[0:03] Colleagues, I'm going to call to order the June 23rd, 2026 committee of the whole meeting. I have the pressure, pressure, serving as chair of the committee this year. I mean, I'm talking about, I'm not representing district four.

[0:15] On today's agenda, we will have a briefing on the state of the district court, and then we'll take action on three appointments to the four culture board and close with a briefing from four culture. Without introduction, clerk Wells, could I ask you to please call the roll?

[0:29] Certainly, Chair, thank you very much.

[0:31] Councilmember Valducci.

[0:34] Councilmember Dimbowski.

[0:35] Here.

[0:37] Councilmember Dunn.

[0:38] Here.

[0:40] Councilmember Faye.

[0:41] Here.

[0:43] Councilmember Lewis.

[0:44] Here.

[0:46] Councilmember Mosqueta.

[0:49] Councilmember Perry.

[0:51] Councilmember Lange Wright-Bauer.

[0:54] Here.

[0:55] Chair Baroque.

[0:57] Here.

[0:57] And I believe by Chair Valducci is with us as well.

[0:59] I was just going to say here. Thank you.

[1:02] All right. Thank you, colleagues. We do have a

[1:04] quorum with the committee. Thank you all for joining us.

[1:08] Vice-chair Baldu-Chime, I'd please have a motion for approval

[1:10] of the minutes of June 8th, 2026.

[1:13] Thank you, Chair. I'm a approval of the June 28 minutes.

[1:15] Or June 8th minutes, sorry.

[1:17] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[1:19] Are there any questions or comments regarding the minutes?

[1:24] Seeing none, all those in favor of approving the minutes, please say aye.

[1:28] Hi. Hi. Any opposed say nay? The minutes are approved.

[1:33] Clersor, do we have anybody signed up for public comment either online or in person?

[1:39] I believe there is no in person. We do have a couple of people online, but no one is raise their hand.

[1:44] I just want to give them a moment if they do want to make a public comment to raise their hand.

[1:49] Thank you. If you are here to provide public comment online, please use the race hand function in the suit platform

[1:56] or use start 9 if you have joined by phone. Are we seeing in a request for public comment?

[2:02] No, no, not at the time.

[2:05] All right. Seeing no request for public comment, we will close public comment and

[2:09] move forward with our agenda. The first item on today's agenda is a briefing on the state

[2:14] of the district court. We're joined today online by the Honorable Rebecca Robertson,

[2:20] who is the chief presiding judge of King County District Court. Thank you for joining us today,

[2:24] and I understand that you've also extended invitation to the District Court Judges to view to this presentation at their schedules allow.

[2:31] So I want to say thank you for doing that.

[2:33] To any of the District Court Judges watching to this presentation, you're welcome.

[2:38] And thank you for making time to tune in.

[2:40] And with that, I'll invite the Judge Robertson to begin whenever you're ready.

[2:45] Well, thank you so much.

[2:46] And I go ahead and share my screen.

[2:52] There we go.

[2:52] So again, I'm Judge Rebecca Robertson.

[2:54] Can you give me a thumbs up if you can see that?

[2:56] I definitely see that.

[2:58] Ginger Beckard Robertson, I'm the Chief Presiding Judge of King County District Court.

[3:02] I wanted to give you a brief overview of the District Court today.

[3:06] I know there are a couple of new members, so I'm going to go over some of the things that other

[3:12] members may know, but I think it's important for everybody to understand about our District Court.

[3:18] We are the largest court of limited jurisdiction in the state of Washington, and we are actually

[3:23] the second largest court in the state, second only to King County Superior Court.

[3:30] As you can see here, we have a mission statement. We want to provide an accessible forum for the

[3:35] fair and efficient and understandable resolution of the civil and criminal cases and maintain

[3:39] an atmosphere of respect and dignity for all individuals. 7 out of 8 cases in the entire state are

[3:46] handled by the courts of limited jurisdiction. So you can imagine how many cases and how many

[3:52] comes through the King County District Court if we are the largest district court in the entire state.

[4:01] The district courts and the municipal courts are called the People's Courts.

[4:05] It's where people will likely encounter not only the judiciary but their entire government.

[4:10] Most people are going to have any contact with their government through the district and municipal courts.

[4:17] King County District Court has 25 separately elected judges.

[4:20] We are all, we all are elected from our district and I'm going to circle our brand new judges that you just appointed Judge Marty Martin and Judge Yvon Shin.

[4:30] We are really happy to have them.

[4:35] We are a large and complicated structure.

[4:38] So we have an executive leadership team.

[4:40] We have myself on the presiding judge.

[4:42] Judge Han is the assistant presiding judge and we have three division provided presiding judges for our three divisions.

[4:50] The presiding judge in the chief and the, I'm sorry, a assistant presiding judge are actually elected by all the judges and the divisions elect their own

[5:00] So we operate as a Democratic Republic, essentially, you have representatives from all of your divisions. The executive committee handles all the policies, procedures, rules, projects, etc. We also have 250 staff. We have the Chief Administrative Officer, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, and all of our directors. They do the bulk of the work for King County District Court.

[5:28] Can any district court has five electoral districts?

[5:32] So if you are elected out of the southwest district, you have to live there and you'll be serving

[5:37] most of the time in the southwest district, same for the west and shoreline, northeast, southeast, etc.

[5:44] Our administrative divisions are separated into west, east and south.

[5:51] Can any district court contracts with 13 cities to handle their municipal court services?

[5:57] They're covered by an interlocal agreement.

[6:02] The cities that contract with us get the same services as King County does, as the state does.

[6:07] This is operating on a full cost recovery model.

[6:11] We currently have 13 cities, but Auburn is no longer going to be contracting with us as of January 2020.

[6:18] So we also have strategic courthouse locations for the convenience of the public.

[6:23] County and City residents can easily access their local courts to obtain services such

[6:28] as small claims, protection orders, etc., and the hearings will take place where close

[6:35] to where the crime occurred.

[6:37] So if someone is charged with the crime in shoreline, they do not need to go to the MRGC

[6:41] to have their cases heard.

[6:45] A lot of people think that district communicable courts do most with traffic tickets.

[6:49] Most of our job is actually handling the criminal cases, and for that we have to make

[6:53] sure that we're honoring and abiding by the Constitution and protecting people's constitutional

[7:01] rights.

[7:02] So criminal takes priority over any of our civil cases, because there is the loss of liberty

[7:08] attached to any criminal case.

[7:12] We have to make sure that evidence has been lawfully gathered, and if it has not, we suppress

[7:16] that evidence.

[7:17] We have to guarantee everyone the right to an attorney.

[7:20] We do not allow forced confessions. We have motions all the time regarding people's

[7:25] Fifth Amendment rights. And we have jury trial in every courthouse. So, at every point in

[7:32] time, we're protecting people's constitutional rights.

[7:37] Just to give you a brief overview of the difference between superior and district courts,

[7:41] superior does the felonies, real property rights, divorce, estate, and voluntary commitment.

[7:46] Civil cases over $100,000, the juvenile cases,

[7:51] protection orders, which we share with them,

[7:53] and appeals from our level of court.

[7:56] The district court does the gross and simple misdemeanors.

[7:58] That means that you can, that has punishment up to a year in jail

[8:02] in a $5,000 fine or 90 days in jail in a $1,000 fine.

[8:06] We do civil cases under $100,000,

[8:09] small claims, protection orders, name changes,

[8:12] in fractions and other civil cases, such as toe hearings, etc.

[8:20] Most of the cases that we handle are, and take the most time, are domestic violence and

[8:25] driving under the influences cases.

[8:28] They take the most serious, they take the most time of the attorneys, as well as the court.

[8:35] They're getting more complex as the law changes, and certainly body cameras make every

[8:39] case that we handle more complex because we have all that evidence to review, and we are also

[8:45] increasingly handling domestic violence cases in other cases that could be filed as felonies

[8:50] but are instead filed in the district and municipal courts. So we're working really hard on all those

[8:55] cases. District court also handles the felony first appearances. So if anyone is arrested on a

[9:02] felony they're going to be appearing before a district court judge usually the next day or the

[9:06] after, and we also handle all of the most of the protection orders, and harassment stocking domestic

[9:14] violence. So we play a large role in enforcing the roles of law to protect the public safety

[9:21] and district court.

[9:25] We also have a very large civil civil unit at this time. Our cases in

[9:32] we're almost 25,000, that's 88% increase since 2023.

[9:38] Right now we have two dedicated civil judges and two who do about a quarter of their job as civil cases.

[9:46] So we have personal injury, breach of contract, medical and consumer debt, et cetera.

[9:52] Most people think, oh, that's a civil case is just about money, but these are cases that have a real effect on people's lives.

[9:58] We deal.

[10:00] With a significant amount of garnishment cases where folks who are on the edge of being able to survive or having their wages garnished, we, in fact, there was a very large company in Seattle that was garnishing wages due to a programming error on their end for years.

[10:17] They were garnishing wages and amounts that were way too large and it was not until one of our civil judges noticed this pattern and some of them to court that this was corrected and people got their money back.

[10:29] Some of the types of cases are of course medical debt, which is one of the most heartbreaking things that you can see in court.

[10:36] We had a case where a woman came in in huge debt to Bank of America, and she got to court and said she had done it to pay for the medical care for her fiance,

[10:44] who was dying and she extended his year for his life for a year by using that credit card, but that put her into significant medical debt.

[10:53] So, these are the kind of cases that are handled by our civil judges, but haven't because they are so important

[10:59] and because we have had such an increase in our civil cases, the positions that were in Auburn Municipal Court

[11:07] or currently are there are going to be added to our civil department and we will have five full-time civil judges as of

[11:14] of 2027 handling these cases.

[11:17] So, we're also handling other civil cases, small claims, suits for the recovery of money,

[11:25] the resolution center of King County helps us with that.

[11:28] A lot of them are tenant claims for return of deposits.

[11:32] These are cases that are under $10,000, but that's a real money to a lot of people.

[11:37] And so those are very important.

[11:40] We also have all the other civil matters, such as the vehicle impound hearings, post-judgment

[11:47] executions, petitions for seas, animals, et cetera, that we handle in King County District Court.

[11:51] In fact, there was just a movie about a toe hearing that took place in King County District

[11:55] Court, the movie toe. I don't know if any of you have seen that, but two of our district court judges

[11:59] were the ones that released the car for this woman. So these are civil cases have significant

[12:07] impact on people's lives. We also have our therapy of courts, both regional mental health court

[12:13] regional veterans court, a regional mental health court is funded by the mid-budget as is the

[12:19] veterans court. The any of the cases in our therapeutic courts are referred by the prosecutor and

[12:25] defense and our regional mental health court is celebrating 25 years. That was the second in the nation

[12:31] and it's still going strong. The data shows that participating in regional mental health court

[12:40] reduces recidivism. They're increases participation in treatment. We also have three therapeutic

[12:47] community courts.

[12:51] Sureline Kenmore, Bellevue and Redmond. They're intensive court involvement

[12:56] with folks to get them to resources. We have peer membership. They usually come to court once a week

[13:02] and check in. It's a very different model than what we normally have in court. And it works for a

[13:10] people who are struggling with issues that keep them in the criminal justice system. We have some

[13:15] statistics from Spokane Community Court about recidivism. The chose recidivism is reduced by

[13:22] a participation in community court. We are actually working on our own data now that we've had

[13:27] community courts for at least eight years where we can compare apples to apples. So a city that

[13:32] has a community court versus a city that doesn't comparing similar cases and what the recidivism

[13:37] rate is and we're working on that data right now. For those who are in community court and not

[13:43] in community court and a regular court, we have several tools and resources to try and stop

[13:49] their downward spiral prevent felonies and escalation of any criminal behavior. So if people go

[13:55] to probation for doing so normally for treatment such as alcohol and drug mental health,

[14:02] engagement, sexual, DVNC, various educational classes, consumer awareness, etc. Our mission

[14:11] is to stop people's behavior that causes them to commit crime. Of course, we are also

[14:17] very mindful of public safety, and if some people have to, we have to resort to punishment.

[14:22] We do. We have contracts with several jails, as well as the King County jail. We use a

[14:26] a clinical monitoring community service and restitution, et cetera.

[14:31] As I said, the gross and civil misdemeanors carry up to a year in jail, and so you do often

[14:37] find fairly violent offenders in custody on their gross and civil misdemeanors.

[14:43] Our probation department is very active.

[14:46] We have 10 probation officers, separate assignments to domestic violence court, five locations

[14:51] where they are located.

[14:52] They help people with their problems that lead them to the interaction with the criminal justice system almost all of our cases

[15:00] Our domestic violence in DUI. We don't have folks with theft charges or criminal trespasses on probation, what they are on or for our most serious crime. We are actually starting our own domestic violence moral recognition therapy classes, beginning in August, which is almost cost-free for folks who are participating in this alternative to the traditional domestic violence battered treatment, which is showing to be not as effective for a large population.

[15:30] of our domestic violence offenders so we are going to have a fairly low-cost alternative

[15:34] in-house with KCDC.

[15:38] Here is our 2025 case load. It's 277,000 plus cases. What you see here

[15:44] is parking. That is photo enforcement tickets. We have a huge increase in our photo enforcement

[15:50] tickets. Also have a huge infraction case load. And here is where most of the judges spend their

[15:56] on the civil protection order, criminals, et cetera.

[16:03] Our judicial workload looks a little different.

[16:05] We spend most of our time on our criminal cases.

[16:08] So here is county and state criminal,

[16:13] the felony first appearances, domestic violence court.

[16:16] This is our civil portion.

[16:18] These are our city contracts.

[16:20] So a slight portion of this will be the infractions,

[16:22] but most of it is criminal.

[16:23] So while most of our cases are in fraction, most of the time we spent with spend with people is actually in our criminal courts.

[16:34] And as you can see since 2019 plummeted during COVID, but it is rising again.

[16:40] We are over our COVID numbers.

[16:44] And so we are essentially doing more cases with the same amount of resources.

[16:49] We are seeing huge uptick and litigation in all of our criminal cases, huge increases in our civil cases,

[16:58] and they are getting more complex due to statutory changes and other changes.

[17:05] Our trials are also increasing.

[17:06] As you can, these are the purple is our state trials.

[17:10] The lighter purple, the lavender is our city trials.

[17:13] Our trials are increasing and trials take a lot of resources.

[17:19] Department of Public Defense right now for the state is staffed at levels that are recommended by the Washington State Bar Association.

[17:27] They are fully staffed for what was just adopted as the public defender standards.

[17:33] What we're anecdotally seeing is that means there's more litigation.

[17:36] With more attorneys, there's more litigation in court because there are more attorneys to do that to come through their cases to have motions to have trials.

[17:43] And we think that's why we have greater increase in trials in our state courts rather than

[17:49] our city courts, even though the numbers for each quarter pretty much the same.

[17:53] So what we're expecting as the cities start to hire more public defenders as they're going

[18:00] to be mandated to do that we're going to be getting more litigation in our cities as well.

[18:06] So I wanted to talk a little bit about our staff and our service data we've taken over 200,000

[18:11] calls last year, summons almost 73,000 jurors and scheduled almost 13,000 interpreter jobs in 95

[18:21] languages and dialects for King County District Court. So our staff is really busy making sure

[18:27] that we can provide access to all folks in King County. Our average call time has been reduced from

[18:34] almost an hour to four minutes. We're using glyph chat and we're working on AI translation

[18:41] services so that when someone calls and they speak another language we don't have to

[18:46] call in an interpreter we can use some AI translation tools so they can get better service

[18:50] when they call in. Our live chat has also been really popular for folks who don't want to wait

[18:56] and they just live chat someone in our call center. We also have some initiatives and projects this

[19:02] year including capital improvements for security at our eight locations. One of the most important

[19:09] ones that we have been working on are lean or kaisan processes for all of our operations and

[19:17] process improvements. We're going to go through every single one of these processes and we've

[19:23] to give you an example we went through our infractions and we reduced the time that we took

[19:28] to process infractions in court by 50% at least. This is just time that we're dealing with paper

[19:35] work not actually interacting with litigants. So we've reduced our paperwork time and increased

[19:41] the time we can actually spend interacting with both, such as what we're here to do. It

[19:45] increases our ability to ensure due process. We're going through every single process in this

[19:51] lean, lean process to get more efficient as efficient as we possibly can. We also introduced an

[19:59] line management.

[20:00] System for evidence that helps, especially, per se, lit against when they're submitting digital

[20:07] evidence. And we've made language translation service improvements, including simultaneous

[20:12] Zoom, simultaneous interpretation in every single court. And we have pocket talks, like AI translators

[20:21] at all our front counters and with probation, so that they can better interact with folks and not have to

[20:28] for our scarce resources of actual interpreters, so we're providing better language access.

[20:34] Our DEI committee has continued with its community outreach. They created an unssecured bond

[20:40] procedure for folks who did not have the collateral to engage with a bond agency. They can now

[20:45] have the alternative of posting cash bond in the 10% amount that they would have been given to

[20:51] the bond company and they just give that to the court and they get it back when they appear in court.

[20:56] We've included, continued with our education and awareness cities.

[21:00] We've made sure all our documents are compliant with the ADA recommendations and we

[21:06] have our web page that's a central source of DEI information for the public.

[21:11] And when I talk about community engagements, we go out into the community with our tent with

[21:16] information about the district court.

[21:17] We have a giant gavel and roves that the kids love to take pictures of and we educate the

[21:22] public about what we are doing in district court.

[21:26] One of the biggest things this happening in district court

[21:28] is our retiring judges.

[21:29] We have eight retiring judges this year.

[21:33] So Judge Hirakawa and Judge Paglisati have already retired.

[21:37] Judge Stephenson is retiring in several days

[21:41] and the rest of our eight judges are retiring

[21:43] at the end of the year.

[21:45] That's eight judges in one year.

[21:46] That's a third of our batch.

[21:48] So we are losing, and I did the math,

[21:50] a little Star Trek calculator about 320 years of legal experience with the loss of these judges.

[21:59] It's a big deal.

[22:02] We have some challenges coming up. One is the increased civil case load.

[22:10] As we talked about, we are diverting to judicial positions to that civil case load to try and get

[22:14] through our backlog. It's now more complicated than ever because of debt buyer requirements

[22:20] that were affected effective in 2020.

[22:24] Video court is an added complication and we have some concerns about how it affects due

[22:30] process.

[22:30] If people are on a tiny little screen or on their cell phone, they can't really see us.

[22:37] We have increased some access, but there are some downsides to video participation, so

[22:45] we are considering limiting some access, certainly limiting the chat ability.

[22:50] and determining what kind of hearings is appropriate to have these all Zoom hearings and some that may not be.

[22:58] Interpreters continues to be a huge issue for district court and being able to provide language access.

[23:06] Interpreter cases have three times the number of continuances, which clogs the court system because folks are trying to get

[23:20] with communicating with their clients and there's an interpreter shortage. We also have

[23:26] interpreters mostly on Zoom and it's sometimes very difficult to get them to come into court

[23:31] when we have evidence your hearings or trials where we are required to have in-person interpreters.

[23:36] At this time they're independent contractors, so they can say, I want $250 an hour and an

[23:43] eight-hour minimum for this motion hearing and if we can't find another alternative, that's what we

[23:50] access.

[23:52] Can can a district court lead an effort with the state, the Board of Judicial Administration,

[23:59] to create a task force on language access, which was just done earlier this month.

[24:03] So hopefully we can create some new methods of providing interpreters, including AI in translation

[24:14] for our hearings where we're just setting court dates again and again.

[24:18] So maybe we can use AI interpreters that's going to require actual court and statutory changes, but we're working on it.

[24:26] We continue with attorney staffing challenges.

[24:28] I'm sure you've heard from DPD as well as the state that there are fewer attorneys who want to go into the criminal justice system.

[24:34] Fewer attorneys means longer delays.

[24:36] They have less experience, less folks to supervise them.

[24:40] We're working with the prosecutor and defense on how to best deploy their attorneys going into law schools,

[24:46] into the communities encouraging folks to join to go to law school and go into criminal justice.

[24:56] The public defender staffing increase in public defenders means more litigation.

[25:00] We're handling more cases, more litigate, not more cases, but more litigation due to their being more

[25:05] attorneys. As always, the budget is a challenge for everybody I'm sure for you guys, too, most

[25:12] of our budget and salary are benefits for a 250 employees who are doing the bulk of the work

[25:17] serving the public. Budget cuts means we have to cut people and that means less services.

[25:28] As I

[25:28] have created a really comprehensive onboarding program as well as judicial college takes about a month

[25:34] for our new judges so we can really get them to hit the ground running in court.

[25:39] One of the things that we worked on is our judicial needs.

[25:45] Administrative Office of the Court had not done a judicial need study in three decades and so

[25:51] the judicial needs estimates are 30 years old and it has not accounted for the complexity of

[25:57] cases that we see. So the administrative office of the courts, as well as the National Center for State

[26:02] courts, just completed a study where we all had to record our time for about three weeks.

[26:07] On everything we did to determine what the more appropriate judicial needs were and those results

[26:14] are going to be pending, et cetera. So that is the overview and what has been happening with King County

[26:21] district court in 2025. I am more than happy to answer any questions that you have.

[26:29] Thank you so much. That's Robert's in really appreciate the update. I'm going to open

[26:33] an up for questions from my colleagues, colleagues feel free to raise your hand. And I'm going to

[26:37] call on the chair of our log Justice Committee, Councillor Lewis first. Got it, Councillor Lewis.

[26:42] Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Judge Robinson. This presentation was very informative.

[26:49] If I have a question about the debt buyers requirements, what are those and how has that

[26:59] changed the workload?

[27:02] I will have to defer to one of my civil judges to really elaborate those cases are so complicated.

[27:09] I could not do them just as here.

[27:10] What I will do is have our civil judge shot well, email you about what the debt buyer requirements

[27:16] are and what has changed to make things more complicated, but as I'm sure you know if you have

[27:21] a mortgage or a student loan debt is sold between companies all the time, and that makes

[27:28] enforcement of collection really difficult. So I will have Judge Schott will follow up with you.

[27:35] Thank you for the question. That would be great. Thank you.

[27:39] I guess we're in the mosque.

[27:42] Thanks much, shared to Dr. Robertson. Great presentation.

[27:44] Really comprehensive and informative.

[27:46] Thank you so much for putting it together.

[27:49] You mentioned the home monitoring function.

[27:53] And they brought back our memory of a few years ago.

[27:56] We had some challenges with the technology and the 20-hour monitoring.

[28:00] And I wondered if you could just give us a status update.

[28:03] Is that system now working satisfactorily?

[28:06] of issues and they largely resolved.

[28:09] Those issues are resolved.

[28:11] There's a lot of companies that do the electronic home monitoring as well as government entities

[28:16] that can handle with on their own, so we have had new technological issues recently for the

[28:21] electronic home monitoring that's working really well.

[28:24] Great.

[28:24] Thanks so much.

[28:25] Thank you.

[28:28] Councillor Orphane.

[28:31] Thank you.

[28:31] Thank you again, Judge Robertson, for your presentation.

[28:35] I have a couple questions and I'll just try and narrow it down.

[28:39] One is related to the debt buyer legislation, the effect of that.

[28:44] And I won't ask you to explain it.

[28:46] But one, or if you know, if the legislation,

[28:56] curse the human, of Katerstand, but the driver is behind the 88% increase in civil

[29:03] filing over two years.

[29:05] It's pretty extraordinary.

[29:06] it is pretty extraordinary. The driver is the difference with we in standards. We used to

[29:16] be 50,000. We took under 50,000 now it's 100,000 and we're getting a lot of the during COVID

[29:26] kind of people defaulting on their loans because they couldn't work anything if people defaulting

[29:32] their debts because they couldn't work. The COVID related things, but there has been a real

[29:40] uptick in people filing for, you know, landlord tenant issues that wouldn't necessarily

[29:48] go to superior court because of the monetary amount or it doesn't actually fit squarely within

[29:54] landlord tenant. So they're just a lot of different factors that go into that increase. And so I can

[30:00] And follow up with you and give you a list of all the factors that do that. I'm happy to do that.

[30:06] Thank you so much. Chair, may I ask one more?

[30:09] Yeah, go for it.

[30:11] Thank you. The other numbers that struck out or stuck out for me was the parking matters on this spreadsheet.

[30:20] with Kenmore having 61,600 bilings out of, you know, a fairly small number over all.

[30:33] So just curious as to how much judicial and clerk time is consumed by parking matters.

[30:41] I can get you the percentages later. It's a small amount of time for the judges because most

[30:46] people pay the tickets. However, any of those 61,000 cases come through the court. The

[30:51] clerk has to receive it. They have to file it. They have to create a case. They have to

[30:56] receive the money our whole budget department has to deal with the money portion. So the

[31:05] clerks are actually spending a significant amount of time and our budget team is spending a significant

[31:09] amount of time. The judges are spending a small amount of time because most people don't ask for a hearing.

[31:16] I'm happy to give you more detailed numbers on how much your staff spends on that.

[31:21] Okay. Thank you so much. Mm-hmm.

[31:24] Thank you. Just for our personnel. I'll ask a quick question here because I had the same one of my

[31:29] questions so I was asked by customer refane about the idea of presenting increase on the civil

[31:34] filing. So thank you for clarifying on that. Perhaps relatedly you had a slide that showed the trials

[31:41] numbers and you mentioned about the increase. Was that both civil and

[31:47] criminal cases or is that just focused on the criminal cases? I was not clear on

[31:52] that one. Oh, thank you. Having acquired by that was just the criminal cases. So far we

[31:58] have not seen civil cases, the trials going up. I can get you the statistics on that

[32:04] if you'd like, but those were just the criminal cases that we counted there. Great.

[32:08] I just want to make sure that we were focused.

[32:11] I understood that it probably was criminal cases either way.

[32:14] You spoke about it, but I wasn't sure.

[32:16] So that is helpful to understand.

[32:20] And we've obviously been dealing both here,

[32:23] and in the launches committee with the public defender issue.

[32:26] And we took up legislation here to try to clarify

[32:28] what our standards are on that.

[32:31] But I appreciate your reference.

[32:34] And I think the note of the challenge that we will have

[32:37] If those numbers continue increase, I think it's going to be a challenge for all of us to deal

[32:42] with in terms of the additional costs on multiple fronts.

[32:46] So thank you for highlighting that and keeping us abreast of those issues.

[32:49] And I see Council Member Lewis, I'll call you for probably the last question.

[32:54] Thank you.

[32:55] Judge Robertson, we tend to think about virtual hearings and virtual meetings as being productivity

[33:02] increases and that kind of thing. But you said that Zoom hearings caused more time for the

[33:10] in-court clerks to respond to attorney requests. Can you give us some examples of what that

[33:16] looks like? Sure. So before COVID, our clerks would be doing their clerk work. They're making sure

[33:22] the record is complete. They're taking the evidence. They're making sure that they're docketing everything.

[33:27] And we have added on managing Zoom.

[33:31] So we have people in court and now we have people on Zoom.

[33:34] So they have to open up the Zoom, let everyone in,

[33:37] make sure everyone's named, make sure people are not moving around.

[33:44] And the judges do this too, muting themselves, et cetera.

[33:48] What we have found is that the chat function, we have it on,

[33:52] and that people both litigants and attorneys

[33:55] are constantly peppering the clerk with questions that would never happen in open court.

[34:01] While court was happening, you would not approach the clerk and ask, you know,

[34:04] start asking questions. Can I go first? Can I submit this via Zoom, et cetera?

[34:08] That's happening a lot in our chat, and we realized how much time it was taking our

[34:13] clerks to handle that. And it also led to a lot of inappropriate expertity contact with

[34:20] folks just saying things in the chat that the judge shouldn't consider the clerks shouldn't

[34:25] consider the other party, wasn't aware of it, etc. So it's all a learning experience from COVID.

[34:30] We all just tried to survive and now we're figuring out, okay, how do we, how do we normalize

[34:35] this? How do we make sure we're following all the rules? So we are actually considering limiting the

[34:40] chat significantly so those things don't happen. Sounds very complicated. It is very complicated.

[34:50] All right, colleagues. Well, Judge Robertson, thank you so much for the presentation to the

[34:55] for keeping us abreast of the work of this record.

[34:59] We appreciate the work.

[35:00] Review your colleagues and look forward to continuing the engagement and please if there's any additional

[35:06] information to some of the questions that were posed. We'd welcome that.

[35:10] I will get you more information on the questions that you have today. Thank you.

[35:14] Thank you so much. That's Robertson. Appreciate it.

[35:17] Colleagues, we're going to move on to our next items on the agenda. We have three items that would confirm

[35:23] appointments to the King County Cultural Development Authority, better known as four culture board.

[35:30] Four culture of course, the ministers, King County Arts and Heritage Programs.

[35:34] Four culture is governed by a 15 member board of directors that have

[35:37] demonstrated commitment to a knowledge of cultural resources.

[35:42] To give you a quick review of the process, we will be briefed on the side and by Jean Paul.

[35:46] Then I will ask for an input from four culture staff. Claire Machius here with us from four culture.

[35:52] then we will hear from our appointees, it is my understanding that one of the appointees

[35:58] is unable to attend today, so we're going to ask Claire to provide a few comments about

[36:03] that particular appointee, and then we will provide time for all of you to ask questions

[36:08] of the people who are up for appointment. With that, Gene, I'm going to call on you to please

[36:15] provide a briefing. Thank you, Chair. Oh, and good morning council members. I'm Gene Paul from

[36:20] capital staff. The materials for the three appointments

[36:23] the unifaced 39 of your packet. Proposed motions 2026-0106-0123 and 0127 would confirm the

[36:34] appointments of Ellen Walker, Nancy Sagaera McKay, and T.O. Fila Cruz Aurebe, as executive

[36:40] at large appointments to the four-culture board, for the remainder of their three-year terms

[36:44] expiring on December 31, 2028.

[36:49] For background on the board, please refer to page 40 of your packet.

[36:52] As the chair indicated, four cultures governed by a 15 member board of directors, and directors

[36:57] are to have a demonstrated commitment to and knowledge of cultural resources, the active

[37:03] and experienced in community and civic issues and concerns, and have the ability to evaluate

[37:08] the needs of cultural constituencies in the region of the whole.

[37:11] They are also to represent a range of talents, experiences, and viewpoints.

[37:17] The Council of Response will for appointing Board positions 1 through 9 while the Executive

[37:21] of Points positions 10 through 15.

[37:24] All appointments are subject to confirmation by the Council.

[37:28] Background on the appointees begins on page 42 of a staff report.

[37:33] Ellen Walker is an arts administrator who has worked for the Pacific Northwest Ballet since 2003

[37:38] and has served as their executive director since 2014. According to her staff profile on the

[37:44] Valley's website, she oversees an operating budget of a $30 million dollars and a staff

[37:49] of more than 600 full and part-time employees. That profile also indicates that under her

[37:54] leadership, P&B has become known as an industry leader in making ballet and more inclusive, diverse,

[38:00] and welcoming our form. Ms. Walker has also served as an adjunct faculty member in Seattle

[38:06] University's MFA Arts Leadership Program, and she recently completed

[38:10] Services Vice President of the Inspire Washington Board, and his board

[38:14] Secretary and Council Chair for Dance USA.

[38:18] The second appointee, Nancy

[38:19] Sagero McKay, has served as the Executive Director of the Highline Heritage

[38:23] Museum since 2019. In that role she helped design open and sustain the

[38:28] name Museum, which focuses on preserving and telling the stories of the people

[38:32] in the Highline area through heritage arts and culture. According to her

[38:36] Location of Materials, she is the first Mexican born and raised museum executive director in Washington State.

[38:43] Miss Algaro McKay previously served as an exhibit design instructor for the University of Washington's museum studies certificate program.

[38:50] She has also worked on several four culture advisory boards.

[38:54] The Washington Museum Association board and is a path board chair of the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce.

[39:00] The final appointee, Tio Fila, or Taia, Cruz, or eBay is both a clinic manager for CMAR community health centers, first adolescents, specialty clinic, and the director of the Pacific Northwest,

[39:13] first Chicano Chicano Latino Latina focus history museum.

[39:17] Prior to her current roles, Ms. Cruz or eBay served as a consulting grant writer whose duties included collecting and reporting on grant program.

[39:24] She participated as a folk culture grant review panelist in 2019 and 2021, and has been a member of

[39:31] for culture's heritage advisory committee since 2021.

[39:36] Staff has not identified it in Asian with the proposed appointments.

[39:40] Two of the appointees, Ms. Walker and Ms. Sardiro McKay are with us today.

[39:44] And Brian Carter, for culture's executive director and Claire Michio, the Senior Government

[39:48] Relations Manager with for culture are here as well, and that concludes my remarks.

[39:53] Thank you, Jean.

[39:54] I appreciate that.

[39:56] Colleagues any questions for Jean

[39:57] on the staff report before we

[40:01] All right, seeing no questions. I'm going to call on Claire, Micheal from for culture to give us some comments from the for culture staff.

[40:13] Sure, I have Brian here as well. Hi, council members. This is clear. No, that's okay.

[40:18] How do you know my notes, Claire, so Brian or Claire feel clear to jump in forever?

[40:22] Does it, does it, can it be all three of them or because I know Ellen's here and Nancy's here as well? So I wonder if Ellen,

[40:29] And I'm actually going to have Ellen and Anthony speak to themselves to start because they're

[40:32] just fantastic people and then Brian and I can talk about TA who's fantastic as well.

[40:36] So I'll start with Ellen, do you mind introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about your

[40:39] time working with for culture?

[40:42] Sure.

[40:42] Thank you, Claire.

[40:43] Good morning, everybody.

[40:45] I'm a frozen camera.

[40:47] I'm Ellen Walker and I'm an executive director of Pacific Northwest Ballet.

[40:53] I was born in district one.

[40:57] I still live in district one.

[40:58] That's right, but I have also worked in district four for my entire career since 1988. I have always worked in the cultural sector and we also have a very important asset in Bellevue. Thank you, Claudia.

[41:15] Sorry, Council Member Belle Tucci. Our Francia Russell Center is there in Bellevue and it's a ballet school with about 600 young people over on the east side.

[41:27] And we're also opening a new school that truly thanks to door-zulping King County in the south end of Seattle.

[41:37] I am especially as I sort of get into my fourth decade of work for the sector.

[41:44] I really think about the sustainability of our sector.

[41:47] And in my career I have never seen anything that has guaranteed that for our future as much as door-zulping King County.

[41:55] It's just incredibly important in what my view is large diverse and interdependent cultural

[42:04] ecosystem here in the county.

[42:06] So really, really an honor to be included as a nominee for that four culture board.

[42:12] And I'll pause there.

[42:15] Well, thank you, Ellen.

[42:17] I appreciate you being willing to serve in this role and appreciate, obviously, as a district

[42:22] We're a representative, grateful that P.A.V. is in this street, but obviously think of it as a regional entity that provides wonderful service to the entire county.

[42:36] I'm going to then call on our next appointee, Nancy Sorghera McKay, to share a little bit of by yourself and the reasons you want to serve on the for culture board.

[42:50] Thank you, thank you so much for this opportunity to share who I am and who we are as an institution.

[42:56] So the Helen Heritage Museum is the is representing the school district, which is covers the areas of why

[43:04] Symmeter period, sea type, normally park and little bit of the ones.

[43:07] And so right now, after the quillout, we are number two of the most diverse and low income families in accounting.

[43:13] And so the idea of representing identity heritage history, the idea of seeing each other in

[43:20] honoring people's stories is extremely basic and fundamental.

[43:24] And so we are not just committed with just the statement, we are committed through actions

[43:29] and making sure that we have bring the best opportunities for us to actually acknowledge and

[43:33] see each other in many different levels.

[43:35] And so I started to work with for culture as the Heritage Advisory Committee in 2012 and

[43:42] that has been a few years that have been involved with for culture and many different capacities.

[43:46] It has always been a joy to be able to not only per percent the diversity of boys in many

[43:53] different ways.

[43:53] What I mean diversity is not just me being Mexican, but also my gender, my sexuality, my

[43:58] orientation, my disabilities, I mean the person deaf and so on and so on and so all of us

[44:02] bringing many different elements of who we are as a human being and so to be able to bring

[44:08] and inclusion values into a table is maybe my passion.

[44:13] As a former, the Washington Museum Association,

[44:15] there was also the same idea.

[44:17] It's different like more than just how

[44:19] line is reflect all of us in the state.

[44:20] And so now it can count.

[44:22] More than happy to have the opportunity to represent those voices,

[44:27] especially the ones that are struggling

[44:28] the most when it comes to representation.

[44:31] And so we might work with for culture.

[44:32] It's all about making sure that we are doing this as a team.

[44:36] as a community, as it takes a village to make things happen.

[44:40] As I know that is not just one person is all of us to truly make sure that we bring

[44:44] the inter-percenting and honoring and seeing people's stories and presence in our communities.

[44:52] And so with that in mind, I just want to say thank you again for the opportunity to

[44:56] serve and represent and to vocalize those repeat.

[45:03] Thank you so much for your willingness to serve and for all of the work that you're doing at the Highline

[45:09] Heritage Museum.

[45:11] Thank you.

[45:12] And colleagues, as I mentioned, one of our pointies, Teo-Fila Krusu-Dive is unable to join us today for this meeting.

[45:19] So I was going to call back on Claire to share a little bit about that appointee for our knowledge.

[45:29] Sure. So Brian, I'll start and then if you want to follow up that'd be great. Brian's

[45:33] don't pay a longer than me, but TAA has a really interesting job that is both clinical

[45:37] administrator at a CMAR clinic and basically running a museum that is co-located with that.

[45:46] That has to do with Chicano Chicano American culture. And when I first met TAA, also TAA has

[45:51] incredible energy. You guys get to meet her when you do. You can understand how she can hold

[45:56] pretty much two full-time jobs at once, but Taya, at the first time I had talked to her about,

[46:01] I couldn't, like, it was interesting to me to think of these things as sort of being different,

[46:05] and she actually, in getting to know her and getting to see the kind of work she does,

[46:10] they're absolutely integrated in her mind of heritage and how we treat our bodies and what goes on

[46:16] in our social world. And so it's been interesting, getting to know her and learn just how much of

[46:22] things all work together in creating healthy communities and healthy societies.

[46:27] So I'll pass that to Brian since Brian can probably speak to more about TAS work with the heritage department.

[46:33] Sure.

[46:33] Brian Carter executive director for culture for the record.

[46:36] And they share a role in the opportunity to speak to these candidates.

[46:40] Thank you to Ellen and Nancy.

[46:42] They both bring deep experience within arts heritage and culture.

[46:47] And not just at their own organizations, but I think it's regional leaders.

[46:50] And I think that's really critical at this moment when door open is is growing both

[46:55] who for culture is, but the complexity and the debt of our sector over well.

[47:00] So the perspectives that they bring and the insights that they will provide, I think those

[47:03] are going to be crucial to us.

[47:05] And really excited as well about Fale Fila joining us.

[47:08] I'm up known for pay off her a number of years.

[47:11] She came up through the ring to for culture in the advisory committee, which is a great opportunity

[47:15] to see the methodology of our grant process in practice.

[47:19] So she had a seat at that table and then as Claire described,

[47:23] it was so exciting to be when the CMAR Museum came online.

[47:26] That is a leading edge museum.

[47:28] We're going to see so many more Latinx, Chicano, Chicano,

[47:32] museums, and cultural centers coming online across the United States

[47:35] and just really proud of our region for being one of the early ones.

[47:39] And as Claire said, there's an evolution within museums specifically,

[47:44] where you're seeing these cultural institutions

[47:47] become really vital civic, but also social service hubs for the community.

[47:54] We're seeing that within our applications that are coming in, where you see right the arts

[47:59] and the culture and the heritage mixed with work around mental health, around basic family

[48:04] necessities around food security, and we're seeing an increasing number of those within our work.

[48:10] So having somebody at the table who has started an institution like that, that is serving

[48:14] particular community were really excited about. Beyond that, she's just a fantastic practitioner

[48:20] within the field, so we really look forward to welcoming her to the board. And as always,

[48:26] just appreciate the executive's consideration of what we were looking for in board members

[48:32] as we move forward as an institution, and also the council's unwillingness to look at those as

[48:37] well. So with that, I'll stop. Thank you. Thank you so much, Brian. I appreciate that.

[48:43] colleagues, I'm going to open it up for questions or comments on these appointees.

[48:50] I saw Vice-Chirbal, do she go off mute? Is that a sign?

[48:54] Yeah, so I was going to raise my thank you. Vice-Chirbal, go ahead.

[48:57] I, well, I'd be happy to move all three if that's in order and then speak to all of them.

[49:06] I just had the, had the opportunity to spend time at all of these institutions run by these

[49:12] amazing nominees and we are so lucky to have people with the breath of experience, the closeness

[49:20] to the communities that they serve and the willingness to help us continue to grow and improve

[49:25] our cultural arts sector and I'm just delighted with all three nominees and happy to move to

[49:32] approve them if you would like me to do so, Chair. Please go ahead. Will list there any objections

[49:37] from my colleagues to take it up all three at the same time, see no objections go ahead by

[49:42] sure about it.

[49:42] Thank you.

[49:42] I approve of proposed motion 2026-01060123 and 0127 with a due pass recommendation.

[49:51] Thank you very much.

[49:52] Those three items are before us.

[49:54] Are there any further questions or comments from colleagues for appointees?

[50:00] All right. Seeing none, I want to thank the the appointees for being with us today for your willingness to serve. And with that, I am going to ask the clerk to please call the roll on these items.

[50:11] Thank you, Chair, Councilmember Balducci.

[50:14] Aye.

[50:15] Councilmember Dimbaoski.

[50:17] Aye.

[50:18] Councilmember Dunn.

[50:20] Aye.

[50:21] Councilmember Faye.

[50:23] Aye.

[50:24] Councilmember Lewis.

[50:26] Aye.

[50:28] Councilmember Mosqueta.

[50:31] Councilmember Perry.

[50:34] Councilmember Bungrake Bauer.

[50:37] And Chair Barron.

[50:40] Chair, you have seven eyes zero.

[50:41] And I was counting members, Mosqueta, and Bungright Vower Arx.

[50:45] Thank you very much.

[50:46] By our vote, we have approved proposed motions 2026 year, 1 0 6, 2026 year, 1 2 3, and

[50:53] 2026 year, 1 2 7 with a due pass recommendation.

[50:57] We will send these motions without recommendation for the consent agenda on the regular

[51:02] course.

[51:04] And Ms. Walker and Ms. Elgare McKay, thank you so much for being with us today.

[51:08] you, these will be sent to full council, but you do not need to attend the meeting, although you're

[51:14] welcome always to listen in, and we really appreciate your willingness to serve the county in this

[51:21] role and for your current service to the community in both of your roles. So thank you so much for being here.

[51:28] Thank you. All right. All right, colleagues, with that, we're going to move to our last item,

[51:34] which is a related item, which is the four culture annual report, and the briefing on that

[51:41] annual report. The county code requires a full culture provide an annual report each year

[51:46] and meet with the committee of the whole to discuss the report. The annual report contains the

[51:51] prior year significant accomplishments, estimated financial data, and a summary of the

[51:55] culture programs to be undertaken during the year. We are joined by people we just heard from

[52:01] Brian Carter, our executive director for for culture. Claire Mitchie, who's the senior government

[52:06] relations manager, and Kalandra Children's, who's the director of program strategy and

[52:11] impact. Thank you all for joining us, and Brian, I'm going to turn it over to you.

[52:16] Thank you, Chair.

[52:18] Um, if that was a great moment, I think for for culture to be able to come in front of the council,

[52:22] and share what occurred in the past year through our annual report. And I know Claire is going to be

[52:27] bringing up some slides for you here.

[52:34] So to begin with,

[52:37] working to be covering three items in this briefing,

[52:40] they include what I think is really the core of for-pulter,

[52:45] which is the trust, I believe,

[52:46] that's required of our organization

[52:48] within our community,

[52:50] within this authorizing body.

[52:52] We'll then move on to highlights and key issues

[52:55] that we saw in 2025 and then we'll conclude with a section of what we've learned and what we're

[53:02] seeing coming down the pipe. And to begin with here you have the Seattle Youth Symphony.

[53:07] I thought it was just a great start. This has been an amazing year. 2025 was an incredible full

[53:12] implementation of the Doors Open Program as well as the continuation of our Logitech funded

[53:18] programs and our 1% for public art commission program. So really exciting time and I believe

[53:24] to me, the key message is that it's working.

[53:27] Door's open is working.

[53:29] It's supporting the sector.

[53:31] It's pushing growth and strengthening

[53:33] around accessibility and inclusion

[53:35] and those public benefits.

[53:37] I think that are so key to a healthy society.

[53:39] And I've built deepening of the work

[53:41] that's happening across institutions

[53:43] that have the individual level.

[53:45] So to begin with this idea of trust,

[53:48] which is just really vital to me.

[53:51] For culture has a lot of pride.

[53:52] in our long history as an organization, from a commission to a proper department within the county

[53:59] to our current role as a public development authority. In 2021, there was return to lodging tax,

[54:07] and then as the pandemic hit, we were very fortunate for the council to distribute an administer

[54:12] cares and art befunding that really helped the sector, whether the challenges of the pandemic

[54:18] and post-pandemic world.

[54:20] And now we're set stepping into our second year

[54:23] of doors, open implementation

[54:25] and it's a really exciting time.

[54:28] And for me, the good that goes along

[54:30] with the additional funds that are able to go out

[54:33] and support the great work that's happening

[54:35] is a responsibility that we have to maintain

[54:38] what I believe is transparency, accountability,

[54:41] and also like a crucial element which is humility.

[54:44] And I think that leads to effectiveness.

[54:46] And when we talk about good governance,

[54:48] and we talk about accountability.

[54:50] I just, the slide in front of you is just to show what those, what those kind of guide

[54:55] posts and structures are so obviously, you're role for oversight.

[55:00] Let's see oversight and watching us and making sure, hey, our legislative intent with four

[55:05] culture is this. Are they achieving that? And I always appreciate the fact that we get between two and three

[55:11] ex-efficio council members. So just a special thank you to council members. Fain and Lewis and also

[55:17] Barone for you guys showing up is once a month that you come and you can hear the great work that's

[55:22] happening, the challenges that we're finding our way through and you get great insight into who we are as

[55:27] organization. What our mission is and how we're delivering on that. There's in the four culture,

[55:33] Board of Directors, the 15 member Board of Directors. We then have three standing subcommittees

[55:37] and then each discipline of four cultures. That's our heritage historic preservation,

[55:43] public art, and now science and technology. Each have their own advisory committees composed

[55:47] of practitioners and leaders and community tradition bears who help guide the work at all levels.

[55:56] And so we always appreciate the work they do, especially their role in overseeing the review

[56:02] and approval of funding recommendations that come through. In addition to those or choosing

[56:07] those committees and groups, there's the annual report that we submit. There's the biennial budget

[56:14] review and approval process by the County Council. There's also an assessment reporting requirement

[56:20] for doors open and we'll talk more about that today. And then there's an annual audit by the Washington

[56:26] state auditor that's conducted. So that's just kind of a high level overview of how

[56:30] serious that we take the issue of accountability and good governance. These are

[56:34] public dollars and we want to make sure they go out and they achieve the maximum impact

[56:39] as intended by legislation.

[56:46] So, at a glance, and this is really high level. And again, I

[56:48] say, it's 25 and exciting year, 2026 continues to prove that. There was 94 or almost 95 million

[56:56] dollars in funding awarded in 2025. We'll talk more about the number of organizations

[57:03] that now exist within King County, but over a thousand cultural organizations were awarded.

[57:09] In addition, you have individual artists. You have individual cultural practitioners.

[57:14] So there you have writers and you have poets and you have historians and historic preservation

[57:19] folks. And 345 individuals were awarded support. And again, it was our first year of full doors

[57:26] open implementation. There were a number of new grant programs that were implementing, got off to a

[57:31] great start. And then one of the things that we talked about

[57:37] during the ordinance creation was

[57:40] what the economic impact of yours open support would be. So it is fantastic, right? The expressions

[57:46] that we get to see the interpretation that happens on the heritage side, the preservation,

[57:50] but there's also a real kind of economic benefit. So there's 12,000 jobs that are supported through

[57:55] for culture funding, creating a really, I think, thriving and vibrant moment within arts and culture

[58:01] in King County.

[58:05] And here you see just our financial snapshot. There are additional details

[58:09] within the annual report, but we give you the three years, 2023, 2024 and 2025,

[58:15] of our total revenues, our total expenditures, and our total fund balances. And as always, the total

[58:21] fund balances tend to gain a little bit of attention and why are those high against the expenditures

[58:27] And again, it is the fact that they're competitive grant programs for the most part that award the funds.

[58:34] Those, those award funds are then encumbered, but depending on the length of the grant terms.

[58:40] Those funds might go out over a two-year grant period or over a three-year grant period.

[58:46] So the fund balances are encumbered and they will support the projects and operations and facilities and renovations over a number of years.

[58:58] And with that, I will turn it over to Claire who's going to share some of the kind of exciting projects that we have been able to support in 2025.

[59:08] Yeah, so I get the fun job here of sharing some of the highlights from art disciplines.

[59:16] So for culture covers arts, heritage, historic preservation, and now science and technology.

[59:21] And so with art, I just wanted to share a story from Auburn Theater, which was Auburn Theater was a recipient of our building for equity and Korean community award.

[59:31] So those are projects of greater than 10 million.

[59:34] And they got to do a groundbreaking for that.

[59:36] Feet are really just recently.

[59:37] And I got to attend it.

[59:39] And it's great.

[59:40] They're going to, part of this money is going to go to support 300 Seat Theater in downtown Auburn.

[59:44] there was a feeder in this spot. It's a vacant, it's been a vacant spot for nearly, actually probably five or six years now.

[59:53] It was, it had a bunch of damage and it had to be demolished.

[59:57] It's revitalizing this site and downtown.

[1:00:00] And Auburn right next to the postmark center for the arts, which is a facility that for culture has been supporting over many years that does community programming, so the arts, and it's a historic building.

[1:00:10] But it's really activating this site of downtown Auburn that's really wonderful, and it's kind of a part of what arts and culture can do for economic revitalization.

[1:00:19] And it's a part of a strategic initiative of the city, and I just say the folks in Auburn that I've worked with in the parks, arts, and then in the city government.

[1:00:28] There's some of the hardest working people figuring out

[1:00:30] how to make this vision or reality over time.

[1:00:34] And I'm really excited to see how much it positively impacts

[1:00:38] a commercial business is all along there

[1:00:40] and just makes it a really active part of their town.

[1:00:45] On the heritage side, we had several fairs and festivals this year

[1:00:49] that ended up a plan, or it would have been last year,

[1:00:51] but for 2025, that applied for Heritage Projects

[1:00:55] and received funding.

[1:00:56] And so I just wanted to highlight some of these city

[1:00:59] and community festivals.

[1:01:01] So, there was the D.A.D.

[1:01:02] I saw a celebration at City of Shoreline.

[1:01:05] City of Shoreline, it has been producing the celebration.

[1:01:07] I think since 2021, and it used to be a partnership with Shoreline Garts,

[1:01:11] and then they've kind of taken it on,

[1:01:14] and they've received funding for that last year,

[1:01:16] and we're able to have a really good celebration.

[1:01:19] Snowquami Valley International Block Party.

[1:01:21] That was run by the Snow Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce.

[1:01:24] This brought together lots of different vendors

[1:01:26] and performances to serve the snow call me area and it was just I heard it was a really good

[1:01:32] time.

[1:01:32] E5 for all had an honoring Jude teen fair or it was like a kind of like a festival party.

[1:01:38] And then the Irish Heritage Club has Irish Week, which has several events over time, including

[1:01:46] like a Irish or a sort of breadbaking competition, but that was a some cool story of

[1:01:51] of the Heritage Projects from last year.

[1:01:55] On the preservation side, we were really happy to see

[1:01:57] that the Inamclap Plateau Historical Society

[1:02:00] received a landmarks capital award last year

[1:02:02] that was part of sort of a longer

[1:02:04] they've been doing long-term renovation in different parts.

[1:02:07] But this is a 116-year-old Masonic legend

[1:02:10] of you've ever been to this museum in an Inamclap,

[1:02:13] but it's a really incredible property.

[1:02:15] And they've been making changes to it over time

[1:02:17] to be able to do different things

[1:02:19] part of this sort of part two that they received funding for was to change the front of it so

[1:02:26] that they could add more programming space, which allows them to run more community events,

[1:02:33] more just more public access to the museum. So it's really exciting for them to be able to do

[1:02:38] this and receive that when Mark's Capital Award. And then in science I have technology I wanted to

[1:02:45] fair about some which is acute acute acronyms.

[1:02:48] He had a universal math museum and it's actually,

[1:02:51] it's located in Penn Station.

[1:02:53] They just opened up their first, like,

[1:02:55] kind of central location, but the majority of their programming

[1:02:58] actually happens around its mobile.

[1:03:01] It happens in South Can County Schools and Libraries,

[1:03:04] but they have this part of their award.

[1:03:06] They got multiple awards through four culture in 2025,

[1:03:09] one of which was public free access,

[1:03:11] which allows the museum to offer free admission,

[1:03:14] which is really exciting and allows kids and families to go there free of charge and do hands-on

[1:03:22] math programming, and they had a really big party. They opened on PIE day. So that was March

[1:03:28] 14th and that if they had the great time and we had full four-poor-poor-poor staff there, just

[1:03:33] to welcome to this space and we're really excited to see how this organization grows and continues

[1:03:37] to serve most of South King County in doing hands-on math activities.

[1:03:44] And then finally in

[1:03:45] public art department, we have in King County for

[1:03:48] culture, gets to manage and store and install the

[1:03:53] King County art collection and they're about the

[1:03:56] little over 2000 works in this collection and they are

[1:03:59] up all around the county and all of our institutional

[1:04:02] spaces. And in 2025, there are 170 installations, things

[1:04:06] move around the county as offices are changing or coming

[1:04:10] back to work or moving to different places and we have a

[1:04:13] that works on that. And I just, I have to say that it's really, it's a really amazing thing

[1:04:19] that King County can do this because it really does impact the public's experiences with

[1:04:24] institutional space. So many things happen as you all know, like, so many things happen in the

[1:04:28] county, from the worst day of someone's life, all the way to, you know, maybe when they get married

[1:04:32] or they do these things that are great. And all along the way, we can shape how they remember those

[1:04:39] times with the sort of things that are around them.

[1:04:41] I think public art has that power.

[1:04:44] And then for those that are actually really interested in this,

[1:04:47] last year we were able to get the majority of the public art catalog online.

[1:04:53] So our temporary permanent artworks, the county owns,

[1:04:56] and make it so that the public can learn about what are the artists that...

[1:05:00] Are there where is that artwork? What are the spaces that they're in? And I've heard some really good feedback from just people on the community that have reached out to say just how much getting to browse this and go and go on their own little free art expedition has been. So that's been a cool element of what we were able to do in 2025 and our public art department.

[1:05:22] So I'm going to pass it over to my colleague, Klanger, who's going to talk more about doors open.

[1:05:26] Thank you Claire. Yeah, so I'm going to jump into some of our learnings and observations after the first full year of doors open funding distribution.

[1:05:36] And one of our goals as we move into sort of integration of doors open funding into the historic for culture work was to really retain our ability to be responsive to the field.

[1:05:48] So we have rolled out these new programs, but at the same time we know that things happen and we need to be responsive to that.

[1:05:57] So the majority of our funding does roll through our regular grant cycles, but sometimes emergencies happen.

[1:06:03] Sometimes pipes break, trees fall, and those can really be make or break kind of situations for cultural organizations that don't typically carry a fundons that can address those unexpected events.

[1:06:13] So I wanted to talk about our emergency and unforeseen grant.

[1:06:18] This is a program that runs year round.

[1:06:20] It addresses situations that could not be predicted ahead of time.

[1:06:24] And as you all will remember, last year,

[1:06:27] we experienced two atmospheric rivers.

[1:06:30] And that resulted in flooding in South and East King County,

[1:06:33] which was really quite devastating.

[1:06:36] So while this was happening,

[1:06:37] we proactively reached out to the cultural organizations that were in those impacted areas

[1:06:42] to let them know about this program, make sure that they were tracking their expenses such that they could come back to us and

[1:06:48] and we can work through this application process.

[1:06:51] And I wanted to highlight one of those organizations.

[1:06:54] You're seeing a photo here from the Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center.

[1:06:58] They experienced a 16 year high of flood waters.

[1:07:03] The flood was a stage five emergency on their flood warning system

[1:07:07] and resulted in really quite significant flood site damage.

[1:07:11] So what you're looking at here is the native plant nursery, and you can see the water is quite high in that facility.

[1:07:19] That's actually a facility that was specifically built, you know, that this is an organization that's located on a floodplain.

[1:07:25] This is not new information that the area is prone to flooding. So a lot of their facilities have been built with this in mind.

[1:07:33] And yet this flood even superseded the the ability to withstand those precautionary measures that

[1:07:40] had been taken. So we were really pleased to be able to work with them and provide some support

[1:07:45] so that they could get their operations back up and running. So I know they were one of the

[1:07:50] organizations that were particularly hard-hit and the Northwest Railway Museum was also particularly

[1:07:55] hard-hit and they also received an emergency grant to support their recovery.

[1:08:01] And this need for responsiveness is it's not just about the physical environment, I think one of our other learnings that we have found is that about 50% of our organizations do not necessarily have a facility that they are running out of on a daily basis.

[1:08:16] They are maybe popping up in schools or working with other cultural organizations to provide that programming so we're also of course very focused on how to build organizational strength across the entire sector.

[1:08:28] So doors open really creates that opportunity to deepen and expand operational work while creating that organizational stability.

[1:08:36] So one of the ways that we're really focused on doing this is creating pathways to technical assistance that can build that kind of perseverance and strength.

[1:08:45] We have a system to connect our cultural organizations directly to a roster of coaches and consultants that support all kinds of organizational work.

[1:08:54] And then we underwrite those contracts directly.

[1:08:59] The benefit of this sort of system is that the consultants have all been reviewed and vetted by peers.

[1:09:05] So that saves organizations a lot of time and energy seeking out that kind of help.

[1:09:09] It can be very overwhelming if you're not sure where to start on finding a particular kind of support within your community.

[1:09:17] We also have the ability to underwrite existing relationships.

[1:09:21] so if an organization already has a relationship with a consultant that they're really pleased with,

[1:09:25] we're able to bring them into the fold as well. And one of the findings that we found is

[1:09:32] that some of the top services that have been requested have really been around financial and strategic

[1:09:36] planning in addition to grant writing and fundraising development. So kind of really building that

[1:09:42] internal operational strength and then also finding ways to expand the funding that's coming in

[1:09:48] and two examples that I wanted to share out are the Spotlight Repertory North West, which is a live music and performing arts organization in Sammish.

[1:09:59] They used their...

[1:10:00] Consulting hours to work with a financial consultant on preparing their 90s and updating their quick books. So, again, those kind of internal systems.

[1:10:08] Similarly, the Maple Valley Historical Society used their consulting hours to work with a financial consultant to develop stronger internal controls.

[1:10:18] So they have built a new gift acceptance policy. They've also worked on producing documentation required by the IRS.

[1:10:25] So again, just really kind of strengthening those internal systems to make sure that these organizations can remain strong and stable in the long term.

[1:10:35] So we'll continue to track those needs over time and build out our roster and build out our consultant directory in response to those needs.

[1:10:44] Excuse me.

[1:10:46] So thinking about kind of the bigger picture here, what have we learned about the sector, where have we, where have we seen that growth?

[1:10:53] I'm really excited about this first bullet point here 23% of doors open awardees were first time applicants to foreculture.

[1:11:01] I want to point out that that is not just applicants, but applicants that were successful and ended up being awarded a grant.

[1:11:08] So even higher number of first time applicants that came through the system, but we're seeing a really high success, right?

[1:11:15] And what this tells us is that we're continuing to make

[1:11:19] headway in reaching new organizations, organizations

[1:11:22] that haven't historically worked with us,

[1:11:25] and that we're really able to provide that assistance,

[1:11:27] that technical assistance, the support during our workshops

[1:11:30] when we're building those relationships with folks

[1:11:33] to be able to navigate our systems

[1:11:35] and make sure that they're able to build their portfolio,

[1:11:39] bring in the applications and all the materials required

[1:11:43] for the grant programs.

[1:11:46] The next bullet point on here is about our new science and technology disciplines.

[1:11:52] So $3.3 million were awarded in 2025.

[1:11:56] That's actually in addition to the approximately $3.5 million that were awarded the

[1:12:02] previous year for our general operating funds.

[1:12:05] So closer to $7 million was awarded to science and technology for

[1:12:09] that was, so awarded versus distributed is the, is the, is the new one's there.

[1:12:15] And then of course, we're also investing in our new organizations.

[1:12:19] So the launch program is our grant that is very specifically focused on organizations that are brand new.

[1:12:26] They might be hiring their first staff member.

[1:12:28] They're just getting off the ground.

[1:12:30] And this requires a lot of dedicated focused support to make sure they have the resources that they need to be sustainable in the long term.

[1:12:39] All right. Now moving on to accessibility. So we really, we know that as we build out these programs for cultural organizations,

[1:12:51] that we also need to be thinking about how the general public is actually accessing these cultural,

[1:12:56] these new cultural events that are happening across the county.

[1:13:00] So this is a great opportunity to give a little preview of something that's coming out in two days.

[1:13:06] we are just about to share the results of a survey that we did of King County residents to better

[1:13:13] understand cultural attendance by the general public. And this was a rigorous study of cultural

[1:13:19] participation that's demographically matched to the King County census. So we really believe these

[1:13:24] metrics are quite valid. We found some great news about King County participation. King County is actually

[1:13:32] significantly higher than the US national average in terms of participation, but we also identified

[1:13:39] some barriers to access and you will not be surprised to hear that cost is the number one barrier

[1:13:44] that was named. So that's where a program like public free access comes in. In 2025, we were able to

[1:13:52] under right 1.76 million free and reduced cost tickets to cultural activities. So that's really creating

[1:13:59] whole lot of access that would not have been there previously. We're also seeing a trend in

[1:14:05] organizations shifting their their ticketing models. So moving into pay what you can in sliding

[1:14:11] scale models, which is kind of interesting. So there's both free free admission. So Claire was previously

[1:14:17] talking about the new Seattle Universal Math Museum. The Henry Art Gallery has been around for a

[1:14:23] long time, but they with the public free access grant that they received have been able to move

[1:14:28] completely free admission, same with the summer Asian Arts Fest. I know that the feast is a

[1:14:35] theatrical production company that has moved to a sliding scale model, so lots of organizations

[1:14:40] are kind of playing with how they create that access within the sector and make sure that cost

[1:14:45] is not the reason why folks are not able to get in the front door. And then continuing on that theme

[1:14:52] of access, I'll just call your attention to that last photo that you saw it was youth and focus,

[1:14:57] That's a great program, that's energy.

[1:15:00] Cating students in photography. And they have actually moved to make their summer programs completely free. So what you're seeing here is a summer camp program from 2025 that camp used to be a paid camp. They're now able to offer that completely free for youth.

[1:15:15] And then continuing on that cultural education theme, just thinking about how we are serving students and youth across the county. So a couple examples.

[1:15:25] Um, so excited to have Nancy joining our board, the Highline Heritage Museum in Burian has really dramatically expanded their school partnerships, and they're actually in the process of hiring an education staff member to oversee that new program, or I'm sorry, that expanded program.

[1:15:41] Art Commons in Isaquah is they're doing a really interesting program with Isaquah schools where they have artists and residents in the schools.

[1:15:49] So these are more than just sort of one touch programs. They're really building deep relationships between those artists and the students to build those skills within the the student population.

[1:15:59] So they're hiring teaching artists right now.

[1:16:02] I also wanted to point out that we are under contract with Auburn, Highline, Renton, Kent,

[1:16:08] Techwilla, and federal-way school districts for transportation subsidies.

[1:16:12] So we've made quite a lot of progress there to make sure that students are able to move

[1:16:16] back and forth between cultural spaces and their schools.

[1:16:21] We're also in conversation with the Muckleshoot Tribal School and working through that partnership

[1:16:25] conversation right now.

[1:16:27] And then we also have conversations going with Skycomesh

[1:16:30] and Seattle Public Schools, both of those districts

[1:16:33] needed to create some internal logistical controls

[1:16:36] around accepting the funding.

[1:16:37] So we're just kind of working through those logistics.

[1:16:40] But we are well on our way to expanding that access

[1:16:43] for students.

[1:16:45] And I think with that, I will hand it back over to Brian.

[1:16:49] So as we look ahead in 2026 and beyond just a few

[1:16:54] issue areas and opportunities that we see one again is the increase in the number of cultural

[1:17:00] organizations when I got to four cultures was 2014. We estimated about 500 cultural organizations and

[1:17:08] again that we're looking at serving over a thousand cultural organizations. Their consequences

[1:17:14] to the care and capacity of any ecosystems, so that's something that we watch carefully. They're going

[1:17:18] more applications, seeking the dollars that we have available, but it also presents some interesting

[1:17:24] opportunities. I'm sure that you guys are well aware of the number of collaborative operating

[1:17:31] models that are being undertaken. You saw a merger of Seattle Shakespeare with the

[1:17:39] God Act Theater, which is now Union Center, a collaborative relationship between the Seattle

[1:17:45] Red and Seattle Children's Theatre, we see more recently a merger between the Washington State

[1:17:50] Jewish Historical Society and the Jewish Federation of Seattle. So I think organizations are looking

[1:17:56] for efficiencies among this kind of increased competition within the cultural sector and increasing

[1:18:02] number of organizations. And a lot of this is happening with back-end administrative support.

[1:18:08] There's always been a long history of programmatic relationships and partnerships. And I think people are

[1:18:14] exploring more of those from an administrative side has clandres shared one of the things that we

[1:18:20] like everybody are watching the impacts of climate change is having on the cultural sector

[1:18:27] with the increase in unpredictable and volatile weather events. We're seeing more facility support

[1:18:33] being needed on an emergency basis and we just see that increasing every single year and we'll continue

[1:18:39] to do so. And then lastly is that we had shared during our last briefing with this committee

[1:18:46] about our evaluation framework and there's a lot of data that were gathering and that is

[1:18:52] only as valuable as the information you can take from it through synthesis. So we're really

[1:18:57] undertaking that because there's a lot of differentiation within those thousand organizations

[1:19:02] that we serve to that we strive to serve by geography, by the discipline that they represent,

[1:19:08] by the size of the organization themselves and the communities that they want to serve.

[1:19:13] So adaptation and evolution within not only doors open, but as an organization,

[1:19:18] I think is key to continuing to serve this growing number of organizations and

[1:19:23] make sure that they're strengthened. So as a Collanger share of all things over the

[1:19:27] proud of is the ability to help a lot of these new and emerging organizations, which are typically

[1:19:33] small and budget-sized, typically $200,000 annual operating budget are below who need support

[1:19:39] technical assistance capacity building to make sure that their internal operations are strong.

[1:19:45] So we see that as a continuing area focused for us as well, can then lastly, I'll just say outreach

[1:19:51] and engagement. We have got to make sure people throughout this really large county are aware of

[1:19:58] It's out for a couple of years.

[1:20:00] I'm not just doors open, but all of the support mechanisms that we offer. So we are communications department has really stepped up their efforts when it comes to outreach and engagement.

[1:20:11] We're doing a lot of work around language justice and accessibility making sure that we have translation services that the any kind of collateral marketing materials we have had various languages on those.

[1:20:22] people can, I don't know who we are and come to us. And I think what's really vital to that

[1:20:27] is the people power that we have here at the organization, everyone in for culture that came

[1:20:32] from a museum or a theater or a dance group or a choral group. So when one picks up the phone

[1:20:38] or they send the email, there's somebody there who can help welcome them into who for culture is

[1:20:44] and also guide them to the appropriate resources. And so much of that is us getting outside the

[1:20:49] walls of this office and being there in community at events, um, getting to know folks

[1:20:54] because there's so many people on a radar. There's so many organizations that we already

[1:20:59] know and have known for years, but being out in community allows us to make those connections

[1:21:03] to the folks who maybe have never came to us for funding. And as you saw from the number of new

[1:21:08] applicants to for culture, I think that's really successful. And a part of that is in this is just

[1:21:14] so much gratitude to the council when there is a new individual, whether that's an artist or a new

[1:21:18] organization or just the cultural group that's kind of nascent and

[1:21:21] forming when you write put us in contact with them or anybody makes that

[1:21:26] recommendation. We're going to get out there. We're going to talk them.

[1:21:28] We're going to figure out what their mission is. And if there's an alignment with

[1:21:31] the funding opportunities that we have, I think that is going to be increasingly

[1:21:36] important that kind of boots on the ground, engagement with the cultural

[1:21:41] sectors throughout the county. So with that, I will conclude and just say, thank

[1:21:47] on behalf of all the staff of the four culture boarded directors. We live our

[1:21:52] working relationship with all the council members. I'm really appreciate the

[1:21:56] ex officios and what they do and how they serve on our board. And with that

[1:22:00] I'll conclude and happy to take any questions.

[1:22:04] Thank you so much, Brian. Clanger and Claire for that presentation. Thank you for

[1:22:09] including their photo. I saw the background of the Pacific Science Center, which is

[1:22:13] the areas now newly open to the community. I should say I finally got to see that recently.

[1:22:19] Thank you all for that presentation. Colleagues, I'm going to open it up for questions off from you about the report.

[1:22:26] Councillor Mert Perry. Well, Chair Perry of the Council.

[1:22:30] Thank you. Thank you very much,

[1:22:34] serve our own and thank you very much also to Executive Director Carter.

[1:22:39] I got my relations manager, Claire, Retio, Director,

[1:22:42] and Collenda, Children's for taking the time to provide us with this great update on the report and the great work you're doing and the folks who are interested in nominating them and bringing them on board and making sure everybody is successful on behalf of everyone and in King County.

[1:22:56] This is really exciting and I have a few questions, so chair, I'll check in with you to see if I need to, if we need to go online for that or go to the next person for Robert's rules.

[1:23:07] You can keep going until until you're done.

[1:23:10] Okay.

[1:23:11] Okay.

[1:23:12] That's great.

[1:23:13] As you mentioned, when Council originally adopted Dores Open, the implementation

[1:23:17] plan required for culture to distribute at least 25% to communities outside of the Seattle

[1:23:24] area, and that was something that was important to me in that final vote, and then your

[1:23:30] report you mentioned for culture exceeded the 25% minimum funding for organizations outside of the

[1:23:36] area and the 10% minimum for communities of opportunity for organizations serving vulnerable

[1:23:43] populations. I'm interested to know if you have a dollar value for the total amount of funds

[1:23:48] distributed to jurisdictions outside of Seattle. The staff report notes the number of funds

[1:23:55] distributed to any district, but I'd like to understand this the full some total. That was

[1:24:03] That's one question and we can get this information offline because numbers on the

[1:24:07] diet are not, it's not great, so I would be happy to receive that.

[1:24:14] I'm also interested to know how for culture approached meeting that requirement and the

[1:24:18] steps of strategies you took together to reach communities that haven't traditionally been

[1:24:23] engaged or had access to these opportunities.

[1:24:25] I was especially interested in hearing about efforts to reach first-time applicants in rural

[1:24:30] communities.

[1:24:31] so I'll stop there and see if there's a response to that.

[1:24:35] Sure, that makes sense of the questions, Kelsey, and we'll get back to you with the exact

[1:24:39] details about the funds that went outside of the city of Seattle when you actually will

[1:24:43] get it to you today. As far as how we're reaching folks that are either first-time applicants

[1:24:49] or awardees or just have been historically underserved by funding sources including governmental

[1:24:54] services. It's there are quite a few efforts that we undertake. We partner.

[1:25:00] With a lot of different media organizations in a lot of different languages that are really commonly used throughout King County.

[1:25:09] That is one of the ways in which we spread the good word about what we're doing.

[1:25:12] We also have a really robust outreach and engagement program called Hello.

[1:25:17] And I think what's been tasked about this program.

[1:25:19] It isn't simply that we set up the table at the fair.

[1:25:22] It's a really intentional partnership with community groups on the ground at their organizations.

[1:25:29] and we ask them to help us identify artists or creatives or cultural groups that can come to these

[1:25:35] gatherings and get to know us and our staff and the offerings that we have.

[1:25:40] We also really rely on the folks that are affiliated with the organization, such staff members,

[1:25:45] being out in the field and I mean all over rural areas, unincorporated areas,

[1:25:49] suburban areas, South King County, Northeast. We try and be out as much as we can.

[1:25:54] we have staff members doing that and carrying the the for culture banner and it's offerings. We also have all our five advisory committees all the members that are part of that. We give them training and orientation and that's them to also like tap into their networks and be constantly telling people that we're there and then lastly our board members who also fill that role. So those are just some of the efforts that we undertake. But there are also also a lot of partnerships that occur with individuals.

[1:26:24] will awardees where they might have an event or they have a fair or they have a festival.

[1:26:29] And they ask us, hey, what you've come and we share what you're doing, whether that's, you know,

[1:26:33] me showing up and letting people know about the offerings that we have or it is a table.

[1:26:38] So we're trying to be responsive as well. But the critical part is we need those community members

[1:26:43] that are from that geographic area to tell us, hey, here's who you're missing. Here's who you're

[1:26:49] not seeing. And I think we're very fortunate that our network has those great ambassadors.

[1:26:52] and that's how so many new folks come to us and how we get out the word about for culture.

[1:26:58] I appreciate that. And one of the things that the exact has been doing

[1:27:07] is actually pretty close to my heart is the community building element, one of his four bees.

[1:27:13] It was formerly boots on the ground. It's now building connecting or better. I'm going to have

[1:27:18] figure that one out. Sorry, sorry, exact. But I have a pal in his office, Angela, who is our

[1:27:25] east side person, right? Who is the person who is representing one of the east side between

[1:27:30] Angela and Department of Local Services, Lea Richardson's team, they are everywhere. So, in my

[1:27:39] district, this across to me, Mr. Edmond, wouldn't build this Nicole Me Valley, it's festival time,

[1:27:44] There's everything it takes. I call this total day Saturday. There's everything is happening right now. It's very visible. Our ministry, all these different things.

[1:27:54] You have a smaller team to be able to reach all of those areas. I would love to send you my connections for those nonprofits, which you have sure that you have already specifically the festivals and now reach.

[1:28:09] because it would be really wonderful to have you at the non-profit festival at

[1:28:14] Coronation Farms Incarnation where everybody's highlighted those kinds of things

[1:28:19] where there's just terrific opportunity for visibility. We send people to you all the

[1:28:24] time and I was really thrilled to see in the report all of the efforts that you're

[1:28:29] making to reach out to our folks, Oxford and the emergency areas as well. But

[1:28:34] there is a really, really strong interest and I want to make sure that we're all

[1:28:39] and then we can cross-pollinate and so having that opportunity to really invest in these areas will create those thriving communities that you're trying to do everywhere.

[1:28:52] I appreciate that and I appreciate your continued vigilance on your finances and how you are appropriating these things.

[1:29:02] It is something I'm keenly aware of right now and the diligence with which you conduct your team, your business, is very much appreciated.

[1:29:18] And I just want to take a moment to say that one final thing you had in your slides, some crazy amount of 156 million.

[1:29:26] not yet spent, and the point that you made was that it's

[1:29:31] encumbered by some of these grants, it would be great

[1:29:34] to have a visual or a line that shows encumbered by year

[1:29:40] out. So if I'm looking 156 million not spent, and we know

[1:29:45] it's 100 million a year coming in coming right. That's going to

[1:29:48] grow and dissipate but also substantially grow, and so it would be

[1:29:53] very helpful to have a third column, a third row that shows

[1:29:57] in comfort in 26 and comfort in 27.

[1:30:00] We covered in 20 and so forth as we go along so that we can get to what hasn't been awarded and what is

[1:30:08] in covered, is it entirely recovered? Is there something else going on in those numbers that we should know about

[1:30:14] for transparency and disability?

[1:30:17] Okay. Happy to do that. I would welcome any lists of events and we'll do our best to get out there.

[1:30:22] Okay. Thank you very much. Do you and the entire team for all that you do on?

[1:30:26] Thank you, Kasimur Perry.

[1:30:28] Colleagues, other questions from colleagues on the for the for culture team.

[1:30:33] Kasimur, faint.

[1:30:36] So much.

[1:30:37] Thanks, Brian.

[1:30:38] And I appreciate the framing of your presentation and the acknowledgement

[1:30:42] of the importance of accountability and good governance.

[1:30:46] Chair, Perry, your council,

[1:30:48] I'm very touched on a topic that I'm sensitive to when that's the amount of funding that goes around the entire county and so I was while we were chatting here looked and so 38 million over 38 million was awarded last year in your report.

[1:31:15] and a report also says that around 30% was awarded outside of Seattle, so that's over 11 million outside of Seattle.

[1:31:27] And so when I was looking at the data, it looked like funding is largely concentrated in a small number of council districts.

[1:31:41] And some districts aren't even competitive.

[1:31:48] They're receiving few awards and some aren't even applying for awards.

[1:31:55] And within those that are outside of Seattle, a large share appears concentrated in certain communities

[1:32:02] that already have a well-established cultural infrastructure like Bellevue and

[1:32:09] And so I wanted to kind of ask your question backing and looking at this at a high level, what do we think about, or what is for culture think about the balance between funding existing strong organizations versus or and building cultural capacity in these communities that don't have those organizations or infrastructure.

[1:32:39] And is the goal to really create or expect that every part of King County will develop that capacity to compete or are we going to acknowledge that some areas just don't have that capacity and we find a way to support other ways.

[1:33:04] Yeah, that's a it's a big topic. I appreciate you surfacing it. I would say that the geographic distribution of funds.

[1:33:17] The floor of it right through the ordinance is $1 million to each county council district and the 25% outside the city of Seattle and those marks have been hit or exceeded.

[1:33:27] But again, that was the floor for me.

[1:33:30] One of the reasons that I came to for culture,

[1:33:32] because I believe in a more equitable distribution of funds

[1:33:36] to communities and individuals that have been historically marginalized

[1:33:39] from those opportunities.

[1:33:41] So that to me is the value that I hold,

[1:33:44] the organization holds,

[1:33:46] and something that we're constantly working towards.

[1:33:49] I think it's complicated in the each particular city

[1:33:54] within King County has a different level of,

[1:33:57] you can call it, cultural health.

[1:33:59] How many organizations in which disciplines

[1:34:01] their sizes, what are their service areas

[1:34:04] and what are their programmatic offerings?

[1:34:06] It's really variable.

[1:34:08] I will say outside the city of Seattle,

[1:34:10] and then we're not talking about specific cities,

[1:34:13] but there is a really high success rate of organizations

[1:34:18] in some of these, in some of these

[1:34:20] both council district and cities outside the city of Seattle.

[1:34:23] Also, it might end up being a lower number of applications that are submitted, but tends

[1:34:27] to be a higher success rate.

[1:34:29] I think towards your larger question of just for culture prioritize, right, funding that

[1:34:34] what that which exists that's strong and supported through other funding mechanisms or

[1:34:40] growing right, the cultural ecosystem and strengthening small, burgeoning, new organizations.

[1:34:47] I think it's always a balance of both for me.

[1:34:49] It is a really complicated web of different size organizations that have different financial positions and strengths and we're always trying to find ways through our

[1:35:00] Different programs, then address the different needs. So the sustained support program, which provides operating support, which is 50% of doors open, helps a lot of organizations across the board of different sizes throughout King County.

[1:35:12] I think some of the more particular programs like launch are designed to do exactly what you say to council member fame, which is, I think, the Barrow Council member Perry's like helping folks, right, grow where they're planted. The goal there was if you were new, when you didn't see a lot of new organizations kind of popping up

[1:35:29] outside the city of Seattle, let's focus on their early years, give them dedicated funding,

[1:35:35] such that they actually can develop into those larger organizations and cultural centers in

[1:35:41] some of those areas that might be a little a little weaker. So I think that's one. There's also the

[1:35:46] open program, which is the first time applicant program at four culture where we're always kind of

[1:35:50] harvesting those kind of just brand new, the really cultural groups. They're not five or one,

[1:35:55] They're just getting started and we want them to get to know what's going to support some of their early efforts, which are often one program or it's a fair or it's one event.

[1:36:04] But we believe that kind of early seed funding to those types of cultural groups allows them to start dreaming about what a kind of more robust organizational structure might look like.

[1:36:15] And then lastly, I would just just complicate this a little bit more.

[1:36:18] the eventual kind of growth or size of any particular cultural center, right?

[1:36:25] A hub is influenced by four cultures funding, but also deeply influenced by the ability of

[1:36:34] that community to get resources from itself, but also attract resources from foundations,

[1:36:41] from corporations, from their own local municipal government. So there's that kind of complex

[1:36:47] revenue pie that I think determines

[1:36:49] likely that of anyone individual

[1:36:51] organization growing.

[1:36:53] So for us, it's something we definitely

[1:36:55] believe in a value that we hold.

[1:36:57] And I think so many of our efforts are

[1:36:59] designed to uncover who we've just

[1:37:01] started up.

[1:37:02] What is it that they need?

[1:37:03] And I believe that kind of programmatic

[1:37:05] framework that we have allows us to do

[1:37:07] that based on the needs of where

[1:37:09] those organizations are.

[1:37:11] And hopefully that that's

[1:37:13] what spoke to your question.

[1:37:19] I just, I should have started with a thank you because you really have been so receptive and helpful when we are doing our, or just to try and refer as many things.

[1:37:31] existing cultural organizations and folks that are really trying to enter the arena and I know that launches, you know, a small percentage of the budgets, so wonder if that could be an opportunity to reevaluate how much we are dedicating to that.

[1:37:54] But really, my questions were around what can we do to help increase the overall participation, so I would encourage, as we think about this balance areas that we can help or if it's just a fact that if we establish an organization and there's no sustainable funding around it or participation, then it might not be a good use of our

[1:38:24] investment to try and help this organization get started and then let it go and have it struggles.

[1:38:32] So what can we do to encourage that support and the surrounding community and that would be

[1:38:38] something that I would be interested in helping with. But a longer conversation, but I'll

[1:38:43] always appreciate your engagement. Thank you. Thank you very much, customer and a fan

[1:38:49] Council member Lewis, and then we'll go to Vice-Share Balduchi.

[1:38:53] Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Brian and your team for your presentation today. It's been

[1:38:58] quite informative. My questions really relate a lot to what Council Member Fain was just asking

[1:39:06] about, and I just want to fine tune what I heard a little bit, which is I heard you talk about

[1:39:13] getting acquainted with new organizations that, you know, maybe, they may be a club or they may

[1:39:19] may be just forming. They're not quite an arts organization yet. You also said that we are

[1:39:28] providing consulting support to organizations and I'm wondering if that consulting support

[1:39:34] is that available to, you know, pre-application during applications, you know, as a technical assistance

[1:39:42] after money is awarded, what kind of consulting or technical assistance could be available to

[1:39:51] these new and up-and-coming organizations?

[1:39:57] Thank you for the questions, Councillor Rollo, I'll turn into my colleague.

[1:40:00] Linger Children's, and let her speak a little bit more to the, that, that technical assistance that we're able to offer organizations.

[1:40:08] Yeah, thanks, Brian, and thanks for the question council member.

[1:40:11] It's a great point that organizations, especially as they are getting off the ground, need a little bit more support in their grant applications.

[1:40:19] And that is definitely what we found is that that is one of the highest requested supports.

[1:40:23] So we do have technical assistance available both for the launch programs, so knowing that those organizations may not have that internal capacity to have grant writers on staff or to be familiar with just the processes of going through that kind of work.

[1:40:39] So we've built into our structure and our budgets,

[1:40:44] specifically for the launch program.

[1:40:45] And then also knowing that our building for equity programs,

[1:40:48] so the work that we do with facilities to buy,

[1:40:51] build, renovate, and also the project development

[1:40:55] within facilities, so organizations who have the idea

[1:40:59] that they want to move towards a facility,

[1:41:01] but maybe don't have a facility picked out.

[1:41:03] They don't quite know exactly the structure, the location,

[1:41:07] how they would go about moving from,

[1:41:09] and I tenoran organization to a grounded organization.

[1:41:12] Those are ones where we really focus that technical assistance

[1:41:15] because we know that those are the organizations

[1:41:17] that most need that capacity building.

[1:41:20] So this is a new program for us.

[1:41:23] So as we mentioned, we're really tracking the requested consultants

[1:41:28] support and really trying to understand where,

[1:41:30] where do we have consultants already on our roster?

[1:41:33] Where do we need to continue to build that depth?

[1:41:35] How do we actually really make sure that those consultants

[1:41:38] are from the communities where those requests are coming from. We know that different communities

[1:41:42] across King County have different needs, different familiarity, different comfort levels. And so

[1:41:49] we're really, we've done a really detailed inventory of where all of our consultants are coming from,

[1:41:57] where they're located, languages spoken, all of that kind of thing, and are continuing to build out

[1:42:02] the roster to make sure it reflects the needs and the requests that we're getting.

[1:42:06] Great. Thank you. Thank you. Vice chair Balducci. Thank you chair and I add my thanks to all the

[1:42:16] books that for culture the leadership and all the staff. What a big year. I mean just reflecting back on the early discussions about what became doors open was access Washington. I believe in initially and just kind of thinking forward to the massive effort that was going to be needed to staff.

[1:42:35] up, create all these new programs, create all of the processes from scratch.

[1:42:40] I mean, this has been a startup, a huge startup.

[1:42:43] And I just want to say, you know, sort of as you look back to the results and the,

[1:42:50] the feedback that you got in that survey, you know, congratulations.

[1:42:54] It has been a really amazing success story and just has helped so many people.

[1:43:01] And I hope you all feel very justifiably proud of the work that you have done

[1:43:05] because I mean, I don't know anywhere else in the country that has done anything quite this

[1:43:09] big, quite this fast. So congratulations, and thank you.

[1:43:15] On the discussion that's sort of starting up with the last two commenters, Council Member

[1:43:20] Lewis and Council Member Fain, I want you, my colleagues, to know that the big picture

[1:43:26] questions and topics that you are raising have been on our radar screen the entire time,

[1:43:32] from the initial successful launch of the access while the first time where these were the underlying questions about how do you strike that balance between supporting the pillars really the pillars of the large organizations that have been the pillars of a very successful arts and culture and history and science community here in the northwest.

[1:43:55] While also making sure that you are supporting geographic areas that want to have centers, that want to have hubs of activity, that grow the future generations of all of the, you know, sectors there, that creates vibrant spaces throughout King County where people will go and spend their money and you know, and also to make sure we're bouncing with smaller organizations, newer organizations, more diverse organizations that represent their, you know,

[1:44:23] deep roots in their communities and our community-based. It is an incredible balancing act.

[1:44:29] And I will say that I do have a little bit of a flashing red button when people name

[1:44:33] Bellevue as a cultural hub that is very successful because I would invite you to come visit the

[1:44:38] empty storefronts of the places that don't survive in Bellevue. The poster trial for that was the

[1:44:43] Bellevue Arts Museum. And I have to say was past tense because it finally did go out of business

[1:44:48] after many years of teetering on the edge, every community has got its arts and culture of dreams

[1:44:56] and needs and our balance is to try.

[1:45:00] I'd like to create a floor underneath all of them. We can't make them all succeed. We can't make them all, like even with the massive funding of doors open, you could not fund the hundreds of institutions and then the new ones that happen every day to the level that would keep them all healthy. We provide a cushion, if you will. We provide an opportunity to do things that maybe organizations wouldn't have done before.

[1:45:24] We provide an opportunity to grow and thrive, but we don't, we're not ongoing sustaining funding at the level that every organization means.

[1:45:35] We are, we are a pedestal if you will. I've tried three different metaphors, I think they all fail anyway.

[1:45:41] So what I'm interested in and I don't want to discuss it today because we've been at this a while, but I want to discuss it in the future please to the four culture folks now.

[1:45:50] As we are starting to do the early evaluation of doors open,

[1:45:54] all of these questions should be framed up.

[1:45:56] Many of them were in the implementation plan that we passed,

[1:45:59] but we should frame up these questions that the members are asking

[1:46:02] and be providing data and information to help us see

[1:46:06] that full and complex and beautiful map of all the ways in which

[1:46:10] for culture is supporting the community.

[1:46:12] Those examples we brought today were just lovely and very inspiring.

[1:46:16] But now we're going to be to see the whole map and where we can do better as we inevitably

[1:46:23] start to move towards reauthorization, which will come up faster than you can possibly

[1:46:29] imagine.

[1:46:30] So that's it.

[1:46:31] I just wanted to really say congratulations and honor the incredible and historic effort that

[1:46:37] went into where we are today.

[1:46:39] And those numbers from your survey about how the very high percentage of people who engage

[1:46:44] arts and culture is a testament to that success. And of course, always more to do, but really

[1:46:50] congratulations to you all.

[1:46:52] Well, thank you, Councillor interjection. Also, thank you for all your support along the way

[1:46:57] and all the council members to get us here. This was a team effort. It was a group effort.

[1:47:01] And I totally agree. There are things that are working. This thing is working. It's doing what

[1:47:05] it was intended to do. But we are not afraid of iteration or evolution or adaptation as necessary.

[1:47:11] I think the data we're gathering will help frame those conversations.

[1:47:14] so totally agree. Thank you for that comment.

[1:47:19] Thank you all. Well, I'll call myself just to say

[1:47:23] that I want to echo the thanks from Vice Chair on all of the work that has been down over

[1:47:28] last couple of years and getting this program going just in my conversations with community.

[1:47:35] I hear frequently about how vital this has been in terms of supporting the cultural sector.

[1:47:41] So, and I think there's been a lot of positive feedback that I've received about how things have

[1:47:48] been implemented and so very grateful to the team for that work. I also want to sort of post a

[1:47:54] question more for like featured enough for right now, but just echoing a little bit of

[1:47:58] some of the questions that Kazmer Perry mentioned about the financial picture. I do want to

[1:48:04] note for colleagues. There's some pretty detailed information in our packet around pages

[1:48:10] starting at our 100 and 2 with a little bit more detailed financials that were on the slides

[1:48:15] if you want to take a look at that. But I do think that that question about how we

[1:48:21] planning a spending the money in the kind of future years, I think, would be helpful for us to see,

[1:48:27] especially, I remember when we discussed implementation plan that we had the concerns about the

[1:48:32] volatility of the sales tax revenue and just thinking ahead about how that money is being used.

[1:48:38] So I think the ending balances, I realize in Brian I'm glad that you're also kind of flagged

[1:48:43] at the, like, that gets attention, but I think for that reason, I think it would be

[1:48:48] helpful to have that kind of detail of, like, how do we project the money to be used

[1:48:53] in future years, in the future?

[1:48:57] And so I look forward to kind of continuing those conversations and I appreciate all the work

[1:49:01] that's been done.

[1:49:03] All right, I don't see any further questions, so I'm going to say thank you again to Brian Claire and Collider for the presentation and for all of the work.

[1:49:15] Colleagues, we're closing out. We have this concludes the action items in our agenda.

[1:49:20] Before we adjourn, I want to make sure that technical difficulties and staff council members are voting any items.

[1:49:26] Blake, do we have anybody who are excused from the vote that might be able to cast their votes now?

[1:49:32] Yeah, yes, cheers. Thank you very much. Council members.

[1:49:34] Mosqueta and bond right power. We're excused from 2026 to 0106, 2026 to 0123 and 2024.

[1:49:42] Harden me. 2026 to 012.

[1:49:45] All right. I know Councillor Musqueta is absent today, but a C Councillor Vandripe power on the line.

[1:49:52] Councillor Vandripe power would you like to record a vote on that?

[1:49:58] All right. There may be technical difficulties.

[1:50:00] These there, so we will ask remind folks that if a member is excused, they may email the committee

[1:50:07] clerk with their vote by the end of the day if they were present for earlier part of the meeting.

[1:50:12] All right, with that, thank you to everybody who participated in today's meeting.

[1:50:16] If there is no further presence to come before the committee, we are adjourned.

Committee of the Whole

Agenda

Transcript