[0:44] Uh

[0:47] now I recording in progress.

[0:51] Now I call to order the Shoreline City Council

[0:56] 17, 2026, will you please

[1:00] join the council for the flag salute.

[1:05] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United

[1:08] States of America to the republic for which it

[1:12] stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty

[1:15] and justice

[1:19] Thank you. Well, the clerk please call the roll.

[1:23] Mayor Robertson, Deputy Mayor Pobee

[1:27] Councilmember Snyder. Here

[1:30] Councilmember Roberts Councilmember Ademasu present.

[1:35] Councilmember Mark present Councilmember Scully present.

[1:39] Is there a motion to excuse That are

[1:43] missing members. I move to excuse

[1:47] Mayor Robertson and Deputy Mayor Pobee for personal reasons. Second.

[1:51] Thank you. Uh, if there are no objections, the

[1:54] motion shall pass by unanimous consent.

[1:59] Our first item on the agenda, the first item

[2:03] is approval of tonight's agenda Are there any objections

[2:06] or comments? Seeing none, the agenda

[2:09] is adopted by unanimous consent

[2:12] Next is a report from the acting city

[2:16] manager, Mr. Branstetter. Good evening, counsel.

[2:20] I have a few updates to share this statement. First, here's a quick update

[2:23] on our community emergency response team, also

[2:27] known as CERT. The October Cert basics course is building

[2:31] up fast. There are only a few spots left. This

[2:34] free 3 day course is open to Shoreline community members and city

[2:38] staff. Registration is required so if you're interested, please sign up using

[2:42] the QR code on your screen. We've had a great response to this training

[2:46] and staff is already looking into offering another cert course

[2:50] in late 26 or early 27. There's another

[2:53] free preparedness opportunity coming up in January, the

[2:57] disaster preparedness and survival course will teach more hands-on skills

[3:01] for getting ready for responding to and recovering from emergencies.

[3:05] Earlier this month, Shoreline

[3:09] hosted a special pickleball event to celebrate National Pickleball Day

[3:13] partnering with diversity and inclusion in pickleball. Over

[3:17] 150 people joined throughout the day, and more than 20 volunteers

[3:21] coaches, and helpers made the event possible. We also gave out

[3:24] over 35 donated paddles for participants

[3:28] to take home. The event was free and brought together players of all

[3:32] ages, backgrounds and experience levels. I'd like to thank recreation

[3:35] supervisor Angie Rance and

[3:39] recreation specialist Mary Anne Johnson for helping bring together this partnership

[3:43] to Shoreline, as well as Sue Goodwin and all the DIIAP volunteers who made this day

[3:47] a great success. The event is a great example

[3:51] of equity in action through recreation. It removed, excuse me

[3:55] it removed barriers and created a welcoming space for everyone where everyone

[3:56] could join in.

[4:01] At Celebrate Shoreline this past

[4:05] weekend, staff continued our community education around the new roundabouts at

[4:09] the 140 5th Street Interchange, as you can see in this photo, some

[4:13] of our young residents really enjoyed testing the roundabout layout

[4:17] with model cars. It turned out to be a great way to bring families over to our table.

[4:21] While kids tried out the roadway, parents had the opportunity

[4:25] to ask staff questions about lane choices yielding, and

[4:28] how to safely navigate the new interchange. These kinds

[4:33] of hands-on conversations are especially helpful as drivers get used to the

[4:36] new roadway and we'll continue looking for opportunities

[4:39] to make this transition easier.

[4:44] Looking ahead, are our last energized shoreline workshop

[4:47] of 2026 is tomorrow evening, August 18th, from 6:30

[4:51] to 7:30 at City Hall. Residents can learn about heat pump technology.

[4:54] Ways to save energy. Available rebates

[4:58] and financing and incentives that could save them up to $6000 on a qualifying

[5:02] heat pump. The workshop is available in person and online.

[5:06] If you're coming in person, you can register at the door

[5:09] For more information or to register, please

[5:13] visit shorelinewah.gov/goelectric.

[5:17] We have two shoreline walk events happening this week. Join our

[5:21] walk leaders on Tuesday for the Meridian Trail

[5:24] Meridian Park loop walk and Saturday for the Lake Ballinger

[5:28] Interurban Trail Walk. These guided walks are a great

[5:32] way to explore shorelines neighborhoods, parks, and community

[5:36] destinations. To learn more or to sign up for a walk, visit

[5:39] shorelinewah.gov/shorelinewalks

[5:43] And finally I have just a few public reminders to share

[5:47] Counsel will be on break the rest of the summer, so the next city council meeting will take

[5:48] place on Monday

[5:52] September 14th at 7 p.m. here in the council chambers. The planning

[5:55] commission will meet on Thursday, September 3rd, also in the

[5:59] city council chambers at 7 p.m. And the parks, recreation

[6:03] and Cultural services tree board's next meeting is Thursday

[6:06] September 24th at 7 p.m. in conference

[6:10] room 303 at City Hall. Meeting details, agenda

[6:13] and additional information can be found

[6:17] at shorelinewah.gov/calendar. This concludes the city manager's report.

[6:21] Thank you, Mr. Branstadter. Uh, are there

[6:24] any council reports? This evening.

[6:29] Councilmember Ademasu.

[6:32] Thank you. I I

[6:36] attended Washington's water future, virtual

[6:39] input session and

[6:42] local governments. You also can make

[6:46] public comment on Department of Ecology's website through

[6:50] August 31st with your comments on our water future. Thank you.

[6:58] Seeing no other hands indicating that

[7:01] for a council report, next on the agenda is

[7:05] public comment. This is the opportunity for members

[7:09] of the public to address the city council on agenda items or

[7:13] other matter pertaining to city business for a 3 minutes or less, depending on

[7:16] the number of people wishing to speak. The total public

[7:20] comment period will be no more than 30 minutes if more than 10 people

[7:24] are assigned, are assigned up to speak. Each speaker will be allocated 2 minutes.

[7:28] Please note there is also an opportunity to speak after

[7:31] agenda item 8A this evening. Action

[7:35] of resolution number 567. Miss Hardy, how

[7:37] many individuals have signed up to speak. I have

[7:41] 6 speakers for general comment.

[7:45] Uh, thank you. That means each speaker will get 3 minutes.

[7:48] Um, before we begin, I'd like to ask our audience to

[7:52] refrain from clapping, booing, or other outbursts. We want

[7:56] to make sure every speaker feels safe and respected while sharing

[8:00] their perspective regardless of whether the room agrees with them.

[8:03] Thank you for helping us keep this space neutral

[8:07] productive, and welcoming. The clerk will call on

[8:10] each person in-person speakers first and remote

[8:14] speakers second when it is your turn, please state your name, city, residence, and

[8:18] any organization represented. Please be advised that your testimony is being recarded.

[8:22] Ms. Hardy, could you please call the first speaker. For

[8:26] a general comment, our first speakers are

[8:29] Violet Kay, Amber, and Bonnie Berry.

[8:34] You'll speak at this podium here.

[8:37] Thank you.

[8:42] Testing, OK. Hello, I'm

[8:45] Violet Kawaguchi. I am the executive director of

[8:49] the Kawaguchi O'Connor Initiative. We are a Washington state 501c3

[8:53] that helps transgender individuals flee legislatively hostile states

[8:57] and settle here in Washington. I would like to thank the

[9:00] council for taking a stance on trans rights

[9:04] and that trans people should be included in the city

[9:08] of Shoreline. Brian Haywood's initiatives and the people who support them

[9:11] are dangerous. One of the people that, Brian

[9:15] Haywood strongly associates with, is named Ary Hoffman, and she has been

[9:18] he has been known to go into local parks to

[9:22] intimidate people who are advocates for

[9:26] trans rights or just people in general. These include parts of children

[9:30] at them. These are not people that represent the views of

[9:33] the shoreline that I live in, and I thank

[9:37] the council for sticking up for its trans constituents.

[9:41] But, uh, yeah. Thank

[9:45] you. Uh, is it correct you live in Shoreline? Yeah, I live

[9:48] uh, thank you. Thank you very much.

[9:52] Hello. Welcome. Uh

[9:55] hi, I'm Ember. I live in

[9:59] the Ballard area, um, I fled here to

[10:02] like this to Washington, like 3

[10:06] years ago, fleeing the fleeing

[10:09] the absolute hate of

[10:12] like anti-trans legislation and if

[10:16] if I return, I will likely

[10:19] be arrested and sent to jail

[10:23] for fucking sorry, excuse me. Um, for nothing

[10:26] and the official policy of the

[10:29] US prison system is literally

[10:33] to forcefully de-transition

[10:36] anyone they have in their custody, the

[10:39] federal prison system, um, and that's

[10:44] And just being arrested for using

[10:47] Just the bathroom for 5 years being arrested

[10:50] for 5 years, that's just, you can, and

[10:54] then you can put it together

[10:57] I, the first thing that they ever did

[11:00] in my home state of Utah to chip

[11:03] away at our rights was

[11:07] was to ban trans people from sports

[11:12] and don't even give them an inch. Uh

[11:15] fortify Washington.

[11:19] Support resolution 567.

[11:23] Thank you.

[11:27] Bonnie Berry, Kathleen Russell, then Janelle Kimmerly.

[11:30] Welcome. Hi, Bonnie

[11:34] Berry Shoreline. I'm going to do my best to read this off my phone.

[11:37] Shoot, OK, um, I wanted to

[11:40] talk about um the

[11:45] Design engineering contract for Westminster sidewalks and

[11:48] just remind you of some comments that have

[11:51] So in May of 2021

[11:55] um, Deputy, um, Keith Scully agreed

[11:59] that flexibility in sidewalk design can be

[12:02] useful preserving mature trees. February 2022

[12:06] council members acknowledged the difficulty of

[12:10] balancing the community's desires with the goal of making shoreline walkable

[12:13] safe, and accessible. accessible to all

[12:17] providing opportunities to reduce impacts to climate change

[12:20] through preservation of trees.

[12:23] September 2023, Councilmember Mork

[12:27] stated trees are an asset that increase

[12:30] in value the bigger they are, and since then, the city

[12:34] now has an inventory of the street trees with

[12:37] street valuations requested on all public works projects.

[12:42] March 2024, Councilmember

[12:46] Scully stated that he wants to make sure existing mature trees are included in

[12:49] the balance of roadway projects as proposed

[12:53] to prioritizeizing wider sidewalks.

[12:56] And uh Mayor Roberts at the time stated his support

[13:00] for tree replacement in capital projects.

[13:03] April 2024, Councilmember Adam Masu

[13:07] questioned whether Sidewalk widths can be narrowed

[13:10] to preserve trees in general and councilmember

[13:13] Pobee stated that we have an opportunity and

[13:17] a responsibility to save trees for generations to come.

[13:22] June 2024 councilmember Po

[13:25] Pobee expressed that trees are natural assets

[13:29] and sidewalks are just capitalized assets that belong to the community.

[13:33] And just last week

[13:36] councilmember Ademasu and

[13:40] Mork commented about public street trees to be removed along

[13:43] North 175th corridor for the phase phase

[13:47] 1 renovation without a 1 to

[13:50] 1 tree replacement. This conversation has been going on

[13:54] since 2021 and yet limited progress has been

[13:57] made on retaining trees at public work projects

[14:00] Westminster Way. is an opportunity

[14:04] for counsel to approve the design engineering

[14:07] contract that actually demonstrates this can be done.

[14:12] Thank you.

[14:15] Welcome. Hello counsel

[14:19] Janelle Kemmerling, resident of Shoreline.

[14:23] It's apparent from reading ongoing reports

[14:26] and comments regarding Theresa versus

[14:30] sidewalks that some people and organizations continue

[14:33] to focus on their own single interests. You

[14:36] have heard from Doctor Kathleen Wolf that

[14:40] trees and housing can and must coexist.

[14:43] You know from the experience with Washdot

[14:46] on Dayton Avenue that money can be saved

[14:50] by retaining existing trees instead of

[14:53] installing man-made stormwater infrastructure.

[14:57] Remember, the 2018 bond issue was money

[15:01] voted for sidewalks. It was not voted for shared use paths

[15:04] or bike lanes. Save

[15:07] Shoreline trees supports the bike network

[15:10] but must we pour more and more concrete

[15:14] concrete, hardscape into high walls.

[15:18] We must not write off living in a city among trees

[15:22] that benefit all who live in the city by saying it is just a

[15:25] handful of trees, and there are other trees on land outside the city.

[15:29] Taking down a handful here and a

[15:32] handful there equals no trees left in the city.

[15:36] Is it not possible for folks to

[15:39] come together with their combined intellect and a

[15:43] purpose of preserving and increasing shorelines tree canopy

[15:47] as presented in the 2044 comprehensive plan.

[15:50] For the good of everyone. Please.

[15:54] Thank you. Welcome.

[15:57] Thank you.

[16:01] Kathleen Russell, resident of Shoreline on behalf of

[16:04] Safe Shoreline Trees. My comment pertains to the

[16:07] consent calendar item F. I live along

[16:11] Westminster Way north and it has definitely become

[16:14] a speedway. In considering the new sidewalk

[16:18] we all agree it needs to be safe.

[16:21] As we understand bike lanes are an additional budget

[16:24] to what voters approved in 2018

[16:28] At the council workshop on March 7

[16:32] 2026, Kevin Hickinbottom, urban

[16:36] forestry supervisor, provided information about appraising the

[16:39] value of Shoreline's 19,000 street trees.

[16:42] While a citywide evaluation was

[16:46] not deemed efficient, counsel was provided the

[16:49] option of quote. Performing

[16:52] tree appraisals on a project by project basis as

[16:56] part of an arborist report. We ask

[16:59] council to request the reprised value of trees that

[17:03] are slated to be removed along. Westminster

[17:06] Way north as part of the Arborist report and that

[17:10] the valuation be available before the project

[17:13] reaches 30% design. In addition we ask that

[17:16] a Permitrex walkway which would

[17:20] protect the roots and preserve trees be installed along a

[17:23] segment of Westminster Way. The permit

[17:27] track installed along Dayton Avenue North at 155th, eliminated the

[17:30] need for stormwater infrastructure.

[17:34] Which the 91 trees provide.

[17:37] Two questions. First, would a permit

[17:40] track installation along Westminster Way from 150th

[17:44] to 153rd, where most of the tall trees

[17:48] are located, eliminate the need for the 6 ft wide or 6

[17:51] ft tall concrete walls. Second

[17:54] would tree retention eliminate the need for

[17:58] an underground stormwater system. These these

[18:01] savings could possibly fund the Permitrac sidewalk.

[18:05] Thank you for your consideration of these requests

[18:08] Thank you. The last speaker I've signed

[18:11] up is Guinevere Gulsdottir.

[18:22] Hi, thank you. Uh, my name is

[18:25] Guinevere God'sdotterer. I'm a trans woman from Seattle. Um

[18:29] I wanna say that I'm here, uh, in support of

[18:32] the resolution. I think it was 5:09.

[18:35] The one that's under

[18:38] consideration, um.

[18:44] 567 brought forth by a council members Roberts and Mork, I want to thank

[18:47] you for bringing that forth. Um

[18:50] Yeah, there is a trans genocide going

[18:53] on in this country.

[18:57] If I were in Idaho right now, I would be in prison

[19:00] for using the bathroom. Uh, it is a

[19:04] felony on the 2nd offense for a trans person to use the bathroom aligning with their

[19:08] identity in Idaho. Uh, and because of Idaho's three strikes law, if

[19:12] you use the bathroom 4 times, you can go to prison

[19:15] for life. That's just next door

[19:19] Um, so I just want to impress on everyone that

[19:22] the gravity of the situation that we're facing. Um

[19:25] I myself everyday face jeers

[19:29] and taunts on the sidewalk here in Seattle

[19:32] sometimes threats of rape, sometimes threats of

[19:36] grievous bodily harm in Seattle supposedly

[19:39] the wokest city in America

[19:42] um, I was maced just 3 nights ago while waiting at a bus

[19:46] stop, just for waiting at a bus stop while trains in the

[19:49] university district. Um, This

[19:53] cross contains the ashes of my mother. Uh, she

[19:56] just died two weeks ago. She was a proud gay woman.

[20:00] And she drank herself to death because of the

[20:03] decades of oppression that she

[20:06] faced as a cis gay woman. Um

[20:09] and the, uh, The oppression that faces trans

[20:13] women and especially trans women of color is far

[20:16] worse than that. Um, so thank you for

[20:20] your support, and I hope you pass this resolution.

[20:23] Thank you.

[20:28] Uh, is there anyone else

[20:32] ? OK, last one, last one, I think I'm AJ Randall on the shoreline resident.

[20:36] Um, I mean, the first thing I have to say is that spaces can't

[20:41] be neutral. We're, we're talking about neutrality. Don't clap. We've got to make sure

[20:44] everyone feels safe. Um, there is no

[20:48] neutrality between people who want to eliminate you from public life. If you

[20:52] if I said, if I said I wanted you dead and you said

[20:55] I wanted to live, what's the middle ground there? OK.

[20:59] I don't see trans people on this council. I don't know. You know

[21:03] obviously I'm not going to transvestigate anybody here, but nobody's talked about that

[21:07] It's pretty obvious in politics today. I don't know how many of you have trans friends

[21:11] I don't know how many of you have friends who are trans who would actually say, you know

[21:11] what

[21:15] that person's a close friend of mine. I don't know. I'm not gonna say one way or another,

[21:15] but

[21:19] I can tell you I have a lot. My partner's trans. I'm surrounded by trans people

[21:23] and it is very difficult for me to live like day to day knowing what

[21:25] is happening throughout this community. How many are fleeing here from Texas

[21:29] from Utah, from Florida, from everywhere throughout

[21:33] this country and like I have housed two of them in the last 3 years in my home with no

[21:38] support from anybody but myself paying for them from the cash I made from my tech shitty

[21:41] tech bro job out of Seattle, but like nobody, the fact that again

[21:45] like this, we're talking about just stopping

[21:49] these bullshit, um, totally frivolous waste of our time that

[21:52] are, wow, this genocide is happening. Like that is

[21:56] a minimum. I really, again, I'm I'm begging you to figure something out

[22:00] that's more than that. Seattle just passed a bill to allocate

[22:04] funds 3000. Awesome. That's great. That's the a starting point. You want to

[22:08] give that to nonprofits, whatever, I don't know. I think we can build better

[22:11] services for trans people. I think we can help them get their medical care. I think we

[22:11] can

[22:15] figure out housing. Housing is like a big deal. food, stuff like that. We're

[22:19] losing federal benefits for things like SNAP. Like I, I had to go

[22:22] on unemployment like benefits like I haven't been able to get a job after getting fired from

[22:22] a

[22:27] tech job 9 months ago. Like it works for 6 weeks or 2 months. It's nothing. Like

[22:30] trans people have a way more difficult time getting a job than I do as

[22:35] a 15 year tech career. I can go get some shitty job. I can absolutely pay for myself. They

[22:39] can't get Amazon jobs. They get discriminated everywhere. Like if you

[22:43] do not understand how hard it is for trans people, just like they said in communities. That

[22:43] are

[22:47] highly progressive, considered the leftmost places in this country, then

[22:51] you really do not understand the struggle that is actually in these streets, and I'm

[22:55] asking you and begging you to like really focus more on that. So pass this

[22:59] do whatever, um, but we need to go way, way farther, and I hope that people are talking about

[22:59] it

[23:03] especially the people that are running for other offices, because when you run for other

[23:03] offices and

[23:07] you're not solving these major problems, man, it makes me feel like you're, that's what's

[23:07] important to

[23:11] you. So anyway, have a good day y'all. Thank you.

[23:15] Welcome. Um,

[23:20] Lake Buchanan, Meridian Park represent.

[23:24] Trans people in Idaho now face prison time for using the correct bathroom. 1700 trans

[23:28] folks in Kansas woke up one day in February to find out their driver's licenses had been

[23:31] revoked with no warning or notice. The Trump administration is currently

[23:32] trying to

[23:35] force medical providers across the country to turn over private medical information

[23:35] about

[23:39] gender-affirming care and the people receiving it. A naive reading of

[23:43] initiatives 001 and 638 might suggest that they are mild by comparison

[23:47] but they are quite simply the thin end of the wedge, that is

[23:51] the conservative movement's ongoing efforts at trans. Genocide. This is

[23:55] not hyperbole. The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of

[23:55] Genocide

[23:59] defines the term to include causing serious bodily or mental harm

[24:02] to members of the group deliberately inflicting on the group

[24:07] conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

[24:11] and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. We have seen

[24:11] numerous

[24:15] instances of all of these actions attempted and carried out by conservatives over the

[24:15] past

[24:19] 10 or 12 years, to say nothing of the escalation in anti-trans violence at the hands

[24:23] of non-state actors in March, the

[24:26] Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security

[24:29] issued its red flag alert

[24:32] about anti-trans genocide in the United States

[24:36] Brian Haywood and his hateful ilk know that they can't push as hard in

[24:40] Washington as they've pushed in other states. They know that they don't have the support for

[24:40] their

[24:44] real aims, so they feign concern about fairness in youth sports, though I

[24:48] ask what's fair about telling a kid that they can't play with their friends because of

[24:52] how they were born. parental rights, though I must point out that if your child

[24:56] doesn't feel safe telling you who they are, you have fundamentally failed as a

[24:56] parent

[25:00] They don't care about the health or well-being of kids. They only care about hurting

[25:04] trans people. They frame their detractors as predators and groomers. As a

[25:08] trans person, I can assure you trans people do not want your cis kids

[25:11] to become trans. We just want your trans kids to survive

[25:15] Over the last year or two, the Puget Sound region has seen tens

[25:19] of thousands of trans refugees come here fleeing right-wing violence and hate.

[25:23] Seeking some measure of safety in our community because our community

[25:27] is one of the last safe refuges in the country for trans people

[25:31] and as bad as things have been getting in the United States, much of the rest of the

[25:35] world is even worse. The trans community needs all the help and support we can

[25:39] get. It's bad out there, and Brian Haywood and his lot would love nothing more

[25:43] than to make it just as bad here. Do not let them

[25:46] even start because they will not stop with destroying the

[25:50] trans community just as they didn't in 1933.

[25:53] Protect trans kids, pass Resolution 567

[25:57] as amended by Councilmember Roberts. Thank you, Councilmembers Roberts and

[26:01] Mark. And for any of my fellow transgender folks here or listening

[26:05] elsewhere or watching the recording, Dora Richter lived.

[26:08] Thank you. Welcome.

[26:13] Hi, um, I'm here to

[26:16] say support trans people first need your name

[26:20] and state of city of residence. Yes

[26:23] uh, I'm Lou and I'm from Seattle, uh, but I'm

[26:27] speaking here for, I know a lot of trans people

[26:30] in Shoreline and um I've gathered that the

[26:34] culture here is a little more repressive than it is in Seattle

[26:37] especially trans people of color I know

[26:41] here experience like. A lot of racism here

[26:45] uh, transphobia is more prevalent here, and

[26:50] We know that Seattle has a cost of living, like

[26:53] it's quite high to live in Seattle

[26:56] A lot of places around Seattle that where it's cheaper to

[27:01] live is where plenty of people go just

[27:05] because that's affordable for them

[27:08] Um, there is a trans

[27:12] refugee crisis, and it's not just a Seattle thing

[27:16] Trans people don't just live in Seattle, they live here. And the

[27:19] most vocal of us might be from Seattle. Seattle, but In order

[27:22] for you, this culture of

[27:26] like being actually decent with trans, can't just stop

[27:29] at Seattle. Washington as a whole

[27:33] needs to be fortified and feel safe for the trans

[27:37] people leaving all of these states that are

[27:40] against us or

[27:43] Like, I think I'd like um

[27:46] saw a thing about how like

[27:50] trees struggle if there's only like one, but if it's in a forest

[27:53] it can actually thrive. We can't have just like

[27:55] these little specks. where we're safe

[27:59] The more we concentrate our right

[28:02] rights and cultural changes to be

[28:06] good for us, the more we as

[28:09] an entire community survive, and it's very much a survival thing

[28:13] and that's why you hear people being

[28:16] very angry. It is survival. It is life or death for us

[28:20] So please continue, um, thank you for the people who

[28:24] put in, uh, put out this proposal to oppose this.

[28:27] Uh, I know Brian's

[28:30] friend Ari. I've seen her. She's going to

[28:34] be in Redmond with Brian Haywood, and she

[28:37] Or he, he's a de-transitioner, but he takes

[28:40] estrogen, but I will respect he

[28:44] will, um, he's talking with Brian Haywood

[28:47] in Redmond on an anti-trans thing. So,

[28:50] Like Basically

[28:53] these like more mild things are

[28:56] direct friends with the more violent end of this

[29:00] if not just violent themselves, so

[29:03] these things work in tandem, um legislatively

[29:07] even if it seems mild, but out outing people is

[29:10] not mild. Having that in legislation is not that mild

[29:14] but it does go tandem with the people pulling guns. Thank you.

[29:18] Thank you. Is there anyone

[29:22] else here who would like to speak? Thank

[29:26] you. Uh, now I would like to ask for approval of

[29:29] the consent calendar. Is there a motion?

[29:33] I, I move approval of the consent counter. Second.

[29:37] Uh, there's been a motion and a

[29:41] second while the clerk please call the vote. Councilmember

[29:44] Snyder, Councilmember

[29:48] Roberts. Councilmember Ademasu, Councilmember Mork

[29:51] Councilmember Scully. Motion passes 5 to 0.

[29:56] Now we're moving our

[30:01] Uh, item 8A.

[30:11] OK. The next item is

[30:14] action on resolution number 567 opposing

[30:17] Washington state ballot initiative

[30:22] IL 26-638 concerning participation in athletics

[30:25] at K through 12 public

[30:28] schools and Washington State Ballot initiative, IL 26-001.

[30:33] Concerning parental rights relating to their children in

[30:36] public schools. This item was sponsored by

[30:40] council members Mork and myself Jim Hammond will present the staff report.

[30:44] Good evening

[30:48] uh, counsel, I am. Presenting

[30:52] remotely today, so forgive me if I struggle

[30:56] with advancing the slides, uh, but I'm here today to

[31:00] Present briefly on

[31:04] uh resolution 567, which by its

[31:07] terms would um advocate or place this

[31:10] uh Shoreline City Council in opposition to

[31:14] two ballot initiatives that are currently on the ballot scheduled for the

[31:18] November vote, and I am not succeeding in

[31:22] advancing this. I'm very sorry, Kendall, if I can

[31:25] have your help. Um, so first of all, just

[31:28] a background of

[31:31] uh initiative 26 638

[31:35] relates to, uh, high school

[31:38] athletic competitions and it defines the concept

[31:42] of biologically male and requirements

[31:45] for uh a sort of a medical evaluation

[31:48] Uh, next slide.

[31:51] Um, The, the, the

[31:57] uh, articulated supporter of the main support argument is fairness in girls' sports

[32:01] uh, opponents state that the initiative will subject all girls who wish to

[32:05] play sports to these additional evaluations. The second

[32:08] initiative, next slide please.

[32:11] I initiative 26001 and, and this

[32:14] uh

[32:17] It will, would reinstate an

[32:21] earlier initiative that was passed, uh.

[32:24] Initiative 2081. That was later amended by

[32:28] the legislature. The changes here would um

[32:31] Would, uh, essentially allow parents greater

[32:34] access to what is currently

[32:38] confidential information in, in student records

[32:41] and including healthcare records as

[32:45] well. Next slide, please. Supporters

[32:49] argue that parents have a right to know what is being discussed with their children

[32:52] Opponents. I note that not necessarily all

[32:56] students feel safe at home, and

[33:00] the current structure gives students a safe place to talk at

[33:03] high schools, that is to

[33:06] their benefit, um, next slide, please.

[33:10] So there was an initial

[33:13] amendment drafted for the request of council members Roberts

[33:17] and Mork, uh, subsequently, Councilmember Roberts

[33:21] made several proposed amendments that would change

[33:24] the language, shorten it in some cases, certainly, uh, uh.

[33:28] An effective editorial pen, uh, these next

[33:32] 3 slides highlight what those changes would be.

[33:36] And so if you can just go through these

[33:40] three slides slowly, Kendall, uh, this one.

[33:43] The 3rd whereas clause condenses the language and

[33:47] makes it clearer. And finally, Kendall, thank you. The next one.

[33:50] Uh, this one,

[33:54] Just changes the language and given

[33:57] uh that, uh, Mr. uh, Councilmember Roberts wished to put

[34:01] these amendments forward for counsel consideration. Next slide, please.

[34:05] So, I, as staff, we are not

[34:09] able to run for electoral issues such as this take

[34:13] a position ourselves, so are our recommendation is simply that

[34:16] the council consider this proposed resolution

[34:20] and uh and take it from there. Next slide, please.

[34:24] So while we have already heard a comment

[34:27] from members of the public on this issue

[34:31] there is, um, formal structure, a public comment period

[34:34] that would follow now, uh, for any

[34:38] remaining commenters to to speak, and that

[34:41] would procede counsel review and potential action on

[34:45] this. So with that, um, I turn it back to you

[34:48] Councilmember. Thank you, Mr

[34:52] Hammond. Uh, Ms. Hardy, is has anybody signed up for this portion?

[34:55] For public comment. Yes, we have a couple people.

[34:58] Um, our 1st 3 speakers

[35:02] will be Jean Norbert Steele

[35:05] and then Scott Menzies.

[35:14] Is Gene

[35:17] still here?

[35:23] Oh no, Gina is not there.

[35:25] Looks like she. Left.

[35:31] some issues with their stomach

[35:34] OK, we'll start with

[35:38] Norbert I don't. Hello, my name is Norbert Steele of Shoreline

[35:42] Um, obviously this, uh, this resolution's a layup, you

[35:45] should always, uh, you obviously should.

[35:48] As this resolution to

[35:52] oppose the reso the upcoming initiatives that are going to

[35:55] be voted on statewide, I believe. Um, that's

[35:59] a no-brainer. I do want to touch

[36:01] on something that I heard one of the previous speakers

[36:04] say about how they

[36:08] experience a uh uncomfortable but believable amount

[36:12] of discrimination here in Shoreline. I've been coming here for 6

[36:16] months now talking to you guys about all of the things going on in the city

[36:19] um, you know, just. Signs expressing

[36:23] solidarity with our immigrant community, constantly being

[36:26] vandalized around the city, um. I

[36:30] agree with the sentiments of several other speakers

[36:34] that although this resolution that I'm assuming you will all agree

[36:38] to and pass, uh, and thank you, Roberts and Mork for again

[36:41] putting it forward. I

[36:44] It is, you know, again, some bare minimum stuff, right

[36:47] ? Like I expect our city to

[36:51] come out and say this is fucked up and we shouldn't do this. That's like

[36:54] a baseline for me

[36:58] um, realistically, I would like to see the city go much further with this sort of

[37:02] thing and start treating the incidents that are going around

[37:04] right now, both in terms of, you know

[37:08] uh, discrimination against trans people and also the activity that

[37:11] ICE has been displaying in the area. Uh, take this seriously. Uh, as

[37:15] someone else said, these things are the wedge that

[37:19] cracks open basically everything and rots our society

[37:22] I came from Pennsylvania. I came from the Rot. I thought I got out of

[37:26] the rot. I'm watching the rot creep back into where I live now.

[37:29] Please. Pass

[37:33] this resolution and also please

[37:35] continue to push on other agenda items like

[37:39] Getting the King County Sheriff's Department to show up to

[37:43] a hit and run caused by federal officers. Thank you.

[37:47] Thank you. Welcome.

[37:52] Good evening. My name is Scott Menzies, a resident

[37:55] of Shoreline, my organizing project is fortify Washington

[37:59] Presiding Officer Mork and members of the council, thanks for having us today and

[38:04] thanks for taking up this for consideration, council members Mork and Roberts, thank you

[38:07] so much for proposing this.

[38:10] This is What I heard from

[38:14] my trans siblings earlier makes my heart hurt.

[38:16] And I'm I'm

[38:21] P help put this model resolution together and worked with no

[38:24] hate in Washington state.

[38:27] As an ally, I'm here as an ally and I want to see.

[38:31] Them feel as safe.

[38:35] As I feel walking down the street. And I know

[38:38] that I have all of the privileges that make

[38:41] it easy for me to exist.

[38:45] In this place. And

[38:49] Knowing that it's not the case for others, knowing that we have to

[38:52] Field and waste money and time and energy

[38:56] and emotion, resisting what are

[38:59] awful. Horrifying

[39:03] transphobic, homophobic, misogynistic.

[39:08] Initiatives is. It hurts, and it is, it hurts

[39:11] my heart and it is the thin edge of the wedge.

[39:15] As Megan Rapinoe put it in an article, this is not just about

[39:19] This is, it starts with the trans folks

[39:22] and it moves towards constricting

[39:26] the spaces within which women are even allowed to exist in their sports.

[39:30] This is the thin edge of the wedge, and we have to

[39:34] repudiate it in the strongest and most definitive way possible

[39:37] This is why I feel.

[39:40] It's important for our city councils in this state to take

[39:44] this stand. I don't feel us voting is

[39:47] gonna is gonna be what does it or doesn't do it.

[39:50] But I feel like Our city

[39:55] Elected officials whom we elected, who represent us

[39:59] who are close to us because we live in the same

[40:03] place. We want to see you stand with us. And so, I wanna say I'm grateful that you

[40:07] are standing with us on this. I'm here as

[40:10] an ally. I wish I saw more

[40:13] allies, that also kind of hurts my heart. But

[40:17] I know that you will pass this and I

[40:21] am grateful for that much you know, everybody who's here in support of

[40:25] this resolution, please raise your hand just so everybody can see. Great.

[40:30] Thank you. Anybody here for the first time at a city council meeting?

[40:33] Excellent. Woke in shoreline

[40:36] great. Welcome. Thank you so much

[40:40] Thank you so much for your consideration. Um

[40:43] I appreciate you. Thanks. Thank you. Oh, and this

[40:47] is actually some more petition signatures.

[40:50] Thank you. Is there anyone else

[40:54] that signed up to speak at this moment? Yes, Our

[40:57] our last two are Lake Buchanan and then Jamie Lee Blake.

[41:06] Uh, I didn't know how the signups worked, so I've just

[41:09] you know, the same thing I said before, uh, I do

[41:12] want to say thank you, Councilmember Roberts for the amendment because while I was

[41:13] reading through

[41:17] the initial uh version that would those are basically my concerns, and

[41:21] they addressed them, so I'm like, cool, good job, um, but yeah

[41:25] I agree with basically everything everyone has said. This is a no-brainer, and it

[41:28] is basically table stakes like this we need to be looking for

[41:32] more to be doing, um, I have been to a couple of

[41:37] Seattle City Council meetings. I haven't spoken at them because I don't live in Seattle

[41:41] I live in Shoreline, so I am grateful for the opportunity to Speak

[41:45] my mind on this, um, but, uh, keep

[41:48] pushing harder, more this and more. Keep going more

[41:51] do more, go more

[41:55] please It's not as eloquent if I don't write it out ahead of time

[41:58] apparently. Thank you. I agree. Welcome.

[42:03] Good evening. My name is Jamie Lee Blake. I live in Edmonds

[42:08] just over the border to the north of Shoreline, but I spend a lot of time in Shoreline.

[42:11] I came here

[42:14] anyway because IL 26-638 is

[42:18] a statewide measure and it doesn't stop at the county line

[42:21] I'm a transgender woman.

[42:25] I'm also a mom of 3 teenagers, and I've spent 20 years

[42:28] as an engineer, which mostly means I've been paid

[42:32] to read specifications closely and notice what they actually

[42:36] say, instead of what people say they say. So I read this one.

[42:40] It doesn't affect only transgender girls

[42:43] but even if it did. It would be Too much.

[42:47] Under IL 26 638, any student

[42:50] who wants to play a girl's sport has to produce

[42:54] a signed statement from a healthcare provider verifying her sex

[42:58] The anatomy, genetics, or testosterone levels.

[43:02] That means genital inspections for

[43:04] our 110

[43:08] girls playing middle school and high school sports in the state That's

[43:12] The sponsors of the Initiatives number, not mine.

[43:16] Every girl who wants

[43:20] to play, boys don't have to do this to play boys' sports

[43:24] and that doesn't get said as much, and I think we should think

[43:28] about that too, and what that means. Washington has had an inclusive

[43:31] policy since 2007. It's worked for 20

[43:35] years. What's changed isn't the sports, it's the politics.

[43:38] And The doctors note that this initiative requires.

[43:42] will be a burden on

[43:47] All girls trying to play sports especially the

[43:50] most marginalized. With less access to doctors

[43:53] less able to play sports.

[43:57] The girls who get questioned first won't be the

[44:00] trans ones. They will be the CIS

[44:04] ones, the ones that are a head taller than everyone else

[44:07] or have short hair, or just look to wrong

[44:10] to somebody in the stands. The same

[44:16] instinct runs through IL 26001, which would roll back protections the legislator

[44:19] added last year after real families like mine testified about what the

[44:23] original version was doing to their kids.

[44:26] I know a city resolution doesn't change the policy or take

[44:30] anything off the ballot. I'm not confused about that, but

[44:34] when my kid is deciding whether a place is safe.

[44:37] She isn't reading state law. She's looking at what the people

[44:41] in charge were willing to say out loud.

[44:44] So please pass resolution 567, if

[44:48] you pass it, put it where people will actually see it

[44:52] the website, the newsletter, not buried in the minutes. Thank you and

[44:55] thank you again to council members Roberts and Mork for bringing this forward. Thank

[44:55] you.

[44:59] Thank you. Is there anybody else who would

[45:03] like to speak in this public comment period.

[45:07] Hello, uh,

[45:10] Um, my name's Oliver Wolf. I'm from North

[45:14] Seattle, and um. I didn't have

[45:17] a comment written out today, but um. I

[45:21] just wanted to speak against a uh a myth that I

[45:24] haven't really heard challenged yet today. About um

[45:27] Like, This, this

[45:31] initiative kind of presupposes a long standing

[45:34] myth that cisje or that a

[45:37] transgender women have the same

[45:41] physical performance as cisgender men. Which Isn't true

[45:44] for medically transitioning trans women because

[45:47] Uh, cisgender women don't take

[45:51] testosterone blockers and transgender women

[45:54] do usually. Thank you.

[45:58] Hello, I'm, hello, my name's Violel Kawaguchi

[46:02] I'm a shoreline resident. I would also like to

[46:05] point out that people's

[46:09] hormone levels are variable depending on who they are and

[46:12] their racial background, testosterone testing

[46:16] will disproportionately affect cisgender athletes of color because cisgender athletes

[46:20] of color do on occasion have higher testosterone levels than

[46:24] average. We see this in Olympic sports. We see this in sports universally

[46:28] Behind the thin veneer of parental. Concern, there's always an air

[46:31] of racism and just the most

[46:35] vile aspects of our country hidden behind every single

[46:38] thing these people pass or want

[46:41] to pass. The bone density arguments aren't

[46:44] even like the two things that I'm

[46:48] pretty sure the vast majority of what they're harping on is, is trans

[46:52] people may have higher bone density, and we may

[46:56] develop muscle mass that we had before better because of predis

[46:59] or a pre-exposure to testosterone, these are

[47:03] very nebulous things. They are not well defined. The science is not

[47:07] there. This initiative is based on nothing and

[47:10] is purely an excuse to discriminate while giving

[47:14] nebulous actors, unlimited access to your children under the

[47:18] guise of keeping them safe. Anyone who is an advocate for

[47:21] this, anyone who wants this, I would greatly be concerned

[47:25] about even having that person in my like

[47:29] group of people, I assume. associate with because on its front

[47:32] there's nothing about this that even makes any sense to anyone

[47:36] who knows, like a basic amount of anatomy or

[47:40] like science as a trans person, when I started HRT 11 years

[47:42] ago, within months, you want to know what my T levels were

[47:46] ? 17 nanograms per deciliter. That is

[47:49] significantly below the level of a cis woman

[47:53] Like these, their arguments don't make sense. They are not seen out in the science

[47:56] They're not seen out in the performance statistics, one of the most.

[47:59] the largest anti-trans and sports

[48:03] advocates Riley Gaines loves to talk about how a

[48:07] trans person beat her without telling everyone that this trans person didn't

[48:11] win the race, and Riley Gaines was 3rd, so like

[48:15] these people are just losers. They're losers

[48:18] and they want to discriminate against people of color and trans

[48:22] people and people who they perceive as getting something

[48:26] that they didn't earn, but they really earned it.

[48:29] So please do the bare minimum as this gentleman in orange said

[48:33] and passed this resolution and as a trans

[48:36] person of color in shoreline, I will say walking to the

[48:40] one line station right over there. I have had people like yell

[48:44] at me outside of their cars. I've had people yell racial slurs

[48:48] at me, old decrepit man in a Charlie Kirk shirt and a MAGA hat

[48:51] like yelling the teas slur at me. This is like real

[48:55] like people in Seattle are harassed daily for being trans.

[48:58] This needs to stop.

[49:03] Thank you. Is there any other public comment tonight?

[49:08] Seen none, I will close public comment

[49:11] and we'll move to counsel action.

[49:15] Councilmember Roberts, thank you, Presiding Officer

[49:19] Mark. Uh, I move adoption of resolution number

[49:22] 567 with the amendments that I have proposed.

[49:25] Second, Motion

[49:29] in a second. Would you like to speak to your motion, Councilor Roberts.

[49:33] Uh thank you, Councilmember Mork for

[49:36] uh, sponsoring this and getting this on the agenda, um.

[49:40] We have adopted in this council

[49:44] on this dio, multiple resolutions saying that Shoreland needs to be a

[49:47] welcoming space for everyone. We

[49:51] uh, for everyone

[49:54] for LGBTQIA plus individuals specifically

[49:58] uh, this is, I think

[50:01] a continuation of that, those series of resolutions

[50:05] and because we need to be, and

[50:09] we ought to be a place where people feel safe. We want people to live here

[50:12] We want people to feel comfortable uh working here. We want people

[50:16] comfortable going to school here, and that's something that we.

[50:20] As elected leaders of this city ought to continue

[50:23] to push for. As we've heard from public comment, we

[50:27] are not there yet. There are too many

[50:31] people, there are too many people who are facing discrimination in their daily

[50:35] lives. Too many people who face discrimination just existing.

[50:38] Um, that is a problem. We

[50:41] and we have a moral responsibility

[50:44] to say no, that's not what we want, that's not the

[50:47] values that we want to see in in shoreline.

[50:51] Now I know that um we do need to do better.

[50:55] I mean, I, and I think that some of the advocates

[50:58] who are speaking here today, talking about how

[51:02] do we make sure that and how do we provide

[51:05] the resources that people need, so

[51:09] that that is something we ought to sort of, that's something we need to strive for. It's

[51:13] not something on our agenda tonight, but that's something we need to continue

[51:17] to strive for is how do we protect our residents? How do we make sure

[51:21] that our residents get the support they need. And

[51:24] It's hard. It is hard to be a child in

[51:28] This world today. It's especially hard if

[51:31] they are in transitioning

[51:35] have transitioned. It is a scary, it is

[51:38] scary, so individuals who decide and make the

[51:42] decision to transition, that is not an

[51:45] easy decision. That is a tough.

[51:49] Tough, tough. Decision that

[51:53] people have to make. It is if you are.

[51:57] People It is

[52:02] Facing people who do decide to transition

[52:05] sadly faced this additional discrimination.

[52:08] They, uh, um, as I said

[52:12] it's harder, the studies have shown that individuals who

[52:15] a harder time trying to find work.

[52:18] That individuals who are trans.

[52:24] Struggle with lots of things in their daily lives. It's not something

[52:27] people take lightly if they are in

[52:30] transition. And it's our job as a country, we should

[52:35] be letting people live the lives they want to live. If they should not, people should

[52:35] not

[52:39] be discriminated against because of the choices that they

[52:42] make, how they live their lives because individuals

[52:46] Just want to live, they just want to live their lives. They they want to feel, well, say

[52:50] feel protected. They want to be supported by their community.

[52:54] They want to be supported in their schools.

[52:57] These are things that people want. These are basic needs that people

[53:01] uh, people want and. It's sad to

[53:04] see that there are people in this state who want to

[53:08] enshrine discrimination in our laws. As was said

[53:11] uh, the initiative around

[53:14] Sports, it is not the

[53:18] small handful of trans youth who are participating in sports who are going

[53:22] to be affected by it. It is going to be the people who are

[53:25] as was described, uh, as Jamie said

[53:29] correctly, it's the people who are, it's the people

[53:33] women of color who are a head taller, who have a a little bit stronger muscle mass

[53:36] who are seemingly better than everyone

[53:40] else on the field, who they're the ones who are going to be questioned. That's been

[53:44] That's been questioned every time for hundreds of years.

[53:48] Thousands of years. That

[53:52] is really the people who are going to be affected by this

[53:56] because it is invasive, and it is discriminatory that

[54:00] One gender is going to be affected by this, while

[54:04] another gender is not. That is wrong. Clean

[54:07] flat wrong.

[54:10] And then we need to, I mean, the

[54:14] school counselors, the teachers they know how important this is They know how

[54:18] important the schools need to be a safe space for everyone

[54:21] That an ideal world, yes, you should be able to talk

[54:25] to your parents about who you are and what your true

[54:29] identity is. That's important, but schools also are

[54:32] a safe space, need to be a safe space for people. And

[54:36] this law makes the schools not a safe space. It makes it

[54:39] a hostile space that anything that

[54:43] you say can suddenly go right back to a parent. A a

[54:46] parent who may or may not be supportive.

[54:50] A parent who may be willing to throw their

[54:53] child out. We know that and studies show

[54:56] that people are in who are

[55:01] kids who are transitioning, who have transitioned, they're the ones who are

[55:05] more likely, are very likely to be homeless. They're the more likely to

[55:08] run away. If either

[55:12] two unfortunately, 2 homelessness or to some other place. And I think for

[55:16] the people who are, have opened their homes and let

[55:19] people in and recognize and celebrate who they are

[55:23] as individuals and not because of us.

[55:27] So I encouraged and implore my colleagues to

[55:30] support this, um, and I hope that if

[55:33] this passes, that the people of

[55:37] Washington state agree with me and say that this is wrong. These are

[55:41] not Washington values. These are not shoreline values. So, thank you.

[55:44] Councilmember Mark. Thank

[55:49] you, Councilmember Scully. Thanks, and I'll keep this short because this, this is a

[55:52] slam dunk and what's been said tonight is, is all true. So I'm

[55:56] I'm bisexual. My part of the rainbow is fairly safe, but I've got a lot of

[56:01] close friends who are trans, and at age 53, most of my trans friends transitioned a long

[56:04] time ago, and so they have watched the world get progressively brighter, and

[56:04] it's

[56:09] Very unfortunate that they may see the world start to get more dim

[56:12] with initiatives like this. I just want to share

[56:16] 11 life experience. I had the unfortunate life experience of explaining how difficult it

[56:20] was to be trans to someone who later turned out to be a trans man, so I

[56:24] mansplained being trans to a trans man, which is like meta

[56:28] um, but he's a big bearded dude and I found out he

[56:32] was trans when he got really upset at signature gatherers on a ferry for the

[56:36] bathroom band that we, we dealt with years ago, and he said, look, he told me he was trans

[56:36] and he said

[56:40] look, this is Homer S for me. I can't leave the house because if I go into a women's room.

[56:44] room, look at me. There will be screams if I go into

[56:47] a men's room, you know, that's, you

[56:51] know, that that's, that's not where I want to be. It's not safe for me to be there. So

[56:56] I've spent a lot of time talking to folks, not only in Shoreland, but in surrounding

[57:00] communities, and the good news is there is a strong trans community here, and

[57:03] what makes my heart glad is when I meet someone who's trans and the households next to them

[57:03] are

[57:07] all flying pride flags, even though they are not part of that community, they're just

[57:11] showing solidarity. The bad news is there is a lot of misunderstanding about.

[57:15] What these bills are. It's usually posed around safety, which is

[57:19] ridiculous. And what misses the point is, this isn't aimed at

[57:23] adults, right? The first measure is aimed at children. And for

[57:26] me it's especially invidious because it tells a 12 year

[57:30] old girl that her body has to pass inspection, usually by a man

[57:34] before she's allowed to participate. I mean that that's that's like 1,80s

[57:37] 1700s thinking. The other

[57:41] measure about school counselors and and medical professionals. When my

[57:45] daughter was 12, she cut her hair short and started wearing different clothes, and I

[57:45] thought

[57:49] huh, and she told me years later that she had been questioning her gender

[57:52] identity, and she wasn't ready to talk to me about it. That doesn't make me a bad parent,

[57:52] that doesn't mean

[57:56] we have a bad relationship. She just wasn't ready to share with her dad that she was

[57:57] questioning who

[58:00] she was. So no kid should be, should know that there is

[58:04] no safe space, right? There should always be a safe space. All this has been said. Thank

[58:04] you

[58:08] for coming, and I'm actually familiar with the Kawaguchi O'Connor Initiative, and thank

[58:08] you

[58:12] for doing that. It's making a big difference to a lot of people.

[58:16] CouncilmanRadamasu. Thank you

[58:20] Councilmember Mork and Roberts for

[58:24] bringing this resolution. I'm in full support of the resolution

[58:27] and I want to every person that physically

[58:31] came here and Spoke from

[58:34] your heart and

[58:38] touched me greatly, um, So,

[58:43] I just want to reiterate, I oppose

[58:48] the initiative regarding youth participation in

[58:51] athletics. It is wrong to victimize trans youth.

[58:55] And this initiative, as we all know

[58:58] will subject girls who wish to play sports

[59:02] in kindergarten through senior year in high school to

[59:05] the additional medical evaluations. I also oppose

[59:09] the initiative about parental rights is not

[59:12] all students are safe at home, and I believe that all students

[59:16] need safe spaces to talk about private issues that

[59:20] they are dealing with, and I want to surround everyone with protection and

[59:24] love. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Snyder.

[59:28] I'll, I'll do my best to

[59:32] articulate all of the many thoughts, and I, first

[59:35] of all, I appreciate everyone who showed up today and who

[59:39] spoke and also for council members, uh, Mork

[59:42] and Roberts for Paying attention to what's going on, um.

[59:46] Uh, I grew up playing sports

[59:49] My sisters played sports. We all

[59:52] played softball, um, all through high

[59:56] school and and uh and even into college

[1:00:00] um, uh. You know

[1:00:03] the, they weren't always straight. Many

[1:00:07] of the players were, were not, and you get questioned

[1:00:10] about that, but Those are

[1:00:14] our people. I mean that that there's no other way to say it. I mean

[1:00:17] uh, they kick at us, so, um.

[1:00:20] Uh, All I can think about with

[1:00:24] with this regards to the the the initial

[1:00:27] bill about girls' sports, uh, it's, you know

[1:00:31] it's invasive, it's perverse, it's just

[1:00:34] brings to mind. Uh, you know

[1:00:38] Doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of, you know

[1:00:41] molesting all of these

[1:00:45] uh, gymnasts, uh, well sometimes while their

[1:00:48] parents are standing in the room. And um,

[1:00:51] So subjecting girls and

[1:00:56] in trans kids. These are girls. These

[1:00:59] are kids to anything short, you know, or a

[1:01:03] some kind of pelvic exam in

[1:01:06] order to decide whether they're

[1:01:10] qualified to play sports. I, I mean, it's, it's

[1:01:13] it's insidious and and it's

[1:01:17] thinly veiled, uh, or it's some kind of attempt to

[1:01:21] be legitimized by using some kind of term

[1:01:24] like family values, fairness

[1:01:27] in sports, uh.

[1:01:30] Parental rights, uh, in, in.

[1:01:34] When I hear those terms, I just kind

[1:01:38] of brace myself because here comes another non-issue making.

[1:01:41] It's way as so as though it's some kind of an issue

[1:01:45] and it really, really isn't

[1:01:48] um, and I'm, I'm very pleased

[1:01:52] that uh that this is, we're starting.

[1:01:55] With this baseline is Mr. Steele

[1:01:58] mentioned earlier, um,

[1:02:02] And like everything, like they say, safety first, and that has also

[1:02:06] has to do with the, with the 26001

[1:02:10] um, initiative that's going to show up, kids don't

[1:02:13] always feel safe at home. They need to feel

[1:02:16] safe at school talking to a

[1:02:19] counselor and um I I know from

[1:02:23] kids going, even going to to therapy, you

[1:02:27] you hit that 13 year old Mark and, and you can't even uh.

[1:02:30] log in onto some

[1:02:33] kind of medical to pay the

[1:02:37] they're entitled to that privacy. It's not to be shared

[1:02:41] with their parents unless they decide they want to share it with

[1:02:45] their parents, and um And that needs to be maintained

[1:02:48] at our schools as well. So, um.

[1:02:51] Again, there's there's a uh, we

[1:02:55] have a ways to go and um But

[1:02:58] this is a, you have to start somewhere. Thank you.

[1:03:02] Thank you. um. Thank you

[1:03:06] all for coming. Makes a big difference

[1:03:09] to know that there are

[1:03:13] people who support what we are trying

[1:03:16] to do. Councilmember Roberts, thank you for improving the, um

[1:03:20] Resolution And I think I don't

[1:03:23] have anything new to say. You have covered it

[1:03:27] all, really appreciate it. Uh, now we're at the

[1:03:31] point to vote on this

[1:03:34] resolution. Um, is there any more discussion, or?

[1:03:38] Will the clerk please call them ? I believe

[1:03:41] the motion is on the amendment first and then.

[1:03:45] I thought that's what uh moved with

[1:03:48] his amendment. OK, let's get into the motion. So no, that's all

[1:03:52] right. OK. Though thought we had done that

[1:03:55] uh, so will the clerk please call the vote.

[1:03:58] Uh, Councilmember Snyder. Hi

[1:04:02] Councilmember Roberts. Councilmember

[1:04:06] Ademasu, Councilmember Mark, a Councilmember Scully, aye.

[1:04:10] Thank you. Passed unanimously

[1:04:14] 5 to 0. With that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.

City Council Regular Meeting

Agenda

Transcript