[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.