[0:05] Uh, colleagues, I
[0:06] m going to
[0:09] call to order the JUNE 23rd,
[0:10] 2026 committee of the whole
[0:12] meeting. I have the pleasure of
[0:12] serving as chair of the
[0:14] committee this year. My name is
[0:15] George Baron. I represent
[0:16] district four. On today
[0:16] s
[0:18] agenda, we will have a briefing
[0:19] on the state of the district
[0:20] court, and then we
[0:21] ll take
[0:22] action on three appointments to
[0:24] the four Culture Board and
[0:26] close with a briefing from four
[0:27] culture. With that
[0:28] introduction. Clerk Wells,
[0:29] could I ask you to please call
[0:30] the roll?
[0:32] Certainly, chair. Thank you
[0:34] very much. Councilmember
[0:36] Balducci.
[0:38] Councilmember Dembowski here.
[0:40] Councilmember Dunn here.
[0:44] Councilmember Fain. Here.
[0:45] Councilmember Louis.
[0:47] Here.
[0:51] Councilmember Mosqueda.
[0:53] Councilmember Perry here.
[0:55] Councilmember von Reichbauer.
[0:56] Here.
[0:57] Chair.
[0:59] Baron here. And I believe Vice
[1:00] Chair Balducci is with us as
[1:01] well.
[1:02] I was just going to say here,
[1:03] thank you.
[1:04] All right. Thank you.
[1:06] Colleagues, we do have a quorum
[1:07] of the committee. Uh, thank you
[1:09] all for joining us. Uh, Vice
[1:11] Chair Balducci, MAY I please
[1:12] have a motion for approval of
[1:14] the minutes of JUNE 8th, 2026?
[1:15] Thank you. Chair. I move
[1:16] approval of the JUNE 20th eight
[1:17] minutes or JUNE 8th minutes.
[1:18] Sorry. JUNE 8th.
[1:20] Thank you very much. Uh, are
[1:22] there any questions or
[1:24] comments? Uh, regarding the
[1:27] minutes, seeing none, all those
[1:28] in favor of approving the
[1:29] minutes, please say aye.
[1:30] Aye, aye.
[1:32] Any opposed? Say nay. The
[1:34] minutes are approved. Uh,
[1:35] clerks, do we have anybody
[1:37] signed up for public comment?
[1:39] Either online or in person?
[1:42] Uh, I believe there is no way
[1:43] in person. We do have a couple
[1:44] people online, but no one has
[1:45] raised their hand. I just want
[1:47] to give them a moment. If they
[1:48] do want to make a public
[1:50] comment, to raise their hand.
[1:51] Thank you. If you are here to
[1:53] provide public comment online,
[1:55] please use the raise hand
[1:57] function and the zoom platform
[2:00] or use up star nine if you have
[2:02] joined by phone. Are we seeing
[2:03] in a request for public
[2:03] comment?
[2:06] No, no, not at this time.
[2:08] All right. Uh, seeing no
[2:09] requests for public comment, we
[2:10] will close public comment and
[2:12] move forward with our agenda.
[2:14] Uh, the first item on today
[2:14] s
[2:15] agenda is a briefing on the
[2:17] state of the district court.
[2:17] Uh, we
[2:19] re joined today online
[2:20] by the Honorable Rebecca
[2:21] Robertson, who
[2:21] s the chief
[2:23] presiding judge of King County
[2:24] District Court. Thank you for
[2:25] joining us today, Judge
[2:27] Robertson. And I understand
[2:27] that you
[2:28] ve also extended an
[2:29] invitation to the district
[2:30] court judges to view today
[2:30] s
[2:31] presentation at their schedules
[2:33] allow. Uh, so I want to say
[2:34] thank you for doing that. And
[2:35] to any of the district court
[2:37] judges watching through this
[2:38] presentation. You
[2:39] re welcome.
[2:40] Uh, and thank you for making
[2:42] time to tune in. And with that,
[2:42] I
[2:44] ll invite Judge Robertson to
[2:45] begin. Whenever you
[2:45] re ready.
[2:47] Well, thank you so much. I
[2:47] m
[2:48] going to go ahead and share my
[2:53] screen. There we go. So again,
[2:54] I
[2:55] m judge Rebecca Robertson.
[2:56] Can you give me a thumbs up if
[2:57] you can see that?
[2:59] I definitely see that.
[3:00] Awesome. Judge Rebecca
[3:01] Robertson I
[3:01] m the chief
[3:02] presiding judge of King County
[3:03] district court. I wanted to
[3:06] give you a brief overview of
[3:07] the district court today. I
[3:08] know there are a couple of new
[3:09] members, so I
[3:11] m going to, um,
[3:13] go over some of the things that
[3:15] other members MAY know, but I
[3:15] think it
[3:16] s important for
[3:17] everybody to understand about
[3:20] our district court. We are the
[3:22] largest, uh, court of limited
[3:23] jurisdiction in the state of
[3:25] Washington. And we are actually
[3:26] the second largest court in the
[3:28] state, second only to King
[3:31] County Superior Court. Or as
[3:33] you can see here, we have a
[3:34] mission statement. We want to
[3:36] provide an accessible forum for
[3:37] the fair and efficient and
[3:39] understandable resolution of
[3:40] the civil and criminal cases,
[3:42] and maintain an atmosphere of
[3:43] respect and dignity for all
[3:46] individuals. Seven out of eight
[3:48] cases in the entire state are
[3:49] handled by the courts of
[3:51] limited jurisdiction. So you
[3:53] can imagine how many cases and
[3:54] how many folks come through the
[3:56] King County District Court. If
[3:58] we are the largest district
[4:02] court in the entire state. The
[4:03] district courts and the
[4:05] municipal courts are called the
[4:05] people
[4:06] s courts. It
[4:06] s where
[4:08] people will likely encounter
[4:10] not only the judiciary, but
[4:12] their entire government. Most
[4:13] people are going to have any
[4:15] contact with their government
[4:16] through the district and
[4:18] municipal courts. King County
[4:20] District Court has 25
[4:22] separately elected judges. We
[4:25] are all, uh, we all are elected
[4:26] from our district. And I
[4:26] m
[4:27] going to circle our brand new
[4:29] judges that you just appointed,
[4:30] Judge Barney Martin and Judge
[4:32] Yvonne Chin. We are really
[4:37] happy to have them. We are a
[4:38] large and complicated
[4:40] structure, so we have an
[4:41] executive leadership team. We
[4:43] have myself on the presiding
[4:45] judge. Judge Hahn is the
[4:47] assistant presiding judge, and
[4:48] we have three division
[4:50] providing presiding judges for
[4:52] our three divisions. The
[4:53] presiding judge in the chief
[4:54] and the I
[4:55] m sorry, assistant
[4:56] presiding judge are actually
[4:59] elected by all the judges and
[5:01] the divisions elect their own
[5:03] presiding judges. So we operate
[5:06] as a democratic republic.
[5:07] Essentially, you have
[5:08] representatives from all of
[5:11] your divisions. The executive
[5:12] committee handles all the
[5:14] policies, procedures, rules,
[5:19] projects, etc. We also have 250
[5:21] staff. We have the Chief
[5:22] administrative officer or
[5:23] deputy chief administrative
[5:25] officer, and all of our
[5:27] directors. They do the bulk of
[5:28] the work for King County
[5:30] District Court. King County
[5:32] District Court has five
[5:35] electoral districts. So if you
[5:36] are elected out of the
[5:38] Southwest district, you have to
[5:38] live there and you
[5:38] ll be
[5:40] serving most of the time in the
[5:41] Southwest District. Same for
[5:43] the west and shoreline.
[5:45] Northeast, southeast, etc. Our
[5:48] administrative divisions are
[5:50] separated into West, east and
[5:53] south. King County District
[5:55] Court contracts with 13 cities
[5:58] to handle their municipal court
[5:59] services. They
[6:01] re covered by an
[6:03] interlocal agreement. They are
[6:04] the cities that contract with
[6:06] us, get the same services as
[6:07] King County does, as the state
[6:09] does. This is operating on a
[6:12] full cost recovery model. We
[6:13] currently have 13 cities, but
[6:15] Auburn is no longer going to be
[6:18] contracting with us as of
[6:21] JANUARY 2027. So we also have
[6:23] strategic court look courthouse
[6:24] locations for the convenience
[6:26] of the public. County and city
[6:28] residents can easily access
[6:29] their local courts to obtain
[6:31] services such as small claims,
[6:34] protection orders, etc. And the
[6:36] hearings will take place where,
[6:37] uh, close to where the crime
[6:39] occurred. So if someone is
[6:40] charged with a crime in
[6:42] shoreline, they do not need to
[6:43] go to the emergency to have
[6:46] their cases heard. A lot of
[6:47] people think that district and
[6:49] municipal courts do mostly
[6:50] traffic tickets. Most of our
[6:51] job is actually handling the
[6:54] criminal cases, and for that,
[6:55] we have to make sure that
[6:55] we
[6:59] re, uh, honoring and abiding
[7:01] by the Constitution and
[7:01] protecting people
[7:01] s
[7:04] constitutional rights. So
[7:05] criminal takes priority over
[7:08] any of our civil cases because
[7:10] there is the loss of liberty
[7:12] attached to any criminal case.
[7:14] We have to make sure that
[7:15] evidence has been lawfully
[7:17] gathered. And if it has not, we
[7:18] suppress that evidence. We have
[7:20] to guarantee everyone the right
[7:22] to an attorney. Uh, we do not
[7:24] allow forced confessions. We
[7:25] have motions all the time
[7:26] regarding people
[7:27] s Fifth
[7:29] Amendment rights, and we have
[7:32] jury trial in every courthouse.
[7:34] So at every point in time,
[7:34] we
[7:35] re protecting people
[7:35] s
[7:38] constitutional rights. Just to
[7:39] give you a brief overview of
[7:41] the difference between superior
[7:42] and district courts, superior,
[7:44] does the felonies real property
[7:47] rights, divorce, estate, and
[7:49] commitment, civil cases over
[7:52] $100,000. The juvenile cases
[7:54] protection orders which we
[7:55] share with them and appeals
[7:57] from our level of court, the
[7:58] district court does the gross
[8:00] and simple misdemeanors. That
[8:02] means that you can that has
[8:03] punishment up to a year in jail
[8:06] and a $5,000 fine, or 90 days
[8:08] in jail, and the $1,000 fine.
[8:10] We do civil cases under
[8:12] $100,000, small claims
[8:13] protection orders, name
[8:16] changes, infractions and other
[8:18] civil and other civil cases
[8:23] such as tow hearings, etc. Most
[8:25] of the cases that we handle are
[8:26] and take the most time are
[8:27] domestic violence and driving
[8:30] under the influences cases, the
[8:31] they take the most, they
[8:32] re the
[8:32] most serious. They take the
[8:34] most time of the attorneys as
[8:36] well as the court. They
[8:36] re
[8:38] getting more complex as the law
[8:39] changes. And certainly body
[8:41] cameras make every case that we
[8:42] handle more complex because we
[8:44] have all that evidence to
[8:47] review. And we are also
[8:49] increasingly handling domestic
[8:50] violence cases in other cases
[8:51] that could be filed as
[8:53] felonies, but are instead filed
[8:54] in the district and municipal
[8:55] courts. So we
[8:56] re working really
[8:58] hard on all those cases.
[8:59] District court also handles the
[9:02] felony first appearances. So if
[9:03] anyone is arrested on a felony,
[9:04] they
[9:04] re going to be appearing
[9:06] before a district court judge,
[9:07] usually the next day or the day
[9:11] after. And we also handle all
[9:12] of the most of the protection
[9:14] orders and to harassment,
[9:16] stalking, domestic violence. So
[9:18] we play a large role in
[9:21] enforcing the rules of law to
[9:23] protect the public safety in
[9:27] district court. We also have a
[9:31] very large civil, uh, civil
[9:33] unit at this time. Our cases in
[9:36] 2025 were almost 25,000. That
[9:37] s
[9:40] an 88% increase since 2023.
[9:42] Right now we have two dedicated
[9:44] civil judges and two who do.
[9:46] About a quarter of their job is
[9:48] civil cases. So we have
[9:50] personal injury, breach of
[9:51] contract, medical and consumer
[9:54] debt, etc. Most people think,
[9:54] oh, that
[9:55] s a civil case is just
[9:56] about money. But these are
[9:59] cases that have real effect on
[9:59] people
[10:01] s lives. We deal with a
[10:03] significant amount of
[10:04] garnishment cases where folks
[10:06] who are on the edge of being
[10:07] able to survive or having their
[10:09] wages garnished. We, in fact,
[10:11] there was a very large company
[10:13] in Seattle that was garnishing
[10:16] wages due to a programming
[10:19] error on their end. For years
[10:20] they were garnishing wages in
[10:21] amounts that were way too
[10:23] large. And it was not until one
[10:24] of our civil judges noticed
[10:26] this pattern and summonsed them
[10:27] to court, that this was
[10:29] corrected and people got their
[10:30] money back. Some of the types
[10:32] of cases are, of course,
[10:34] medical debt, which is one of
[10:36] the most heartbreaking things
[10:37] that you can see in court. We
[10:39] had a case where a woman came
[10:41] in in huge debt to Bank of
[10:42] America, and she got to court
[10:43] and said she had done it to pay
[10:45] for the medical care for her
[10:46] fiance, who was dying, and she
[10:48] extended his ear for his life
[10:50] for a year by using that credit
[10:51] card. But that put her into
[10:55] significant medical debt. So
[10:57] these are the kind of cases
[10:59] that are handled by our civil
[11:00] judges, because they are so
[11:02] important and because we have
[11:04] had such an increase in our
[11:08] civil cases, the positions that
[11:09] were in Auburn Municipal Court
[11:10] are currently are there are
[11:12] going to be added to our civil
[11:13] department and we will have
[11:15] five full time civil judges as
[11:19] of 2027 handling these cases.
[11:19] So we
[11:22] re also handling, um,
[11:24] other civil cases, small claims
[11:26] suits for the recovery of
[11:28] money. The Dispute Resolution
[11:29] Center of King County helps us
[11:30] with that. A lot of them are
[11:32] tenant claims for return of
[11:35] deposits. These are cases that
[11:37] are under $10,000, but that
[11:37] s
[11:38] real money to a lot of people.
[11:40] And so those are very
[11:43] important. Uh, we also have all
[11:44] the other civil matters, such
[11:45] as the vehicle impound
[11:48] hearings, post judgment
[11:49] executions, petitions for
[11:51] seized animals, etc., that we
[11:52] handle, and King County
[11:53] District Court. In fact, there
[11:55] was just a movie about a tow
[11:56] hearing that took place in King
[11:57] County District Court. The
[11:58] movie tow. I don
[11:58] t know if any
[12:00] of you have seen that, but two
[12:01] of our district court judges
[12:02] were the ones that released the
[12:04] car. Uh, for this, for this
[12:07] woman. So these are civil cases
[12:09] have significant impact on
[12:09] people
[12:11] s lives. We also have
[12:13] our therapeutic courts, both
[12:14] regional mental health court
[12:16] and regional veterans court, a
[12:18] regional mental health court is
[12:20] funded by the mid budget, as is
[12:23] the Veterans Court, that any of
[12:25] the cases in our therapeutic
[12:26] courts are referred by the
[12:28] prosecutor and defense and our
[12:29] regional Mental Health Court is
[12:31] celebrating 25 years. That was
[12:33] the second in the nation and
[12:33] it
[12:36] s still going strong. The
[12:40] data shows that participating
[12:41] in rental, um, regional mental
[12:43] health court reduces
[12:45] recidivism. There, increases
[12:47] participation in treatment. We
[12:49] also have three therapeutic
[12:52] community courts and, uh,
[12:55] shoreline, Kenmore, Bellevue
[12:56] and Redmond. There are
[12:58] intensive court involvement
[13:00] with folks to get them to
[13:01] resources. We have peer
[13:03] membership. They usually come
[13:04] to court once a week and check
[13:04] in. It
[13:06] s a very different model
[13:08] than our, uh, what we normally
[13:11] have in court. And it works for
[13:12] a lot of people who are
[13:14] struggling with issues that
[13:15] keep them in the criminal
[13:17] justice system. We have some
[13:18] statistics. Statistics from
[13:20] Spokane Community Court about
[13:22] recidivism that shows
[13:24] recidivism is reduced by
[13:26] participation in community
[13:27] court. We are actually working
[13:28] on our own data now that we
[13:28] ve
[13:29] had community courts for at
[13:31] least eight years, where we can
[13:33] compare apples to apples. So a
[13:34] city that has a community court
[13:35] versus a city that doesn
[13:36] t,
[13:37] comparing similar cases and
[13:39] what the recidivism rate is,
[13:39] and we
[13:40] re working on that data
[13:44] right now for those who are in
[13:45] community court and not in
[13:46] community court, in a regular
[13:47] court, we have several tools
[13:50] and resources to try and stop
[13:52] their downward spiral, prevent
[13:54] felonies and escalation of any
[13:56] criminal behavior. So if people
[13:59] go to probation for doing so
[14:01] normally for treatment such as
[14:03] alcohol and drug, mental
[14:04] health, anger management,
[14:07] sexual deviancy, various
[14:09] educational classes, consumer
[14:12] awareness, etc., our mission is
[14:14] to stop people
[14:15] s behavior that
[14:18] causes them to commit crime. Of
[14:19] course, we are also very
[14:20] mindful of public safety and if
[14:22] some people have to, we have to
[14:23] resort to punishment. We do. We
[14:25] have, uh, contracts with
[14:26] several jails as well as the
[14:27] King County Jail. We use
[14:29] electronic monitoring,
[14:30] community service and
[14:33] restitution, etc. As I said,
[14:34] the gross and simple
[14:36] misdemeanors carry up to a year
[14:38] in jail. And so you do often
[14:40] find fairly violent offenders
[14:42] in custody on their gross and
[14:44] simple misdemeanors. Our
[14:47] probation department is very
[14:49] active. We have ten probation
[14:50] officers, separate assignments
[14:51] to domestic violence court,
[14:53] five locations where they are
[14:55] located. They help people with
[14:56] their problems. That led them
[14:57] to the interaction with the
[14:59] criminal justice system. Almost
[15:02] all of our cases on probation
[15:04] are domestic violence and dui.
[15:04] We don
[15:06] t have folks with theft
[15:08] charges or criminal trespasses
[15:10] on probation. What they are on
[15:13] or for our most serious crime.
[15:15] We are actually starting our
[15:16] own domestic violence moral
[15:17] recognition therapy classes
[15:19] beginning in AUGUST, which is
[15:21] almost cost free for folks who
[15:23] are participating in as an
[15:24] alternative to the traditional
[15:25] domestic violence barriers
[15:28] treatment, which is going to be
[15:30] not as effective for a large
[15:32] population of our domestic
[15:34] violence offenders. So we are
[15:35] going to have a fairly low cost
[15:39] alternative in-house with Ccdc.
[15:42] Here is our 2025 caseload. It
[15:43] s
[15:46] 277,000 plus cases. What you
[15:48] see here is parking. That is
[15:50] photo enforcement tickets. We
[15:51] have a huge increase in our
[15:53] photo enforcement tickets also
[15:55] have a huge, uh, infraction
[15:57] caseload. And here is where
[15:58] most of the judges spend their
[16:00] time on the civil protection
[16:03] orders. Criminals. Et cetera.
[16:06] Our judicial workload looks a
[16:07] little different. We spend most
[16:09] of our time on our criminal
[16:12] cases. So here is, um, county
[16:14] and state criminal. The felony
[16:16] first appearances, domestic
[16:18] violence court. This is our
[16:20] civil portion. These are our
[16:22] city contracts. So a slight
[16:23] portion of this will be the
[16:24] infractions. But most of it is
[16:26] criminal. So while most of our
[16:28] cases are infraction, most of
[16:30] the time we spent with spend
[16:32] with people is actually in our
[16:36] criminal courts. And as you can
[16:39] see, since 2019 plummeted
[16:41] during Covid, but it is rising
[16:43] again. We are over our Covid
[16:46] numbers. Uh, and so we are
[16:49] essentially doing more cases
[16:50] with the same amount of
[16:52] resources. We are seeing a huge
[16:55] uptick in litigation in all of
[16:57] our criminal cases, huge
[16:59] increases in our civil, uh,
[17:00] civil cases. And they are
[17:02] getting more complex due to
[17:03] statutory changes and other
[17:07] changes. Our trials are also
[17:08] increasing as you can. These
[17:10] are the purple is our state
[17:12] trials. The lighter purple the
[17:14] lavender is our city trials.
[17:16] Our our trials are increasing
[17:17] and trials take a lot of
[17:21] resources. Department of Public
[17:23] Defense right now for the state
[17:26] is is staffed at levels that
[17:27] are recommended by the
[17:28] Washington State Bar
[17:29] Association. They are fully
[17:31] staffed for what was just
[17:33] adopted as the Public defender
[17:35] standards. What we
[17:35] re
[17:36] anecdotally seeing is that
[17:37] means there
[17:38] s more litigation
[17:39] with more attorneys, there
[17:39] s
[17:40] more litigation in court
[17:41] because there are more
[17:42] attorneys to do that, to comb
[17:43] through their cases, to have
[17:45] motions, to have trials. And we
[17:45] think that
[17:47] s why we have a
[17:49] greater increase in trials in
[17:50] our state courts rather than
[17:51] our city courts, even though
[17:53] the numbers for each quarter
[17:55] are pretty much the same. So
[17:55] what we
[17:57] re expecting as the
[17:59] cities start to hire more
[18:00] public defenders, as they
[18:01] re
[18:03] going to be mandated to do
[18:03] that, we
[18:04] re going to be getting
[18:05] more litigation in our cities
[18:08] as well. So I wanted to talk a
[18:10] little bit about our staff and
[18:11] our service data. We
[18:11] ve taken
[18:14] over 200,000 calls last year.
[18:18] Uh, summonsed almost 73,000
[18:20] jurors and scheduled almost
[18:23] 13,000 interpreter jobs in 95
[18:25] languages and dialects for King
[18:27] County District Court. So our
[18:29] staff is really busy making
[18:30] sure that we can provide access
[18:32] to all folks in King County.
[18:33] Our average call time has been
[18:37] reduced from almost an hour to
[18:38] four minutes. We
[18:39] re using live
[18:40] chat and we
[18:41] re working on ai
[18:44] translation services so that
[18:45] when someone calls and they
[18:47] speak another language, we
[18:47] don
[18:48] t have to call it an
[18:49] interpreter. We can use some ai
[18:51] translation tools so they can
[18:52] get better service when they
[18:54] call in. Our live chat has also
[18:56] been really popular for folks
[18:56] who don
[18:57] t want to wait, and
[18:59] they just live chat. Someone in
[19:02] our call center. We also had
[19:03] some initiatives and projects
[19:05] this year, including, uh,
[19:06] capital improvements for
[19:08] security at our eight
[19:10] locations. One of the most
[19:12] important ones that we have
[19:13] been working on are Lean or
[19:17] Kaizen processes for all of our
[19:19] operations and process
[19:20] improvements. We
[19:21] re going to go
[19:22] through every single one of
[19:24] these processes, and we
[19:25] ve to
[19:26] give you an example, we went
[19:27] through our infractions and we
[19:29] reduced the time that we took
[19:32] to process infractions in court
[19:35] by 50%. At least. This is just
[19:35] time that we
[19:36] re dealing with
[19:37] paperwork, not actually
[19:38] interacting with litigants. So
[19:39] we
[19:41] ve reduced our paperwork
[19:42] time and increased the time we
[19:44] can actually spend interacting
[19:45] with folks, which is what we
[19:45] re
[19:47] here to do. It increases our
[19:50] ability to ensure due process.
[19:50] We
[19:51] re going through every
[19:53] single process in this lean
[19:56] operation, lean process to get
[19:57] more efficient and as efficient
[19:59] as we possibly can. We also
[20:01] introduced an online management
[20:04] system for evidence that helps,
[20:05] especially pro se litigants,
[20:05] when they
[20:07] re, uh, submitting
[20:09] digital evidence. And we
[20:10] ve
[20:11] made language translation
[20:13] service improvements, including
[20:16] simultaneous zoom, simultaneous
[20:18] interpretation in every single
[20:20] court. And we have pocket talks,
[20:23] the like ai translators at all
[20:25] our front counters. And with
[20:27] probation so that they can
[20:28] better interact with folks and
[20:30] not have to wait for our scarce
[20:32] resources of actual
[20:32] interpreters. So we
[20:32] re
[20:34] providing better language
[20:36] access. Our Dei committee has
[20:38] continued with its community
[20:40] outreach. We they created an
[20:43] unsecured bond procedure for
[20:44] folks who did not have the
[20:45] collateral to engage with a
[20:47] bond agency. They can now have
[20:48] the alternative of posting cash
[20:51] bond in the 10% amount that
[20:52] they would have been given to
[20:54] the bond company, and they just
[20:55] give that to the court and they
[20:56] get it back when they appear in
[20:57] court. We
[20:59] ve included continue
[21:00] with their education and
[21:01] awareness cities. We
[21:02] ve made
[21:04] sure all our documents are
[21:06] compliant with the Ada
[21:07] recommendations, and we have
[21:08] our web page that
[21:09] s a central
[21:11] source of Di information for
[21:13] the public. And when I talk
[21:14] about community engagements, we
[21:16] go out into the community with
[21:18] our tent with information about
[21:19] the district court. We have a
[21:21] giant gavel and robes that the
[21:22] kids love to take pictures of,
[21:24] and we educate the public about
[21:26] what we are doing in district
[21:27] court. One of the biggest
[21:28] things that
[21:28] s happening in
[21:30] district court is our retiring
[21:32] judges. We have eight retiring
[21:35] judges this year, so Judge
[21:37] Hirakawa and Judge Pagel have
[21:39] already retired. Judge
[21:41] Stevenson is retiring in
[21:43] several days, and the rest of
[21:45] our eight judges are retiring
[21:46] at the end of the year. That
[21:46] s
[21:48] eight judges in one year.
[21:48] That
[21:50] s a third of our bench. So
[21:51] we are losing. And I did the
[21:52] math on my little Star Trek
[21:56] calculator. About 320 years of.
[21:57] It.
[21:59] Legal experience with the loss
[22:00] of these judges, it
[22:01] s a big
[22:06] deal. We are have some
[22:07] challenges coming.
[22:08] Up.
[22:10] Um, one is the increased civil
[22:12] caseload. As we talked about,
[22:13] we are diverting to judicial
[22:14] positions to that civil
[22:16] caseload to try and get through
[22:17] our backlog. It
[22:18] s now more
[22:19] complicated than ever because
[22:22] of debt buyer requirements that
[22:24] were affected. Effective in
[22:27] 2020. Video court is an added
[22:30] complication, and we have some
[22:31] concerns about how it affects
[22:33] due process. If people are on a
[22:35] tiny little screen or on their
[22:35] cell phone, they can
[22:36] t really
[22:39] see us. Uh, we have increased
[22:42] some access, but there are
[22:45] some, uh, downsides to video
[22:47] participation. So we are
[22:49] considering, uh, limiting some
[22:51] access, certainly limiting the
[22:53] chat ability and determining
[22:54] what kind of hearings is
[22:56] appropriate to have these all
[22:58] zoom hearings and some that MAY
[23:01] not be interpreters, continues
[23:03] to be a huge issue for district
[23:04] court. And being able to
[23:07] provide language access,
[23:08] interpreter cases have three
[23:10] times the number of of
[23:12] continuances, which clogs the
[23:14] court system, because folks are
[23:16] trying to get interpreters to
[23:18] court. And also the attorneys
[23:19] are trying to get interpreters
[23:21] to, uh, assist them with
[23:22] communicating with their
[23:23] clients. And there
[23:23] s an
[23:25] interpreter shortage. We also
[23:29] have interpreters, mostly on
[23:29] zoom, and it
[23:30] s sometimes very
[23:31] difficult to get them to come
[23:33] into court when we have
[23:34] evidentiary hearings or trials
[23:35] where we are required to have
[23:38] in-person interpreters. At this
[23:38] time, they
[23:39] re independent
[23:42] contractors, so they can say, I
[23:46] want $250 an hour and an eight
[23:47] hour minimum for this motion
[23:48] hearing. And if we can
[23:49] t find
[23:50] another alternative, that
[23:50] s
[23:51] what we have to do to guarantee
[23:53] language access. Can county
[23:56] District court led a.
[23:56] Um.
[23:58] An effort with the state, the
[23:59] Board of Judicial
[24:01] Administration to create a task
[24:02] force on language access, which
[24:04] was just done earlier this
[24:06] month. So hopefully we can
[24:09] create some, uh, new methods of
[24:11] providing interpreters,
[24:16] including ai. In translation
[24:17] for our hearings, where we
[24:17] re
[24:19] just setting court dates again
[24:21] and again. So maybe we can use
[24:22] ai interpreters. That
[24:22] s going
[24:23] to require actual court and
[24:25] statutory changes, but we
[24:25] re
[24:28] working on it. We continue with
[24:29] attorney staffing challenges.
[24:29] I
[24:29] m sure you
[24:30] ve heard from dpd,
[24:32] as well as the state, that
[24:33] there are fewer attorneys who
[24:34] want to go into the criminal
[24:36] justice system, fewer attorneys
[24:38] means longer delays. They have
[24:40] less experience, less folks to
[24:41] supervise them. We are working
[24:43] with the prosecutor and defense
[24:45] on how to best deploy their
[24:47] attorneys going into law
[24:48] schools, going into the
[24:51] communities, encouraging folks
[24:53] to join, uh, to go to law
[24:54] school and go into criminal,
[24:56] uh, criminal justice. The
[24:58] public defender staffing
[25:00] increase in public defenders
[25:01] means more litigation. So we
[25:01] re
[25:03] handling more cases, more
[25:04] litigate, not more cases, but
[25:06] more litigation due to there
[25:08] being more attorneys. As
[25:09] always, the budget is.
[25:10] Um.
[25:12] A challenge for everybody, I
[25:12] m
[25:13] sure for you guys to most of
[25:15] our budget and salary is our
[25:17] benefits for our 250 employees
[25:18] who are doing the bulk of the
[25:20] work serving the public. Um,
[25:23] budget cuts means we have to
[25:24] cut people and that means less
[25:26] services. As I said, we also
[25:27] have judicial turnover.
[25:29] Issues, but.
[25:30] We have created a really
[25:32] comprehensive onboarding
[25:34] program as well as judicial.
[25:35] College takes about a month for
[25:37] our new judges, so we can
[25:38] really get them to hit the
[25:40] ground running in court. Uh,
[25:41] one of the things that we
[25:44] worked on is our judicial.
[25:45] Needs.
[25:47] Uh, Administrative Office of
[25:48] the court had not done a
[25:50] judicial need study in three
[25:53] decades. And so the judicial
[25:55] needs estimates are 30 years
[25:57] old, and it has not accounted
[25:59] for the complexity of the cases
[26:00] that we see. So the
[26:01] administrative office of the
[26:02] courts, as well as the National
[26:04] Center for State Courts, just
[26:06] completed a study where we all
[26:07] had to record our time for
[26:09] about three weeks on everything
[26:11] we did to determine what the
[26:14] more appropriate, uh, judicial
[26:16] needs were. And those results
[26:18] are going to be pending, etc..
[26:21] So that is the overview and
[26:22] what has been happening with
[26:24] King County District Court in
[26:28] 2025. I am more than happy to
[26:29] answer any questions that you.
[26:30] Have.
[26:31] Thank you so much, Judge
[26:32] Robertson. I really appreciate
[26:34] the update. I
[26:34] m going to open
[26:35] it up for questions from my
[26:37] colleagues. Uh, colleagues,
[26:38] feel free to raise your hand.
[26:38] And I
[26:39] m going to call on the
[26:40] chair of our law Justice
[26:42] committee. Councilmember Lewis
[26:43] first. Go ahead. Councilmember
[26:44] Lewis.
[26:45] Thank you, chair. And thank
[26:47] you, Judge Robinson. This this,
[26:50] um, presentation was very
[26:52] informative. Um, I have a
[26:54] question about the debt buyers.
[26:58] Um, uh, requirements. How has
[27:00] what are those and how has that
[27:02] changed the, the workload?
[27:04] I will have to defer to one of
[27:08] my civil judges to really
[27:09] elaborate. Those cases are so
[27:11] complicated, I could not do
[27:12] them justice here. What I will
[27:14] do is have our civil judge, uh,
[27:16] Judge Shotwell, email you about
[27:16] what the debt buyer
[27:18] requirements are and what has
[27:19] changed to make things more
[27:21] complicated. But as I
[27:22] m sure
[27:23] you know, if you have a
[27:24] mortgage or a student loan,
[27:26] debt is sold between companies
[27:28] all the time. And, uh, that
[27:32] makes enforcement of collection
[27:34] really difficult. So I will
[27:36] have Judge Scott will follow up
[27:37] with you. Thank you for the
[27:38] question.
[27:40] That would be great. Thank you.
[27:43] Uh Councilmember Dembowski.
[27:44] Thanks so much. Chair. Judge
[27:46] Robertson, great presentation,
[27:47] really comprehensive and
[27:48] informative. Thank you so much
[27:50] for putting it together. Uh,
[27:52] you had mentioned the home
[27:55] monitoring, uh, function, and I
[27:57] brought back our memory of a
[27:58] few years ago. We had some
[28:00] challenges with the technology
[28:01] and the 24 hour monitoring, and
[28:03] I wondered if you could just
[28:05] give us a status update. Is
[28:07] that system now working
[28:09] satisfactorily of issues? Are
[28:10] they largely resolved?
[28:12] Those issues are resolved. Uh,
[28:13] there
[28:14] s a lot of companies that
[28:15] do the electronic home
[28:17] monitoring as well as, uh,
[28:18] government entities that can
[28:20] handle it on their own. So we
[28:21] have had no technological
[28:23] issues recently for the
[28:24] electronic monitoring. That
[28:24] s
[28:25] working really well.
[28:26] All right. Thanks so much.
[28:29] Thank you.
[28:32] Uh Councilmember Fain.
[28:35] Thank you. Thank you again. Uh,
[28:36] Judge Robertson, um, for your
[28:37] presentation, I have a couple
[28:38] of questions, and I
[28:39] ll just try
[28:41] and narrow it down. One is
[28:44] related to the debt buyer. Um,
[28:45] legislation, the effect of
[28:45] that, and I won
[28:46] t ask you to
[28:48] explain it, but I wonder if you
[28:58] know, if the. Legislation. The
[29:01] volume of cars stand with the
[29:03] driver is behind the 88%
[29:05] increase in civil filings over
[29:06] two years. That
[29:07] s pretty
[29:08] extraordinary.
[29:11] It is pretty extraordinary. Um,
[29:15] the driver is the difference.
[29:17] We in standards, we. It used to
[29:19] be 50,000. We took under
[29:20] 50,000. Now it
[29:23] s 100,000. And
[29:23] we
[29:24] re getting a lot of the
[29:29] during Covid kind of, um,
[29:30] people defaulting on their
[29:30] loans because they couldn
[29:31] t
[29:33] work, uh, anything. If people
[29:34] defaulting on their debts
[29:35] because they couldn
[29:35] t work the
[29:37] Covid related things. But there
[29:42] has been a real, um, uptick in
[29:46] people filing for, uh, you
[29:48] know, landlord tenant issues
[29:48] that wouldn
[29:50] t necessarily go to
[29:51] superior court because of the
[29:53] monetary amount or it doesn
[29:53] t
[29:55] actually fit squarely within
[29:57] landlord tenant. So there are
[29:59] just a lot of different factors
[30:00] that go into that increase. And
[30:02] so I can follow up with you and
[30:04] give you a list of all the
[30:05] factors that do that. I
[30:05] m happy
[30:07] to do that.
[30:09] Thank you so much, chair. Can I
[30:10] ask one more?
[30:11] Yeah. Go for it.
[30:14] Thank you. Um, the other number
[30:16] that struck out or stuck out
[30:20] for me was, um, the parking
[30:22] matters on the spreadsheet with
[30:29] Kenmore having, um, 61,600
[30:32] filings out of, you know, um, a
[30:35] fairly small number overall. So
[30:37] just curious as to how much
[30:39] judicial and clerk time is
[30:41] consumed by parking matters.
[30:44] I can get you the percentages
[30:44] later. It
[30:45] s a small amount of
[30:47] time for the judges because
[30:48] most people pay the tickets.
[30:51] However, any of those 61,000
[30:53] cases come through the court.
[30:54] The clerk has to receive it.
[30:55] They have to file it. They have
[30:58] to create a case. They have to
[31:00] receive the money. Are whole
[31:03] budget. Department has to, you
[31:05] know, deal with the money
[31:07] portion. So the clerks are
[31:08] actually spending a significant
[31:09] amount of time in our budget
[31:11] team is spending a significant
[31:12] amount of time. The judges are
[31:13] spending a small amount of time
[31:15] because most people don
[31:15] t ask
[31:17] for a hearing. And I
[31:17] m happy to
[31:19] give you more detailed numbers
[31:20] on how much our staff spends on
[31:22] that.
[31:23] Okay. Thank you so much.
[31:25] Um.
[31:27] Uh, thank you, Judge Robertson.
[31:27] I
[31:29] ll ask a quick question here,
[31:30] because I had the same, uh, one
[31:32] of my questions was asked by
[31:33] Councilmember Fain about the
[31:35] 80% increase on the civil
[31:36] filing. So thank you for
[31:39] clarifying on that. Um, perhaps
[31:41] relatedly, you had a slide that
[31:44] showed the the trials numbers.
[31:45] Uh, and you mentioned about the
[31:48] increase is, was that both
[31:51] civil and criminal cases or is
[31:52] that just focus on the criminal
[31:54] cases? I was I was not clear on
[31:54] that one.
[31:55] Oh thank you. I
[31:56] m happy to
[31:57] clarify. That was just the
[32:00] criminal cases. So far we have
[32:02] not seen civil cases. The
[32:04] trials going up. Um, I can get
[32:05] you the statistics on that if
[32:05] you
[32:06] d like, but those were just
[32:07] the criminal cases that we
[32:08] counted.
[32:08] They
[32:10] re great. No, I, I just
[32:11] want to make sure that we were
[32:12] focusing. I understood that it
[32:14] probably was criminal cases.
[32:15] Either way. You spoke about it,
[32:16] but I wasn
[32:17] t sure. So, um, uh,
[32:20] that is helpful to understand.
[32:22] And, uh, you know, we
[32:22] ve
[32:23] obviously been dealing both
[32:24] here and in the, in the law
[32:25] Justice Committee with the,
[32:27] with the public defender issue.
[32:28] And, you know, we took up
[32:29] legislation here to try to
[32:32] clarify what our standards are
[32:34] on that. Uh, but I appreciate
[32:36] your reference. And I think the
[32:38] note of the the challenge that
[32:39] we will have if those numbers
[32:40] continue to increase, I think
[32:40] it
[32:42] s going to be a challenge
[32:43] for all of us to deal with in
[32:45] terms of the additional costs
[32:47] on multiple fronts. So thank
[32:48] you for highlighting that and
[32:49] keeping us abreast of those
[32:51] issues. Uh, and I see
[32:52] Councilmember Lewis, I
[32:52] ll call
[32:54] you for probably the last
[32:55] question.
[32:58] Thank you. Uh, Judge Robertson,
[32:59] we tend to think about virtual
[33:01] hearings and virtual meetings
[33:05] as being, um, uh, productivity
[33:06] increases and that kind of
[33:09] thing. But you said that, um,
[33:11] zoom hearings cause more time
[33:13] for the in court clerks, uh, to
[33:15] respond to attorney requests.
[33:17] Can you give us some examples
[33:18] of what that looks like?
[33:21] Sure. So before Covid, our
[33:22] clerks would be doing their
[33:22] clerk work. They
[33:23] re making sure
[33:24] the record is complete. They
[33:25] re
[33:26] taking the evidence. They
[33:26] re
[33:27] making sure that they
[33:27] re not
[33:29] getting everything we have
[33:32] added on managing zoom. So we
[33:34] have people in court, and now
[33:35] we have people on zoom. So they
[33:37] have to, you know, open up the
[33:38] zoom, let everyone in, make
[33:39] sure everyone
[33:41] s named, um, make
[33:45] sure people are not moving
[33:47] around. And the judges do this
[33:50] to muting themselves, etc. What
[33:51] we have found is that the chat
[33:53] function we have it on, and
[33:56] that people, both litigants and
[33:58] attorneys, are constantly
[33:59] peppering the clerk with
[34:01] questions that would never
[34:02] happen in open court. While
[34:03] court was happening, you would
[34:05] not approach the clerk and ask,
[34:06] you know, start asking
[34:07] questions. Can I go first? Can
[34:09] I submit this via zoom, etc.?
[34:09] That
[34:11] s happening a lot in our
[34:12] chat. And we realized how much
[34:15] time it was taking our clerks
[34:17] to handle that. And it also led
[34:18] to a lot of inappropriate
[34:21] ex-parte contact with with, um,
[34:23] folks just saying things in the
[34:24] chat that the judge shouldn
[34:25] t
[34:26] consider. The clerk shouldn
[34:26] t
[34:27] consider the other party wasn
[34:27] t
[34:29] aware of, etc. So it
[34:29] s all a
[34:31] learning experience from Covid.
[34:32] We all just tried to survive
[34:33] and now we
[34:33] re figuring out,
[34:35] okay, how do we how do we
[34:37] normalize this? How do we make
[34:37] sure we
[34:38] re following all the
[34:40] rules? So we are actually
[34:41] considering limiting the chat
[34:43] significantly so those things
[34:43] don
[34:44] t happen.
[34:47] Sounds very complicated.
[34:51] Yeah, it is very complicated.
[34:53] All right. Colleagues. Uh,
[34:54] well, Judge Robertson, thank
[34:56] you so much for, uh, the
[34:57] presentation today and for
[34:59] keeping us abreast of the work
[35:00] of District Court. We
[35:01] appreciate the work of you and
[35:03] your colleagues, and look
[35:04] forward to continuing the
[35:05] engagement. And, please, if
[35:06] there
[35:07] s any additional
[35:08] information to some of the
[35:09] questions that were posed, we
[35:11] would welcome that.
[35:13] I will get you more information
[35:14] on the questions that you had
[35:15] today. Thank you.
[35:16] Thank you so much, MR.
[35:18] Robertson. Appreciate it.
[35:18] Colleagues, we
[35:19] re going to move
[35:21] on to our next items on the
[35:23] agenda. We have three items
[35:25] that would confirm appointments
[35:26] to the King County Cultural
[35:28] Development Authority, better
[35:31] known as for Culture Board. Uh,
[35:32] for culture, of course,
[35:33] administers King County
[35:33] s arts
[35:36] and heritage programs for
[35:37] culture is governed by a 15
[35:38] member board of directors that
[35:40] have a demonstrated commitment
[35:42] to a knowledge of cultural
[35:44] resources. Uh, to give you a
[35:45] quick review of the process, we
[35:46] will be briefed on this item by
[35:48] Jean Paul. Then I will ask for
[35:50] an input from four culture
[35:52] staff. Uh, Claire McHugh is
[35:53] here with us from Fort Culture.
[35:56] Uh, then we will hear from our
[35:58] appointees. Uh, it is my
[35:59] understanding that one of the
[36:01] appointees is unable to attend
[36:02] today. So we are going to ask
[36:03] Claire to provide a few
[36:05] comments about that particular
[36:07] appointee. And then we will
[36:09] provide time for all of you to
[36:11] ask questions of the people who
[36:13] are up for appointment, uh,
[36:14] with that, Jean, I
[36:15] m going to
[36:17] call on you to please provide a
[36:18] briefing.
[36:20] Thank you, chair Baroni. Good
[36:20] morning, Council members. I
[36:21] m
[36:23] Jean Paul from council staff.
[36:24] The materials for the three
[36:26] appointments begin on page 39
[36:28] of your packet. Proposed
[36:35] motions 2020 six, 01060123 and
[36:37] 0127 would confirm the
[36:39] appointments of Ellen Walker,
[36:41] Nancy Salgueiro McKay and
[36:43] Teofilo Cruz Uribe as Executive
[36:45] At-Large. Appointments to the
[36:46] four Culture Board for the
[36:47] remainder of their three year
[36:49] terms, expiring on DECEMBER
[36:51] 31st, 2028. For background on
[36:52] the board, please refer to page
[36:54] 40 of your packet as the chair
[36:56] indicated, four cultures
[36:57] governed by a 15 member board
[36:59] of Directors and directors are
[37:00] to have a demonstrated
[37:02] commitment to, and knowledge of
[37:04] cultural resources. Be active
[37:06] and experienced in community
[37:08] and civic issues and concerns,
[37:09] and have the ability to
[37:11] evaluate the needs of cultural
[37:12] constituencies in the region as
[37:13] a whole. They are also to
[37:15] represent a range of talents,
[37:18] experiences and viewpoints. The
[37:19] Council is responsible for
[37:21] appointing board positions one
[37:22] through nine, while the
[37:23] executive appoints positions
[37:25] ten through 15. All
[37:26] appointments are subject to
[37:29] confirmation by the Council.
[37:30] Background on the appointees
[37:32] begins on page 42 of the staff
[37:35] report. Ellen Walker is an arts
[37:37] administrator who has worked
[37:38] for the Pacific Northwest
[37:41] Ballet since 2003, and has
[37:42] served as their executive
[37:44] director since 2014. According
[37:45] to her staff profile on the
[37:46] ballet
[37:47] s website, she oversees
[37:49] an operating budget of $30
[37:51] million and a staff of more
[37:53] than 600 full and part time
[37:55] employees. That profile also
[37:56] indicates that under her
[37:58] leadership, pnb has become
[37:59] known as an industry leader in
[38:01] making ballet a more inclusive,
[38:03] diverse and welcoming art form.
[38:05] MISS Walker has also served as
[38:06] an adjunct faculty member in
[38:07] Seattle University
[38:09] s mfa Arts
[38:10] Leadership Program, and she
[38:12] recently completed service as
[38:13] vice PRESIDENT Of the Inspire
[38:15] Washington Board and as Board
[38:16] Secretary and Council Chair for
[38:20] dance usa. The second
[38:21] appointee, Nancy Salguero
[38:22] McKay, has served as the
[38:23] Executive Director of the
[38:25] Highland Heritage Museum since
[38:28] 2019, in that role, she helped
[38:29] design, open and sustain the
[38:31] new museum, which focuses on
[38:32] preserving and telling the
[38:34] stories of the people in the
[38:35] Highline area through heritage,
[38:37] arts and culture. According to
[38:39] her application materials, she
[38:40] is the first Mexican born and
[38:41] raised museum executive
[38:43] director in Washington State.
[38:45] MISS Salguero McKay previously
[38:47] served as an exhibit design
[38:48] instructor for the University
[38:49] of Washington
[38:50] s Museum Studies
[38:52] Certificate program. She has
[38:53] also worked on several for
[38:55] cultural advisory boards, the
[38:57] Washington Museum Association
[38:58] Board, and is a past board
[39:00] chair of the Seattle South Side
[39:03] Chamber of Commerce. The final
[39:05] appointee, Teofilo Ortega Cruz
[39:07] Uribe, is both a clinic manager
[39:08] for Seymour Community Health
[39:10] Centers first Adolescent
[39:12] Specialty Clinic, and the
[39:13] director of the Pacific
[39:15] Northwest first Chicano,
[39:16] Chicano, Latino, Latina focused
[39:18] history museum. Prior to her
[39:20] current roles, MRS. Cruz Uribe
[39:22] served as a consulting grant
[39:23] writer whose duties included
[39:24] collecting and reporting on
[39:27] grant program. She participated
[39:28] as a culture grant review
[39:32] panelist in 2019 and 2021, and
[39:33] has been a member of Four
[39:34] Cultures Heritage Advisory
[39:37] Committee since 2021. Staff has
[39:39] not identified any issues with
[39:41] the proposed appointments. Two
[39:43] of the appointees, MISS Walker
[39:44] and MISS McKay, are with us
[39:46] today. And Brian Carter for
[39:47] culture is the executive
[39:48] director and Claire Michaud,
[39:50] the senior government relations
[39:51] manager with For culture are
[39:52] here as well. And that
[39:55] concludes my remarks.
[39:56] Thank you, Jean, appreciate
[39:58] that. Colleagues. Any questions
[40:00] for Jean on the staff report
[40:03] before we move forward? All
[40:04] right. Seeing no questions, I
[40:04] m
[40:07] going to call on Claire Michaud
[40:09] from For culture to give us
[40:12] some comments from the For
[40:14] Culture staff.
[40:16] Sure. I have Brian here as
[40:17] well. Um, hi. Council members,
[40:18] this is Claire. No, that
[40:18] s
[40:19] okay.
[40:20] How do you have my notes?
[40:21] Claire. So Brian or Claire,
[40:23] feel free to jump in. Whoever.
[40:24] Um, does it, does it can it be
[40:26] all three of them or. Because I
[40:26] know Ellen
[40:27] s here and Nancy
[40:28] s
[40:29] here as well, so I wonder if,
[40:30] um. Ellen, I
[40:31] m actually going
[40:32] to have Ellen and Nancy speak
[40:33] for themselves to start,
[40:33] because they
[40:34] re just fantastic
[40:35] people. And then, um, Brian or
[40:36] I can talk about Thea, who
[40:36] s
[40:38] fantastic as well. So I
[40:38] ll
[40:39] start with Ellen. Do you mind
[40:40] introducing yourself and
[40:40] sharing a little bit about your
[40:43] time working with for culture?
[40:43] Um, sure.
[40:45] Thank you Claire. Good morning
[40:46] everybody. Um, I
[40:48] m. Oh, frozen
[40:48] camera. I
[40:50] m Ellen Walker and
[40:51] hey. And I
[40:52] m executive director
[40:54] of Pacific Northwest ballet. I
[40:58] am I was born in district one.
[41:00] I still live in district one.
[41:00] That
[41:03] s right. But I have also
[41:05] worked in district four for my
[41:09] entire career. Since 1988. I
[41:10] have always worked in the
[41:12] cultural sector, and we also
[41:14] have a very important asset in
[41:16] Bellevue. Thank you. Claudia.
[41:17] I
[41:18] m sorry. Councilmember
[41:19] Balducci. It
[41:21] s, um, our Francis
[41:22] Russell Center is there in
[41:23] Bellevue, and it
[41:24] s a ballet
[41:27] school with about 600 young
[41:29] people over on the East side.
[41:29] And we
[41:31] re also opening a new
[41:34] school. Truly thanks to doors
[41:36] open, King County in the south
[41:39] end of Seattle. Um, I am a
[41:42] especially as I sort of get
[41:44] into my fourth decade of of
[41:45] work for the sector. I really
[41:47] think about the sustainability
[41:49] of our sector, and in my
[41:51] career, I have never seen
[41:54] anything that has guaranteed
[41:56] that for our future, as much as
[41:57] doors open King County, it
[41:57] s
[41:59] just incredibly important in
[42:02] the the in what my view is
[42:04] large, diverse and
[42:05] interdependent. Uh, cultural
[42:07] ecosystem here in the county.
[42:09] So, um, really, really an honor
[42:12] to be included as a nominee for
[42:14] the for Culture board. And I
[42:14] ll
[42:15] pause there.
[42:18] Well, thank you, Ellen. We
[42:20] appreciate your, uh, being
[42:21] willing to serve in this role
[42:22] and appreciate it, obviously,
[42:23] as, uh, district 40
[42:25] representative, uh, grateful
[42:27] that pub is, uh, in the
[42:28] district, but obviously think
[42:31] of it as a regional, um, entity
[42:34] that provides, uh, you know,
[42:36] wonderful service to the entire
[42:37] county. Um, I, I
[42:38] m going to
[42:41] then call on our next, uh,
[42:42] appointee, Nancy Salguero
[42:44] McKay, to, uh, to share a
[42:46] little bit about yourself and
[42:46] the reasons you want to serve
[42:50] on the Fort Culture board. Uh.
[42:51] Hi, everyone.
[42:52] Thank you. Thank you so much
[42:54] for this opportunity to share
[42:56] who I am and who we are as an
[42:58] institution. So the Highland
[43:01] Heritage Museum is the is
[43:02] representing the school
[43:04] district, which is covers the
[43:06] areas of white Center, Burien,
[43:07] SeaTac, Normandy Park and a
[43:08] little bit of the Moines. And
[43:10] so right now after Tukwila, we
[43:12] are number two of the most
[43:14] diverse, um, and low income
[43:15] families in the county. And so
[43:17] the idea of representing
[43:19] identity, heritage, history,
[43:21] the idea of seeing each other
[43:22] in honoring people
[43:23] s stories is
[43:25] extremely basic and
[43:27] fundamental. And so we are not
[43:28] just committed with just a
[43:30] statement. We are committed
[43:31] through actions and making sure
[43:32] that we are bringing the best
[43:33] opportunities for us to
[43:35] actually acknowledge and see
[43:36] each other in many different
[43:38] levels. And so I started to
[43:40] work with folk culture as the
[43:41] Heritage Advisory Committee in
[43:44] 20 2012. And so there
[43:44] s been a
[43:45] few years that I
[43:45] ve been
[43:47] involved with folk culture in
[43:48] many different capacities, and
[43:49] has always been a joy to be
[43:53] able to, to not only represent
[43:54] the diversity voice in many
[43:55] different ways, but I mean,
[43:57] diversity is not just me being
[43:58] Mexican, but also my gender, my
[44:00] sexual orientation, my
[44:01] disabilities, I
[44:02] m 80% deaf and
[44:03] so on. And so all of us bring
[44:05] in many different elements of
[44:06] who we are as a human beings.
[44:09] And so to be able to bring, um,
[44:11] diverse and inclusion values
[44:12] into the table, it
[44:12] s been my
[44:15] passion. Um, as a board member
[44:16] of the Washington Museum
[44:17] Association, that was also the
[44:19] same idea as to reflect more
[44:21] than just headliners reflect
[44:22] all of us in the state. And so
[44:23] now with King County, I
[44:24] m more
[44:25] than happy to have the
[44:27] opportunity to to represent
[44:29] those voices, especially the
[44:30] ones that are struggling the
[44:31] most when it comes to
[44:33] representation. And so we might
[44:34] work with folk culture is all
[44:36] about making sure that we are
[44:38] doing this as a team, as a
[44:39] community, as it takes a
[44:41] village to make things happen.
[44:42] And so I know that it
[44:42] s not
[44:44] just one person is all of us to
[44:45] truly make sure that that we
[44:47] bring in the in representing
[44:48] and honoring and seeing
[44:49] people
[44:52] s, um, stories in, in
[44:53] presence in our communities.
[44:55] And so with that in mind, I
[44:56] just want to say thank you
[44:57] again for the opportunity to to
[45:00] serve and represent and to
[45:02] vocalize those repressed voices
[45:04] in the area. So thank you.
[45:06] Thank you so much for your
[45:07] willingness to, uh, to serve
[45:08] and for all of the work that
[45:09] you
[45:10] re doing. Uh, at the
[45:12] Highline Heritage Museum. Thank
[45:14] you. Um, uh, colleagues, as I
[45:15] mentioned, one of our
[45:18] appointees, Teofilo Cruz Uribe,
[45:20] is unable to join us today for
[45:21] this meeting. So I was going to
[45:23] have a call, a call back, and
[45:25] Claire to share a little bit
[45:27] about, uh, that appointee, uh,
[45:30] for our, um, uh, knowledge.
[45:31] Sure. So, Brian, I
[45:32] ll start and
[45:33] then if you want to follow up,
[45:33] that
[45:34] d be great. Um, Brian
[45:34] s
[45:36] known Tia longer than me, but
[45:37] Tia has a really interesting
[45:39] job that is both clinical
[45:41] administrator at a at at a cmr
[45:44] clinic and basically running a
[45:46] museum that is co-located with
[45:47] that. Um, that has to do with
[45:50] Chicano. Chicano American
[45:52] culture. And when I first met
[45:53] Tia, also, Tia has incredible
[45:54] energy. You guys get to meet
[45:56] her when you do, um, you can
[45:57] understand how she can hold
[45:59] pretty much two full time jobs
[46:01] at once. But Tia, the first
[46:02] time I talked to her about I
[46:02] couldn
[46:03] t like. It was
[46:04] interesting to me to think of
[46:05] these things as sort of being
[46:08] different. And she actually, in
[46:09] getting to know her and getting
[46:10] to see the kind of work she
[46:11] does, they
[46:12] re absolutely
[46:14] integrated in her mind of
[46:16] heritage and how we treat our
[46:18] bodies and what goes on in our
[46:20] social world. Um, and so it
[46:20] s
[46:21] been interesting getting to
[46:22] know her and learn just how
[46:24] much these things all work
[46:25] together in creating healthy
[46:27] communities and healthy
[46:28] societies. Um, so I
[46:29] ll pass
[46:31] that to Brian, since Brian can
[46:32] probably speak to more about
[46:32] Tia
[46:33] s work with the Heritage
[46:34] Department.
[46:35] Sure. Thanks, Claire. Brian
[46:37] Carter, executive director for
[46:38] culture. For the record. And
[46:39] thanks, Chair Brown for the
[46:41] opportunity to speak to these
[46:42] candidates. Um, thank you to
[46:44] Ellen and Nancy. They both
[46:46] bring deep experience within
[46:49] arts, heritage and culture, and
[46:50] not just at their own
[46:51] organizations, but I think as
[46:52] regional leaders. And I think
[46:53] that
[46:54] s really critical at this
[46:56] moment when doors open is, is
[46:58] is growing both who for culture
[46:59] is but the complexity and the
[47:01] depth of our sector over. Well
[47:03] so the perspectives that they
[47:04] bring in, the insights that
[47:05] they will provide. And those
[47:06] are going to be crucial to us
[47:08] and really excited as well
[47:10] about Teo Fila joining us, I
[47:10] m
[47:12] unknown for a number of years.
[47:13] She came up through the ranks
[47:14] for culture and the advisory
[47:16] committee, which is a great
[47:17] opportunity to see the
[47:19] methodology of our grant
[47:21] process in practice. So she had
[47:23] a seat at that table and then,
[47:25] as Claire described, um, it was
[47:26] so exciting to me when the cmr
[47:29] museum came online. That is a
[47:30] leading edge museum. We
[47:30] re
[47:31] going to see so many more
[47:33] Latina, Chicano, Chicano
[47:35] museums and cultural centers
[47:36] coming online across the United
[47:38] States. And just really proud
[47:39] of our region for being one of
[47:41] the early ones. And as Claire
[47:41] said, there
[47:43] s an evolution
[47:45] within museums specifically
[47:46] where you
[47:47] re seeing these
[47:49] cultural institutions become
[47:52] really vital, civic, but also
[47:55] social service hubs for the
[47:56] community. Um, we
[47:56] re seeing
[47:57] that within our applications
[47:59] that are coming in where you
[48:00] see, right, the arts and the
[48:02] culture and the heritage mixed
[48:04] with work around mental health,
[48:06] around basic family
[48:08] necessities, around food
[48:08] security. And we
[48:09] re seeing an
[48:11] increasing number of those
[48:12] within our work. So having
[48:13] somebody at the table who has
[48:15] starred in an institution like
[48:16] that, that is serving a
[48:17] particular community, we
[48:17] re
[48:19] really excited about. Beyond
[48:19] that, she
[48:20] s just a fantastic,
[48:23] fantastic practitioner within
[48:24] the field. So really look
[48:26] forward to welcoming, welcoming
[48:27] her to the board. And as
[48:29] always, just appreciate the
[48:29] executive
[48:30] s consideration of
[48:32] what we were looking for in
[48:34] board members. Um, as we move
[48:36] forward as an institution and
[48:36] also the council
[48:37] s willingness
[48:39] to look at those as well. So
[48:40] with that, I
[48:41] ll stop. Thank
[48:42] you.
[48:44] Thank you so much, Brian. I
[48:45] appreciate that. Uh,
[48:46] colleagues, I
[48:46] m going to open
[48:49] it up for questions or comments
[48:51] on these appointees. I saw Vice
[48:54] Chair Balducci go off mute. Is
[48:55] that a sign?
[48:56] Yes. I was going to raise my.
[48:56] Thank you.
[48:58] Bye. Sure. Go ahead.
[48:58] Uh.
[48:59] I well, I
[49:01] d be happy to move.
[49:03] All three, uh, if that
[49:03] s in
[49:06] order. And then, um, speak to
[49:08] all of them. I just had the,
[49:09] uh, had the opportunity to
[49:11] spend time at all of these
[49:13] institutions run by these
[49:16] amazing nominees. And we are so
[49:18] lucky to have people with the
[49:20] breadth of experience, the the
[49:22] closeness to the communities
[49:24] that they serve. Uh, and, and
[49:25] the willingness to help us
[49:27] continue to grow and improve
[49:29] our cultural arts sector. And
[49:29] I
[49:31] m just delighted with all
[49:33] three nominees and happy to
[49:35] move to approve them, if you
[49:36] would like me to do so, chair.
[49:37] Please go ahead. Unless there
[49:39] are any objections from my
[49:40] colleagues to taking up all
[49:41] three at the same time. Seeing
[49:43] no objections, go ahead, vice
[49:44] chair.
[49:45] Move. Approval of proposed
[49:53] motion 2026 01060123 and 0127
[49:54] with a due pass recommendation.
[49:56] Thank you very much. Those
[49:57] three items are before us. Are
[50:00] there any further questions or
[50:01] comments from colleagues for
[50:03] appointees? All right. Seeing
[50:05] none, I want to thank the, uh,
[50:06] the appointees for being with
[50:07] us today and for your
[50:09] willingness to serve. And with
[50:11] that, I am going to ask the
[50:12] clerk to please call the roll
[50:13] on these items.
[50:15] Thank you. Chair Councilmember
[50:15] Balducci.
[50:16] I.
[50:18] Council Member Dembowski.
[50:19] i.
[50:20] Councilmember Dunn.
[50:22] I.
[50:24] Councilmember Fain.
[50:26] I.
[50:27] Councilmember Lewis.
[50:29] I.
[50:31] Councilmember Mosqueda.
[50:33] Councilmember Perry.
[50:35] I.
[50:38] Councilmember von Reichbauer.
[50:41] And chair Baron. Hi chair. You
[50:43] have 780 noes Councilmember
[50:45] Mosqueda and von Reichbauer
[50:46] Arts.
[50:48] Thank you very much. Uh, by our
[50:49] vote, we have approved proposed
[50:55] motions 2026 0106, 2026, 0123
[50:58] and 2026 0127 with a dubious
[50:59] recommendation. We will send
[51:01] these motions with that
[51:02] recommendation for the consent
[51:04] agenda on the regular course.
[51:07] Uh, and, um, MISS Walker and
[51:08] MISS McKay, thank you so much
[51:10] for being with us today. You,
[51:11] uh, these will be sent to full,
[51:13] full council. Uh, but you do
[51:14] not need to attend the meeting.
[51:15] Although you
[51:15] re welcome always
[51:18] to to, uh, listen in. And we
[51:19] really appreciate your
[51:21] willingness to serve, uh, the,
[51:23] the county in this role. And
[51:24] for your current service to the
[51:26] community in both of your
[51:27] roles. So thank you so much for
[51:28] being here.
[51:30] Thank you.
[51:32] All right. All right,
[51:33] colleagues, with that, we
[51:33] re
[51:35] going to move to our last item,
[51:37] which is a related item which
[51:39] is the For Culture annual
[51:42] report. Um, and on the briefing
[51:43] on that annual report, the
[51:45] county code requires a full
[51:46] culture, provide an annual
[51:48] report each year, and meet with
[51:49] the committee of the whole to
[51:50] discuss the the report. The
[51:52] annual report contains the
[51:53] prior year, significant
[51:55] accomplishments, estimated
[51:56] financial data, and a summary
[51:58] of the cultural programs to be
[52:00] undertaken during the year. Uh,
[52:02] we are joined by people we just
[52:03] heard from Brian Carter, our
[52:04] executive director for For
[52:06] culture. Uh, Claire McHugh, who
[52:07] is the senior government
[52:09] relations manager, and Calandra
[52:10] Childress, who
[52:10] s the director
[52:12] of program strategy and Impact.
[52:14] Thank you all for joining us.
[52:15] And, uh, Brian, I
[52:15] m going to
[52:17] turn it over to you.
[52:18] All right. Thank you. Chair.
[52:19] Um, it
[52:20] s always a great moment,
[52:21] I think, for for culture to be
[52:22] able to come in front of the
[52:24] council and share what occurred
[52:25] in the past year through our
[52:27] annual report. And I know
[52:29] Claire is going to be bringing
[52:34] up some slides for you here.
[52:38] Um, so to begin with, uh, we
[52:38] re
[52:39] going to be covering three
[52:42] items in this briefing. They
[52:43] include what I think is really
[52:46] the core of four culture, um,
[52:47] which is the trust I believe,
[52:47] that
[52:49] s required of our
[52:50] organization, within our
[52:52] community, within this
[52:54] authorizing body. Um, will then
[52:55] move on to highlights and key
[52:59] issues that we saw in 2025. And
[53:00] then we
[53:02] ll conclude with a
[53:02] section about what we
[53:03] ve
[53:04] learned and what we
[53:04] re seeing
[53:06] coming down the pike. And to
[53:07] begin with, here you have the
[53:08] Seattle Youth Symphony. And I
[53:09] thought it was just a great
[53:11] start. This has been an amazing
[53:13] year. 2025 was an incredible,
[53:15] full implementation of the
[53:17] Doors Open program, as well as
[53:19] the continuation of our
[53:20] lodging, tax funded programs
[53:22] and our 1% for public Art
[53:24] Commission program. So really
[53:26] exciting time. And I believe to
[53:28] me, the the key message is that
[53:28] it
[53:30] s working. Doors open is
[53:30] working. It
[53:31] s supporting the
[53:32] sector. It
[53:34] s pushing growth and
[53:35] strengthening around
[53:37] accessibility and inclusion and
[53:38] those public benefits, I think,
[53:40] that are so key to a healthy
[53:42] society and a real deepening of
[53:43] the work that
[53:43] s happening
[53:45] across institutions and at the
[53:47] individual level. So to begin
[53:49] with, um, this idea of trust,
[53:51] which is just really vital to
[53:53] me, um, for culture, has a lot
[53:55] of pride in our long history as
[53:57] an organization. Um, from a
[53:59] commission to a proper
[54:01] department within the county to
[54:03] our current role as a public
[54:06] development authority. In 2021,
[54:07] there was a return to lodging
[54:10] tax. And then as the pandemic
[54:11] hit, um, we were very fortunate,
[54:13] with support of the council to
[54:15] distribute and administer cares
[54:16] and Arpa funding, that really
[54:18] helped the sector weather the
[54:20] challenges of the pandemic and
[54:22] post-pandemic world. And now
[54:22] we
[54:24] re stepping into our second
[54:26] year of Doors Open
[54:27] implementation, and it
[54:27] s a
[54:30] really exciting time. And for
[54:32] me, the good that goes along
[54:33] with the additional funds that
[54:34] are able to go out and support
[54:35] the great work that
[54:36] s
[54:38] happening, is a responsibility
[54:40] that we have to maintain. What
[54:42] I believe is transparency,
[54:44] accountability, and also like a
[54:45] crucial element, which is
[54:46] humility. And I think that
[54:48] leads to effectiveness. And
[54:49] when we talk about good
[54:50] governance and we talk about
[54:52] accountability, I just the
[54:53] slide in front of you is just
[54:55] to show what those, um, what
[54:57] those kind of Guideposts and
[54:58] structures are. So obviously
[55:01] your role for oversight, um,
[55:03] policy oversight. Um, and
[55:05] watching us and making sure,
[55:06] hey, our legislative intent
[55:08] with for culture is this are
[55:10] they achieving that? And I
[55:11] always appreciate the fact that
[55:14] we get between 2 and 3
[55:15] ex-officio council members. So
[55:16] just a special thank you to
[55:18] council members Fain and Lewis
[55:20] and also Baron for you guys
[55:21] showing up. It
[55:22] s once a month
[55:23] that you come and you get to
[55:24] hear the great work that
[55:24] s
[55:25] happening, the challenges that
[55:26] we
[55:27] re finding our way through,
[55:28] and you get great insight into
[55:30] who we are as an organization,
[55:31] what our mission is and how
[55:32] we
[55:33] re delivering on that. Um,
[55:33] there
[55:34] s in the four culture
[55:35] board of directors, the 15
[55:37] member board of directors. We
[55:38] then have three standing
[55:40] subcommittees, and then each
[55:42] discipline at four cultures.
[55:42] That
[55:43] s arts heritage, historic
[55:45] preservation, public art, and
[55:47] now science and technology each
[55:48] have their own advisory
[55:49] committees composed of
[55:52] practitioners and leaders and
[55:54] community. Um, tradition
[55:56] bearers who help guide the work
[55:58] at all levels. And so we always
[55:59] appreciate the work they do,
[56:02] especially their role in
[56:04] overseeing the review and
[56:05] approval of funding
[56:06] recommendations that come
[56:07] through in addition to those
[56:10] or, excuse me, those committees
[56:11] and groups. There
[56:12] s the annual
[56:14] report that we submit. There
[56:14] s
[56:16] the biennial budget review and
[56:18] approval process by the county
[56:18] council. There
[56:19] s also an
[56:20] assessment reporting
[56:22] requirement for Doors Open, and
[56:22] we
[56:23] ll talk more about that
[56:24] today. And then there
[56:25] s an
[56:27] annual audit by the Washington
[56:28] State Auditor that
[56:29] s conducted.
[56:29] So that
[56:30] s just kind of a high
[56:32] level overview of how seriously
[56:33] we take the issue of
[56:35] accountability and good
[56:36] governance. These are public
[56:37] dollars. And we want to make
[56:38] sure they go out and they
[56:40] achieve the maximum impact as
[56:47] intended by legislation. So at
[56:49] a glance, and this is really
[56:51] high level. And again I say
[56:53] 2025 is an exciting year. And
[56:55] 2026 continues to prove that
[56:58] there was 94, almost $95
[57:01] million in funding awarded in
[57:02] 2025. Um, we
[57:03] ll talk more about
[57:06] the number of organizations
[57:07] that now exist within King
[57:10] County, but over 1000 cultural
[57:12] organizations were awarded. In
[57:13] addition, you have individual
[57:14] artists. You have individual
[57:16] cultural practitioners. So
[57:17] there you have writers and you
[57:19] have poets, and you have
[57:20] historians and historic
[57:23] preservation folks. And 345
[57:25] individuals were awarded
[57:26] support. And again, it was our
[57:28] first year of full doors, open
[57:30] implementation. There were a
[57:31] number of new grant programs
[57:33] that were implemented and got
[57:34] off to a great start. And then
[57:35] one of the things that we
[57:40] talked about. During the
[57:41] ordinance creation, was what
[57:43] the economic impact of Doors
[57:45] Open Support would be. So it is
[57:47] fantastic, right? The
[57:48] expressions that we get to see,
[57:49] the interpretation that happens
[57:50] on the heritage side, the
[57:51] preservation. But there
[57:52] s also
[57:53] a real kind of economic
[57:55] benefit. So there are 12,000
[57:56] jobs that are supported through
[57:58] for culture funding, creating a
[58:00] really, I think, thriving and
[58:01] vibrant moment within arts and
[58:06] culture. And King County. And
[58:08] here you see just our financial
[58:10] snapshot there. Uh, additional
[58:11] details within the annual
[58:12] report. But we give you the
[58:16] three years 2023, 2024 and 2025
[58:18] of our total revenues, our
[58:19] total expenditures and our
[58:22] total fund balances. And as
[58:24] always, the total fund balances
[58:25] tend to to gain a little bit of
[58:27] attention. And why are those
[58:28] high against the expenditures?
[58:30] And again, it is the fact that
[58:31] there are competitive grant
[58:33] programs for the most part,
[58:35] that award the funds, those
[58:37] those award funds are then
[58:39] encumbered. But depending on
[58:41] the length of the grant terms,
[58:43] those funds might go out, uh,
[58:45] over a two year grant period or
[58:47] over a three year grant period.
[58:49] So the fund balances are
[58:50] encumbered and they will
[58:53] support the projects and
[58:55] operations and facilities and
[58:57] renovations over a number of
[59:01] years. And with that, I will
[59:02] turn it over to Claire, who
[59:02] s
[59:03] going to share some of the kind
[59:06] of exciting projects that we
[59:08] have been able to to support in
[59:09] 2025.
[59:12] Yeah. So I, I get the fun job
[59:14] here of sharing some of the
[59:15] highlights from our
[59:17] disciplines. So, um, for
[59:19] culture covers arts heritage,
[59:21] historic preservation and now
[59:23] science and technology. Um, and
[59:24] so with Arts, I just wanted to
[59:26] share a story from Auburn
[59:28] Theater, which was, uh, Auburn
[59:30] Theater was a recipient of our
[59:31] building for Equity Anchoring
[59:32] Community Award. So those are
[59:34] projects of greater than 10
[59:36] million. Um, and they got to do
[59:37] a groundbreaking for that, um,
[59:39] theater, really just recently.
[59:40] And I got to attend it, and
[59:40] it
[59:41] s great. They
[59:42] re going to
[59:43] part of this money is going to
[59:45] go to support 300 seat theater
[59:47] in downtown Auburn. There was a
[59:49] theater in this spot. Um, it
[59:49] s
[59:50] a vacant it
[59:50] s been a vacant
[59:52] spot for nearly actually
[59:54] probably 5 or 6 years now. Um,
[59:56] it was it had a bunch of damage
[59:58] and it had to be demolished.
[59:58] It
[1:00:01] s revitalizing this site in
[1:00:02] downtown Auburn. Right next to
[1:00:03] it is the Postmark Center for
[1:00:05] the Arts, which is a facility
[1:00:06] that, for culture has been
[1:00:08] supporting over many years. Um,
[1:00:09] that does community programming
[1:00:10] for the arts. And it
[1:00:10] s in a
[1:00:12] historic building. Um, but it
[1:00:12] s
[1:00:14] really activating this site of
[1:00:15] downtown Auburn. That
[1:00:15] s really
[1:00:16] wonderful. And it
[1:00:16] s kind of a
[1:00:18] part of, um, what arts and
[1:00:20] culture can do for economic
[1:00:21] revitalization. And it
[1:00:21] s a part
[1:00:23] of a strategic initiative of
[1:00:24] the city. And I have to say,
[1:00:25] the folks in Auburn that I
[1:00:26] ve
[1:00:28] worked with in the parks arts,
[1:00:29] um, and then in the city
[1:00:29] government, they
[1:00:30] re just one of
[1:00:31] the hardest working people
[1:00:32] figuring out how to do, like,
[1:00:34] make this vision a reality.
[1:00:35] Over time. Um, and I
[1:00:36] m really
[1:00:37] excited to see how much it
[1:00:40] positively impacts the
[1:00:41] commercial businesses all along
[1:00:42] there and just makes it a
[1:00:43] really active part
[1:00:46] Out of their town. On the
[1:00:48] heritage side, we had several
[1:00:50] fairs and festivals this year
[1:00:51] that ended up applying, or it
[1:00:52] would have been last year, but
[1:00:56] for 2025 that applied for
[1:00:57] heritage projects and received
[1:00:58] funding. And so I just wanted
[1:01:00] to highlight some of these. Um,
[1:01:02] city and community festivals,
[1:01:04] which so there was the Dia de
[1:01:05] Los Muertos celebration at City
[1:01:06] of Shoreline and City of
[1:01:08] Shoreline has been producing
[1:01:09] the celebration, I think, since
[1:01:11] 2021. And it used to be a
[1:01:12] partnership with Shaw Lake
[1:01:13] Arts. Um, and then they
[1:01:13] ve kind
[1:01:15] of taken it on and they receive
[1:01:17] funding for that last year, and
[1:01:17] we
[1:01:18] re able to have a really
[1:01:20] good celebration. Uh
[1:01:21] Snoqualmie. Valley
[1:01:23] International Block Party, um,
[1:01:24] that was run by the Snow Valley
[1:01:26] Regional Chamber of Commerce.
[1:01:27] This brought together lots of
[1:01:29] different vendors and
[1:01:30] performances to serve the
[1:01:32] Snoqualmie area. And it was
[1:01:33] just I heard it was a really
[1:01:34] good time. Uh, East Side
[1:01:35] overall had a honoring
[1:01:37] Juneteenth, uh, fair or it was
[1:01:39] like a kind of like a festival
[1:01:40] party. And then, um, the Irish
[1:01:42] Heritage Club has Irish Week,
[1:01:45] which has several, uh, um,
[1:01:47] events, uh, over time, uh,
[1:01:48] including like an Irish or a
[1:01:50] soda, soda, bread baking
[1:01:51] competition. But that was a
[1:01:53] some cool story of that of the
[1:01:55] heritage projects from last
[1:01:57] year on the preservation side.
[1:01:59] Um, we were really happy to see
[1:02:00] that the Enumclaw Plateau
[1:02:02] Historical Society received a
[1:02:02] landmark
[1:02:03] s capital award last
[1:02:05] year that was part of sort of a
[1:02:05] longer they
[1:02:06] ve been doing long
[1:02:07] term renovation in different
[1:02:11] parts, but this is a 116 year
[1:02:12] old Masonic lodge. I don
[1:02:12] t know
[1:02:12] if you
[1:02:13] ve ever been to this
[1:02:15] museum in Enumclaw, but, um,
[1:02:15] it
[1:02:16] s a really incredible
[1:02:17] property and they
[1:02:17] ve been
[1:02:19] making changes to it over time
[1:02:20] to be able to do different
[1:02:22] things. And part of this sort
[1:02:23] of part two, that they receive
[1:02:26] funding for was to change the
[1:02:27] the front of it so that they
[1:02:28] could add more programming
[1:02:30] space, which allows them to run
[1:02:32] more community events, more,
[1:02:35] more, um, uh, uh, just more
[1:02:38] public access to the museum.
[1:02:38] Um, so it
[1:02:39] s really exciting for
[1:02:41] them to be able to do this and
[1:02:42] receive that Landmark
[1:02:42] s Capital
[1:02:45] Award. And then in science and
[1:02:47] technology, I wanted to share
[1:02:49] about some, which is acute
[1:02:50] acute acronym. It
[1:02:50] s Seattle
[1:02:52] Universal Math Museum. Um, and
[1:02:52] it
[1:02:53] s actually it
[1:02:53] s located in
[1:02:55] Kent Station. They just opened
[1:02:56] up their first, like kind of
[1:02:58] central location, but the
[1:02:59] majority of their programming
[1:03:02] actually happens around its
[1:03:03] mobile. It happens in South
[1:03:04] Kane County schools and
[1:03:06] libraries, but they have this
[1:03:08] part of their award. They got
[1:03:09] multiple awards through for
[1:03:10] culture in 2025, one of which
[1:03:12] was public free access. That
[1:03:14] which allows the the museum to
[1:03:16] offer free admission. Um, which
[1:03:18] is really exciting and allows
[1:03:19] kids and families to go there
[1:03:22] free of charge. Um, and uh, do
[1:03:24] hands on math programming. And
[1:03:25] they had a really big party,
[1:03:27] um, they opened on Pi Day. And
[1:03:31] so it was MARCH 14th, and, uh,
[1:03:32] they had a great time and we
[1:03:33] had full for culture staff
[1:03:35] there. Um, just to welcome to
[1:03:35] the space. And we
[1:03:35] re really
[1:03:36] excited to see how this
[1:03:38] organization grows and
[1:03:40] continues to serve, uh, most of
[1:03:42] South King County in doing, uh,
[1:03:45] hands on math activities. And
[1:03:47] then finally in our public art
[1:03:49] department, um, we have in King
[1:03:51] County for culture gets to
[1:03:53] manage and store and install,
[1:03:56] uh, the King County, uh, art
[1:03:57] collection. And there are about
[1:03:58] a little over 2000 works in
[1:04:00] this collection, and they are
[1:04:02] up all around the county and
[1:04:04] all of our institutional
[1:04:06] spaces. And in 2025, there are
[1:04:09] 170 installations. Things move
[1:04:10] all around. The county is
[1:04:11] offices are changing or coming
[1:04:13] back to work or or moving to
[1:04:14] different places. And we have a
[1:04:17] staff that works on that. Uh,
[1:04:18] and I, I just I have to say
[1:04:18] that it
[1:04:19] s really, um, it
[1:04:20] s a
[1:04:21] really amazing thing that King
[1:04:22] County can do this because it
[1:04:23] really does impact the public
[1:04:24] s
[1:04:26] experiences with institutional
[1:04:27] space. So many things happen,
[1:04:28] as you all know, like so many
[1:04:30] things happen in the county.
[1:04:31] Um, from the worst day of
[1:04:31] someone
[1:04:32] s life all the way to,
[1:04:33] you know, maybe when they get
[1:04:35] married or they do these things
[1:04:37] that are great. And, um, all
[1:04:38] along the way, we can shape how
[1:04:41] they remember those times with
[1:04:42] the sort of the things that are
[1:04:43] around them. And I think public
[1:04:46] art has that power. And then,
[1:04:47] um, for those that are actually
[1:04:48] really interested in this, um,
[1:04:50] last year we were able to get,
[1:04:52] uh, the majority of the public
[1:04:55] art catalog online. Um, so our
[1:04:56] temporary permanent artworks
[1:04:58] that the county owns and make
[1:04:59] it so that the public can learn
[1:05:01] about what are the artists that
[1:05:03] are there, where is that
[1:05:04] artwork? What are the spaces
[1:05:04] that they
[1:05:05] re in? And I
[1:05:05] ve heard
[1:05:07] some really good feedback from
[1:05:08] just people on the community
[1:05:09] that have reached out to say
[1:05:11] just how much, um, getting to
[1:05:13] browse this and go go on their
[1:05:14] own little free art expedition
[1:05:15] has been. So that
[1:05:16] s been a cool
[1:05:18] element of what we were able to
[1:05:20] do in 2025. And our public art
[1:05:23] department. So I
[1:05:23] m going to
[1:05:24] pass it over to my colleague
[1:05:25] Calandra, who
[1:05:25] s going to talk
[1:05:28] more about doors open.
[1:05:29] Thank you Claire.
[1:05:31] Um, yeah. So I am going to jump
[1:05:33] into some of our learnings and
[1:05:34] observations. After the first
[1:05:36] full year of Doors Open,
[1:05:38] funding distribution, uh, and
[1:05:40] one of our, uh, goals as we
[1:05:42] move into sort of integration
[1:05:44] of doors, open funding into the
[1:05:46] historic for culture work was
[1:05:48] to really retain our ability to
[1:05:50] be responsive to the field. So
[1:05:51] we have rolled out these new
[1:05:53] programs, but at the same time,
[1:05:56] we know that, um, things happen
[1:05:57] and we need to be responsive to
[1:05:59] that. So the majority of our
[1:06:01] funding does roll through our
[1:06:03] regular grant cycles, but
[1:06:05] sometimes emergencies happen.
[1:06:06] Sometimes pipes break, trees
[1:06:08] fall, and those can really be
[1:06:09] make or break kind of
[1:06:10] situations. For cultural
[1:06:11] organizations that don
[1:06:11] t
[1:06:13] typically carry a fund balance,
[1:06:14] that can address those
[1:06:16] unexpected events. So I wanted
[1:06:17] to talk about our emergency and
[1:06:19] unforeseen grant, um, this is a
[1:06:21] program that runs year round.
[1:06:23] It addresses situations that
[1:06:24] could not be predicted ahead of
[1:06:26] time. And as you all will
[1:06:28] remember, last year we
[1:06:30] experienced two atmospheric
[1:06:32] rivers and that resulted in
[1:06:34] flooding in south and east King
[1:06:36] County, which was really quite
[1:06:38] devastating. So while this was
[1:06:39] happening, we proactively
[1:06:41] reached out to the cultural
[1:06:42] organizations that were in
[1:06:44] those impacted areas to let
[1:06:46] them know about this program,
[1:06:46] make sure that they were
[1:06:48] tracking their expenses such
[1:06:49] that they could come back to us
[1:06:50] and and we could work through
[1:06:53] this application process. And I
[1:06:54] wanted to highlight one of
[1:06:55] those organizations. You
[1:06:55] re
[1:06:57] seeing a photo here from the
[1:06:58] Oxbow Farm and Conservation
[1:07:02] Center. They experienced a 16
[1:07:04] year high of flood waters. The
[1:07:06] flood was a stage five
[1:07:07] emergency on their flood
[1:07:09] warning system and resulted in
[1:07:11] really quite significant flood,
[1:07:13] uh, site damage. So what you
[1:07:13] re
[1:07:15] looking at here is the, um, the
[1:07:17] native plant nursery, and you
[1:07:19] can see the water is quite high
[1:07:20] in that facility. That
[1:07:21] s
[1:07:22] actually a facility that was
[1:07:23] specifically built, you know,
[1:07:25] that this is an organization
[1:07:25] that
[1:07:27] s located on a floodplain.
[1:07:28] This is not, um, new
[1:07:30] information that that the area
[1:07:32] is, is prone to flooding. So a
[1:07:33] lot of their facilities have
[1:07:34] been built with this in mind.
[1:07:37] And yet this flood, even, um,
[1:07:39] superseded the the ability to
[1:07:40] withstand those, um,
[1:07:42] precautionary measures that had
[1:07:44] been taken. So we were really
[1:07:45] pleased to, to be able to work
[1:07:47] with them and provide some
[1:07:48] support so that they could get
[1:07:49] their operations back up and
[1:07:51] running. Um, so I know they
[1:07:52] were one of the organizations
[1:07:53] that were particularly hard
[1:07:55] hit. And the Northwest Railway
[1:07:56] Museum was also particularly
[1:07:57] hard hit, and they also
[1:08:00] received an emergency grant to
[1:08:03] support their recovery. Uh, and
[1:08:05] this need for responsiveness
[1:08:06] is, um, it
[1:08:07] s not just about the
[1:08:08] physical environment. I think
[1:08:09] one of one of our other
[1:08:11] learnings that we have found is
[1:08:12] that about 50% of our
[1:08:13] organizations do not
[1:08:15] necessarily have a facility
[1:08:16] that they are running out of on
[1:08:18] a daily basis. They are maybe
[1:08:19] popping up in schools or
[1:08:21] working with other cultural
[1:08:22] organizations to provide that
[1:08:23] programming. So we
[1:08:24] re also, of
[1:08:27] course, very focused on how to
[1:08:28] build organizational strength
[1:08:30] across the entire sector. Uh,
[1:08:31] so Doors Open really creates
[1:08:33] that opportunity to deepen and
[1:08:35] expand operational work while
[1:08:37] creating that organizational
[1:08:39] stability. So one of the ways
[1:08:39] that we
[1:08:40] re really focused on
[1:08:42] doing this is creating pathways
[1:08:44] to technical assistance that
[1:08:45] can build that kind of
[1:08:47] perseverance and strength. We
[1:08:49] have a system to connect our
[1:08:50] cultural organizations directly
[1:08:52] to a roster of coaches and
[1:08:54] consultants that support all
[1:08:56] kinds of organizational work.
[1:08:57] Um, and then we underwrite
[1:09:00] those contracts directly. The
[1:09:02] benefit of this sort of system
[1:09:04] is that the consultants have
[1:09:05] all been reviewed and vetted by
[1:09:07] peers. So that saves
[1:09:09] organizations a lot of time and
[1:09:10] energy seeking out that kind of
[1:09:12] help. It can be very
[1:09:12] overwhelming if you
[1:09:13] re not sure
[1:09:15] where to start on finding, um,
[1:09:16] a particular kind of support
[1:09:18] within your community. We also
[1:09:20] have the ability to underwrite,
[1:09:22] um, existing relationships. So
[1:09:24] if an organization already has
[1:09:25] a relationship with a
[1:09:25] consultant that they
[1:09:26] re really
[1:09:26] pleased with, we
[1:09:27] re able to to
[1:09:28] bring them into the fold as
[1:09:31] well. And one, one of the
[1:09:33] findings that we found is that,
[1:09:34] uh, that some of the top
[1:09:35] services that have been
[1:09:37] requested have really been
[1:09:38] around financial and strategic
[1:09:40] planning, in addition to grant
[1:09:41] writing and fundraising
[1:09:43] development. So kind of really
[1:09:44] building that internal
[1:09:45] operational strength and then
[1:09:47] also finding ways to expand,
[1:09:48] uh, the, the funding that
[1:09:48] s
[1:09:50] coming in the door and two
[1:09:52] examples that I wanted to share
[1:09:55] out are the Spotlight Repertory
[1:09:57] Northwest, which is a live
[1:09:58] music and performing arts
[1:10:00] organization in Samammish. They
[1:10:02] used their consulting hours to
[1:10:03] work with a financial
[1:10:05] consultant on preparing their
[1:10:06] 1990s and updating their
[1:10:07] QuickBooks. So again, those
[1:10:10] kind of internal systems, um.
[1:10:12] Similarly, the Maple Valley
[1:10:14] Historical Society used their
[1:10:16] consulting hours to work with a
[1:10:17] financial consultant to develop
[1:10:19] stronger internal controls. So
[1:10:21] they have built a new gift
[1:10:23] acceptance policy. They
[1:10:23] ve also
[1:10:25] worked on producing
[1:10:26] documentation required by the
[1:10:29] irs. So again, just really kind
[1:10:30] of strengthening those internal
[1:10:32] systems to make sure that these
[1:10:34] organizations can remain strong
[1:10:36] and stable in the long term. So
[1:10:37] we
[1:10:38] ll continue to track those
[1:10:40] needs over time and build out
[1:10:42] our roster and build out our
[1:10:43] consultant directory in
[1:10:45] response to those needs. Um,
[1:10:48] excuse me. So thinking about,
[1:10:49] um, kind of the bigger picture
[1:10:50] here, what have we learned
[1:10:52] about the sector? Where have we
[1:10:55] where have we seen that growth?
[1:10:55] Um, I
[1:10:56] m really excited about
[1:10:58] this first bullet point here.
[1:11:00] 23% of doors open. Awardees
[1:11:01] were first time applicants to
[1:11:03] For culture. I want to point
[1:11:05] out that that is not just
[1:11:06] applicants, but applicants that
[1:11:08] were successful and ended up
[1:11:10] being awarded a grant. So even
[1:11:11] higher number of first time
[1:11:13] applicants that came through
[1:11:14] the system. But we
[1:11:15] re seeing a
[1:11:17] really high success rate. And
[1:11:19] what this tells us is that, um,
[1:11:19] we
[1:11:20] re continuing to to make
[1:11:22] headway in reaching new
[1:11:23] organizations, organizations
[1:11:23] that haven
[1:11:24] t historically
[1:11:26] worked with us, um, and that
[1:11:26] we
[1:11:27] re really able to provide
[1:11:29] that, that assistance, that
[1:11:30] technical assistance, the
[1:11:32] support during our workshops
[1:11:32] when we
[1:11:33] re building those
[1:11:35] relationships with folks to be
[1:11:36] able to navigate our systems
[1:11:37] and make sure that they
[1:11:38] re able
[1:11:40] to, um, you know, build their
[1:11:42] portfolio, bring in the
[1:11:44] applications and all the
[1:11:45] materials required for, uh, the
[1:11:48] grant programs. The next, uh,
[1:11:49] bullet point on here is about
[1:11:52] our new science and technology,
[1:11:55] um, disciplines. So $3.3
[1:11:58] million were awarded in 2025.
[1:11:58] That
[1:12:00] s actually in addition to
[1:12:03] the approximately $3.5 million
[1:12:04] that were awarded the previous
[1:12:06] year for our general operating
[1:12:09] funds. So closer to $7 million
[1:12:10] was awarded to science and
[1:12:13] technology for 2026. That was
[1:12:15] so awarded. Versus distributed
[1:12:18] is the is the nuance there? And
[1:12:18] then of course, we
[1:12:19] re also
[1:12:20] investing in our new
[1:12:22] organizations. So the launch
[1:12:24] program is our grant that is
[1:12:26] very specifically focused on
[1:12:27] organizations that are brand
[1:12:29] new. They might be hiring their
[1:12:30] first staff member. They
[1:12:30] re
[1:12:31] just getting off the ground.
[1:12:33] And this requires a lot of
[1:12:35] dedicated, focused support to
[1:12:36] make sure they have the
[1:12:38] resources that they need to be
[1:12:40] sustainable in the long term.
[1:12:44] All right. Now moving on to,
[1:12:47] uh, accessibility. So, um, we
[1:12:49] really we know that, uh, as we
[1:12:51] build out these programs for
[1:12:53] cultural organizations, that we
[1:12:55] also need to be thinking about
[1:12:56] how the general public is
[1:12:57] actually accessing these
[1:12:58] cultural, um, these new
[1:12:59] cultural events that are
[1:13:02] happening across the county. So
[1:13:04] this is a great opportunity to
[1:13:05] give a little preview of
[1:13:06] something that
[1:13:07] s coming out in
[1:13:09] two days. We are just about to
[1:13:11] share the results of a survey
[1:13:13] that we did of King County
[1:13:14] residents to better understand
[1:13:16] cultural attendance by the
[1:13:19] general public, and this was a
[1:13:21] rigorous study of cultural
[1:13:22] participation that
[1:13:22] s
[1:13:23] demographically matched to the
[1:13:25] King County census. So we
[1:13:26] really believe these metrics
[1:13:28] are are quite valid. Um, we
[1:13:30] found some great news about
[1:13:31] King County participation. King
[1:13:34] County is actually, um,
[1:13:36] significantly higher than than
[1:13:37] the us national average in
[1:13:40] terms of participation. But we
[1:13:41] also identified some barriers
[1:13:43] to access. And you all will not
[1:13:45] be surprised to hear that cost
[1:13:46] is the number one barrier that
[1:13:48] was named. Um, so that
[1:13:48] s where
[1:13:50] a program like public free
[1:13:52] access comes in. In 2025, we
[1:13:55] were able to underwrite 1.76
[1:13:57] million, uh, free and reduced
[1:13:59] cost tickets to cultural
[1:14:00] activities. So that
[1:14:01] s really
[1:14:03] creating a whole lot of access
[1:14:04] that would not have been there
[1:14:05] previously. Um, we
[1:14:05] re also
[1:14:07] seeing a trend in organizations
[1:14:09] shifting their their ticketing
[1:14:11] model. So moving into pay what
[1:14:12] you can and sliding scale
[1:14:13] models, which is kind of
[1:14:15] interesting. So um, there
[1:14:15] s
[1:14:18] both free, uh, free admissions.
[1:14:19] So Claire was previously
[1:14:20] talking about the new Seattle
[1:14:22] Universal Math Museum, um, the
[1:14:24] Henry Art Gallery has been
[1:14:25] around for a really long time,
[1:14:26] but they, with the public free
[1:14:27] access grant that they
[1:14:28] received, have been able to
[1:14:30] move to a completely free
[1:14:32] admission. Same with the Summer
[1:14:34] Asian Arts Fest. Um, I know
[1:14:37] that the the feast is a
[1:14:38] theatrical production company
[1:14:39] that has moved to a sliding
[1:14:41] scale model. So lots of
[1:14:42] organizations are kind of
[1:14:44] playing with how they create
[1:14:45] that access within the sector
[1:14:47] and make sure that cost is not
[1:14:48] the reason why folks are not
[1:14:51] able to get in the front door.
[1:14:53] And then continuing on that
[1:14:54] theme of access, I
[1:14:54] ll just call
[1:14:56] your attention to that last
[1:14:57] photo that you saw. It was
[1:14:59] Youth in Focus. That
[1:14:59] s a great
[1:15:00] program. That
[1:15:00] s that
[1:15:01] s
[1:15:02] educating students in
[1:15:04] photography. And they have
[1:15:05] actually moved to make their
[1:15:07] summer programs completely
[1:15:07] free. So what you
[1:15:08] re seeing
[1:15:09] here is a summer camp program
[1:15:12] from 2025. That camp used to be
[1:15:13] a paid camp. They
[1:15:13] re now able
[1:15:15] to offer that completely free
[1:15:17] for for youth. And then
[1:15:18] continuing on that cultural
[1:15:20] education theme, just thinking
[1:15:22] about how we are serving
[1:15:24] students and youth across the
[1:15:27] county. So a couple examples.
[1:15:28] Um, so excited to have Nancy
[1:15:30] joining our board, the Highline
[1:15:32] Heritage Museum in Burien has
[1:15:33] really dramatically expanded
[1:15:35] their school partnerships, and
[1:15:35] they
[1:15:36] re actually in the process
[1:15:38] of hiring an education staff
[1:15:40] member to oversee that new
[1:15:41] program. Or I
[1:15:41] m sorry, that
[1:15:43] expanded program, um, Art
[1:15:45] Commons and Issaquah is, uh,
[1:15:45] they
[1:15:46] re doing a really
[1:15:47] interesting program with
[1:15:48] Issaquah Schools where they
[1:15:49] have artists in residence in
[1:15:51] the schools. So these are more
[1:15:53] than just sort of one touch
[1:15:54] programs. They
[1:15:54] re really
[1:15:55] building deep relationships
[1:15:57] between those artists and the
[1:15:58] students to build those skills
[1:16:01] within the student population.
[1:16:01] So they
[1:16:02] re hiring teaching
[1:16:04] artists right now. Um, I also
[1:16:05] wanted to point out that we are
[1:16:07] under contract with Auburn
[1:16:10] Highline, Renton, Kent, Tukwila
[1:16:11] and Federal Way school
[1:16:12] districts for transportation
[1:16:14] subsidies. So, uh, we
[1:16:15] ve made
[1:16:16] quite a lot of progress there
[1:16:17] to make sure that students are
[1:16:18] able to move back and forth
[1:16:20] between cultural spaces and
[1:16:22] their schools. Uh, we
[1:16:23] re also
[1:16:24] in conversation with the
[1:16:26] Muckleshoot Tribal School and
[1:16:26] working through that
[1:16:28] partnership conversation right
[1:16:30] now. And then we also have
[1:16:31] conversations going with
[1:16:32] Skykomish and Seattle Public
[1:16:34] Schools. Both of those
[1:16:35] districts needed to create some
[1:16:37] internal, um, logistical
[1:16:38] controls around accepting the
[1:16:39] funding. So we
[1:16:39] re just kind of
[1:16:40] working through those
[1:16:42] logistics, but we are well on
[1:16:44] our way to expanding that
[1:16:46] access for students. And I
[1:16:48] think with that, I will hand it
[1:16:50] back over to Brian.
[1:16:52] Sure. So as we look ahead in
[1:16:55] 2026 and beyond, just a few,
[1:16:56] um, issue areas and
[1:16:58] opportunities that we see one
[1:17:00] again is the increase in the
[1:17:01] number of cultural
[1:17:03] organizations. When I got to
[1:17:07] for culture, this was 2014, um,
[1:17:09] we estimated about 500 cultural
[1:17:11] organizations. And again, now
[1:17:11] we
[1:17:12] re looking at serving over
[1:17:14] 1000 cultural organizations.
[1:17:16] Um, there are consequences to
[1:17:17] the carrying capacity of any
[1:17:18] ecosystem. So that
[1:17:18] s something
[1:17:20] that we watch carefully. There
[1:17:20] are going to be more
[1:17:23] applications, um, seeking the
[1:17:24] dollars that we have available,
[1:17:25] but it also presents some
[1:17:27] interesting opportunities. I
[1:17:27] m
[1:17:28] sure that you guys are well
[1:17:30] aware of the number of
[1:17:32] collaborative, um, operating
[1:17:34] models that are being
[1:17:37] undertaken. You saw a merger of
[1:17:40] Seattle Shakespeare with the,
[1:17:42] um, Got Act theater, which is
[1:17:44] now Union Center, a
[1:17:45] collaborative relationship
[1:17:47] between the Seattle Rep and
[1:17:47] Seattle Children
[1:17:49] s Theater. Um,
[1:17:49] and we
[1:17:51] ve seen more recently a
[1:17:52] merger between the Washington
[1:17:53] State Jewish Historical Society
[1:17:55] and the Jewish Federation of
[1:17:56] Seattle. So I think
[1:17:59] organizations are looking for
[1:18:01] efficiencies among this kind of
[1:18:02] increased competition within
[1:18:03] the cultural sector and
[1:18:04] increasing number of
[1:18:06] organizations. And a lot of
[1:18:08] this is happening with back end
[1:18:09] administrative support. There
[1:18:10] s
[1:18:12] always been a long history of
[1:18:15] programmatic relationships and
[1:18:15] partnerships, and I think
[1:18:17] people are now exploring more
[1:18:19] of those from an administrative
[1:18:21] side. Um, as Calandra shared,
[1:18:22] um, one of the things that we
[1:18:24] like everybody, um, are
[1:18:26] watching, the impacts that
[1:18:27] climate change is having on the
[1:18:29] cultural sector, um, with the
[1:18:31] increase in unpredictable and
[1:18:32] volatile weather events, we
[1:18:32] re
[1:18:34] seeing more facility support
[1:18:36] being needed on an emergency
[1:18:38] basis, and we just see that
[1:18:40] increasing every single year
[1:18:43] and will continue to do so. And
[1:18:45] then lastly is that, um, we had
[1:18:47] shared during our last briefing
[1:18:48] with this committee about our
[1:18:50] evaluation framework, and
[1:18:50] there
[1:18:52] s a lot of data that
[1:18:52] we
[1:18:53] re gathering. And that is
[1:18:54] only as valuable as the
[1:18:56] information you can take from
[1:18:58] it through synthesis. Um, so
[1:18:58] we
[1:18:59] re really undertaking that
[1:19:00] because there
[1:19:01] s a lot of
[1:19:03] differentiation within those
[1:19:04] thousand organizations that we
[1:19:06] serve to, that we strive to
[1:19:08] serve, um, by geography, by the
[1:19:10] discipline that they represent,
[1:19:12] by the size of the organization
[1:19:13] themselves and the communities
[1:19:15] that they want to serve. So
[1:19:17] adaptation and evolution within
[1:19:18] not only doors open, but us as
[1:19:20] an organization, I think is key
[1:19:22] to continuing to to serve this
[1:19:24] growing number of organizations
[1:19:25] and make sure that they
[1:19:26] re
[1:19:28] strengthened. So, as Calandra
[1:19:28] shared, one of the things we
[1:19:29] re
[1:19:30] really proud of is the ability
[1:19:32] to help a lot of these new and
[1:19:34] emerging organizations, which
[1:19:35] are typically smaller budget
[1:19:38] size, typically, um, $200,000
[1:19:40] annual operating budget or
[1:19:42] below. Who need support, um,
[1:19:43] technical assistance, capacity
[1:19:44] building to make sure that
[1:19:46] their internal operations are
[1:19:48] strong. So we see that as a
[1:19:50] continuing area of focus for us
[1:19:51] as well. And then lastly, i
[1:19:52] ll
[1:19:54] just say outreach and
[1:19:56] engagement. Um, we have got to
[1:19:56] make sure that people
[1:19:58] throughout this really large
[1:20:00] county are aware of the
[1:20:02] offerings of, for culture, um,
[1:20:04] not just doors open, but all of
[1:20:05] the support mechanisms that we
[1:20:08] offer. So we are communications
[1:20:10] department has really stepped
[1:20:11] up their efforts when it comes
[1:20:12] to outreach and engagement.
[1:20:13] We
[1:20:13] re doing a lot of work
[1:20:15] around language justice and
[1:20:16] accessibility, making sure that
[1:20:19] we have translation services
[1:20:20] that the any kind of collateral
[1:20:22] marketing materials we have
[1:20:23] have various languages on
[1:20:25] those. So people can know who
[1:20:27] we are and come to us. And I
[1:20:27] think what
[1:20:28] s really vital to
[1:20:30] that is the people power that
[1:20:31] we have here at the
[1:20:33] organization. Everyone at For
[1:20:34] culture, that came from a
[1:20:36] museum or a theater or a dance
[1:20:38] group or a choral group. So
[1:20:39] when one picks up the phone or
[1:20:40] they send the email, there
[1:20:41] s
[1:20:42] somebody there who can help
[1:20:44] welcome them into who for
[1:20:46] culture is and also guide them
[1:20:48] to the appropriate resources.
[1:20:49] And so much of that is us
[1:20:51] getting outside the four walls
[1:20:52] of this office and being there
[1:20:54] in community at events, um,
[1:20:56] getting to know folks because
[1:20:56] there
[1:20:57] s so many people on our
[1:20:58] radar, there
[1:20:59] s so many
[1:21:01] organizations that we already
[1:21:02] know and have known for years.
[1:21:03] But being out in community
[1:21:04] allows us to make those
[1:21:06] connections to the folks who
[1:21:07] maybe have never came to us for
[1:21:09] funding. And as you saw from
[1:21:10] the number of new applicants to
[1:21:12] For culture, I think that
[1:21:12] s
[1:21:13] really successful. And a part
[1:21:15] of that is and this is just so
[1:21:17] much gratitude to the council
[1:21:17] when there
[1:21:18] s a new individual,
[1:21:19] whether that
[1:21:19] s an artist or a
[1:21:21] new organization or just a
[1:21:22] cultural group that
[1:21:22] s kind of
[1:21:24] nascent and forming. Um, when
[1:21:26] you write, put us in contact
[1:21:27] with them or anybody makes that
[1:21:28] recommendation, we
[1:21:29] re going to
[1:21:29] get out there and we
[1:21:29] re going
[1:21:30] to talk to them. We
[1:21:30] re going to
[1:21:32] figure out what their mission
[1:21:32] is, and if there
[1:21:33] s an alignment
[1:21:34] with the funding opportunities
[1:21:35] that we have. And I think that
[1:21:38] is going to be increasingly
[1:21:39] important. That kind of boots
[1:21:42] on the ground, um, engagement
[1:21:43] with the cultural sectors, um,
[1:21:45] throughout the county. So, um,
[1:21:47] with that, I will conclude and
[1:21:49] just say thank you. Um, on
[1:21:51] behalf of all the staff of the
[1:21:52] four culture Board of
[1:21:53] directors, we love our working
[1:21:55] relationship with all the
[1:21:56] council members. Um, really
[1:21:58] appreciate the ex-officio and
[1:22:00] what they do and how they serve
[1:22:01] on our board. And with that,
[1:22:02] I
[1:22:03] ll conclude and happy to take
[1:22:05] any questions.
[1:22:07] Thank you so much, Brian
[1:22:09] Calandra and Clare for that
[1:22:10] presentation. Thank you for
[1:22:12] including their photo. I saw
[1:22:13] the background of the Pacific
[1:22:15] Science Center, which is now
[1:22:16] that that area is now newly
[1:22:18] open to the to the community. I
[1:22:19] should say I finally got to see
[1:22:21] that recently. Thank you all
[1:22:23] for that presentation. Um,
[1:22:23] colleagues, I
[1:22:24] m gonna open it
[1:22:26] up for questions from you about
[1:22:28] the report. Uh Councilmember
[1:22:30] Perry. Vice. Uh, well, Chair
[1:22:31] Perry of the Council.
[1:22:32] Thank you.
[1:22:36] Thank you very much. Uh, Chair
[1:22:38] Barron. And thank you very
[1:22:39] much. Also to Executive
[1:22:41] Director Carter, uh, government
[1:22:42] relations manager, Clare
[1:22:44] Riccio, director Calandra
[1:22:45] Childers, for taking the time
[1:22:46] to provide us with this great
[1:22:48] update on the report and the
[1:22:49] great work you
[1:22:50] re doing and the
[1:22:50] and the folks who are
[1:22:52] interested in nominating them
[1:22:53] and bringing them on board and
[1:22:54] making sure everybody is
[1:22:55] successful on behalf of
[1:22:57] everyone. And in King County,
[1:22:59] this is really exciting. And
[1:23:01] and I have a few questions. So,
[1:23:01] chair, I
[1:23:02] ll check in with you
[1:23:04] to see if I need to, if we need
[1:23:05] to go online for that or go to
[1:23:07] the next person for Robert
[1:23:07] s
[1:23:09] Rules. Um.
[1:23:11] You can keep going until until
[1:23:11] you
[1:23:11] re done.
[1:23:12] Okay?
[1:23:13] Okay. Wow. That
[1:23:14] s great. Okay.
[1:23:16] Um, as you mentioned, when
[1:23:17] council originally adopted
[1:23:19] doors open, the implementation
[1:23:21] plan required for culture to
[1:23:24] distribute at least 25% to
[1:23:25] communities outside of the
[1:23:27] Seattle area. And, uh, you
[1:23:29] know, that was something that
[1:23:30] was important to me in that
[1:23:32] final vote. And in your report,
[1:23:33] you mentioned pork culture
[1:23:35] exceeded the 25% minimum
[1:23:37] funding for organizations
[1:23:39] outside of the Seattle area and
[1:23:41] the 10% minimum for communities
[1:23:43] of opportunity for
[1:23:45] organizations serving
[1:23:46] vulnerable populations. I
[1:23:47] m
[1:23:48] interested to know if you have
[1:23:49] a dollar value for the total
[1:23:51] amount of funds distributed to
[1:23:52] jurisdictions outside of
[1:23:55] Seattle. Um, and the staff
[1:23:56] report notes the number of
[1:23:59] funds distributed uh, in each
[1:24:00] district. But I
[1:24:00] d like to
[1:24:02] understand this. The full, uh,
[1:24:05] sum sum total that was that
[1:24:05] s
[1:24:06] one question. And we can get
[1:24:07] this information offline
[1:24:08] because numbers on the dais,
[1:24:09] they
[1:24:09] re not it
[1:24:11] s not great. Uh,
[1:24:13] so I would be happy to receive
[1:24:14] that. Um, I
[1:24:16] m also interested
[1:24:17] to know how our culture
[1:24:18] approached meeting that
[1:24:20] requirement and the steps of
[1:24:22] strategies you took together to
[1:24:23] reach communities that haven
[1:24:23] t
[1:24:25] traditionally been engaged or
[1:24:26] had access to these
[1:24:27] opportunities. I
[1:24:28] m especially
[1:24:29] interested in hearing about
[1:24:30] efforts to reach first time
[1:24:32] applicants in rural
[1:24:32] communities, so I
[1:24:33] ll stop there
[1:24:34] and see if there
[1:24:35] s a response
[1:24:36] to that.
[1:24:38] Sure. Thanks for the questions,
[1:24:39] Councilmember Perry. We
[1:24:40] ll get
[1:24:41] back to you with the exact
[1:24:42] details about the funds that
[1:24:43] went outside the city of
[1:24:44] Seattle. We can do that
[1:24:44] quickly. We
[1:24:45] ll get it to you
[1:24:47] today. As far as how we
[1:24:47] re
[1:24:49] reaching, um, folks that are
[1:24:51] either first time applicants or
[1:24:52] awardees or just have been
[1:24:53] historically underserved by
[1:24:55] funding sources, including
[1:24:57] governmental services. It
[1:24:57] s,
[1:24:59] um, there are quite a few
[1:25:01] efforts that we undertake. We
[1:25:03] partner with a lot of different
[1:25:07] media organizations in a lot of
[1:25:08] different languages that are
[1:25:09] really commonly used throughout
[1:25:11] King County. That is one of the
[1:25:12] ways in which we spread the
[1:25:13] good word about what we
[1:25:14] re
[1:25:15] doing. We also have a really
[1:25:17] robust outreach and engagement
[1:25:19] program called hello. And I
[1:25:19] think what
[1:25:20] s fantastic about
[1:25:21] this program, it isn
[1:25:21] t simply
[1:25:23] that we set up the table at the
[1:25:24] fair. It
[1:25:25] s a really intentional
[1:25:27] partnership with community
[1:25:29] groups on the ground, um, at
[1:25:31] their organizations. And we ask
[1:25:32] them to help us identify
[1:25:34] artists or creatives or
[1:25:36] cultural groups that can come
[1:25:38] to these gatherings and get to
[1:25:39] know us and our staff and the
[1:25:42] offerings that we have. Um, we
[1:25:44] also really rely on the folks
[1:25:44] that are affiliated with the
[1:25:46] organization so that staff
[1:25:47] members being out in the field
[1:25:49] and I mean all over rural
[1:25:50] areas, unincorporated areas,
[1:25:52] suburban areas, um, South King
[1:25:54] County northeast, we try and be
[1:25:56] out as much as we can, but we
[1:25:57] have staff members doing that
[1:25:59] and carrying the, um, the For
[1:26:00] Culture banner and its
[1:26:02] offerings. We also have all our
[1:26:04] five, um, advisory committees,
[1:26:05] all the members that are part
[1:26:07] of that. We give them training
[1:26:09] and orientation and ask them to
[1:26:11] also like tap into their
[1:26:12] networks and be constantly
[1:26:13] telling people that we are
[1:26:15] there. And then lastly, our
[1:26:17] board members who also fill
[1:26:19] that role. So those are just
[1:26:20] some of the efforts that we
[1:26:22] undertake. But there are also a
[1:26:24] lot of, um, partnerships that
[1:26:27] occur with individual awardees
[1:26:28] where they might have an event
[1:26:29] or they have a fair, or they
[1:26:31] have a festival and they ask
[1:26:32] us, hey, will you come and will
[1:26:33] you share what you
[1:26:33] re doing,
[1:26:33] whether that
[1:26:34] s, you know, me
[1:26:36] showing up and letting people
[1:26:37] know about the offerings that
[1:26:39] we have or is a table. So we
[1:26:39] re
[1:26:41] trying to be responsive as
[1:26:42] well. But the critical part is
[1:26:44] we need those community members
[1:26:46] that are from that geographic
[1:26:48] area to tell us, hey, here
[1:26:48] s
[1:26:49] who you
[1:26:49] re missing, here
[1:26:50] s who
[1:26:50] you
[1:26:51] re not seeing. I think
[1:26:51] we
[1:26:52] re very fortunate that our
[1:26:53] network has those great
[1:26:54] ambassadors, and that
[1:26:54] s how so
[1:26:56] many new folks come to us and
[1:26:58] how we get out. The word about
[1:26:58] for culture.
[1:27:02] I appreciate that. Um, uh, and,
[1:27:06] and, um, one of the things that
[1:27:08] the exec has been doing, it
[1:27:09] s
[1:27:10] actually pretty close to my
[1:27:11] heart, is the community
[1:27:13] building element. One of his
[1:27:13] four b
[1:27:15] s. And it was formally
[1:27:16] boots on the ground, it
[1:27:16] s now
[1:27:18] building connecting or better.
[1:27:18] I
[1:27:19] m going to have to figure
[1:27:21] that one out. Sorry, sorry.
[1:27:24] Exact. Uh, but but I have a pal
[1:27:26] in his office, Angela, who is
[1:27:28] our Eastside person. Right? Who
[1:27:30] is the person who is
[1:27:31] representing him on the east
[1:27:33] side between Angela and, um,
[1:27:36] Department of Local Services.
[1:27:36] Uh, Leon Richardson
[1:27:37] s team.
[1:27:38] They
[1:27:40] re everywhere. So in my
[1:27:42] district, Issaquah, Samammish,
[1:27:43] Redmond, Woodinville. The
[1:27:45] Snoqualmie Valley is festival
[1:27:46] time. There
[1:27:47] s everything at
[1:27:49] Skykomish tunnel day Saturday.
[1:27:50] There
[1:27:51] s there. Everything is
[1:27:52] happening right now. It
[1:27:52] s very
[1:27:53] visible. Art ministry, all
[1:27:55] these different things. You
[1:27:58] have a smaller team to be able
[1:27:59] to reach all of those areas. I
[1:28:01] would love to send you my, uh,
[1:28:04] my, um, uh, connections for
[1:28:06] those nonprofits, which I
[1:28:06] m
[1:28:07] sure that you have already, but
[1:28:09] specifically the festivals and
[1:28:11] the and the outreach, um,
[1:28:12] because it would be really
[1:28:13] wonderful to have you at the
[1:28:16] nonprofit festival at Carnation
[1:28:19] Farms incarnation, where
[1:28:19] everybody
[1:28:20] s highlighted those
[1:28:21] kinds of things, where where
[1:28:21] there
[1:28:22] s just terrific
[1:28:24] opportunity for visibility. We
[1:28:26] send people to you all the
[1:28:28] time. And I was really thrilled
[1:28:29] to see in the report all of the
[1:28:30] efforts that you
[1:28:31] re making to
[1:28:32] reach out to our folks, Oxbow
[1:28:34] and the emergency areas as
[1:28:35] well. But there is a really,
[1:28:36] really strong interest, and I
[1:28:38] want to make sure that you that
[1:28:38] we
[1:28:39] re all blooming where we
[1:28:39] re
[1:28:41] planted and then we can cross
[1:28:43] pollinate, you know, and so
[1:28:45] having that, having that
[1:28:47] opportunity to really invest in
[1:28:50] these areas will create those
[1:28:51] thriving communities that
[1:28:52] you
[1:28:53] re trying to do everywhere.
[1:28:54] And I appreciate that. And I
[1:28:57] appreciate your, um, continued
[1:29:01] vigilance on, uh, your finances
[1:29:03] and how you are appropriating
[1:29:04] these things. It is something
[1:29:04] I
[1:29:07] m keenly aware of right now.
[1:29:09] And, um, and, and the diligence
[1:29:15] is with which you, um, conduct,
[1:29:17] uh, your team, your business,
[1:29:20] um, is very much appreciated.
[1:29:21] And I just want to take a
[1:29:23] moment to say that one final
[1:29:25] thing you had in your slides,
[1:29:27] some crazy amount of 156
[1:29:30] million not yet spent. And, uh,
[1:29:32] the point that you made was
[1:29:32] that it
[1:29:34] s encumbered by some of
[1:29:35] these grants. It would be great
[1:29:38] to have a visual or a line that
[1:29:42] shows encumbered by year out.
[1:29:43] So if I
[1:29:46] m looking 156 million
[1:29:47] not spent and we know it
[1:29:48] s 100
[1:29:49] million a year coming and
[1:29:49] coming, right, that
[1:29:50] s going to
[1:29:52] grow, uh, and dissipate, but
[1:29:54] also substantially grow. And so
[1:29:55] it would be very helpful to
[1:29:57] have a third column, uh, third
[1:29:59] row that shows encumbered in
[1:30:01] 26, encumbered and 27
[1:30:03] encumbered in 20 and so forth
[1:30:05] as we go along so that we can
[1:30:06] get to what hasn
[1:30:08] t been awarded.
[1:30:10] And what is encumbered. Is it
[1:30:12] entirely encumbered? Is there
[1:30:13] something else going on in
[1:30:15] those, in those numbers that we
[1:30:16] should know about? Uh, for
[1:30:18] transparency and visibility?
[1:30:19] Okay. Happy to do that and
[1:30:20] would welcome any list of
[1:30:21] events. And we
[1:30:21] ll do our best
[1:30:22] to get out there.
[1:30:24] Okay. Thank you very much to
[1:30:25] you and the entire team for all
[1:30:26] that you
[1:30:27] re doing.
[1:30:30] Thank you, Councilmember Perry.
[1:30:31] Uh, colleagues, other questions
[1:30:33] from colleagues on the for the
[1:30:35] for Culture team. Councilmember
[1:30:36] Fain.
[1:30:40] So much. Um, thanks, Brian. I
[1:30:42] appreciate the framing of your
[1:30:43] presentation and the
[1:30:44] acknowledgement of the
[1:30:45] importance of accountability
[1:30:47] and and good governance. Um,
[1:30:49] Chair Perry or Councilmember
[1:30:54] Perry touched on, um, a topic
[1:30:54] that I
[1:30:56] m sensitive to, and
[1:30:57] that
[1:31:00] s the amount of funding
[1:31:03] that goes, um, around the
[1:31:06] entire county. And so I was
[1:31:08] while we were chatting, um,
[1:31:12] here looked and so 38 million,
[1:31:14] over 38 million, um, was
[1:31:16] awarded last year in your
[1:31:19] report. And I the report also
[1:31:22] says that, um, around 30% was
[1:31:25] awarded outside of Seattle. So
[1:31:25] that
[1:31:27] s over 11 million outside
[1:31:30] of Seattle. And so, um, when I
[1:31:32] was looking at the data, it
[1:31:36] looked like funding is largely
[1:31:39] concentrated in a small number
[1:31:43] of, uh, council districts. And
[1:31:45] some districts aren
[1:31:48] t, um, even
[1:31:49] competitive. They are. They
[1:31:49] re
[1:31:50] receiving few awards and some
[1:31:51] aren
[1:31:52] t even applying for
[1:31:58] awards. And, um. Within those
[1:32:00] that are outside of Seattle, a
[1:32:02] large share appears
[1:32:03] concentrated in certain
[1:32:06] communities that already have a
[1:32:07] well-established cultural
[1:32:09] infrastructure like Bellevue
[1:32:13] and, um, Vachon and Redmond.
[1:32:15] Um, and so I wanted to kind of
[1:32:18] ask you a question, backing up
[1:32:20] and looking at this at a high
[1:32:22] level, what do we think about
[1:32:23] or what is your culture? Think
[1:32:25] about the balance between
[1:32:31] funding existing, um, strong
[1:32:34] organizations versus or and
[1:32:37] building cultural capacity in
[1:32:38] these communities that don
[1:32:38] t
[1:32:41] have those organizations or
[1:32:43] infrastructure and is the goal
[1:32:47] to really create or expect that
[1:32:51] every part of King County will
[1:32:53] develop that capacity to
[1:32:55] compete? Or are we going to
[1:32:57] acknowledge that some areas
[1:32:57] just don
[1:33:00] t have that capacity?
[1:33:01] Um, and we find a way to
[1:33:05] support in other ways.
[1:33:05] Yeah, that
[1:33:06] s a that
[1:33:07] s a it
[1:33:07] s a
[1:33:09] big topic. I appreciate you
[1:33:13] surfacing it. Um, well, I would
[1:33:15] say that the geographic
[1:33:18] distribution of funds, um, the,
[1:33:19] the floor of it right through
[1:33:21] the ordinance is $1 million to
[1:33:23] each county council district
[1:33:25] and then 25% outside the city
[1:33:27] of Seattle. And those marks
[1:33:29] have been hit or exceeded. Um,
[1:33:31] but again, that was the floor
[1:33:32] for me. Um, one of the reasons
[1:33:33] that I came to for culture,
[1:33:35] because I believe in a more
[1:33:37] equitable distribution of funds
[1:33:39] to communities and individuals
[1:33:40] that have been historically
[1:33:42] marginalized from those
[1:33:44] opportunities. So that, to me,
[1:33:46] is the the value that I hold,
[1:33:48] that the organization holds and
[1:33:48] something that we
[1:33:50] re constantly
[1:33:51] working towards. I think it
[1:33:52] s
[1:33:52] it
[1:33:54] s complicated in that each
[1:33:56] particular city within King
[1:33:59] County has a different level of
[1:34:00] call it cultural health. How
[1:34:03] many organizations in which
[1:34:05] disciplines, their sizes, what
[1:34:06] are their service areas, and
[1:34:07] what are their programmatic
[1:34:07] offerings? It
[1:34:08] s really
[1:34:11] variable, I will say, outside
[1:34:12] the city of Seattle. And I
[1:34:13] mean, we
[1:34:13] re not talking about
[1:34:15] specific cities, but there is a
[1:34:18] really high success rate of
[1:34:21] organizations in some of these.
[1:34:22] In some of these, both council
[1:34:24] districts and cities outside
[1:34:25] the city of Seattle. So it
[1:34:26] might end up being a lower
[1:34:28] number of applications that are
[1:34:29] submitted, but tends to be a
[1:34:31] higher success rate, I think,
[1:34:33] towards your larger question of
[1:34:34] does your culture prioritize
[1:34:36] right funding that what that
[1:34:38] which exists that
[1:34:39] s strong and
[1:34:40] supported through other funding
[1:34:42] mechanisms or growing. Right.
[1:34:45] The cultural ecosystem and
[1:34:47] strengthening small burgeoning
[1:34:49] new organizations? I think it
[1:34:49] s
[1:34:50] always a balance of both. For
[1:34:53] me, it is a really complicated
[1:34:55] web of different size
[1:34:56] organizations that have
[1:34:57] different financial positions
[1:34:58] and strengths, and we
[1:34:59] re always
[1:35:01] trying to find ways through our
[1:35:03] different programs that address
[1:35:04] the different needs. So the
[1:35:05] sustained support program,
[1:35:07] which provides operating
[1:35:09] support, which is 50% of doors
[1:35:10] open, helps a lot of
[1:35:11] organizations across the board
[1:35:13] of different sizes throughout
[1:35:14] King County. I think some of
[1:35:15] the more particular programs
[1:35:17] like launch, are designed to do
[1:35:19] exactly what you say to
[1:35:20] Councilmember Fain, which is, i
[1:35:22] think the borrow Councilmember
[1:35:24] Perry is like helping folks
[1:35:25] right grow where they
[1:35:25] re
[1:35:27] planted. The goal there was, if
[1:35:27] you are new and you
[1:35:28] re tending
[1:35:29] to see a lot of new
[1:35:30] organizations, um, kind of
[1:35:32] popping up outside the city of
[1:35:32] Seattle, let
[1:35:34] s focus on their
[1:35:35] early years, give them
[1:35:36] dedicated funding such that
[1:35:39] they actually can right develop
[1:35:40] into those larger organizations
[1:35:42] and cultural cultural centers
[1:35:43] and some of those areas that
[1:35:44] might be a little a little
[1:35:46] weaker. Um, so I think that
[1:35:46] s
[1:35:46] one there
[1:35:47] s also the open
[1:35:48] program, which is the first
[1:35:50] time applicant program at For
[1:35:51] culture, where we
[1:35:51] re always
[1:35:53] kind of harvesting those kind
[1:35:55] of just brand new. The really
[1:35:56] cultural groups, they
[1:35:56] re not
[1:35:57] 501 c3, they
[1:35:58] re just getting
[1:35:59] started. And we want them to
[1:36:00] get to know us, and we want to
[1:36:01] support some of their early
[1:36:03] efforts, which are often one
[1:36:03] program, or it
[1:36:04] s a fair or it
[1:36:05] s
[1:36:06] one event. But we believe that
[1:36:08] kind of early seed funding to
[1:36:09] those types of cultural groups
[1:36:11] allows them to start dreaming
[1:36:12] about what a kind of more
[1:36:14] robust organizational
[1:36:16] structuring might look like.
[1:36:17] Um, and then lastly, I would
[1:36:19] just just to complicate this a
[1:36:21] little bit more, the eventual
[1:36:25] kind of growth or size of any
[1:36:26] particular cultural center,
[1:36:30] right? A hub is influenced by
[1:36:32] four cultures funding, but also
[1:36:34] deeply influenced by the
[1:36:37] ability of that community to
[1:36:39] get resources from itself, but
[1:36:42] also attract resources from
[1:36:45] foundations, from corporations,
[1:36:47] from their own local municipal
[1:36:48] government. So there
[1:36:48] s that
[1:36:50] kind of complex revenue pie
[1:36:51] that I think determines the
[1:36:53] likelihood of any one
[1:36:54] individual organization
[1:36:55] growing. So for us, it
[1:36:56] s
[1:36:57] something we definitely believe
[1:36:58] in, a value that we hold. And I
[1:37:00] think so many of our efforts
[1:37:03] are designed to uncover who is
[1:37:04] just starting up, what is it
[1:37:05] that they need. And I believe
[1:37:06] the kind of programmatic
[1:37:08] framework that we have allows
[1:37:10] us to do that. Um, based on the
[1:37:11] needs of where those
[1:37:13] organizations are and hopefully
[1:37:15] that, that that spoke, spoke to
[1:37:18] to your question.
[1:37:21] Here. Can I just ask one more?
[1:37:22] I just I should have started
[1:37:24] with a thank you because you
[1:37:27] really have been so receptive
[1:37:29] and helpful when we are doing
[1:37:31] our our is to try and refer as
[1:37:33] many. Thank you. Existing
[1:37:36] cultural organizations and um,
[1:37:38] folks that are really trying to
[1:37:42] enter the arena and I know that
[1:37:44] launch is, you know, a small
[1:37:46] percentage of the budget. So I
[1:37:48] wonder if that could be an
[1:37:52] opportunity to, um, reevaluate
[1:37:54] how much we are dedicating to
[1:37:56] that. Um, but really, my
[1:37:57] questions were around, what can
[1:38:00] we do to help increase the
[1:38:03] overall participation? So, um,
[1:38:05] i would encourage, as we think
[1:38:08] about this balance, um, areas
[1:38:10] that we can help or if it
[1:38:11] s
[1:38:12] just a fact that if we
[1:38:15] establish an organization and
[1:38:15] there
[1:38:17] s no sustainable funding
[1:38:20] around it or participation,
[1:38:24] then it might not be a good use
[1:38:28] of our investment to try and
[1:38:29] help this organization get
[1:38:32] started and then let it go and
[1:38:33] have it struggle. So what can
[1:38:37] we do to, um, encourage that
[1:38:38] support in the in the
[1:38:39] surrounding community? And that
[1:38:40] would be something that I would
[1:38:42] be interested in helping with.
[1:38:44] But a longer conversation. But
[1:38:46] always appreciate your
[1:38:47] engagement. Thank you.
[1:38:48] Absolutely.
[1:38:49] Thank you very much.
[1:38:51] Councilmember Fain sc
[1:38:52] Councilmember Lewis. And then
[1:38:52] we
[1:38:52] ll go to Vice Chair
[1:38:53] Balducci.
[1:38:56] Thank you chair. And thank you,
[1:38:59] Brian and your team for your
[1:38:59] presentation today. It
[1:39:00] s been
[1:39:02] quite informative. Uh, my
[1:39:05] questions really relate a lot
[1:39:07] to what Councilmember Fain was
[1:39:09] just asking about. And, um, and
[1:39:11] just want to fine tune what I
[1:39:13] heard a little bit, which is,
[1:39:15] um, I heard you talk about
[1:39:17] getting acquainted with new
[1:39:19] organizations that, you know,
[1:39:20] maybe they MAY be a club or
[1:39:22] they meet maybe just forming.
[1:39:22] Um, they
[1:39:24] re not quite an arts
[1:39:28] organization yet. Um, you also
[1:39:31] said that we are providing, um,
[1:39:32] consulting support to
[1:39:33] organizations, and i
[1:39:33] m
[1:39:35] wondering if that consulting
[1:39:38] support is that available to,
[1:39:41] um, you know, pre-application
[1:39:43] during applications, you know,
[1:39:44] is it technical assistance
[1:39:47] after money is awarded? Um,
[1:39:49] what kind of, um, consulting or
[1:39:51] technical assistance could be
[1:39:55] available to these new and, um,
[1:39:57] up and coming organizations?
[1:39:59] Thank you for the questions.
[1:40:00] Councilmember Lewis. I
[1:40:00] ll, I
[1:40:00] ll
[1:40:01] turn to my colleague Calandra
[1:40:03] Childress and let her speak a
[1:40:05] little bit more to the, um,
[1:40:07] that that technical assistance
[1:40:07] that we
[1:40:08] re able to offer
[1:40:09] organizations.
[1:40:10] Yeah. Thanks, Brian. And thanks
[1:40:12] for the question, Council. Um,
[1:40:12] it
[1:40:14] s a great point that, um,
[1:40:16] organizations, especially as
[1:40:17] they are getting off the
[1:40:18] ground, need a little bit more
[1:40:19] support in their grant
[1:40:21] applications. And that is
[1:40:22] definitely what we found is
[1:40:24] that that is one of the highest
[1:40:27] requested supports. So we do
[1:40:28] have technical assistance
[1:40:30] available both for the launch
[1:40:31] program. So knowing that those
[1:40:33] organizations MAY not have that
[1:40:34] internal capacity to to have
[1:40:36] grant writers on staff or to be
[1:40:38] familiar with just the the
[1:40:40] processes of going through that
[1:40:42] kind of work. So, um, we
[1:40:42] ve
[1:40:44] built into our, um, structure
[1:40:45] and our budget specifically for
[1:40:47] the launch program, and then
[1:40:49] also knowing that our building
[1:40:50] for equity program. So the work
[1:40:52] that we do with facilities to
[1:40:54] buy, build, renovate, and also
[1:40:56] the, the project development
[1:40:58] within facilities. So
[1:41:00] organizations who have the idea
[1:41:02] that they they want to move
[1:41:03] towards a facility but maybe
[1:41:03] don
[1:41:04] t have a facility picked
[1:41:05] out, they don
[1:41:06] t quite know
[1:41:08] exactly the structure, the
[1:41:09] location, how they would go
[1:41:11] about moving from an itinerant
[1:41:12] organization to a grounded
[1:41:14] organization. Those are ones
[1:41:16] where we really focus that
[1:41:17] technical assistance, because
[1:41:18] we know that those are the
[1:41:19] organizations that most need
[1:41:21] that capacity building. So, um,
[1:41:24] this is a new program for us.
[1:41:26] So, um, as we mentioned, we
[1:41:26] re
[1:41:29] really tracking the requested
[1:41:30] consultant support and really
[1:41:32] trying to understand where, you
[1:41:33] know, where do we have
[1:41:34] consultants already on our
[1:41:35] roster, where do we need to
[1:41:36] continue to build that depth?
[1:41:38] How do we actually really make
[1:41:39] sure that those consultants are
[1:41:41] from the communities where
[1:41:42] those requests are coming from?
[1:41:43] We know that different
[1:41:45] communities across King County
[1:41:47] have different needs, different
[1:41:49] familiarity, different comfort
[1:41:51] levels. And so we
[1:41:51] re really
[1:41:52] we
[1:41:54] ve done a really, um, a
[1:41:57] detailed inventory of where all
[1:41:59] of our consultants are coming
[1:41:59] from, where they
[1:42:00] re located,
[1:42:02] languages spoken, all of that
[1:42:03] kind of thing, and are
[1:42:04] continuing to build out the
[1:42:05] roster to make sure it reflects
[1:42:07] the the needs and the requests
[1:42:07] that we
[1:42:08] re getting.
[1:42:10] Great. Thank you.
[1:42:13] Thank you, Vice Chair Baldacci.
[1:42:15] Thank you. Chair. And, uh, I
[1:42:17] add my thanks to all the folks
[1:42:19] at Fork Culture, the leadership
[1:42:21] and all the staff. What a big
[1:42:22] year. I mean, just reflecting
[1:42:25] back on the early discussions
[1:42:27] about what became Doors Open
[1:42:29] was, uh, Access Washington. I
[1:42:31] believe in initially and just
[1:42:34] kind of thinking forward to the
[1:42:36] massive effort that was going
[1:42:38] to be needed to staff up,
[1:42:40] create all these new programs,
[1:42:41] create all of the processes
[1:42:42] from scratch. I mean, this has
[1:42:44] been a startup, a huge startup,
[1:42:46] and I just want to say, you
[1:42:48] know, sort of as you look back
[1:42:51] to the results and the, uh, the
[1:42:53] feedback that you got in that
[1:42:55] survey, you know,
[1:42:57] congratulations, it has been a
[1:43:00] really amazing success story
[1:43:02] and just has helped so many
[1:43:04] people. And I hope you all feel
[1:43:06] very justifiably proud of the
[1:43:07] work that you have done.
[1:43:08] Because it I mean, I don
[1:43:09] t know
[1:43:09] anywhere else in the country
[1:43:11] that has done anything quite
[1:43:12] this big, quite this fast. So,
[1:43:15] uh, congratulations and thank
[1:43:17] you. Uh, on the, the discussion
[1:43:18] that
[1:43:19] s sort of starting up with
[1:43:21] the last two, uh, commenters,
[1:43:22] Councilmember Lewis and
[1:43:24] Councilmember Fain. I want you,
[1:43:26] my colleagues, to know that the
[1:43:28] big picture questions and
[1:43:30] topics that you are raising
[1:43:32] have been on our radar screen
[1:43:34] radar screen the entire time.
[1:43:36] Uh, from the initial, uh,
[1:43:40] unsuccessful launch of, uh, the
[1:43:41] access was the first time where
[1:43:43] these were the underlying
[1:43:44] questions about how do you
[1:43:46] strike that balance between
[1:43:48] supporting the pillars, really
[1:43:50] the pillars of the the large
[1:43:51] organizations that have been
[1:43:52] the pillars of a very
[1:43:54] successful arts and culture and
[1:43:56] history and science community
[1:43:58] here in the northwest, while
[1:43:59] also making sure that you are
[1:44:01] supporting geographic areas
[1:44:03] that want to have centers that
[1:44:05] want to have hubs of activity
[1:44:06] that grow the future
[1:44:07] generations of all of the, you
[1:44:09] know, sectors there that
[1:44:11] creates vibrant spaces
[1:44:13] throughout King County where
[1:44:14] people will go and spend their
[1:44:16] money and, and, um, you know,
[1:44:18] and also to make sure we
[1:44:18] re
[1:44:19] balancing with smaller
[1:44:20] organizations, newer
[1:44:22] organizations, more diverse,
[1:44:24] uh, organizations that
[1:44:25] represent their, you know, have
[1:44:26] deep roots in their communities
[1:44:28] that are community based. It is
[1:44:30] an incredible balancing act.
[1:44:32] And I will say that, um, I do
[1:44:34] have a little bit of a flashing
[1:44:35] red button when people name
[1:44:36] Bellevue as a as a cultural
[1:44:37] hub. That is very successful,
[1:44:38] because I would invite you to
[1:44:39] come visit the empty
[1:44:40] storefronts of the places that
[1:44:40] don
[1:44:42] t survive in Bellevue. Uh,
[1:44:44] the the poster child for that
[1:44:45] was the Bellevue Arts Museum,
[1:44:47] and I have to say, was past
[1:44:49] tense because it finally did go
[1:44:50] out of business after many
[1:44:52] years of teetering on the edge.
[1:44:56] Um, every community has got its
[1:44:58] arts and culture, dreams and
[1:45:01] needs and and our balance is to
[1:45:02] try to create a floor
[1:45:04] underneath all of them. We
[1:45:04] can
[1:45:05] t make them all succeed. We
[1:45:05] can
[1:45:07] t make them all, uh, like,
[1:45:09] even with the massive funding
[1:45:10] of Doors Open, you could not
[1:45:12] fund the the hundreds of
[1:45:14] institutions. And in the new
[1:45:15] ones that happen every day to
[1:45:16] the level that would keep them
[1:45:19] all healthy, we provide a
[1:45:20] cushion, if you will. We
[1:45:22] provide an opportunity to do
[1:45:24] things that maybe organizations
[1:45:24] wouldn
[1:45:26] t have done before. Uh,
[1:45:27] we provide an opportunity to
[1:45:30] grow and thrive, but we don
[1:45:30] t.
[1:45:30] We
[1:45:33] re not ongoing, sustaining
[1:45:35] funding at a at the level that
[1:45:36] every organization needs. We
[1:45:38] are we are a pedestal, if you
[1:45:39] will. I
[1:45:39] ve tried three
[1:45:40] different metaphors. I think
[1:45:43] they all fail anyway. Um, so
[1:45:43] what I
[1:45:45] m interested in, and I
[1:45:45] don
[1:45:46] t want to discuss it today
[1:45:46] because we
[1:45:47] ve been at this a
[1:45:48] while, but I want to discuss it
[1:45:50] in the future. Please. To the
[1:45:51] for culture folks. Now, as we
[1:45:54] are starting to do the early
[1:45:56] evaluation of Doors Open, all
[1:45:57] of these questions should be
[1:45:58] framed up. Many of them were in
[1:46:00] the implementation plan that we
[1:46:01] passed, but we should frame up
[1:46:02] these questions that the
[1:46:04] members are asking and be
[1:46:06] providing data and information
[1:46:09] to help us see that full and
[1:46:10] complex and beautiful map of
[1:46:12] all the ways in which, for
[1:46:13] culture is supporting the
[1:46:14] community. Those examples we
[1:46:16] brought today were just lovely
[1:46:18] and very inspiring. But like
[1:46:18] now we
[1:46:19] re going to need to see
[1:46:22] the whole map and where we can
[1:46:25] do better as we inevitably
[1:46:27] start to move towards re
[1:46:28] reauthorization, which will
[1:46:30] come up faster than you can
[1:46:32] possibly imagine. So that is it
[1:46:34] that I just wanted to really
[1:46:35] say congratulations and honor
[1:46:38] the incredible and historic
[1:46:40] effort that went into where we
[1:46:41] are today. And those numbers
[1:46:44] from your survey about, um, how
[1:46:45] the very high percentage of
[1:46:46] people who engage in arts and
[1:46:48] culture, uh, is a testament to
[1:46:49] that success, and of course,
[1:46:52] always more to do. But really,
[1:46:53] congratulations to you all.
[1:46:55] Well, thank you, Councilmember
[1:46:57] Balducci. And also thank you
[1:46:58] for all your support along the
[1:46:59] way and all the council members
[1:47:01] to get us here. This was a team
[1:47:03] effort. It was a group effort.
[1:47:04] And I totally agree. There are
[1:47:06] things that are working. This
[1:47:06] thing is working. It
[1:47:07] s doing
[1:47:08] what it was intended to do. But
[1:47:10] we are not afraid of iteration
[1:47:12] or evolution or adaptation as
[1:47:13] necessary. And I think the data
[1:47:14] we
[1:47:15] re gathering will help frame
[1:47:16] those conversations. So totally
[1:47:17] agree. Thank you for that
[1:47:19] comment.
[1:47:21] Thank you all. Um, well, I
[1:47:22] ll
[1:47:24] call myself just to say that I
[1:47:26] want to echo the thanks from
[1:47:29] the vice chair on all of the
[1:47:30] work that has been done over
[1:47:32] the last couple of years in
[1:47:33] getting this program going.
[1:47:34] Just in my conversations with
[1:47:36] community, uh, I hear
[1:47:38] frequently about how vital this
[1:47:40] has been in terms of, uh,
[1:47:42] supporting the cultural sector.
[1:47:45] So and I think it, uh, there
[1:47:45] s
[1:47:47] been a lot of positive feedback
[1:47:47] that I
[1:47:48] ve received about how
[1:47:50] things have been implemented.
[1:47:52] And so, uh, very grateful to
[1:47:54] the team for that work. Um, I
[1:47:55] also want to sort of post a
[1:47:57] question more for like future,
[1:47:58] not for right now, but just
[1:47:59] echoing a little bit some of
[1:48:00] the questions that
[1:48:01] Councilmember Perry mentioned
[1:48:03] about the, uh, financial
[1:48:06] picture. I do want to note for,
[1:48:06] for colleagues, there
[1:48:07] s some,
[1:48:08] you know, pretty detailed
[1:48:10] information. And in our packet
[1:48:13] around pages starting at around
[1:48:15] 102 with a little bit more
[1:48:16] detail, financials that were on
[1:48:18] the slides. If you all want to
[1:48:20] take a look at that. Um, but I
[1:48:21] do think that that question
[1:48:23] about how we are planning on
[1:48:25] spending the money and the kind
[1:48:26] of future years, I think, would
[1:48:28] be helpful for us to see
[1:48:29] especially, uh, you know, I
[1:48:30] think I remember when we
[1:48:31] discussed implementation plan
[1:48:33] that we had the concerns about
[1:48:34] the volatility of the of the
[1:48:37] sales tax revenue. Uh, and just
[1:48:38] thinking ahead about how that
[1:48:40] money is being used. So I think
[1:48:41] the, the, the ending, the
[1:48:43] ending balances, I realize I
[1:48:43] m
[1:48:43] Brian, I
[1:48:44] m glad that you also
[1:48:45] kind of flagged that. But like
[1:48:47] that that gets attention. Uh,
[1:48:48] but I think for that reason, I
[1:48:50] think it would be helpful to
[1:48:51] have that kind of detail of
[1:48:54] like, how do we, uh, project
[1:48:56] the money to be used in future
[1:48:59] years, in the future? Um, and
[1:49:00] so I look forward to kind of
[1:49:01] continuing those conversations,
[1:49:03] and I appreciate all the work
[1:49:03] that
[1:49:03] s that
[1:49:06] s been done. Um,
[1:49:07] all right. I don
[1:49:08] t see any
[1:49:10] further questions. So I
[1:49:10] m going
[1:49:11] to say thank you again to
[1:49:13] Brian, Claire and Calandra for
[1:49:15] the presentation and for all of
[1:49:16] the work. Uh, colleagues, we
[1:49:17] re
[1:49:18] closing out today. This
[1:49:20] concludes the action items on
[1:49:22] our agenda. Uh, before we
[1:49:24] adjourn, I want to make sure
[1:49:25] that technical difficulties
[1:49:25] didn
[1:49:26] t stop council members
[1:49:28] from voting. Any items. Uh,
[1:49:29] Blake, did we have anybody who
[1:49:30] are excused from the vote that
[1:49:31] might be able to cast their
[1:49:33] votes? Now?
[1:49:34] Yeah. Yes, chair. Thank you
[1:49:35] very much. Council members
[1:49:37] Mosqueda and von Reichbauer
[1:49:41] were excused from 2026 0106,
[1:49:44] 2026, 0123 and 2020. Arden MAY
[1:49:47] 20th 26012.
[1:49:48] All right, I know Councilmember
[1:49:51] Mosqueda is absent today, but I
[1:49:52] see Councilmember von
[1:49:54] Reichbauer on the line. Uh
[1:49:56] Councilmember von Reichbauer.
[1:49:57] Would you like to record a vote
[1:49:59] on that? All right. There may
[1:50:01] be technical difficulties
[1:50:04] there, so we will, uh. Um, ask,
[1:50:05] uh, remind folks that if a
[1:50:07] member is excused, they MAY
[1:50:08] email the committee clerk with
[1:50:09] their vote by the end of the
[1:50:10] day. If they were present for
[1:50:12] earlier part of the meeting.
[1:50:14] All right. With that? Uh, thank
[1:50:15] you to everybody who
[1:50:16] participated into the today
[1:50:17] s
[1:50:18] meeting. If there is no further
[1:50:19] business to come before the