects coming forward. Uh

[1:22:40] you can't really feasibly put that into

[1:22:42] your forecast because you don't know. In

[1:22:43] other words, there are things that can

[1:22:44] come forward to interrupt

[1:22:47] uh a challenging forecast, but you're

[1:22:50] not allowed to to take this these other

[1:22:54] projects that are coming forward that

[1:22:55] might make a difference,

[1:22:57] >> right? So, I think

[1:22:59] yeah, when we forecast especially for

[1:23:01] the I mean the general fund's all

[1:23:02] operations

[1:23:04] >> too concerned with projects um pro

[1:23:08] forecasting for like u surface water

[1:23:10] management, we'd probably have to

[1:23:13] you know, leave out the capital piece or

[1:23:15] have an average or something like that

[1:23:17] because like you said, timing they can,

[1:23:20] you know, a project can change when it's

[1:23:21] going to start. You know, that it's hard

[1:23:23] to forecast for those.

[1:23:25] >> Okay. Thank you. Um, any other

[1:23:27] questions? And looking at Jeremy, excuse

[1:23:31] me, council member nut.

[1:23:34] >> Okay, you're good. All right. So, I'll

[1:23:37] [clears throat] now close the public

[1:23:38] hearing.

[1:23:40] Is there a motion? Yeah, I think. Thank

[1:23:42] you.

[1:23:42] >> Yeah. I move to enact draft ordinance

[1:23:45] number 25-092

[1:23:47] relating to municipal finance and

[1:23:48] amending the 2025 2026 benial budget

[1:23:51] adopted in ordinance number 1813.

[1:23:55] >> Have a second. Deputy mayor Steinments

[1:23:58] for the second. All right. Any

[1:23:59] discussion?

[1:24:01] Uh council member Harris. Uh, I would

[1:24:04] like to make a motion to um require a

[1:24:07] super majority of the council to approve

[1:24:09] use of the contingency.

[1:24:14] » Do I have a second?

[1:24:17] Motion fails for lack of a second. Any

[1:24:19] other discussion?

[1:24:22] >> Council member Mahoney.

[1:24:24] I just want to commend staff, your

[1:24:27] leadership, city manager Jeff, as we

[1:24:30] were talking earlier about the fact that

[1:24:33] you really address the tough issues and

[1:24:36] it's always a challenge and it doesn't

[1:24:38] make the job easy and I just want to

[1:24:40] thank you for that. Uh, you know, you

[1:24:43] were when we were discussing options and

[1:24:45] we and you brought up the bianual

[1:24:46] budget, I thought it was a great

[1:24:48] suggestion. I'd actually been told

[1:24:50] otherwise before and I I'd never been

[1:24:53] convinced of it. I just thought your

[1:24:55] leadership here in this in a very

[1:24:57] difficult time. I want to re reiterate

[1:25:00] in the last five years if you look it up

[1:25:02] inflation rate is 25%. and our revenue

[1:25:05] maybe went up three. And um and that's

[1:25:08] not counting some of the things we may

[1:25:10] have done otherwise, but it's a tough

[1:25:12] window and it's to come in and walk in

[1:25:15] being the bearer of bad news on a

[1:25:17] regular basis is got to be a damn tough

[1:25:20] thing. And um I just want to commend you

[1:25:23] and your team and the rest of the staff

[1:25:25] um for the great work you did in this.

[1:25:28] Thank you,

[1:25:29] >> Council Member Grace Matsui and then

[1:25:31] Deputy Mayor Ste. Thank you for the

[1:25:33] presentation. I I I hope that with um

[1:25:37] this opportunity for us to make

[1:25:39] amendments to look at updated

[1:25:40] information and data that it goes to

[1:25:43] show that you don't set it two years in

[1:25:46] advance and forget about it like a Ron

[1:25:48] Poil commercial. You actually have to

[1:25:51] come back and talk about the budget,

[1:25:53] update it on a regular basis, whether

[1:25:55] it's a two-year budget or a one-year

[1:25:56] budget. And so, thank you so much for

[1:25:59] making sure that it's in the forefront

[1:26:01] and that we um aren't uh neglecting

[1:26:05] something that really needs to be um

[1:26:08] nurtured and a regular basis. I

[1:26:11] appreciate it.

[1:26:12] >> Thank you, Deputy Mayor Steinmets.

[1:26:15] Yeah, [clears throat] I think you've

[1:26:17] done a wonderful job of kind of laying

[1:26:19] this out and

[1:26:22] I think it's always been understood

[1:26:25] um that a bianual budgets need still

[1:26:28] needs an update, but it's a lot easier

[1:26:30] to do an update than it is to start from

[1:26:31] scratch and try to do it all over again.

[1:26:34] Um, you know, I worked in the state

[1:26:36] legislature on the staff for the Senate

[1:26:37] Judiciary Committee, and every year

[1:26:41] there are amendments to the budget that

[1:26:43] change the various programs. And boy,

[1:26:46] we're going to see some this year uh in

[1:26:48] the state legislature again. Um, because

[1:26:51] some of the assumptions that were made

[1:26:53] just didn't hold true. Uh, but they were

[1:26:56] made in good faith. Uh, and I think

[1:26:58] that, you know, you're doing the best

[1:27:00] that you can under the circumstances. uh

[1:27:03] keep giving us the news that we need to

[1:27:04] hear and you're doing a great job of

[1:27:06] that and I appreciate it. I think this

[1:27:08] is a good solid um set of amendments to

[1:27:11] the budget and I appreciate everything

[1:27:13] you've done. Thank you.

[1:27:16] >> Uh before I call in you, Council Member

[1:27:17] Harris, uh checking with the other two

[1:27:19] council members. Council member Nutting,

[1:27:21] do you have a question or discussion?

[1:27:23] No. Council member Oxiger. Okay. Council

[1:27:26] member Harris,

[1:27:28] >> thank you. Um, I want to highlight

[1:27:30] something that uh, director friends said

[1:27:33] about politicization.

[1:27:35] I was struck by that. I wish we had

[1:27:38] enough money to uh, be politicized. Um,

[1:27:41] but the thing the the the thing that

[1:27:47] the politics are that we focus on now.

[1:27:51] Um, I my mentor really stressed

[1:27:54] behavioral economics. Um, people are

[1:27:57] dressed up. It's festive. Um, nobody

[1:28:00] there's never a good time to be the

[1:28:02] Grinch. Um, and well, some of us are

[1:28:06] dressed up. Uh, but the thing is, um, I

[1:28:11] have seen this movie for 30 years.

[1:28:15] What the politicization

[1:28:17] I said that right? um is that everybody

[1:28:21] when you're in local government, your

[1:28:25] entire bias, you're like is to promote a

[1:28:28] positive image in a way that if you're

[1:28:31] in a state legislature or uh you can you

[1:28:35] can have debates and you're not worried

[1:28:37] about image. Um but there's just this

[1:28:40] constant thing of trying to put the best

[1:28:44] face forward of the city and that is

[1:28:47] what makes it happen every five years.

[1:28:51] You just you can't manifest

[1:28:55] a sustainable budget through positive

[1:28:58] mental attitude. Um but the focus on

[1:29:02] like this time will be different. you

[1:29:05] know, thank goodness we hired a new city

[1:29:08] manager or it's a new year or whatever.

[1:29:12] Um, that contributes to it happening

[1:29:15] over and over again because people

[1:29:18] always

[1:29:19] will be that that's just how what humans

[1:29:22] do. They always think that this time

[1:29:24] will be different. I'm special. Now is a

[1:29:28] new year. And it's just it's human

[1:29:32] nature. Um I think it's the we are doing

[1:29:36] so many great first steps this year.

[1:29:40] We do a great first step like every five

[1:29:43] years. Okay. And we never get to step

[1:29:46] two. And we should have the humility to

[1:29:50] recognize that and just it it you know

[1:29:54] this is fine but um

[1:29:58] it

[1:30:00] it's a pattern and um and we should have

[1:30:04] that humility to be able to say okay um

[1:30:08] let's just

[1:30:09] relax a little bit and um but just

[1:30:13] speaking you know just in closing I uh

[1:30:16] this entire process. We're going to be

[1:30:19] talking about the economic development

[1:30:21] grant.

[1:30:23] It's backwards.

[1:30:25] It is it it echoes

[1:30:30] like three economic development

[1:30:34] interventions since I've lived here. And

[1:30:37] I wish people could understand that this

[1:30:39] is kind of a groundhog day and have a

[1:30:42] little empathy for me

[1:30:44] having watched the same movie over and

[1:30:46] over again. Um I want to be positive but

[1:30:50] um

[1:30:52] there is something about this that is

[1:30:54] just so it's such a recursive deal. Um

[1:30:59] and anyway,

[1:31:00] >> all right. Thank you. Thank you, council

[1:31:01] member. So, I'll say I I'll be a

[1:31:05] representative of someone who uh

[1:31:07] disagrees on that a little bit and uh I

[1:31:11] feel like we're headed in a different

[1:31:13] direction. It's a different season. It's

[1:31:14] postcoid. We've got different challenges

[1:31:17] and uh in the same way we do have to eat

[1:31:20] food every morning. There are repetitive

[1:31:22] exercises to solving problems. And so,

[1:31:26] we've got to make good decisions to be

[1:31:28] healthy moving forward. And we're making

[1:31:29] some good decisions. So I I am the

[1:31:33] eternal optimist but we're existing here

[1:31:36] and we've got good leadership, strong

[1:31:39] leadership, good transition going and I

[1:31:42] believe in these people to solve these

[1:31:44] problems. I believe in the staff and I

[1:31:45] believe in this leadership and I believe

[1:31:47] in the people at this dis and I believe

[1:31:49] in those that are going to be here in

[1:31:51] just a few more weeks. So I feel uh

[1:31:55] these people are undaunted and will

[1:31:57] forge forward and do well for this city

[1:32:01] and I am unconcerned about naysaying and

[1:32:04] doomsaying. So this is good progress and

[1:32:08] I appreciate the ca the candid approach

[1:32:10] here tonight and I appreciate it being

[1:32:13] uh showed the truth and it gives us

[1:32:16] something to work on and look forward

[1:32:18] to. We've got lots of strategic and

[1:32:20] innovative people up here. Uh up here,

[1:32:23] down there. So, and thank you all for

[1:32:25] being that way. Uh all right. So, we

[1:32:29] have a motion and a second and

[1:32:31] discussion. It looks like we I'm going

[1:32:34] to wrap up discussion here and take it

[1:32:35] to a vote. All in favor, raise your

[1:32:37] right hand.

[1:32:39] Council member Nutting, Council Member

[1:32:41] Oxiger, Council Member Harris. Oh, it's

[1:32:43] unanimous. Okay. Thank you. Motion

[1:32:46] passes.

[1:32:47] All right.

[1:32:50] Okay. On to public hearing number two.

[1:32:54] This is in regard to our west the Wesley

[1:32:56] master plan. The purpose of this item is

[1:32:58] for council to consider the approval of

[1:33:00] the master plan amendment application

[1:33:02] titled Wesley Homes phase 5. Please note

[1:33:06] that this is a quasi judicial public

[1:33:08] hearing. As such, the council has added

[1:33:10] responsibilities and there will be some

[1:33:12] notable formalities.

[1:33:14] I will now up open the public hearing.

[1:33:18] We will begin with a staff presentation.

[1:33:20] Senior planner Jason Wy. Thanks, Jason.

[1:33:25] >> Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, City

[1:33:29] Council, everyone. My name is Jason Wy

[1:33:32] as mentioned, a senior planner, and our

[1:33:35] applicants, uh, HBL will be following me

[1:33:37] with a presentation as well tonight.

[1:33:40] So, let's see. Where's the clicker?

[1:33:47] What is a master plan? What is the

[1:33:49] purpose pursu pursuant to the the city's

[1:33:52] municipal code? The purpose of a master

[1:33:55] plan is to define the development of

[1:33:57] property, promote compatibility with

[1:33:59] neighboring areas, and benefit the

[1:34:01] community with flexibility and

[1:34:02] innovation.

[1:34:06] Here's a nice illustration created by ah

[1:34:09] Bill that gives you an overview of the

[1:34:12] entire Wesley campus.

[1:34:14] Um in the forefront here you can see

[1:34:18] what has recently been completed of

[1:34:21] Wesley. Uh you've got the gardens

[1:34:23] building, the garden cottages,

[1:34:26] brownstone building north of 216th

[1:34:29] across going across on the skyway you

[1:34:33] have the existing terrace building and

[1:34:35] terrace cottages. Um, back in 2015,

[1:34:39] a master plan was passed by council that

[1:34:44] um allowed the first three phases of

[1:34:47] construction, which is um the area in

[1:34:49] the forefront that has been completed.

[1:34:51] There is a current phase going on uh

[1:34:55] improving the interior of the terrace

[1:34:58] building. And now we're on to

[1:35:01] what is the um subject of tonight is the

[1:35:05] fifth phase. And that if you look on the

[1:35:08] upper right hand corner, the creek side

[1:35:11] building is the main main centerpiece

[1:35:14] there. Um there's also a smaller um

[1:35:18] maintenance building, some recreational

[1:35:19] improvements, landscaping, etc.

[1:35:25] Now, this is looking at the northern

[1:35:28] area north of 216th.

[1:35:32] You've got the terrace building on the

[1:35:34] left, terrace cottages. You've got on

[1:35:38] the right hand side in white, you've got

[1:35:40] the um layout of the new creek side

[1:35:43] proposed creekide building and the

[1:35:46] maintenance building. North of that

[1:35:49] there are some um carports in Brown

[1:35:54] north of the terrace building

[1:35:57] that's going on existing uh parking

[1:36:00] area. You have recreational areas that

[1:36:04] they're adding uh exceeding the amount

[1:36:07] that's required by the city. There's a

[1:36:09] little blue area there in the middle

[1:36:11] that is a new pickle ball court. You've

[1:36:13] got uh I think to the left botchi ball

[1:36:17] court and then north the barbecue area.

[1:36:20] North of the Creekide building you have

[1:36:22] a dog run and you also have walking

[1:36:25] paths through through an abundant amount

[1:36:28] of landscaping

[1:36:30] more than what's required by the uh by

[1:36:33] the city. Um so

[1:36:36] a little bit more about the landscaping.

[1:36:39] Um so yes there's more than than what's

[1:36:43] required by the city. What's required by

[1:36:44] the city are the per is the perimeter uh

[1:36:49] buffer uh landscape strips 10- foot wide

[1:36:52] landscape strips. Um that's for

[1:36:56] screening uh the rightway as well as to

[1:36:59] the east we have some multifamily and uh

[1:37:03] so th that landscaping must comply with

[1:37:08] uh the municipal code and there are

[1:37:10] strict standards um that it must comply

[1:37:13] with and staff has reviewed I've

[1:37:16] reviewed and uh feel like it is um

[1:37:21] uh good it is sufficient for master plan

[1:37:24] approval at this time. It'll continue to

[1:37:27] be reviewed with civil plans during the

[1:37:29] uh building permit phase as well.

[1:37:32] And there's additional planting as I

[1:37:34] mentioned um that some of it voluntary

[1:37:38] uh and AH bill will speak on that a

[1:37:40] little bit more as well.

[1:37:46] This is looking north from the parking

[1:37:49] lot adjacent to 216th at uh the new

[1:37:52] Creekide building. It is a new 106 unit

[1:37:57] independent living housing building. Um

[1:38:01] it will be

[1:38:03] close to 65 ft in height. The lower

[1:38:07] level level will be a parking garage

[1:38:09] with 106 uh parking spaces. The new

[1:38:13] there's a new maintenance building I

[1:38:14] mentioned before in carports.

[1:38:17] Uh all bu all new buildings will have a

[1:38:20] combined footprint of approximately

[1:38:22] 55,000 square feet.

[1:38:24] I mentioned the recreation areas

[1:38:27] uh more than what's required by the city

[1:38:30] and landscaping again uh more than

[1:38:32] that's required by the city. uh and it

[1:38:35] includes over a 100 trees.

[1:38:45] Now, this is the total count for the

[1:38:47] entire Wesley U campus. The Creek Side

[1:38:52] there is circled in red. That is the new

[1:38:56] um project that's that tonight we're

[1:39:00] concerned most with. So in total there

[1:39:04] will be 497

[1:39:07] independent living units, uh 50 assisted

[1:39:11] living units, 26 memory care units, and

[1:39:16] uh 72 skilled nursing fac uh facility

[1:39:19] units. And those are actual units,

[1:39:22] walled units. There was a question about

[1:39:24] that last last week.

[1:39:30] So

[1:39:32] the decision criteria for approval,

[1:39:36] number one, the master plan development

[1:39:38] plan includes a general phasing timeline

[1:39:41] and a bill will speak to that in their

[1:39:44] presentation. Two, the plan meets or

[1:39:46] exceeds the current regulations for

[1:39:48] critical areas. Um, it was reviewed by

[1:39:51] staff and it does comply.

[1:39:54] There is sufficient capacity in

[1:39:55] infrastructure in the transportation

[1:39:58] system

[1:39:59] and that was reviewed by staff and uh it

[1:40:02] does comply. It is sufficient. There is

[1:40:04] sufficient capacity within public

[1:40:06] services such as water, sewer and storm

[1:40:08] water. That again was um reviewed by

[1:40:11] staff and it is sufficient. The plan

[1:40:14] contains architectural design and site

[1:40:16] design standards, landscaping provisions

[1:40:20] for open space um etc. Uh and that has

[1:40:23] all been reviewed by staff. Um it will continue to be reviewed during the

[1:40:28] building permit phase as well as design

[1:40:30] review phase. That's a separate

[1:40:32] application.

[1:40:35] The plan incorporate incorporates crime

[1:40:38] prevention through environmental design

[1:40:40] and that was reviewed by our police

[1:40:42] department and um it was approved.

[1:40:47] So, and then number seven, it actually

[1:40:49] does not apply to this use. Um, there

[1:40:53] are no laboratory uses.

[1:40:58] This will be the motion um after

[1:41:03] we get through everything.

[1:41:04] >> All right. Thank you.

[1:41:17] Great. Um, thank you. Uh, thanks for the

[1:41:19] record. My name is Wayne Carlson. I'm uh

[1:41:21] with AHBL

[1:41:25] and uh I am a uh a planner and uh we are

[1:41:28] providing uh civil structural planning

[1:41:31] and landscape architectural services on

[1:41:34] this project. Um, also here uh with us

[1:41:37] uh this evening for any questions you

[1:41:39] might have would be uh Steve Nornis who

[1:41:41] will also be uh sharing in this

[1:41:43] presentation uh with me um Heather Dart

[1:41:46] uh executive director of of the campus

[1:41:49] uh with with Wesley. She's here in the

[1:41:50] audience as well as uh Chris Christine

[1:41:53] Tmaine uh who is the vice president of

[1:41:55] marketing and development with Wesley.

[1:41:59] So, uh, my my presentation, uh, you

[1:42:02] know, in terms of being respectful of

[1:42:03] your time, I watched, uh, the the study

[1:42:06] session that you had last week. And so,

[1:42:08] we, uh, Steve and I have, uh, really,

[1:42:10] uh, uh, fashioned our presentation

[1:42:13] really to address the questions that the council had without, uh, trying

[1:42:17] to duplicate, um, just the summary of

[1:42:19] the project that that Jason uh, and and

[1:42:23] city staff has already done. So, uh this slide is is a quick summary

[1:42:28] showing us uh showing our consistency

[1:42:31] with um the the development standards

[1:42:33] and those uh those citations. And so, uh

[1:42:37] again, we're proposing uh to to to be uh

[1:42:41] be meeting uh the the height actually

[1:42:43] being below the the the adopted standard

[1:42:46] um meeting setbacks. You'll see

[1:42:48] impervious surfaces. Uh we're about 20%

[1:42:51] less uh than uh what what we would uh be

[1:42:55] in terms of what we're replacing. Uh

[1:42:57] parking meeting the parking standards.

[1:42:59] Uh recreation space. We are proposing uh

[1:43:03] essentially about double the common

[1:43:05] recreation space. Um private recreation

[1:43:08] area and then uh perimeter buffers. And

[1:43:12] I'll I'll address uh perimeter buffers a

[1:43:14] little bit more um on on the next slide.

[1:43:18] Uh, Council Member uh, Harris had some questions regarding uh, landscape

[1:43:22] uh, that I that I also wanted to

[1:43:24] address. And and this uh, slide

[1:43:26] advancers got a kind of handy uh, a

[1:43:29] little uh, uh, red light here. So

[1:43:31] hopefully people can kind of see this,

[1:43:33] but uh,

[1:43:38] maybe maybe not.

[1:43:39] >> There it is.

[1:43:40] >> There. There you go. Yeah, took a second

[1:43:42] to to warm up, but uh one of one of the

[1:43:45] questions uh was re re uh related to uh

[1:43:49] to to tree replacement and uh you know

[1:43:51] how many of these trees are being uh

[1:43:54] placed on the the being furnished uh as part of this design. So a total of 99

[1:44:01] uh additional trees are provided uh

[1:44:03] going to be provided on the site. Now

[1:44:05] the there will be 22 trees removed and

[1:44:09] the city's uh standard is a 3:1

[1:44:12] replacement. So of those 90 of those 99

[1:44:16] trees uh 66

[1:44:19] would have been required um anyway. So

[1:44:22] um and then 81 trees uh essentially are

[1:44:27] being uh proposed exclusively exclusive

[1:44:30] of required rightway buffer and uh and parking lot uh internal landscaping.

[1:44:37] So uh 18 additional trees beyond what

[1:44:41] would uh otherwise uh be required are uh

[1:44:44] included within the landscape plans that

[1:44:46] our our landscape architect uh designed.

[1:44:49] Uh in addition, there's probably there's

[1:44:52] more than uh 2100 uh shrubs and ground

[1:44:56] cover uh uh you know, plugs and and and

[1:44:59] plants that are going to be part of that landscape design.

[1:45:04] So, with this, I want to turn it over to

[1:45:06] Steve just to to kind of talk about uh

[1:45:08] some of the other elements uh that were

[1:45:10] addressed in last week's uh presentation

[1:45:13] uh for you.

[1:45:17] » Good evening. Um, my name is Steve

[1:45:19] Nornes. I work with Senior Housing

[1:45:21] Partners. I've been the developer on the

[1:45:22] Wesley campus. I started with this in

[1:45:24] 2017, similar to your time and working

[1:45:27] with every phase and really glad to be

[1:45:30] here tonight. Uh, just real briefly,

[1:45:32] Wesley started 1944 and it was a place

[1:45:36] that we wanted established where for

[1:45:38] retirement, where seniors could live and

[1:45:40] of all faiths will be uh recognized.

[1:45:43] Kevin Anderson would like to be here

[1:45:44] tonight, but he's on vacation. And but

[1:45:47] Kevin has taken the torch and as we've

[1:45:50] gone through, we said, "We're going to

[1:45:51] need to remodel the campus. We can make

[1:45:52] it more um uh modern and make it more

[1:45:56] have available for seniors." And so

[1:45:57] that's what we've done and made made the

[1:45:59] changes. And so um and there are

[1:46:02] pictures just about lifestyle. And as we

[1:46:04] are developing uh it's just now bricks

[1:46:06] and mortars but again it's developing a

[1:46:09] place to live and a place where people

[1:46:11] can enjoy life with community and

[1:46:12] choice. So this is a picture that goes

[1:46:15] back to 2017 before just for those who

[1:46:19] this is what the gardens was in the

[1:46:21] middle cottages surrounded the rest. The

[1:46:24] terrace is to the right and the green

[1:46:25] building is the care center which we're

[1:46:28] going to demolish and build to do

[1:46:30] independent living. And then you saw it

[1:46:32] earlier, but here's another look of the

[1:46:34] site. We really tried to set the campus

[1:46:36] up to look at the Puget Sound, and this

[1:46:38] is all remodeled with skilled nursing. A

[1:46:40] question came up from last meeting. Are

[1:46:42] the skilled rooms uh private? Uh all we

[1:46:45] have 72 skilled beds, and they're all

[1:46:47] private rooms. Um in the care center, uh

[1:46:50] and this new building here has assisted

[1:46:52] living, memory care, independent living,

[1:46:54] and we have town homes in Brownstones.

[1:46:56] We also put in the bridge which connects

[1:46:58] the campus. And you've seen this slide

[1:47:01] before. We're talking about the upper

[1:47:02] part, the creek side. So,

[1:47:04] architecturally, this campus, this p

[1:47:07] this new design is going to match the

[1:47:09] rest of the campus, the exterior

[1:47:10] facades. And this is an evening picture.

[1:47:13] Uh, every apartment's going to have bel

[1:47:15] uh porches and balconies. Uh upper

[1:47:17] leftand corner, you can see there's an

[1:47:18] that's going to be an area where

[1:47:20] activities can be. It's a lounge and so

[1:47:22] people can be up there entertaining and

[1:47:24] meeting with friends. I think the um the

[1:47:27] reason why why are we doing it uh

[1:47:29] there's a wait list currently there are

[1:47:32] 390 people are on a wait list today the

[1:47:34] market studies have said if we go out

[1:47:36] and do this this see what's available

[1:47:38] there's a need for additional 360

[1:47:41] apartments uh to fill and it really fits

[1:47:44] with our mission statement to continue

[1:47:45] providing choice in the area the project

[1:47:49] timing is we like to start in the first

[1:47:51] quarter uh second quarter April of 26

[1:47:54] it's a 19month construction. The overall

[1:47:56] project cost is $93 million and the

[1:47:59] construction portion of it is just under

[1:48:01] $60 million.

[1:48:04] And then the real benefit to the

[1:48:05] community, uh it's it at peak time,

[1:48:08] Walsh construction, as it said be at

[1:48:10] least 60 full-time employees. Uh the

[1:48:14] housing, uh typically in our model, 70%

[1:48:17] of the people who move in come from 10

[1:48:18] to 15 mile radius. So that means 70

[1:48:20] people or 70 homes will be moving over

[1:48:23] that will be resold. Um we're going to

[1:48:27] complete the master plan. Uh we continue

[1:48:30] to be good neighbors uh for serving

[1:48:32] residents and number employees. So

[1:48:34] really this is about community. It's

[1:48:36] about housing. It's jobs. It's about

[1:48:38] completing the campus and it's really

[1:48:40] about continuing the legacy of uh

[1:48:42] Reverend Lauren Stanley. So just uh glad

[1:48:46] to be here tonight and and thank you for

[1:48:48] having us present.

[1:48:53] » Thank you. Do you have another component

[1:48:55] of the presentation right now?

[1:48:58] >> That's all done. Okay. So what the next

[1:49:04] up is uh council consideration. So I'm

[1:49:08] going to read following are the rules of

[1:49:10] order um in conducting tonight's public

[1:49:13] hearing which is quasi judicial. All

[1:49:15] council members should now give

[1:49:17] consideration as to whether they have

[1:49:19] one a demonstrated bias or prejudice for

[1:49:22] or against any party to the proceedings.

[1:49:26] Two, a direct or indirect monetary

[1:49:29] interest in the outcome of the

[1:49:30] proceedings. Three, a prejudgment of the

[1:49:34] issue prior to the prior to hearing the

[1:49:36] facts on the record or four, exparte

[1:49:39] contact with any individual excluding

[1:49:42] administrative staff with regard to an

[1:49:44] issue prior to the hearing. If any

[1:49:46] council member should answer in the

[1:49:48] affirmative, then the council member

[1:49:50] should state the reason for their answer

[1:49:52] at this time so that the mayor may

[1:49:54] inquire of the administration as to

[1:49:56] whether a violation of the appearance of

[1:49:57] fairness doctrine exists.

[1:50:01] So, have any of you had any discussion

[1:50:04] on this topic or do you feel you have an

[1:50:06] actual or the appearance the appearance

[1:50:09] of a conflict of interest? So, I'm going

[1:50:11] to call on each of you individually.

[1:50:14] Deputy Mayor Steinmet,

[1:50:17] >> I don't believe it's a conflict, but I

[1:50:19] would at least let people know that my

[1:50:20] mother is on the waiting list for at

[1:50:23] Wesley, one of those 38.

[1:50:26] Um, that's fine. Thanks for disclosing

[1:50:28] that, but that's fine. You can Council

[1:50:31] member Mahoney,

[1:50:32] >> I do not.

[1:50:34] >> Council member Grace Matsui,

[1:50:35] >> I do not.

[1:50:36] >> Council member Nutting,

[1:50:39] >> I do not.

[1:50:41] >> Council member Harris,

[1:50:42] >> nope.

[1:50:43] >> Council member Oxiger,

[1:50:44] >> I do not.

[1:50:46] >> Thank you. So, now it is time for public

[1:50:49] comment portion of this public hearing.

[1:50:51] Please recognize that we'll not be able

[1:50:52] to interact with you or answer any

[1:50:54] questions during this segment, but your

[1:50:56] comments will become part of the public

[1:50:58] record on the subject and we will

[1:51:00] thoughtfully note your input.

[1:51:02] All comments by proponents, opponents or

[1:51:06] the public shall be made from the podium

[1:51:08] and any individual making comments shall

[1:51:11] first give their name and the city in

[1:51:13] which they reside. Individuals will have

[1:51:15] three minutes to speak. No comments

[1:51:18] shall be made from any other location

[1:51:21] and anyone making out of order comments

[1:51:23] shall be subject to the rem subject to

[1:51:25] removal from the meeting. There will be

[1:51:27] no demonstrations during or at the

[1:51:30] conclusion of anyone's presentation. It

[1:51:32] is not necessary to be a proponent or

[1:51:34] opponent in order to speak. If you

[1:51:36] consider yourself neither a proponent or

[1:51:39] opponent, please speak during the

[1:51:41] proponent portion and identify yourself

[1:51:44] as neither a proponent nor an opponent.

[1:51:49] » Okay. So, since we did not have anyone

[1:51:53] sign up to speak,

[1:51:56] uh,

[1:51:58] I'm going to ask, is there anyone who

[1:52:01] did not

[1:52:03] who would like to speak on the subject

[1:52:05] but did not realize they needed to sign

[1:52:06] up in order to speak?

[1:52:10] Second call. I think I have actually

[1:52:12] four calls on this, right? Just three.

[1:52:15] Okay. Is there anyone who wishes to

[1:52:17] speak who did not sign up to speak?

[1:52:21] Third call. Is there anyone who wishes

[1:52:23] to speak who did not sign up to speak?

[1:52:26] Okay.

[1:52:30] Now I will inquire of the administration

[1:52:32] as to whether there have been any

[1:52:34] misstatements of fact or whether the

[1:52:36] administration wishes to introduce any

[1:52:38] material as to the subjects raised by

[1:52:40] opponents or proponents or opponents or

[1:52:43] during the presentation or alter in any

[1:52:46] regard initial recommendations.

[1:52:50] No. Thank you.

[1:52:53] Council, do you have any questions?

[1:52:56] Please, questions only at this time.

[1:52:58] Council member Mahoney and then council

[1:52:59] member Harris.

[1:53:01] >> So, I was reading the letters that you

[1:53:03] sent out recently. I think it was

[1:53:05] yesterday. And the only question I have

[1:53:07] is particularly from the tribe, one of

[1:53:09] the tribes. This is a previously developed site we're talking

[1:53:13] about. Correct.

[1:53:14] >> Correct. And was this type of

[1:53:18] exploration for indigenous archae

[1:53:21] archaeological

[1:53:24] evidence done before or was that

[1:53:26] something that wasn't done in the past

[1:53:28] when this maybe have been built?

[1:53:30] >> That's a good question. I don't know if

[1:53:31] it was done in the past. Um, this is a

[1:53:34] somewhat standard comment that goes out

[1:53:36] to a lot of for a lot of our projects.

[1:53:39] Um

[1:53:41] there's a another project that we're

[1:53:44] working on that um we had to address

[1:53:46] that as well as a condition um that

[1:53:50] condition for the Madera um for another

[1:53:53] project. We conditioned it um for them

[1:53:56] to the de developer to get an

[1:54:00] archaeological survey. Sorry. So I

[1:54:04] believe that was a request by

[1:54:06] Snowqualami tribe was it?

[1:54:08] >> Yes. So that's my question. I assume

[1:54:09] that that's good request is going to be

[1:54:11] honored. Um obviously what would be the

[1:54:15] process should they discover something

[1:54:19] >> typically they would stop work and and

[1:54:23] then follow the protocol which you know

[1:54:27] I'm not totally familiar with but they

[1:54:29] would have to stop and

[1:54:32] um

[1:54:32] >> similar to what we have

[1:54:34] >> a survey even if they don't find

[1:54:35] anything they're still required to do an

[1:54:37] inadvertent discovery plan so a plan is

[1:54:39] put together um on what what will be

[1:54:41] done if something is found. So that's

[1:54:43] part of a standard requirement.

[1:54:45] >> All right. Thank you.

[1:54:47] >> All right. Council member Harris.

[1:54:50] >> Thank you. Um just along and this may

[1:54:54] just be me nerding out. Um is there

[1:54:59] anything um just looking at the property

[1:55:02] that um are all are all the surveys are

[1:55:06] they similar? You know, in other words,

[1:55:08] is there something unique about the

[1:55:10] property that might

[1:55:13] cause delay to the project just in doing

[1:55:16] the evaluation or is it just

[1:55:19] >> So, we wouldn't know until an evaluation

[1:55:20] is done. If an if an evaluation is done

[1:55:23] um because this is a heavily already

[1:55:25] developed site, we as staff I wouldn't

[1:55:27] expect to see an issue at this site. Um

[1:55:30] but like like was mentioned, Snowqual

[1:55:32] Colony Tribe puts that request or

[1:55:34] recommendation on every project that

[1:55:36] they get noticed on. Okay. And the other

[1:55:38] thing is does the uh comment from

[1:55:40] ecology regarding arsenic does that pose

[1:55:43] any potential challenge? It came in kind

[1:55:46] of recently. That's another common uh comment that we get for a lot

[1:55:51] of projects and it's not a big issue.

[1:55:53] They will have to do go through the

[1:55:56] process of um cleanup.

[1:55:59] >> Okay. But it's just a known process.

[1:56:01] >> It is.

[1:56:02] >> That's it. Thank you.

[1:56:04] >> Thank you. I'm checking with council

[1:56:05] member Nutting.

[1:56:11] No, you're good. Okay. Uh, any other

[1:56:14] questions?

[1:56:17] All right.

[1:56:18] I will now close the public hearing.

[1:56:21] Is there a motion? Council member

[1:56:24] Mahoney. I move to approve draft

[1:56:27] resolution 25-120

[1:56:29] approving the master plan amendment for

[1:56:31] the proposed Wesley Homes project LUA

[1:56:34] 2025-000026

[1:56:37] subject to conditions set forth in the

[1:56:39] resolution.

[1:56:41] >> I have a second. Looks like I have a

[1:56:42] second from Council Member Nutting.

[1:56:44] Thank you very much. Discussion.

[1:56:46] >> Council member Harris. Um, aside from my

[1:56:51] uh, you know, just concerns because the

[1:56:53] creek side is touchy for me. Um, if it

[1:56:57] turns out, you know, analogous to the

[1:57:00] terrace project, it will be spectacular.

[1:57:03] Um, it's been a I I can't say enough

[1:57:06] good things about it. Took a long time,

[1:57:09] co and so forth, but um, the inside is a

[1:57:12] place that you'd want to live and um, it

[1:57:15] just

[1:57:17] it's just a wonderful uh thing. So,

[1:57:20] thank you.

[1:57:22] >> Thank you. Any other comments? Council

[1:57:24] member Mahoney and then Deputy Mayor

[1:57:26] Steinmets.

[1:57:28] >> Wesley's a great neighbor in our

[1:57:29] community. Um throughout this process,

[1:57:32] every development's been a upgrade in

[1:57:34] this community. um uh particularly this

[1:57:38] being on the other side with the terrace

[1:57:41] and the fact that uh we all lobbyed to

[1:57:44] get this uh the skybridge which ensured

[1:57:46] their safety is going to be a great

[1:57:48] connection. So I'm thrilled um for

[1:57:51] Wesley itself and its residents and the

[1:57:54] additional people that they're going to

[1:57:55] be adding to their community. Um I

[1:57:58] welcome in advance because I won't be

[1:57:59] here to do it later.

[1:58:04] Deputy Mayor Stemet.

[1:58:06] >> Um, I want to echo a lot of those

[1:58:07] sentiments. Um, everything that Wesley

[1:58:10] has built has been really, really well

[1:58:12] done, well executed. The building of

[1:58:16] that sky bridge was amazing to watch

[1:58:18] those beams go up. I remember being

[1:58:21] there uh and you know it really even

[1:58:25] though you were building across a busy

[1:58:26] street, it was of a minimal disruption

[1:58:30] uh when you did it. So I think the

[1:58:32] process by which Wesley has taken on

[1:58:35] these projects and executed them uh

[1:58:38] really is to be commended. Uh it's it's

[1:58:41] good and uh 160 more units of

[1:58:44] independent living is just great. So I'm

[1:58:47] sure the u the wait list will be very

[1:58:50] glad. Thank you.

[1:58:54] Uh any other comments or discussion

[1:58:59] down the line? Uh all right. Well, mine

[1:59:02] uh I am amazed at the hurdles that uh a

[1:59:06] developer needs to overcome that we

[1:59:08] commonly don't even see come through our

[1:59:10] emails which we did this week in regard

[1:59:12] to this. And it gives me and especially

[1:59:15] your answers tonight. Uh this is common.

[1:59:17] This we get this all the time. Uh it it

[1:59:21] breeds a new appreciation for cultural

[1:59:24] environmental protection, the processes

[1:59:26] that we've got going on all the time

[1:59:28] that when something goes in and

[1:59:30] something happens, all this stuff h all

[1:59:33] these hurdles have have been overcome.

[1:59:36] Uh I I appreciate the work on behalf of

[1:59:40] developers. It's so daunting to to get a

[1:59:42] project done with that in front of you,

[1:59:44] but it's just a reminder to the

[1:59:46] community all of the boxes that are

[1:59:48] being checked when something does happen

[1:59:50] and something comes into the community

[1:59:52] and the environment is disrupted. Uh

[1:59:55] Wesley's a fantastic partner and the

[1:59:57] residents there make great neighbors.

[1:59:59] Very excited. Okay, all in favor raise

[2:00:02] your right hand.

[2:00:05] Uh looks like it is unanimous. Motion

[2:00:07] passes. Congratulations. Thank you for

[2:00:09] your time.

[2:00:16] All right. Uh, next up is new business

[2:00:20] and the first item is a grant acceptance

[2:00:22] and economic development grant from the

[2:00:24] port. The purpose of this item is to

[2:00:26] seek council acceptance of Port of

[2:00:29] Seattle phase three grant funding. And

[2:00:31] we're going to begin with a res

[2:00:33] presentation with city manager Katherryn

[2:00:34] Caffrey and economic development

[2:00:36] consultant Dan Ernesy.

[2:00:39] And I'm not sure, mayor, if you want to

[2:00:40] call up both items since they're sort of

[2:00:42] related or

[2:00:44] >> Well, I was going to open with this

[2:00:45] presentation, have the discussion and

[2:00:48] vote, and then skip the presentation

[2:00:50] part on the next item. We'll just go

[2:00:52] straight to a motion and discussion.

[2:00:54] >> Oh, okay. We'll do the two presentations

[2:00:56] back.

[2:00:57] >> Yeah, you'll do the whole presentation

[2:00:58] in as a group right now.

[2:01:00] >> Sounds great. So, I'll start this. So,

[2:01:02] this is really two items. The first one

[2:01:04] is accepting a grant and then the next

[2:01:07] item is what we're going to do with that

[2:01:08] money if the council chooses to accept

[2:01:10] it. So, um you all are probably familiar

[2:01:13] with this because for several years the

[2:01:15] city has received these funds. The Port

[2:01:17] of Seattle does a two-year economic

[2:01:20] development grant program. You can see

[2:01:22] what the goals are there. Uh it is

[2:01:24] available to the 38 cities in King

[2:01:27] County that are not um uh Seattle. It is

[2:01:30] not competitive in the sense that how

[2:01:32] much money you're allocated is a

[2:01:34] formula. Although it is not competitive,

[2:01:37] there are requirements as to what you

[2:01:39] can and can't use it for. Uh in previous

[2:01:42] years, the city has used it for studies.

[2:01:45] This is not a study. This is actual

[2:01:47] implementation. So this is hiring

[2:01:50] someone to do the work. So you'll see

[2:01:52] here, this is the grant formula. Uh what

[2:01:55] the city would receive from the port is

[2:01:57] $68,800.

[2:01:59] uh it requires a 25% match from the city

[2:02:02] that those funds were included in the

[2:02:04] proposed budget out of professional

[2:02:06] services and then another 17,000 that

[2:02:09] can be an inind match. So the total

[2:02:11] value is about $103,000 and the total

[2:02:14] kind of cash value is around 86.

[2:02:18] So, because this year we were not

[2:02:20] eligible to use these funds for a study,

[2:02:22] and I think there's definitely some

[2:02:24] study fatigue, we're actually looking at

[2:02:27] hiring someone to really go through some

[2:02:30] focused downtown work. As you all may

[2:02:32] recall, the city does not have dedicated

[2:02:34] staff for economic development. So, this

[2:02:37] is actually a really positive way for us

[2:02:40] to get the benefit of having someone um

[2:02:43] in our organization doing this work

[2:02:46] without having to hire the full-time

[2:02:48] employee, which at this time the city

[2:02:50] does not have the funds for. I also want

[2:02:52] to talk a little bit about where this

[2:02:54] focus area came from. So, we frequently,

[2:02:57] and we heard it Tuesday night, hear

[2:02:59] about vacant lots downtown and we hear a

[2:03:01] lot about revitalizing the Marine View

[2:03:04] corridor. And so what this is really

[2:03:06] doing is getting updated information on

[2:03:10] who owns property there because some of

[2:03:12] that has changed hands over several

[2:03:13] years and we don't have good records on

[2:03:15] that. Really getting into contact with

[2:03:17] business owners as well as prospective

[2:03:19] real estate developers. Um and the hope

[2:03:22] is to really get insight from what their

[2:03:24] needs are to incentivize development

[2:03:26] there to inform council policy

[2:03:29] decisions. So occasionally I'll hear

[2:03:31] comments of, you know, looking at zoning

[2:03:33] downtown and things like that. It's

[2:03:35] important that we know if the council is

[2:03:37] going to embark on that, somebody's

[2:03:39] going to be there at the other end to to

[2:03:41] take advantage of that. So this is

[2:03:42] really working on that. Uh so it's a lot

[2:03:45] of real outreach candidly, a lot of

[2:03:47] conversations, a lot of talking to

[2:03:49] people, a lot of sitting with them to

[2:03:51] understand why are they not developing,

[2:03:53] what has stopped them in the past. So

[2:03:55] it's pretty time inensive work.

[2:03:58] Uh the timeline is that uh if the

[2:04:00] council accepted the funds, we would

[2:04:02] really start in January and expend them

[2:04:04] over the year. The deliverables are

[2:04:07] again really really valuable information

[2:04:10] that could then like I said inform what

[2:04:12] the council chooses to do especially in

[2:04:15] light of the strategic plan where I

[2:04:16] think it won't be a surprise to anybody

[2:04:18] that economic development downtown

[2:04:21] vacant lots I fully anticipate is going

[2:04:23] to show up there in some way. So this is

[2:04:25] sort of giving us an edge on that.

[2:04:28] So, I'm gonna transition over to Dan and

[2:04:31] let me kind of in um Can you give him

[2:04:34] talk about what his role is? So, Dan

[2:04:36] Ernesy uh has a consulting firm where he

[2:04:40] has, you know, he'll talk about his

[2:04:42] background, but really over about 20

[2:04:43] years of experience in economic

[2:04:44] development in this region, which I

[2:04:46] think you all are familiar with. And so

[2:04:48] Dan and I began meeting probably about a

[2:04:50] year ago talking about how De Moines

[2:04:53] could really start tackling this when we

[2:04:54] did not have the funding for a director

[2:04:57] level position. And so this is a

[2:05:00] arrangement where Dan would really kind

[2:05:02] of function as a fractional employee for

[2:05:05] us at that really high level. So he

[2:05:08] would be executing upon both this grant

[2:05:11] as well as there are some additional

[2:05:13] services in here to look at like pack

[2:05:15] highway and some other areas that are

[2:05:18] separate from the grant but are funds

[2:05:20] that we would you know do in his total

[2:05:23] contract. So the contract by and large

[2:05:25] includes the port grant project but then

[2:05:28] there's some other items we added on

[2:05:29] there as well. So I'll let him talk a

[2:05:31] little bit about his agreement and then

[2:05:33] we can answer questions about both of

[2:05:35] them. Dan

[2:05:38] Thank you very much. As Katherine said,

[2:05:41] Dan Ernesy, I'm

[2:05:44] familiar [clears throat] with De Moines

[2:05:45] from from birth and I'm very happy to be

[2:05:49] here. So, thank you, mayor, deputy

[2:05:51] mayor, council members, staff, and

[2:05:53] public who have stuck around. Um I

[2:05:56] thought when I came in there were a lot

[2:05:57] of people for my presentation but

[2:06:00] [laughter]

[2:06:00] the so the proposed contract as was said

[2:06:04] is a flexible leadership partnership

[2:06:06] delivering tailored director level

[2:06:08] strategic economic development guidance

[2:06:10] without the overhead of full-time

[2:06:12] position. cities around Washington

[2:06:16] uh are having the same struggles that

[2:06:18] you are having with finances because of

[2:06:21] the 1% cap largely and I have been serving cities for 15 years

[2:06:29] and I see a real need especially for

[2:06:32] small cities to have

[2:06:35] um just professional economic

[2:06:38] development support

[2:06:40] but they can't afford it and So if I can

[2:06:43] be of service in that way in this stage

[2:06:46] of my career, I think it's just a great

[2:06:47] opportunity for me and a and a great way

[2:06:49] to serve these cities. So the contract

[2:06:52] details are basically runs through the

[2:06:54] end of 2026, not to exceed 96,000, which

[2:06:58] kind of in my head is roughly about

[2:07:02] right for a city. It's about three bucks

[2:07:05] per person who live in the city. you

[2:07:07] know, it's just that's that's an

[2:07:09] investment that is

[2:07:12] kind of a logical investment of a

[2:07:15] baseline. Um, the positive with this

[2:07:18] particular contract is almost entirely

[2:07:21] funded through this grant with the Port

[2:07:23] of Seattle.

[2:07:26] This is me. Uh, my experience

[2:07:31] successful is one of those words that

[2:07:34] every project we did made money. I was

[2:07:37] an employee um and that's thus I'm still

[2:07:41] working um 15 years of economic

[2:07:44] development leadership in for cities

[2:07:46] after that. So about a decade in real

[2:07:49] estate development and 15 years specific

[2:07:52] expertise especially in transit oriented

[2:07:54] development and highway corridor

[2:07:57] redevelopment

[2:07:58] um and have done a lot of work with

[2:08:01] groups like Urban Land Institute uh and

[2:08:04] was on a national

[2:08:06] um panel that examined how to do healthy

[2:08:10] highway corridors.

[2:08:13] Interesting facts. Grad of De Moines

[2:08:15] Elementary, Pacific, I would say junior

[2:08:19] high, Mount Reneer High School, and

[2:08:21] University of Washington. I believe in

[2:08:23] one-page strategic plans and uh spend a

[2:08:27] lot of time trying to boil down uh

[2:08:30] thoughts and do a really concise

[2:08:32] statements. And I love metaphors and I

[2:08:34] love van diagrams. I'm going to share a

[2:08:36] van diagram in a moment but the metaphor

[2:08:40] is uh that of economic development being

[2:08:45] uh a lot like a surfer in that one can't

[2:08:50] control all the macro events that are

[2:08:53] happening in an economy.

[2:08:56] But a good surfer like when they feel

[2:08:58] the wave starting to surge, they try to

[2:09:02] just get their surfboard up and going.

[2:09:04] So then that can

[2:09:08] capture the energy that is in that

[2:09:11] system. And some of those waves are

[2:09:13] positive, some are negative. You know,

[2:09:14] sometimes it it can be something like

[2:09:16] the pandemic. Sometimes it can be

[2:09:18] something like interest rate changes and inflation. Sometimes it can be uh a

[2:09:24] big macro effect effect like uh online

[2:09:26] shopping and how that is affecting our

[2:09:28] retail corridors and and downtowns. So,

[2:09:32] uh, the ven diagram is one that I've

[2:09:34] developed over time to just talk about

[2:09:37] what how I, uh, how I think economic

[2:09:41] development works. And I call it

[2:09:44] disciplines of an economic catalyst. I

[2:09:46] like the word catalyst more than a

[2:09:48] developer because, as we just witnessed

[2:09:51] with the Wesley group, they're the ones

[2:09:53] really doing the development and doing

[2:09:56] the investment. My job really is the guy

[2:10:00] um up on top of the

[2:10:03] kind of the cliff with the big boulder

[2:10:05] and just giving it enough of a nudge

[2:10:07] that that the private sector and the and

[2:10:10] the market economy can really take over

[2:10:12] and and the gravity can move things

[2:10:15] forward. So what are those real key

[2:10:18] projects that a city can do for example

[2:10:22] that will then like the first domino

[2:10:26] falling can knock over a lot of things

[2:10:29] and and attract a lot of investment to

[2:10:31] the city. So, three things I see. One,

[2:10:33] uh, infrastructure. You got to put the

[2:10:36] tomato cage on the tomato when it's

[2:10:38] small. And it's same thing with

[2:10:41] infrastructure. I I mean, the one we have so uh

[2:10:47] prevalent in our in our world right now

[2:10:49] is light rail. And congratulations on

[2:10:52] the opening of the new station and what

[2:10:54] I would call Midway Drive-In. And uh um

[2:10:58] it's awesome. And uh but that's you know

[2:11:01] obviously overkill for the size of of

[2:11:06] the population around around you know

[2:11:09] Highline community Highline College uh

[2:11:11] sorry um right now but it is anticipated

[2:11:17] that that will be serving a much larger

[2:11:20] population as the Pugesound region

[2:11:22] grows. So that's something that is a

[2:11:24] system that has been built to support

[2:11:26] healthy growth. placemaking, the one on

[2:11:29] the bottom, things that really create

[2:11:31] tangible growth and and and tangible

[2:11:34] value. And the example I always give is

[2:11:36] a farmers market.

[2:11:39] We moved a farmers market into a

[2:11:40] downtown. I can tell you that

[2:11:42] immediately the apartments around

[2:11:45] started to advertise that they were

[2:11:47] walking distance from the Sunday farmers

[2:11:49] market because they understood that that

[2:11:53] amenity added value for their residents

[2:11:57] and it allowed them to I you know I

[2:11:59] don't know if they upped the rent but it

[2:12:01] allowed them to keep tenants longer and

[2:12:04] keep happier tenants and they probably

[2:12:07] you know overall

[2:12:09] those that are closer to amenity ities

[2:12:11] do charge more rent and so those kind of

[2:12:14] things that you know I'm I'm pretty

[2:12:17] fussy about placemaking it has to really

[2:12:19] be tangible has to create tangible

[2:12:21] things supportive businesses

[2:12:24] um it's a lot of businesses you can't do

[2:12:28] you can't provide like handholding for

[2:12:30] every business in the city so you really

[2:12:33] have to be concentrated on those that

[2:12:36] broaden economic opportunity create more

[2:12:39] jobs create better jobs create um and

[2:12:43] those that you know oftentimes fit in

[2:12:45] those other categories that the

[2:12:47] placemaking business you know the

[2:12:49] quarter deck isn't maybe the biggest

[2:12:52] business isn't employing a lot of people

[2:12:54] but it has a little something that

[2:12:57] really helps the city of De Moine right

[2:12:59] so those are the kinds of uh specific um

[2:13:04] targeted businesses that I think you

[2:13:06] want to support now the overarching

[2:13:09] thing that you do along top of that is

[2:13:11] tell stories and the the result of those

[2:13:14] stories should be to attract investment

[2:13:16] and so you know just the examples I I

[2:13:19] put up there but building systems you

[2:13:21] might be telling the story hey did you

[2:13:23] hear about the light rail station that

[2:13:24] just opened in de mo is now allowing us

[2:13:27] to get to downtown and getting to sea

[2:13:30] jobs and so forth very predictably in

[2:13:33] you know x number of minutes and it's

[2:13:35] further helping people who don't want to

[2:13:38] have a car or can't afford to have a car

[2:13:40] to really easily um have transportation

[2:13:43] at a a reasonable price. Um tangible

[2:13:47] value placemaking. Hey, did you hear

[2:13:50] about our our new uh stairs that are

[2:13:53] going to be able to walk right down to

[2:13:54] the marina and you're going to have a

[2:13:56] little slide or whatever. I'm I'm not

[2:13:58] sure what exactly you're having. You're

[2:13:59] obviously having some storm water

[2:14:01] management. Um but I probably wouldn't

[2:14:03] talk about that. Um the storytelling for

[2:14:06] the supporting business. Well, you know,

[2:14:08] we've got these Wesley has been just an

[2:14:12] investor in our community for decades

[2:14:15] and they're continuing to invest. They

[2:14:17] found that their investment in the past

[2:14:21] has paid off. We've supported them in

[2:14:24] that. They're investing another close to

[2:14:27] hund00 million. That property once built

[2:14:29] will probably be worth more like $140

[2:14:32] million. That goes right on the tax

[2:14:34] rolls and we're so proud of that. So, so

[2:14:37] it's not like you're making up stories

[2:14:39] about this. You're telling stories about

[2:14:41] the very economic development work that

[2:14:44] you're already doing. So, that's that's

[2:14:46] what I do and that's what I see and what

[2:14:49] I look forward to doing here uh both by

[2:14:52] providing support

[2:14:55] uh generally.

[2:14:57] [clears throat]

[2:14:58] You're in the middle of a strategic

[2:15:00] planning process which is fantastic. And

[2:15:03] I think over the next year, my hope is

[2:15:05] that there would be an economic

[2:15:06] development strategy that would really

[2:15:08] complement that um and really take

[2:15:10] advantage of some of the assets that are

[2:15:12] in the city. Um evaluate uh marketing,

[2:15:16] recruiting leads for cities. A lot of,

[2:15:19] you know, you talk in economic

[2:15:21] development, most of your work is in um

[2:15:24] existing business, you know, helping

[2:15:26] them expand, helping them invest,

[2:15:28] helping them survive sometimes. Um but

[2:15:31] there's also that kind of fun job of the

[2:15:34] recruiting and so as there are I I will

[2:15:37] be um able to to provide that service um

[2:15:43] as appropriate and collaborate with

[2:15:45] economic regional partners, everybody

[2:15:47] from the big big people like uh greater

[2:15:50] Seattle partners to the to the uh

[2:15:53] chamber and so forth um locally and then

[2:15:57] perform other duties as as signed in

[2:15:59] writing. And then as as uh city manager

[2:16:04] uh Katherine has already said the poor

[2:16:06] Seattle grant will be really the bulk of the work. Um this is the proposed

[2:16:12] motion that they had me put in here and

[2:16:14] uh any discussion I'm think I'm I along

[2:16:19] with city manager are happy to answer

[2:16:21] for both both um both motions.

[2:16:25] So uh as you so there are two motions

[2:16:28] one presentation we're going to take

[2:16:30] them one at a time. Uh so this first

[2:16:33] motion is about accepting the grant. So

[2:16:36] we'll open for questions to either one

[2:16:38] of them uh with regard to the acceptance

[2:16:42] of that grant. Any questions?

[2:16:46] Okay. Uh deputy mayor Simments.

[2:16:50] Um, is the port putting any restrictions

[2:16:53] on the money in the way that we use it?

[2:16:56] Is there anything that um,

[2:16:59] >> you know, is sort of somewhere in the

[2:17:01] background and have we looked closely at

[2:17:03] it to make sure that, you know, the port

[2:17:05] is not always our friend?

[2:17:07] >> Well, we've actually received this, they

[2:17:09] agree, but we've actually received this

[2:17:11] grant from them multiple times in the

[2:17:13] past. It's it's pretty flexible, but

[2:17:15] when I on this um presentation went

[2:17:17] through sort of the encompassing what

[2:17:19] the work would be, that was our

[2:17:21] application. So, um as long as we

[2:17:24] produce that work and deliver it to

[2:17:26] them, it's it qualifies. Um also, we

[2:17:29] cannot do a study. So, uh they do have a

[2:17:32] rule that you can only do studies I

[2:17:34] think like once every several times you

[2:17:36] get the grant. So, the last effort that

[2:17:39] was done prior to my arrival was a

[2:17:41] study. So this is really actually I

[2:17:43] think more appealing and that we're

[2:17:45] actually going to get somebody like

[2:17:46] executing.

[2:17:48] >> What was that study and what happened to

[2:17:50] that data?

[2:17:51] >> Well, I'd be happy to share. So that

[2:17:53] study was done uh it's about sort of

[2:17:57] general downtown development. It was

[2:18:00] done candidly during the transition

[2:18:03] period and I think the the the work

[2:18:08] product quality was not um I think as

[2:18:11] helpful as it could have been and it

[2:18:13] absolutely did not reflect the entire

[2:18:16] council's views. I would be happy to

[2:18:18] share it with you all and I think you

[2:18:19] will get a sense of what I'm talking

[2:18:21] about.

[2:18:22] >> Thank you.

[2:18:25] >> Any other uh any other questions?

[2:18:30] Okay, thank you. Do I have a motion?

[2:18:35] Uh, Deputy Mayor Stein, let's go ahead.

[2:18:37] I move to accept the grant funding uh

[2:18:40] from the Port of Seattle in the amount

[2:18:42] of $68,800

[2:18:44] and authorize the city manager to sign

[2:18:46] the economic development partnership

[2:18:48] agreement um parenthesis P-0000322557

[2:18:54] close parenthesis uh substantially in

[2:18:58] the form as attached.

[2:18:59] >> I have a second.

[2:19:00] >> Second, Council Member Mahoney. Any

[2:19:02] discussion?

[2:19:06] Uh, okay. Council members.

[2:19:09] >> All right. Uh, well, my comment is this

[2:19:14] is exactly the type of thing that ports

[2:19:16] are supposed to do according to the

[2:19:17] RCWs. Fostering economic growth,

[2:19:20] stimulating businesses, promoting

[2:19:21] tourism, and using its powers to

[2:19:23] encourage development. So, I appreciate

[2:19:26] that's exactly what we're using this

[2:19:28] for. So, uh, with no further discussion,

[2:19:30] take it to a vote. All in favor, raise

[2:19:32] your right hand.

[2:19:35] Uh, okay. Council member Nutting,

[2:19:37] Council Member Oxford, Council Member

[2:19:38] Grace Matsui, Council Member Mahoney,

[2:19:40] Deputy Mayor Ste, and myself. All

[2:19:42] opposed. Council member Harris. Motion

[2:19:44] passes. We move to the second subject.

[2:19:48] We've had the presentation. This is in

[2:19:51] regard to the economic development

[2:19:52] support services contract with Dan

[2:19:54] Ernesy. Uh, do you have any questions,

[2:19:58] Council Member Harris?

[2:20:00] >> Uh, good to see you again, sir. Um, are

[2:20:03] you currently employed with the city of

[2:20:05] Everett?

[2:20:06] >> I am.

[2:20:06] >> Okay. Will you continue in that? Is it I don't know how this works. So, is it

[2:20:11] that kind of normal for your world?

[2:20:14] >> Well, it's not normal. It's it's a it's

[2:20:18] a situation where the um

[2:20:22] because of financial

[2:20:24] constraints at the city of Everett, they

[2:20:28] suggested that I could go to a

[2:20:31] lower pay. I'm at a part-time pay rate

[2:20:35] there so I could grow my consulting

[2:20:38] business simultaneously.

[2:20:40] So it's with what full disclosure that

[2:20:44] I'm going forward, but it is unusual.

[2:20:46] >> Um, uh, have you had discussions about

[2:20:50] this being a or do you think of this as

[2:20:53] a one-time kind of a deal or is an

[2:20:56] ongoing renewable

[2:20:58] thing or have

[2:21:00] >> I'll answer that one. So the contract

[2:21:01] before you is a one-time um, and I think

[2:21:04] what we want to see is how this goes and

[2:21:06] see what kind of direction and plan

[2:21:08] comes out of it. and then the council

[2:21:10] can give us instruction on how to move

[2:21:11] forward.

[2:21:13] >> Um, and one last thing you mentioned,

[2:21:15] um, transit oriented development. Um,

[2:21:20] how do you feel about a shuttle in the

[2:21:22] south end of town

[2:21:24] to supplement the light rail? You

[2:21:26] mentioned it as being the light, you

[2:21:28] used the word, I believe, overkill of

[2:21:30] that light rail station relative. I I

[2:21:33] assume you meant to

[2:21:34] >> uh council member Harris

[2:21:37] >> I would I would uh relegate that to a

[2:21:39] different discussion right now. We're

[2:21:41] just trying to decide if we're unless

[2:21:44] you substantially feel like this is

[2:21:47] going to affect your opinion on whether

[2:21:49] you want to vote in favor of this or

[2:21:50] not. It's a different discussion.

[2:21:52] >> It's a weird thing because it's sort of

[2:21:54] a job interview. I mean it's unusual for

[2:21:57] us to have a presenter who is not

[2:21:58] actually within the employee of the city

[2:22:01] of De Mo. So, um, I withdraw. Thank you.

[2:22:07] » You know, we actually do have

[2:22:08] consultants that work for us for a whole

[2:22:10] variety of areas. We have a consultant

[2:22:12] that works for us for some strategic

[2:22:13] communications. We have them in other

[2:22:15] areas. So, this is actually not an

[2:22:17] unusual arrangement because there's so

[2:22:19] much discussion about economic

[2:22:20] development. I thought it would be great

[2:22:21] for you to hear from the actual person

[2:22:23] that would be doing the work.

[2:22:29] Okay. I'm going to move to the next uh

[2:22:31] next comment. Uh we are still right now

[2:22:33] on questions. So a qu uh deputy mayor

[2:22:36] Stemet

[2:22:37] >> Mr. NY does your um consulting firm have

[2:22:41] staff other than you

[2:22:43] >> that'll be working on this? Not at this

[2:22:45] time not, but I I anticipate

[2:22:49] uh recommending to the city that if

[2:22:51] there are other

[2:22:53] u either people or companies that could

[2:22:57] be sub

[2:22:59] could fulfill the the overall scope

[2:23:03] better than I could that the city would

[2:23:05] contract with them directly um rather

[2:23:08] than than through my company so they

[2:23:10] could get, you know, direct service and carry over. I especially with the uh

[2:23:17] couple of the uh the port grant

[2:23:20] deliverables. I think that you know you

[2:23:23] don't necessarily want to pay your

[2:23:25] director to do all the work. And so

[2:23:28] anywhere there can be efficiencies or

[2:23:31] cost savings for the city that's

[2:23:33] strategic, I will definitely recommend

[2:23:35] that. Um but not uh right now I don't

[2:23:39] have any staff.

[2:23:42] >> Okay. Thank you.

[2:23:43] >> Yeah, you bet.

[2:23:44] >> Any other questions?

[2:23:46] Looking up to council. Okay.

[2:23:49] All right. Uh, we'll move forward to the

[2:23:52] motion. Do I have a motion? Council

[2:23:54] member Mahoney.

[2:23:55] >> I move to approve the professional

[2:23:57] services consultant agreement with

[2:23:59] Ernest Cy Consulting for the economic

[2:24:01] development services in the amount not

[2:24:03] to exceed 96,000 and further authorize

[2:24:06] the city manager to sign said contract

[2:24:08] substantially in the form as submitted.

[2:24:11] Do I have a second? Looks like a Deputy

[2:24:13] Mayor Simons for the second discussion.

[2:24:17] Uh, Deputy Mayor Simments.

[2:24:20] >> Yeah, I'm I'm really excited uh about

[2:24:22] this. I think this is a um

[2:24:27] a subject matter that the city needed to

[2:24:30] address at a professional level and has

[2:24:33] needed to address that at a professional

[2:24:34] level for a very long time. Um, as

[2:24:38] indicated,

[2:24:40] all small cities are going through very

[2:24:43] similar issues and um, trying to pay

[2:24:47] another director level salary to bring

[2:24:49] in somebody on the staff is just really

[2:24:51] difficult. Uh, and we can't find the

[2:24:53] funding for it and I think this is a

[2:24:55] wonderful solution. I am very pleased by

[2:24:57] your connection to De Moines. Um, I

[2:25:00] remember the uh interviews from

[2:25:03] [clears throat] earlier uh and and I

[2:25:05] have no doubt uh that you really love

[2:25:07] this city and you will do the best you

[2:25:09] absolutely can for it. Thank you. I

[2:25:12] intend to vote for the contract.

[2:25:14] >> Thank you. Any other comments or

[2:25:16] discussion? Council member Harris and

[2:25:19] then uh Council Member Mahoney.

[2:25:21] >> Um I want Mr. Ernesy to know how much I

[2:25:26] appreciate him. Uh and um I will be

[2:25:29] voting no because for the same reason

[2:25:32] comments I made during the budget. This

[2:25:34] is entirely

[2:25:37] backwards. It is a groundhog movie that

[2:25:40] I've seen over and over again. Um I will

[2:25:44] note that our last city manager had

[2:25:47] three degrees from Cambridge and we've

[2:25:51] gone through all kinds of stuff and uh I

[2:25:54] believe you know it's an unusual thing

[2:25:58] for us to have any kind of input into

[2:26:02] hiring of staff but um I really

[2:26:07] I think the public needs to be sold on

[2:26:12] what we plan to do supposedly the

[2:26:14] strategic plan but over the course of

[2:26:18] the year we've done everything and then

[2:26:20] put that at the very end of the pipe and

[2:26:24] so to my mind it makes it

[2:26:28] basically cosmetic and um I don't feel

[2:26:33] great about it the the things that need

[2:26:36] to be done in the study which the public

[2:26:38] um those are really useful things to do.

[2:26:42] Um there is valuable data gathering that

[2:26:46] should be done, but this is far too

[2:26:49] expansive and um it it's the kind of

[2:26:53] thing I am having these echoes of the

[2:26:56] Holmes group and um Peter and this

[2:27:00] turning into the never ending story and

[2:27:04] just

[2:27:04] >> Okay, there. Thank you.

[2:27:06] >> Thank you. Uh Council Member Mahoney,

[2:27:09] >> I have to be honest. I have one concern.

[2:27:10] It's the choice of college you went to.

[2:27:13] Um, [laughter] you could have gone east

[2:27:16] and had a much finer education, but you

[2:27:19] know, [laughter] there are those that,

[2:27:21] you know, we tolerate. Um, I'm just

[2:27:25] kidding. Uh, no, I uh and and our mayor

[2:27:29] knows this particularly

[2:27:32] uh as I as coming through the leadership

[2:27:34] in the council,

[2:27:36] I think we were that voice a lot of

[2:27:38] times trying to sell this city. I was

[2:27:40] always try I was meeting different

[2:27:42] developers and people that might be

[2:27:44] interested in investing in the community

[2:27:46] facilitating meetings with them kind of

[2:27:49] selling selling the city to have

[2:27:51] something more templated is going to be

[2:27:54] a great benefit. Uh we were kind of

[2:27:57] inventing it along the way and we did do

[2:27:59] bad and we had a couple good chances at

[2:28:00] some of the development. Of course, CO

[2:28:02] was kind of a stick in that, but but to

[2:28:06] be able to have something a little bit

[2:28:07] more concrete to sell the city because

[2:28:09] we do have a lot to sell and I think

[2:28:12] where we're headed is in the right

[2:28:13] direction. Um, you you know, I was

[2:28:16] impressed with your services or what you

[2:28:18] offered us when you applied for another

[2:28:20] position and saw the experience and the

[2:28:23] value get that and I know the city

[2:28:25] manager and I had a couple conversations

[2:28:26] about you and what you could provide to

[2:28:28] the city and I agreed with it. I think

[2:28:30] you can bring a great asset to our

[2:28:32] community. Uh the the bonus is you grew

[2:28:36] up here, you know it, you do want to see

[2:28:38] the city succeed more than more than

[2:28:42] just what I say the average consultant

[2:28:44] we might hire. And I think that's a good

[2:28:46] thing.

[2:28:47] Repeat or no repeat, you offer something

[2:28:50] in a changing time and a skill set that

[2:28:53] this city needs. And you come at the

[2:28:55] right place at the right time and and

[2:28:57] I'm looking forward to it. So I'm going

[2:28:58] to support it. Thank you.

[2:29:02] Right.

[2:29:05] Okay. My comments uh after reading the

[2:29:07] scope of work which were was uh the

[2:29:10] scope was up on this uh slide there of

[2:29:13] the bullet points of the things that

[2:29:15] this contract's going to provide. So I

[2:29:18] am so excited to have this support. Uh

[2:29:21] I appreciate the character and the

[2:29:24] candid uh information about I mean just

[2:29:27] standing there offering. I'm not going

[2:29:29] to take a cut of any kind of revenue

[2:29:32] here that I don't need to. Uh that that

[2:29:35] says a lot about the kind of service

[2:29:37] that we're going to get here. And

[2:29:39] honestly, I think that this his work is

[2:29:41] going to inform our strategic plan. I

[2:29:42] don't think it's an inappropriate uh

[2:29:45] inappropriate order. And uh

[2:29:50] I'm very I'm I'm thankful that we're at

[2:29:52] this juncture and we can make this

[2:29:53] decision tonight. So

[2:29:56] without further ado, all in favor raise

[2:29:59] your right hand.

[2:30:01] Council member Nutunning,

[2:30:02] [clears throat] Council Member Oxer,

[2:30:03] Council Member Grace Matsui, Council

[2:30:05] Member Mahoney, Deputy Mayor Steyets,

[2:30:06] and myself. All opposed, Council Member

[2:30:09] Harris. Motion passes. Thank you so

[2:30:11] much, Dan. We're excited to have you

[2:30:14] aboard.

[2:30:16] Appreciate it.

[2:30:18] All right. Next up is uh new agenda

[2:30:20] items for consideration. Uh, I think

[2:30:23] you've heard me talk about this several

[2:30:25] times. This is an opportunity for

[2:30:27] council members to present something

[2:30:28] they'd like to have appear on a future

[2:30:31] agenda. Any council members have

[2:30:33] something they like they would like to

[2:30:35] propose?

[2:30:38] All right, moving on. Next up is an

[2:30:40] opportunity for council member to give

[2:30:42] us their reports. And tonight we're

[2:30:44] going to start with council member Grace

[2:30:45] Matsui.

[2:30:51] » Thank you. Um,

[2:30:56] I had the opportunity to uh uh go out

[2:31:00] and see some folks at some events this

[2:31:03] week. It's been a reactivation, I guess,

[2:31:05] of a lot of our social calendars. I know

[2:31:08] there's plenty of community events that

[2:31:09] are coming up as well. I want to say a

[2:31:11] special thanks to all the staff who

[2:31:14] helped out at our town hall and talking

[2:31:16] about the strategic plan. The kids

[2:31:18] corner looked like it was a hit. Uh

[2:31:20] there were lots of engaged folks putting

[2:31:23] um their vote up and talking to folks. I believe you probably had a a lot of

[2:31:28] cookies go out the door and water handed

[2:31:30] out as well. I was very encouraged by

[2:31:32] the participation uh by the willingness

[2:31:35] of folks to come out on a Tuesday uh

[2:31:37] evening and and talk about how they see

[2:31:39] De Moines now and what they would like

[2:31:41] to see in the future. And uh I hope

[2:31:43] folks saw the all the council members

[2:31:46] who were there and uh how much we are

[2:31:49] listening and really wanting to uh stay

[2:31:51] in tuned uh with what our community's

[2:31:54] visions are and what some of those

[2:31:56] challenges are. I will say that some of

[2:31:59] those forced question activities were

[2:32:01] very difficult. Um and uh I'm hoping

[2:32:04] that we can find ways to accommodate

[2:32:07] both. And many of you who are here in

[2:32:09] the room were there to see some of those

[2:32:11] things where you have to wrestle with uh

[2:32:14] preserving open spaces or development

[2:32:16] and how do you have those things at the

[2:32:19] same time and we were forced into a

[2:32:21] choice and it was very difficult. But I

[2:32:24] guarantee that those are questions that

[2:32:26] will wrestle for years to come. So I

[2:32:29] appreciate that. I hope that you all

[2:32:30] have um lots of great uh family time in

[2:32:33] the next month and uh that is the

[2:32:35] conclusion of my report.

[2:32:37] >> Thank you, Council Member Nutting.

[2:32:42] » Nothing this week, Mayor. Thank you.

[2:32:44] >> Thank you, Council Member. Council

[2:32:46] member Harris,

[2:32:49] >> thank you. Um I uh watched the uh well

[2:32:52] first of all um forget that I I watched

[2:32:56] the uh the citizens advisory board um

[2:32:59] meeting today and I want to just note

[2:33:02] how thoughtful so many of the uh

[2:33:04] comments were. Um

[2:33:07] uh one person made a really good remark

[2:33:11] about the uh survey that did get a lot

[2:33:16] of uh feedback and she she said why

[2:33:19] wasn't the airport

[2:33:21] mentioned and I I I love that because

[2:33:26] it's um it's the thing that somebody if

[2:33:29] you're an outsider you just within five

[2:33:32] minutes it's like that's it.

[2:33:36] But we're so inured to it. I think it's

[2:33:40] not that people don't care about it.

[2:33:42] It's that I'm pretty sure whoever came

[2:33:45] up with a survey just they're inured to

[2:33:48] it or they think there's nothing that

[2:33:51] can be done about it. Uh [clears throat]

[2:33:53] the same thing with so many things

[2:33:55] around here. I heard a discussion of um

[2:33:59] of potential and the city manager, you

[2:34:02] know, interpreted that as

[2:34:05] disappointment and other people said,

[2:34:07] you know, no, it's more positive. But um

[2:34:10] it's not disappointment so much as just

[2:34:14] being inured

[2:34:16] to [laughter] just it's this chronic

[2:34:19] thing. It's like having if you're lucky

[2:34:22] enough to have children, they reach a

[2:34:24] certain age where you go, "Come on, man.

[2:34:26] Are you ever going to get a job?" You

[2:34:28] know, and um that's the thing. There's

[2:34:31] just this

[2:34:33] people just get inured to stuff. Um a

[2:34:37] couple of members mentioned better

[2:34:40] outreach and I really appreciated that.

[2:34:43] Um we have this

[2:34:47] we're in this bubble frankly and um when

[2:34:51] I started going to St. Filamina so many

[2:34:53] years ago it was like 90% people who

[2:34:57] look like me English speakers 10%

[2:35:00] Hispanic uh Spanish speakers and now

[2:35:04] it's flipped

[2:35:06] it by rights it should be a uh it should

[2:35:09] be the whole thing should be a Spanish

[2:35:11] language um thing um

[2:35:15] but and and that is a hub for a a large

[2:35:22] population that will basically you will

[2:35:25] never see on Marine View Drive or um I

[2:35:28] mean you may be at the beach park on a

[2:35:31] Sunday and there are a dozen um

[2:35:34] communities that I have you know had the

[2:35:37] um privilege to get to know over the

[2:35:40] years um that are not represented

[2:35:43] and that they're not going to be part of

[2:35:45] a survey. It's not that it it it's just

[2:35:50] there has to you have to decide do you

[2:35:53] want to actually capture the entirety of

[2:35:56] the city or do you want to make it more

[2:36:00] of what you already like about it but

[2:36:04] it's self- selecting

[2:36:07] the I spoke with a couple of county

[2:36:08] council members this week and you know

[2:36:11] everybody talks about how we

[2:36:15] [snorts] South King County has grant

[2:36:18] money available. People just don't apply

[2:36:20] for it.

[2:36:22] And we should take note of that and

[2:36:25] somehow um reform how we

[2:36:30] part of deciding what we want to be is

[2:36:33] going to be deciding do we want to

[2:36:36] actually represent the people who are

[2:36:39] here

[2:36:41] and do we actually want to attract a

[2:36:44] wider cohort of people to the town

[2:36:48] because that's really what's going to

[2:36:50] you know determine how much economic

[2:36:53] development you can do. Do you really

[2:36:55] want more people to come here? It's it's

[2:36:58] a real question and I don't think we've

[2:37:02] addressed it at this point and

[2:37:06] I sure hope we uh start taking that

[2:37:08] seriously. One

[2:37:09] >> Thank you, council member. You need to

[2:37:11] wrap up one last sentence, please.

[2:37:14] >> I wish our budget included the marina.

[2:37:18] It goes out went out to 20. We need to

[2:37:20] close in one sentence

[2:37:21] >> and it should have gone to 2032.

[2:37:24] >> Thank you.

[2:37:25] All right, Council Member

[2:37:28] Oxiger.

[2:37:31] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um [clears throat]

[2:37:34] we had a lot going on our plates this uh

[2:37:37] last uh week and uh last weekend the

[2:37:43] inauguration of the light rail uh

[2:37:47] $2.5 billion

[2:37:51] asset that's now at our eastern door and

[2:37:55] uh I was quite encouraged that I took

[2:37:58] the inaugural train from

[2:38:02] uh federal way back to the college

[2:38:04] station here. And it was interesting as

[2:38:07] we were getting off, now this is the

[2:38:09] inaugural train, right? As we were

[2:38:11] getting off, there were people

[2:38:13] waiting to get on with their luggage.

[2:38:15] They were going to the airport.

[2:38:17] >> Wow.

[2:38:18] >> I mean, it's like they must have they

[2:38:20] must have, you know, been online saying,

[2:38:22] "Can I take this train?" You know, I

[2:38:25] think it's going to have a huge impact.

[2:38:28] Um, hence, you know, I've made the

[2:38:30] request in the past that we really

[2:38:34] accelerate the our last mile uh

[2:38:37] considerations and also thank you for

[2:38:40] the the references to, you know, our uh

[2:38:43] economic development of the area up

[2:38:45] there. The transportation or oriented

[2:38:48] development is going to be very

[2:38:49] important. Uh anyway, it was it was a

[2:38:53] great event. started out at like seven

[2:38:55] o'clock in the morning because I had

[2:38:56] some

[2:38:58] other uh duties I was having to do with

[2:39:00] regard to it. But and then we

[2:39:04] got home, no longer got no sooner got

[2:39:06] home and then had to turn around around

[2:39:08] and come right back for the tree

[2:39:10] lighting down at the or the Yeah, the

[2:39:12] holiday tree lighting at the marina

[2:39:15] which uh was excited to see the number

[2:39:18] of people that that came out and uh it

[2:39:22] looks like it, you know, is has the

[2:39:24] potential of being, you know, an even

[2:39:26] bigger and better celebration than we've

[2:39:28] had at Big Catch Plaza. So, I was glad

[2:39:32] to see that. I will add that coming up

[2:39:36] Saturday night 5:00 pm down in Roondo,

[2:39:40] uh they are reviving their tradition.

[2:39:42] We'll say reigniting their tradition,

[2:39:44] >> reignite

[2:39:46] >> of uh an annual bonfire. Uh

[2:39:50] it actually coincided with the uh Argusy

[2:39:55] Christmas ship which because of COVID

[2:39:58] has for the last few years not been

[2:40:00] coming uh coming out onto Puget Sound

[2:40:04] although this year they are doing

[2:40:05] something in Tacoma. So hopefully we can

[2:40:08] get that back. But it's again it's a

[2:40:10] celebration of the Redondo community and

[2:40:13] the the uh whole south end. So that's at

[2:40:16] five o'clock

[2:40:18] on Saturday and I know that several

[2:40:20] council members have indicated they

[2:40:21] would be there and

[2:40:24] other than that uh

[2:40:29] happy holidays and also to the mayor and

[2:40:33] to former mayor uh

[2:40:36] Mahoney uh thank you for your service

[2:40:39] and

[2:40:42] on we go.

[2:40:44] >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very

[2:40:45] much. Moving on to Deputy Mayor

[2:40:48] Steinmets next.

[2:40:51] >> Okay. Boy, it's gonna sound very very

[2:40:54] familiar because there are a lot of

[2:40:57] events going on. I I also was at the

[2:40:59] light rail uh celebration starting in

[2:41:01] Federal Way. Took the train up here uh

[2:41:03] to the Kent De Mo station and um did and

[2:41:08] was part of the celebration up there. It

[2:41:09] was wonderful. Uh nice to see everybody

[2:41:14] is involved in that. From there, I went

[2:41:16] to the De Moines Historical Society,

[2:41:17] which is having an open house uh on

[2:41:20] Saturday afternoon. Um it's a great

[2:41:23] little place. If you've ever seen it, I

[2:41:24] would encourage people to do it uh and

[2:41:27] just go take in a lot of the things that

[2:41:30] they have, but it's really nice. Uh the

[2:41:32] tree lighting again was Saturday night.

[2:41:35] That was a wonderful thing uh to do and

[2:41:38] it was a big success. U more people than

[2:41:42] I think we've ever had a big big big

[2:41:44] tree big catch plaza and you know nobody

[2:41:48] was uh stepping off the curb into

[2:41:50] traffic either which is which is a

[2:41:52] really good thing. So I think that has

[2:41:53] great potential uh at this point. Um and

[2:42:00] you know I was at the cab meeting uh the

[2:42:03] town hall meeting of course I'm here

[2:42:05] tonight. Don't get a night off. I think

[2:42:07] I thought things might slow down after

[2:42:09] the election.

[2:42:11] I still go go but it's fine. Uh the

[2:42:14] Roondo bonfire I got an invitation to as

[2:42:17] well and uh you know if the weather gods

[2:42:21] cooperate

[2:42:22] uh we'll see you there and um you know

[2:42:25] previously I was at the Sound Cities

[2:42:28] Association that honored Mayor Buckton

[2:42:31] uh as the outgoing president of Sound

[2:42:33] Cities Association and I just want to

[2:42:35] say to both you and uh Matt Mahoney that

[2:42:39] I'm really going to miss both you really

[2:42:42] appreciate getting to know you I know

[2:42:44] they continue to be friends, but

[2:42:47] you've been a huge asset here. I

[2:42:49] appreciate

[2:42:50] >> Thank you.

[2:42:52] Thank you. Well,

[2:42:57] Matt, I'm going to turn it to you and

[2:42:59] call you Matt because you've been my

[2:43:02] friend.

[2:43:02] >> That's fine. Thank you, Mayor Tracy.

[2:43:06] >> Um, I'm gonna exercise a little bit of

[2:43:09] privilege here as I exit um eight years.

[2:43:12] I'm gonna a little bit longer than the

[2:43:14] four minutes. I hope that's okay. And

[2:43:17] >> yes,

[2:43:18] >> it is.

[2:43:19] >> Uh this was an eight-year journey,

[2:43:20] actually a nine when you count the

[2:43:22] campaign and then of course being

[2:43:24] involved in the community several years

[2:43:25] before that. I want you to know it's

[2:43:28] been a very tough and tall order to move

[2:43:30] this city forward. During my time on

[2:43:33] council, we went through some of the ve

[2:43:34] a very tough times. We endured co

[2:43:37] leadership changes trying to pass a bond

[2:43:41] that I think is going to change the city

[2:43:43] um in great ways severe inflation and

[2:43:47] unfortunately difficulty with some

[2:43:49] council members pertaining to domestic

[2:43:51] abuse, verbal abuse of staff, violations

[2:43:54] concerning conflict of interest, and

[2:43:56] while we continually battled media

[2:43:59] channels that misinformed our residents.

[2:44:03] I've been pondering the words to say for

[2:44:04] some time. So when I attended the town

[2:44:07] hall a couple nights ago and like many

[2:44:10] of the events I attended over the past

[2:44:13] 12 years of various forums and

[2:44:15] neighborhood meetings, the same three

[2:44:17] things are always the priorities. Public

[2:44:20] safety, development of the downtown and

[2:44:22] the wateride and fiscal sustainability.

[2:44:26] I keep hearing it time and time again

[2:44:28] that we should listen to the residents.

[2:44:30] And the funny thing is that's exactly

[2:44:34] what the majority of the council has

[2:44:35] been doing for many years.

[2:44:37] Every action we have taken has been

[2:44:40] predicated on these very ass for

[2:44:43] decades. The city has studied the marina and various aspects

[2:44:49] of future planning for the city and the

[2:44:51] results continue to be quite frankly the

[2:44:53] same. New studies are consistently

[2:44:55] requested and I'm not saying they're not

[2:44:57] valid to do and the reports are and will

[2:45:00] be pretty much the same as what we

[2:45:02] continue. What's missing and our has

[2:45:05] been missing is taking action.

[2:45:09] How long do we all really want to just

[2:45:11] talk about it? So in the past 8 to 10

[2:45:14] years, I'm proud of what we've pushed in

[2:45:16] action because for decades, we've made a

[2:45:20] tremendous amount of progress over the

[2:45:21] last decade that we've been involved and

[2:45:24] I'm very I think we've succeeded in what

[2:45:26] we can do. Much may be said of my time

[2:45:30] on council and so be it. I have never

[2:45:33] cared about getting credit and I've

[2:45:36] always been welcome to take the blame. I

[2:45:39] only cared about breaking the decades

[2:45:41] old cycle of doing the same thing and

[2:45:45] getting nowhere. From my heart, I can

[2:45:47] tell you this. I've never shir from my

[2:45:50] responsibilities to do what needed to be

[2:45:52] done to move this city forward.

[2:45:55] Getting the bond passed will finally

[2:45:57] break the city free and away from the

[2:45:59] paralysis by announce that has plagued

[2:46:01] our community.

[2:46:03] The support we provided for our business

[2:46:05] in times of emergency COVID and other

[2:46:08] situations

[2:46:10] I believe saved many of them.

[2:46:17] Changing leadership at the city manager

[2:46:19] level was one of the toughest things I

[2:46:20] have ever done. In truth, I'm incredibly

[2:46:24] happy with the current leadership, but I

[2:46:27] also want to acknowledge the hard work

[2:46:28] of the past under difficult

[2:46:30] circumstances.

[2:46:32] Personally, leading this change came at

[2:46:34] a at a cost greater to me personally

[2:46:37] than anyone but myself will ever know.

[2:46:40] I am okay with that. I really am. The

[2:46:44] challenge of COVID and the severe

[2:46:46] inflation are real despite the fact that

[2:46:48] so many deny them. The fact that our

[2:46:50] costs have gone up 25% and our revenue

[2:46:52] may be three to four uh in the past five

[2:46:56] years alone minus any efforts we've made

[2:46:58] to close the gap is staggering for the

[2:47:01] city's better It's a staggering impact

[2:47:04] to try to better better the community.

[2:47:06] The sad thing is even on this day is

[2:47:10] some have never acknowledged the fact

[2:47:12] and that should be concerning. Yet

[2:47:14] through all this it was an honor to

[2:47:17] serve De Moines because I believe in our

[2:47:19] future. I want to thank what I c I'll

[2:47:21] call the most excellent staff a city

[2:47:23] could ever have. As red is as we are

[2:47:25] fortunate to have them. They are highly

[2:47:27] experienced, qualified and ex an

[2:47:30] effective group and worth every penny we

[2:47:32] pay them. I am thrilled about our city

[2:47:34] manager and her team and and her team

[2:47:37] and what they can accomplish if they get

[2:47:39] the support they need to move this city

[2:47:41] forward. Thanks to Katherine. I guess

[2:47:44] we're all going by first names right

[2:47:46] now. I am so glad you are at the helm.

[2:47:49] I've hired some great people in my

[2:47:51] career, but you are one of the best.

[2:47:54] Thanks to Tim, George, and your team as

[2:47:57] well. I don't want to forget the team.

[2:47:59] And so I'm if I'm missing names here, I when I to choose a leader, I also mean

[2:48:04] their team. You brought us through some

[2:48:06] really challenging times and were always

[2:48:08] sound with your advice.

[2:48:11] Um, you know, we had those meetings and

[2:48:13] trying to deal with difficult situations

[2:48:15] and I want you to know that I appreciate

[2:48:17] you more than I think you will ever

[2:48:19] know.

[2:48:20] I also want to say that same thanks to

[2:48:22] AJ and her team.

[2:48:25] Your knowledge and thoughtful demeanor

[2:48:27] resonate excellence, especially as we

[2:48:29] negotiated some pretty heavy actions

[2:48:32] and I just appreciate that. And I want

[2:48:34] to thank Jeff and his team. Your passion

[2:48:36] for finance, which some people might

[2:48:38] think is wrong.

[2:48:40] I don't. I'm just going to say that is

[2:48:43] unsurpassed. and your willingness to go

[2:48:44] ahead with the tough fiscal environment

[2:48:46] and decisions we currently live in is

[2:48:49] deeply appreciated. I want to thank

[2:48:51] Chief Bo and for that matter former

[2:48:54] Chief Thomas and our police department.

[2:48:57] Thank you for keeping our city safe and

[2:48:59] I am deeply sorry I could not do more to

[2:49:01] ensure that our officers are adequately

[2:49:03] supported.

[2:49:04] I fear for our officer safety because of

[2:49:07] the levy failing. I'll be candid.

[2:49:10] I want to thank Mike Sleven and his

[2:49:12] team. Is he still here?

[2:49:14] >> Oh gosh. Okay. Well, he better listen to

[2:49:16] this later. I really appreciate your

[2:49:18] expertise in the field of public works.

[2:49:21] Project initiation and transportation.

[2:49:23] Without your help, I fear the city would

[2:49:26] have spent the next dec decade swirling

[2:49:28] in the same conversation we just

[2:49:30] finished battling through. Your

[2:49:32] oversight of the marina, Roondo, and the

[2:49:34] Veterans Memorial on the north end of

[2:49:36] town will change the city's course

[2:49:38] forever. You know it and I know it. And

[2:49:41] by the way, he can never retire.

[2:49:44] [laughter]

[2:49:45] I'm sure that other staff leadership

[2:49:48] would concur. And I want to thank

[2:49:50] Rebecca. Um, you might not know this,

[2:49:53] but the reason I went on went and ran

[2:49:56] for city council was because I I

[2:49:58] improved the home and I went through an

[2:50:00] horrible experience with the permit

[2:50:02] center and I electricians and stuff. I'd

[2:50:05] call them up and once they found out it

[2:50:07] was De Moines, they didn't want to work

[2:50:08] here. I think that you're going to

[2:50:11] change that dynamic and I'm going to see

[2:50:13] our ne not only our city improve but our

[2:50:15] neighborhoods as well and it gives me

[2:50:18] peace knowing that you're you're there.

[2:50:21] I've seen the level of expertise and

[2:50:23] experience you possess and the level of

[2:50:26] how you consider customer service to be

[2:50:28] and I want to just say thank you. Um

[2:50:30] she's not here. Judge Leone and her

[2:50:32] staff, you have a they had a difficult

[2:50:34] job to do as well. And her creative ways

[2:50:38] to adjudicate

[2:50:40] um the community in a fair and equitable

[2:50:43] ways is just been um amazing.

[2:50:48] And I want to thank Tara and the city

[2:50:50] clerk group, Sarah, and every and and

[2:50:53] everybody there. Uh, and I got to add it

[2:50:56] to that because I've seen running

[2:51:00] meetings and so forth. You guys were

[2:51:01] always there. You always gave me the

[2:51:02] support I needed and I really appreciate

[2:51:04] it. A lot of times you don't get that

[2:51:07] thanks and I'm thanking you today.

[2:51:10] And then lastly on those, I want to

[2:51:13] thank Bonnie and Scott.

[2:51:15] There are simply not enough words that I

[2:51:17] can say that show my appreciation for

[2:51:19] all you do for this city.

[2:51:21] You You truly love the city, both of

[2:51:24] you. And I think he's listening tonight.

[2:51:26] So, hi Scott.

[2:51:28] >> Yeah,

[2:51:30] knee surgery today is your excuse. We're

[2:51:32] going to buy it, right? Um, but if we

[2:51:36] ever get a statue in town, the two of

[2:51:38] you should be the statue. [laughter]

[2:51:41] Yes. I'm sorry. I just believe that. And

[2:51:44] I want to thank um thank all my former

[2:51:46] council members. Uh, I learned so much

[2:51:48] from them. um and as well as the current

[2:51:51] council um and I've watched all of them

[2:51:55] both current and past work so hard for

[2:51:58] the city. For my new members, I got a

[2:52:00] few pieces of advice and you don't have

[2:52:03] to take it, but I sure the hell would if

[2:52:05] I were you. [laughter] I want you to

[2:52:08] know voting no is easy. All right, I

[2:52:11] mean that. I'm going to repeat that.

[2:52:12] Voting no is easy because you can always

[2:52:15] critique those that made the tough

[2:52:17] decisions to move the city forward. But

[2:52:19] I'll tell you what's worse. Taking

[2:52:21] credit later if you voted no. There will

[2:52:24] be times that will scare you, keep you

[2:52:27] up at night, and I'm going to tell you

[2:52:29] that's good because it shows you care.

[2:52:33] Choose your leaders on council wisely.

[2:52:39] Do not come into the office thinking you

[2:52:41] know everything. Be willing to learn.

[2:52:44] The ones that do not do this turn out to

[2:52:46] be the worst to hold these positions.

[2:52:49] When you meet with the city manager, ask

[2:52:51] only one question. How can I help you

[2:52:55] help the city succeed? Your agendas and

[2:52:58] desires can come later.

[2:53:01] Spend the first six months learning from

[2:53:04] staff. It will pay off throughout your

[2:53:05] term. You're going to find out how much

[2:53:08] you really do not know. And I mean it. I

[2:53:11] was It was a humbling experience on my

[2:53:13] own. Accept this fact. Be open to to

[2:53:16] listen and learn. Be prepared that the

[2:53:19] speed of government is never fast

[2:53:21] enough. As an impatient, business-minded

[2:53:24] pe person, and I know both of you are,

[2:53:27] you'll find that to be true. Be wary of

[2:53:30] social media, blogs, and what I call the

[2:53:33] vocal minority. Often they exclude key

[2:53:35] facts, perpetuate ignorance, and mislead

[2:53:38] our residents.

[2:53:41] Remember, when ignorance leads an agenda

[2:53:43] and that the message gets communicated

[2:53:45] to the public, the result is nothing

[2:53:47] more than calculated stupidity within

[2:53:49] our st our township.

[2:53:52] Facebook pages and blogs are full of

[2:53:54] this. Unfortunately,

[2:53:57] come prepared for your meetings.

[2:54:00] Set a regimen to review the packet at a

[2:54:02] high level on Friday. Study the packet

[2:54:04] when you can on the weekend. Ask

[2:54:05] questions as needed and study the

[2:54:07] sections again with the highest priority

[2:54:10] through the week as you prepare for

[2:54:11] Thursday's meeting. If you wait till

[2:54:13] Wednesday night and are not prepared, it

[2:54:16] will show.

[2:54:18] Counter nonsense in a public forum. You

[2:54:20] will hear hear it. Counter it with fact.

[2:54:24] Don't let what I call waxing idiotic

[2:54:26] profail prevail.

[2:54:29] There will be three or four challenging

[2:54:31] decisions in your term of four to eight

[2:54:34] years. There's other decisions, but

[2:54:36] there's really going to be three or four

[2:54:38] pivotable moments that in that time you

[2:54:40] will deal with, right? You will know

[2:54:43] what those are because you will feel the

[2:54:45] pressure unlike any other times. Be

[2:54:47] strong. Listen to all voices. Vote for

[2:54:50] what is best. Stand your ground and live

[2:54:52] with it.

[2:54:54] Never vote to keep your job

[2:54:57] or reelection. Avoid pressure. Avoid

[2:55:00] conflict. Vote for what is right. And if

[2:55:03] you don't do that, if you don't want to

[2:55:05] do those things, resign.

[2:55:08] Always, and I mean always, use this last

[2:55:11] filter in any decision you make with

[2:55:13] this question.

[2:55:15] Is it the best thing for De Moines

[2:55:17] regardless of the opposition and

[2:55:19] adversity?

[2:55:22] Now, [clears throat] this is what I read

[2:55:25] the first night of the of the day from

[2:55:27] the deis. And I'm going to close with

[2:55:30] this. It was from the comprehensive plan

[2:55:32] in 1962.

[2:55:35] Like all other cities, De Moines has its

[2:55:38] own assortment of land problems, some of

[2:55:40] them beyond its control. One mile north

[2:55:43] of De Moines is a large international

[2:55:44] airport. Steadily increasing air traffic

[2:55:47] flying at low altitudes creates a

[2:55:49] nuisance and a hazard to property in and

[2:55:51] near the approach zones of this large

[2:55:53] majority. Plans to install a second

[2:55:56] major runway paralleling the existing

[2:55:58] runway will further increase its

[2:56:00] nuisance and hazard hazard effects. The

[2:56:04] city is bordered and traversed by state

[2:56:06] highways.

[2:56:07] Traffic counts on these highways and on

[2:56:10] its arterial streets indicate that daily

[2:56:12] volumes of traffic is steadily

[2:56:14] increasing and will will and will

[2:56:16] continue to increase. The downtown

[2:56:18] district of De Moines is strung out

[2:56:20] along an arterious arterial street. It

[2:56:23] lacks unity and it lacks off- streetet

[2:56:25] parking. A recent survey made by the

[2:56:28] JC's reveals the fact that many of the

[2:56:30] commercial structures can be classified

[2:56:32] as old and needing repair or

[2:56:34] replacement. A survey made February of

[2:56:38] 1962 analyzing assess value of the land

[2:56:41] and buildings in the downtown area

[2:56:43] indicate on the several parcels of land

[2:56:46] and the land itself it the land itself

[2:56:49] is worth more than the commercial

[2:56:50] structures on it and the city needs

[2:56:52] sidewalks.

[2:56:56] So for decades,

[2:56:58] right,

[2:57:00] we've been swirling and when I came on

[2:57:03] it's like let's change that. Damn it.

[2:57:05] And I think we have to some degree,

[2:57:08] right? It's one of the biggest

[2:57:09] accomplishments.

[2:57:12] So, I got to ask the residents, do you

[2:57:14] really want the change you call for? Are

[2:57:16] you ready for the change that comes with

[2:57:18] it? Are you willing to stand the heat of

[2:57:20] change? I close with this thought. At

[2:57:23] the town hall on Tuesday, there was an

[2:57:25] exercise using Wordscape. We used a QR

[2:57:28] code and texted one-word entries on what

[2:57:31] each of us viewed of the city currently.

[2:57:34] The words danced around the screen and

[2:57:36] the and and the most common words

[2:57:38] growing in size. At the end, the word

[2:57:40] with the most entries and the largest

[2:57:42] was potential.

[2:57:44] Both former mayor Pina and I have always

[2:57:46] been frustrated by this word because for

[2:57:48] decades that perception has been the

[2:57:50] same. My frustration

[2:57:53] to explain this is simple. It's because

[2:57:56] people have experienced success are not

[2:57:58] satisfied with the word potential.

[2:58:01] Instead, what they do is realize it.

[2:58:04] I believe in my time here I have done my

[2:58:06] best to move the city forward and

[2:58:08] realize some of that change and now I

[2:58:11] leave the charge to you on the deis and

[2:58:13] you the residents to leave potential

[2:58:15] island

[2:58:17] where we've been maroon for so long and

[2:58:21] shed the nimiism and support needed

[2:58:23] change and realize that we can be a

[2:58:26] better de moines thank

[2:58:31] » [applause]

[2:58:37] » Well said. [applause]

[2:58:43] Well said.

[2:58:45] This is the kind of thing that always

[2:58:47] has made me feel a little bit jealous.

[2:58:49] He's so able to come forward with clear

[2:58:54] thoughts, clearly articulated,

[2:58:57] convincing,

[2:58:59] passionate, moving. I feel moved by

[2:59:02] that. And Matt's always had a gift and

[2:59:05] been able to do that. Uh, I'm not going

[2:59:09] to be as eloquent.

[2:59:11] I'll say this. Uh, in closing, how do I

[2:59:15] even sum up my thoughts about this

[2:59:17] experience besides my faith and my

[2:59:20] family? Serving as mayor of this city

[2:59:23] has been the greatest pleasure of my

[2:59:25] life.

[2:59:27] I've met and worked with the most

[2:59:29] magnificent people. This community has

[2:59:32] been sacrificial and passionate. And

[2:59:35] some of you have come I have come to

[2:59:37] love personally and deeply.

[2:59:41] His staff has been innovative,

[2:59:44] hardworking.

[2:59:46] I can't see.

[2:59:49] Innovative, hardworking, and responsive.

[2:59:53] And some of you, I have come to learn

[2:59:56] love personally and deeply.

[2:59:59] I appreciate this council.

[3:00:02] This is a hard job and pays little. And

[3:00:04] everyone up here, everyone has

[3:00:07] sacrificed more than anyone can truly

[3:00:09] know in order to be here to serve.

[3:00:12] Everyone.

[3:00:13] And some of you I've come to love

[3:00:16] personally and very deeply.

[3:00:20] I love De Moine and I plan on staying

[3:00:23] involved and serving this community for

[3:00:25] a long time, but I will miss this and

[3:00:28] I'll miss working with you in this way.

[3:00:32] I would like to close with a prayer.

[3:00:37] Lord, bless this community with

[3:00:39] thankfulness.

[3:00:41] Bless this staff and departments with

[3:00:44] energy and hope. And bless this

[3:00:47] leadership with wisdom and then the

[3:00:51] courage to carry it out. Dang it.

[3:00:54] Lord, you know in Jesus name. Amen.

[3:01:03] » [applause]

[3:01:07] » Oh my gosh. [applause]

[3:01:09] Thank you.

[3:01:14] Well, this concludes our meeting. The

[3:01:17] next meeting will be January 8th, 2026,

[3:01:20] a city council business meeting. And

[3:01:22] please remember to pick up all your

[3:01:24] cookies on [laughter]

[3:01:26] on the way out. Council member Mahoney,

[3:01:29] do we have a motion?

[3:01:31] >> Move to get the hell out of here one

[3:01:32] last time.

[3:01:34] >> Do I have a second?

[3:01:35] >> Second.

[3:01:36] with Deputy Mayor Stements. Well,

[3:01:38] that is a wrap.

[3:01:40] >> With this meeting, I adjourn.

[3:01:43] [applause]

[3:01:45] Thank you to all of you.

[3:01:50] » Okay.

Regular Meeting - 11 Dec 2025

Transcript