I can hear you. MAY 28th, 2026
meeting of the King County
Council. I
m Sarah Perry, chair
of the council this year,
joined by vice Chair Sawyer
Brown and Regan Dunn and our
council colleagues. Today in
this meeting is called to
order. Before we begin, please
join me in acknowledging that
we are on the traditional lands
of the Puget Salish peoples,
past and present. We thank
these caretakers of this land
who
ve lived here and continue
to live here since time
immemorial, bringing their
cultural ways of life and
greatly enriching our
communities. I also want to
take a moment to observe a
moment of silence for the
members of our community who
lost their lives in the tragic
and senseless violence, gun
violence. This past weekend at
the Bite of Seattle. Please
join me in a moment of silence.
Thank you. Clerk. Will you
please call the roll? Thank
you. Councilmember Balducci.
Here. Council member Baron
here. Councilmember Dembowski
here. Councilmember Dunn here.
Councilmember Fain here.
Councilmember Lewis here.
Councilmember Mosqueda here.
Councilmember von Reichbauer
here. Chair Perry here. I have
a full quorum.
Thank you very much. Next,
please join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United
States of America. And to the
Republic by which it stands.
One nation under GOD,
indivisible, liberty and
justice for all. Turning next
to a special item, which is the
recognition of the Freedom
Plane. Documents that forged a
nation. Exhibit at Mohi. This
will be presented by both me
and Council member Leron. And
one moment. Councilmember
Baron, are you ready to join
me?
I
m ready. Chair. Great.
I don
t have my colors here, so
I
m going to go ahead and just
start and we
ll just share. I
m
pleased to co-sponsor this
proclamation with Council Dunn
and supported in the reading of
it by Council Member Barone,
recognizing the National
Archives exhibit to celebrate
the 250th anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of
Independence. The exhibit is
called Freedom Plain Documents
That Forged a Nation, and you
can visit it from. Let me see.
You can visit it from JULY 30th
to AUGUST 16th at our very own
Museum of History and Industry
in Seattle. King County is one
of few counties nationwide to
host this historically
significant exhibit, which
gives all of us a rare
opportunity to view some of the
foundational documents that
helped shape our nation,
including an original engraving
of the Declaration of
Independence, a secret printing
of the Constitution in draft
form, and the Treaty of Paris
and Bill of rights. It
s really
something to see historical
knowledge and deep
understanding of our civic
origins of our country are
essential to maintaining the
strength of our Constitution,
the resilience of our
democracy, and the values of
freedom and justice for all
that were and continue to be,
the vision for this great
nation. I hope that through
this proclamation and through
spreading the word about this
exhibit, you
ll join me in
taking time to reflect on the
history and ideals of our
nation. Including, uh. One
moment. And hope you
ll also
join us in participating in
civic like life. Because we are
all in the government vying for
the government and our
communities thrive when we all
lean in and are engaged in our
neighborhoods, communities, and
local governments. Uh,
Councilmember Brown and I will
now read the proclamation, and
afterward, I
ll invite Anthony
Long from the Museum of History
and Industry, lo hi to share a
few words. Whereas the Museum
of History and Industry has
long served as the Pacific
Northwest
s preeminent
institution for preserving and
interpreting the history of our
region, fostering public
understanding of the people,
ideas, industries and events
that have shaped our
communities and nation.
And whereas in 2026, the United
States commemorates the 250th
anniversary of the signing of
the Declaration of
Independence, marking a
historic milestone in the
nation
s ongoing pursuit of
liberty, self-governance, and
democratic ideals.
And Whereas, the Freedom Plain
documents that forged a nation,
national tour organized in
partnership with the National
Archives will provide members
of the public with a rare
opportunity to view
foundational historical
documents that helped shape the
United States and define the
principles on upon which the
nation was established.
And whereas King County has
been selected as one of only a
limited number of host regions
nationwide for this
extraordinary exhibition,
reflecting both the national
significance of the tour and
the leadership of the Museum of
History and Industry. As a
trusted steward of historical
education and civic engagement.
And Whereas, the Freedom Plane
exhibition will offer
residents, students, families
and visitors throughout King
County an opportunity to engage
directly with the nation
s
history, deepen their
understanding of the American
democratic experiment, and
reflect on the enduring
importance of civic
participation, constitutional
governance, and the
preservation of historical
memory.
And whereas, at a time when
civic understanding and
historical literacy remain
essential to the strength of
democratic institutions,
exhibitions that connect
communities with the nation
s
founding history serve an
important public purpose and
help inspire future generations
to participate in civic life.
And oh no, that
s it.
Now, therefore, we, the
Metropolitan King County
Council, recognize the Freedom
Plain documents that forged a
nation national tour and
celebrate the Museum of History
and Industry for bringing this
nationally significant
exhibition to Seattle and King
County. During the 250th
anniversary of the United
States, dated this 28th day of
JULY 2026, and signed by all
members of the King County
Council. Thank you very much
for joining me in that
Councilmember Baron. Uh, I
d
like to now invite Anthony Long
from the Museum of History and
Industry to share a few words.
Thank you, Chair Perry. Good
afternoon, Chair Perry.
Thank you. Yes.
Council member Baron.
Councilmember Dunn. The entire
county council and friends from
across King County. My name is
Anthony Long, and I
m the
executive associate and Board
of relations manager at zm of
History and Industry in
Seattle. We are extremely
honored to receive this
proclamation and to be
recognized by the County
Council. Oha is proud to offer
this once in a lifetime
opportunity for our community
to experience our nation
s
founding documents before they
return to the nation
s, uh, the
National Archives faults. We
are especially proud to have
been recognized by the Council
for connecting to our nation
s
founding history for America
250 and to showcase the ideals
of democracy and freedom in
their original form. We hope
you all get the chance to visit
us during the Freedom Plains
exhibit run from JULY 30th to
AUGUST 16th. Thank you to the
entire King County Council and
most importantly, our
community. We are grateful for
your support. Thank you.
Thank you, MR. Lang, for
joining us and for hosting
this. And we
re proud to be a
part of this. Thank you very
much. We
ll now turn to the
reading of the items into the
record and the hearing of
public comments before the
clerk reads the items into the
record. Vice CHAIRMAN, MAY I
please have a motion to relieve
the employment and
Administration Committee of
item 12?
Smith, chair.
Thank you. The motion is before
us. All those in favor say aye.
Aye, aye.
All those opposed say nay. Nay.
Motion is approved with that
clerk. Haley, please read the
items into the record.
Thank you, Chair Perry. Item
four is recognition of freedom.
Plain documents that forged a
nation. Exhibit at Mile High.
Item six is proposed.
Substitute Ordinance Number
2026 0126 related to the King
County Employee Code of Ethics.
Item seven is proposed
ordinance number 2026 0189
approving and adopting the
Memorandum of Agreement
negotiated by and between King
County and Pro Tech 17,
representing engineering
Services Manager employees in
the Department of Natural
Resources and Parks, and
establishing the effective date
of set agreements. Item eight
is proposed ordinance Number
2026 0196, proving and adopting
the Coalition Labor Agreement
Agreement negotiated by between
King County and the King County
Coalition of Unions
representing employees in the
Department of Natural Resources
and Parks. The Department of
Local Services, and the
Department of Executive
Services, and establishing the
effective date of the
agreements. Item 11 as Proposed
Motion number 2026 0115
confirmed the executive
s
appointment of Juan Kato
resides in Council District two
to the Washington State Major
League Baseball stadium. Public
facilities. District board of
directors. Item 12 is proposed
motion number 2026 0197. A
motion approving the job
description for the position of
Inspector General, and item 25
is proclamation celebrating
AUGUST 15th, 2026 as India
s
80th Independence Day.
Thank you very much. Uh, do we
have we
re going to turn now to
public comment. Do we have
folks in the room or online
with us to provide public
comment today?
We have both.
We have both. Okay. Well, now
take public comment on those
ordinances, motions,
proclamations and recognitions
on today
s agenda for action
and any topics directly related
to county business. As this is
the fourth Tuesday of the
month, listening to public and
taking into consideration the
public
s thoughts is an
important part of our process
and one that greatly enhances
our deliberations. In order to
allow everyone equal time to
provide comment, please
recognize the following chamber
ground rules. Please limit your
comments to two minutes. Remain
seated until time for comment
and do not make audible noise
during the meeting without
being recognized. It
s also a
reminder that public comment
MAY not be used for the purpose
of assisting a campaign for
election of any person to any
office, or for the promotion
of, or opposition to any ballot
proposition. Speakers should
address their comments directly
to the chair per cow, per
council rules, disruptive
behavior can or MAY lead to an
audience member being asked to
leave the meeting or be muted.
Um uh. In addition to behavior
already mentioned, uh, the
disruptive behavior would
include holding signs at the at
the podium. Um, and the use of
bullhorns or noisemakers not
allowed for online comment.
Press star nine on the phone or
click the raise hand icon in on
the zoom toolbar, located at
the bottom of the screen to
notify the clerk. The clerk
will call the names or the last
three digits of the phone
numbers in order, and will then
unmute each line, uh, lowering
the hands. Then after the
comment is completed with that
clerk pass, please begin
calling the names in person,
followed by those hands raised
online for public comment.
Thank you. Chair. The first
name on the list is Tamara.
Hello, my name is Tamara. I
m
on the board of the directors
of the Newport Hills Townhomes,
located at 5800 1/23 Avenue
Southeast, uh, Bellevue. Raegan
Dunn, this is your district. We
share a significant property
border with the new border. Um,
it
s apartments owned by King
County. On 1/19 Avenue
southeast on the Newport side
of the border is a densely
populated row of
well-established coniferous
trees that, in my 13 years of
living in this immediate area,
has never been pruned, nor had
the overgrown English ivy been
cut back. These trees were
planted about six feet apart,
giving absolutely no
consideration to the adult size
of the trees and their root
system. This neglect has
unfortunately caused thousands
of dollars in undue costs to
the homeowners of the privately
owned townhomes, which affects
about 250 units, which were
built in 1967. So you can
imagine we have a lot of costs
going on right now with
plumbing. Um, we
ve repaired
sidewalks and parking lots over
the years for problems we have
not created by root damage from
your trees. Uh, we sent this
letter to King County Housing
Authority on JULY 1st, alerting
them to the situation and
asking them to basically do the
right thing and be responsible
neighbors. Well, if you
ve ever
heard the sound of crickets,
you can insert that right here.
As if the tree damage isn
t bad
enough. Now we realize there is
a rat infestation coming
directly from the new quarter
onto our property. We
ve seen
them traveling and there are
highways underneath that border
property fence. We
ve paid
thousands to control the rat
problem. We simply cannot
continue to absorb your costs.
There
s also several restaurant
businesses in a strip mall
nearby that appear to possibly
be contributing to the problem
as well, by not limiting access
to their dumpsters on behalf of
the homeowners of the Newport
Hill Townhomes, please do the
right thing. Uh. Communities
thrive when we all lean in and
do the right thing. Please,
please.
Thank you. Was that the timer
that I heard?
I guess you heard at the time.
I
m sorry.
That is the timer.
That is the timer for two
minutes. Okay. Thank you very
much for your time.
Appreciate the letter that we
have.
Sent you. Thank you. Appreciate
that.
The next thing on the list is
Mark Rosenberg. King County
Council.
Members, my name is Mark
Rosenberger. I reside in
unincorporated King County
today. I
m here again
representing the Remington
Homeowners Association and the
surrounding communities that
have expressed their opposition
to the redevelopment of the
Drews Glen Golf Course and
primarily for the ecosystem
impact that it will have for
all of King County residents.
Today, I wish to provide you a
brief update and to thank you.
When I speak of protecting the
ecosystem within Jerusalem, I
m
referring to the local
geographical area where the
forest, ponds, streams, plants,
animals, landscape, all that
works together to shape this
region. For King County.
Recently we held a community
meeting focused on protecting
the environment was well held.
It well attended, but currently
we
re in collaboration with the
Greater Maple Valley
Unincorporated Area Council for
their experience in land
development within
unincorporated King County. If
the preliminary land
development application to
eliminate the golf course and
develop a gated community of
elite homes were to advance to
a development permit
application, we call upon King
County to declare a
determination of significance
which will require a full
environmental impact statement,
along with following all of the
Washington state environmental
policies. Also note that in
1998, the King County
Assessment Office declared this
property as open space land for
all of King County and granted
it special taxation rates.
Therefore, we also call upon
King County to address all the
open land space penalties if
there
s a parcel of land were
to be redeveloped into a
housing community, I
d like to
extend a special thank you to
council members Regan Dunn,
Pete von Reichbauer and
Steffanie Fain for their
support. In closing, again, I
d
like to extend all of the
council members an opportunity
to visit the Jerusalem Golf
Course and take in all the
environmental impacts that I
m
speaking about. Uh, if the
saying picture is worth a
thousand words, a personal
experience is worth a million
words. Thank you for allowing
me time today to bring this to
your attention.
Thank you.
The next name on the list is
Margaret Yajima.
Hello, everyone. My name is
Margaret Shima. I
m a Sansei
that is a third generation, um,
immigrant from Japan. Uh, when
i am able, I go to King County
Airport. So this is about
deportations at the airport,
which happened 3 to 4 times a
week today. Right now, as we
speak, there is a second
airplane bringing in a.
Prisoners from other detention
centers to ours near Tacoma and
taking 71 men and six women
out. And we
re awaiting the
second arrival. I do this
because I believe that if
something big is not witnessed,
it does not happen. It
s as if
the people who are being
deported. Thank you for your
faces. Our faceless and don
t
count as human beings. In 1942,
two sides of my immediate and
extended family were taken by
bus and then by train to an
unknown place which happened to
be Minidoka on Indian land in
Idaho, where they were
incarcerated for three years
without due process. Accused
and suspected of being of
collaborating with the Imperial
Army of Japan against the
United States. Half of those
people who were taken away
were, as my parents were,
citizens of the United States.
They had lost all their civil
rights. And that is happening
today. And what is I
m here
most concerned is that people
in Seattle, in the United
States and the county don
t
know people are being
disappeared like they are in
third world countries. But here
in our beloved country, people
are being disappeared by the
scores daily out of King County
Airport, we were promised that
we could see it, witness it,
and we do not have clear access
to those people.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Yes, thank you for your time.
Please make this right. It
breaks my heart and makes me
furious.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
My name is Alex Zimmerman.
Thank you.
Yeah. Agenda number four. I see
what freedom I don
t
understand. Where is freedom in
King County? You count?
Inaugural fascist county in
America. There
s only one
fascist county. What is in
Trump list? What is freedom?
You talk. Ten year ago you
changed rules. So right now we
can speak only one time per
month for two minutes. Is this
a freedom of speech? You are
more dangerous than Hitler. Not
saying can stop. I explain to
you why? Because Hitler, Nazi,
Gestapo don
t have a
constitution for 250 years in
freedom of speech. What is you
talking about? Freedom. Freedom
for who? For fascist. What is?
Live here. But as I call them,
Nazi. Gestapo. Fascist junta.
This is exactly who you are.
Understand this or not? Because
I come to this place and speak
in Council chamber from Tacoma,
Seattle. Everett. More than 35
years. You are in fascist. You
are evil Nazi, human, dangerous.
And indeed you said Hitler,
Nazi, Gestapo don
t have
constitution. We have
constitution for 250 years.
Freedom of speech for 200
years. You do not care. You cut
everything one day per month
for two minutes. You give us
freedom of speech. You did this
ten year ago, remember? I
remember before people can
come, American citizen can come
and speak about everything. But
you don
t want this because you
Nazi pig, Viva Trump! Viva new
American Revolution! Stand up!
Slept in happy cow. How many
seconds? I have 20, 20. Okay.
Good guys. And I talking about
these rules for many years from
beginning when you started
doing ten years ago. Can you
explain to me why people like
Councilmember Balducci and
Consular Power for five six
years never have in person
speech? Can you explain to me,
is this a freedom, uh, Nazi pig?
Thank you, MR. Zimmerman.
Yes. We welcome my friend.
Posting on the list is Glenn
Stockwell.
CHAIRWOMAN And council members.
My name is Glenn Stockwell. I
come before you today, and I
have a handout here. And it
represents it. I have given it
to the clerk and also a cup for
project Cup for you. Patty
Murray has the opportunity to
bring the, uh, our country
s
largest economic development
and job project to Washington
state in our history. And the
project is already pre funded.
It was a $1.2 trillion signed
by Joe Biden. Uh, and, uh, the
project that we want to fund is
the completion of the Columbia
Basin Project in eastern
Washington. And also the
expansion of the park districts
in western Washington. And, uh,
this is an opportunity we
ve
only had once before during
Governor Gray was, uh,
administration. And it gives
the governor an opportunity to
change his mind and go into a
special session. And, uh,
target is his efforts into
acquiring the monies for this
project. And hopefully during
the special session, he will
rescind what has taken place
on, on the, uh, taxation and
etc. And on the income tax.
And, uh, since he
s a chess
master, I think he
s looking
for other alternatives.
Hopefully he thinks he
s going
to be reelected. But I don
t
understand how he expects to be
reelected. But, uh, with your
help, I
m asking you to to send
a letter to Senator Patty
Murray asking her to go out and
try to acquire the funds for
this project. It
ll help
eastern and western Washington
for the next hundred years, and
it
ll help save Social
Security. Thank you for your
time.
Thank you for your testimony.
This is Justine.
Guyot.
I
m going to stumble.
So I.
Apologize in advance. I am an
observer of Ice flights at King
County Airport. I
m here today
to talk about safety at King
County Airport. I
m here to
talk about ending the use of
chains on ice lights at King
County Airport.
And your name, please.
Justine Guyot. Thank you. It
s
happening right now. I
m here
to inform each of you that the
King County Council has the
ability to end the use of
chains on ice flags at King
County Airport. You have the
authority. We gave you the
authority to work on behalf of
the people. When we voted you
into office, Washington State,
our cw gives you the their
authority to to regulate the
airport. Uh, faa regulations
exist that do that prohibit
transporting people in chains,
shackled at the ankles, wrist
and waist. King County code
title 15 gives you the
authority to take action. You
have the tools, the primary
management compliance document,
and the supplemental rules and
regulations for King County
Airport. Call out the King
County Council
s authority to
supplement, amend, adopt rules
or adopt rules, regulations or
directives. The sr calls out
the primary purpose of the
regulations as airport user
safety. That includes
passengers. All passengers who
fly in and out of King County.
You have the responsibility. No
part of the faa regulations
with no part of the federal use
agreement with King County
Airport, allows the illegal and
unsafe practice of transporting
people in shackles. The faa
recognizes the fact that people
flown in chains cannot take the
required action to save their
own lives. The council needs to
hold dhs, Department of
Homeland Security, Airport
operations, and pilots
accountable for existing
regulations. I
m asking you to
find the courage to stand up
and stop the largest transport
of people in chains since the
end of slavery. It
s what
Doctor King would expect of
you. It
s what the people of
King County are calling for,
and it
s serious violations of
safety rules. Thank you.
Accepting hundreds of
passengers.
Thank you. Thank you for your
testimony.
Thank you. Have a packet.
Thank you for your testimony.
Um.
Next time to read that I gave
to the clerk.
Thank you for your testimony.
The next name on the list is
Angela Beck.
Good afternoon. My name is
Angela. Debbie. I am a resident
of the Columbia City
neighborhood in Seattle. I
m
here to speak about my concerns
related to deportation, flight
observations at King County
International Airport as a
weekly flight. Observer
volunteer. I can confirm
firsthand that Geo isis
contractor purposely parks
their vehicles on the tarmac at
angles that obstruct are
limited camera coverage. This
is a very, very serious concern
because this impedes our
ability to observe and track
who is being detained and how
they are being treated.
Observations are critical to
make sure that all detainees
are treated respectfully and
humanely. We ask that you take
steps to keep geo from hiding
their activities by making sure
buses are parked in a way that
does not obstruct flight,
observers view. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your
testimony.
My name is Guadalupe Gonzalez.
Hello everyone. My name.
Is Guadalupe Gonzalez and I
ve
been observing the deportation
flights since 2023. I came here
today to talk about the online
log. Which county has which
tracks these flights? The King
County Airport website states
that by order of King County
Executive in 2023, reaffirmed
in 2026, King County maintains
a log of federal Immigration
and Customs Enforcement flights
operating to and from our
airport. However, since the
first executive order in 2023
passed, we have never had the
numbers of people being brought
in or out shared with community
members. This is mentioned
within the 2023 Executive
decree, and it has yet to
happen. I find this a little
ridiculous when much more
conservative counties like
Yakima have been able to
achieve the same using their
own resources, and earlier this
year, in MARCH of this year,
the Executive Office promised
us that a new position would
start and that this promised
data would be shared. That has
yet to happen. Uh, I think that
for the sake of transparency,
the county needs to start
sharing this information and
use their resources so that the
community can know what
s
happening at this airport,
especially when we
re seeing
more than 4000 people being
moved in and out every year.
Hundreds of flights are
occurring and only increasing.
Thank you.
The next thing on the list is
Michael c.
It
s very hard to hear the
names when they
re being
called. Just relax.
Oh yes. We oh sorry I
apologize.
It
s my writing I apologize.
Um. Good evening or good
afternoon, Council members,
thank you for the opportunity
to speak in support of battery
energy storage systems for
best. My name is Michael Li,
and I
ve lived in practice
medicine in King County for 40
years. I support best because
it will decrease burning of
fossil fuels. Climate change is
harming our health via extreme
weather, heat events, and
wildfires. If we fail to expand
clean sources of energy, these
impacts will continue to
worsen, including right here in
King County. Battery storage
allows us to store excess clean
energy for when sun or wind is
not available. As a surgeon, I
had to carefully weigh risks
and benefits of surgery
compared to alternative
treatments. We should carefully
weigh the risks and benefits of
best, which the 2024 Council
framework did quite well. We
should also consider risks and
benefits. Without this. A major
risk is that we could easily
need to build more gas fueled
power plants that would
definitely harm our health for
20 or more years. There have to
be places in King County where
best would be reasonable. I
actually installed battery
storage in my garage because my
grid power has gone out 35
times in two years, right? In
Bellevue, I researched and used
the safest type of batteries,
the same type used in all new
best facilities. Remember how
we used to worry about charging
EVs in our garages? Now with
improved technology, we have
over 100,000 EVs and other
large batteries charging all
over King County. I strongly
support battery energy storage
in King County using the 2024
Council framework. It is
absolutely needed to protect
our health. Thank you very
much.
Thank you for your testimony.
Next name on the list is Paul
Lee. Everyone.
My name is Paul Lee and I
strongly support more battery
energy storage in King County.
Uh, I
m a professional engineer
with over eight years of
experience in clean energy.
Personally, i
ve worked on over
a dozen battery energy projects
for the U.S. Department of
Energy, City of Los Angeles,
Texas, Massachusetts, to name a
few. Uh, batteries are a
critical part of our clean
energy transition. They
re
proven to help lower
electricity costs, improve grid
reliability during outages and
events. Our climate goals, uh,
safety was paramount in my
work. And, of course, there
s
always risks. But the industry
has overcome many of these with
improvements in battery
chemistries and standards such
as ul 9540 and nfpa 55, as well
as a long and proven track
record of many successful
battery manufacturers. I
support more best installations
in King County across the board
and accelerating more energy
storage adoption. Um, for the
region. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next name on the list is
Nathan Hatch.
Hello, Council members. My name
is Nathan Hatch. I live in
Seattle.
In the Fremont neighborhood,
and like Mike and Paul, I
m
here to talk about battery
energy storage systems. Last
time I was here, we heard a lot
of concern from, uh, residents
of Snoqualmie about thermal
runaway for the proposed
facility over there. I do share
their worry about what that
might do to the surrounding air
and water systems. So I
ve
spent many hours over the past
two months learning about these
issues. And today, I
m happy to
report that the risk seems
lower than I feared. Uh, best
facilities are designed and
tested so that a fire in one
container cannot spread to
another container. So even if a
fire does occur, which is
unlikely, only a small portion
of the site will burn. The air
pollution would be comparable
to any structural fires, such
as the warehouse in Ballard
that burned down last month.
Um, and of course, as Mike
said, if we don
t build this,
we
re going to get 20 years of
air pollution from new gas
powered energy plants instead.
So I hope this information sets
the hearts of council members
and Snoqualmie residents at
ease. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
Next on the list is Billy
Harston.
Is there.
Like a timer somewhere? And go
ahead and just guess.
Just. I
m guessing.
You got.
It.
30 talk as fast as possible.
Uh, hello. Uh, Council members,
thank you for the opportunity
to present and speak. Uh, I
understand you guys have a very
difficult job, and we
appreciate all the work that
you do. Um, my name is William
Hairston. Uh, I have the
opportunity to be one of the
senior directors at center for
Children and Youth Justice. And
in lieu of recent events, i
think it was pertinent to
elevate some of the work that
cci does in the community.
Violence intervention and
prevention space. Predominantly
our Youth Link program, uh,
Youth Link program is a
regional adaptation of the
National Gang Centers
comprehensive gang model, uh,
where cci coordinates and
convenes partners to provide a
collaborative wraparound case
management and supports uh for
young people at the highest
risk of violence or system
involvement. Link brings
together partners from a
multitude of disciplines, such
as law enforcement, education,
dcf or juvenile rehabilitation.
Community based organizations,
behavioral health, housing,
employment and other service
providers. Um, since 2020.
Today, Link is served over 400
young people across Kane
County. 2025 to date. Those
young people that link has
served as accomplished over 300
individualized goals based on
their individualized, uh, plans
that they create themselves.
Um, these goals include things
such as, uh, meeting court
ordered probation requirements,
re-engaging in education,
securing housing, and meeting
basic needs, uh, gang
assistance and violence
intervention and employment,
and other things that are
stabilizing goals. Um, and
these are goals are in part
thanks to our great
collaborations and partnerships
with organizations such as
Choose 180, Urban Family and
Freedom Project, Washington.
Um, I would welcome the
opportunity to share more about
the link model in our program
and our partnerships, as well
as the impact of these
collaborative efforts
throughout King County to the
Council or any of the
subcommittees that you guys see
fit. Thank you very much for
your time and all the work that
you do.
Thank you for your testimony.
Thanks, on the list is Lassie
Lester.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for.
Letting me speak today.
Um.
My name is Lassie Webster, and
I want to I
m here to speak
about the observation flights
at King.
County International.
Airport. Um, I
ve been
observing for about a year, a
little bit more, and I
ve
learned a lot. Uh, what I
wanted to address specifically
today is, um, I spoke with, um.
Oh.
My microphone
s on. I spoke
with, uh, executives. All I had
hit Salahi, so I saw, I
m
sorry. Last year, um, and I
asked him this question. Are
you willing to introduce and
support legislation when you
are our King County Executive
to increase the safety of
people in detention and
designate that the county sees
and requires them to be treated
as passengers as opposed to
their current treatment by Ice
as cargo? I want to acknowledge
that since that time, there has
been a pledge added by the King
County Executive Office that
the office of the executive
will continue to collaborate
with key leaders from immigrant
and refugee communities to
establish a countywide strategy
that enhances the health,
safety and well-being of
immigrants. When traveling
within or arriving at King
County Airport. From the
standpoint of an observer who
is familiar with the treatment
of the immigrants at King
County Airport, I
d like to.
I
d like you to know that while
the intention of this part of
the statement is well-meaning,
little has actually changed, I
think there have been a tense
like, we have a new four new
large monitors in our very tiny
observation room, which, by the
way, one of our volunteers was
not able to continue
volunteering to observe because
it caused such trouble to her
neck. Um, but I don
t see any
change, really, in the way that
the immigrants are treated. I
think there needs to be more
than good intentions. I think
there needs to be a deep felt,
heart full hearted commitment
to restore the dignity, safety
and health to the people being
transported in shackles.
So my person.
Can ask a question.
Uh, this is a statement, not a
question and answer
opportunity. But you can
certainly send emails.
Okay.
Thank you very much for your
testimony.
Next on the list is Zach Pinot.
Thank you. Chair. Thank you,
Council members. My name is
Zach Pinard. I
m a King County
resident and I
m speaking on
behalf of clean and prosperous
in strong support of King
County
s current battery energy
storage system, or best
ordinance. We have. Clean and
prosperous are concerns that
our state is ranked dead last
in the nation for renewable
energy growth. However, after
reviewing existing best
ordinances at the city and
county level, clean and
Prosperous has determined that
King County currently has the
single most effective ordinance
for enabling well cited best in
Washington State. So once
again, thank you. That
s
awesome. As you
ve heard, when
real time solar and wind
generation cannot meet demand
best allows us to use stored
clean energy instead of fossil
fuel powered peaker plants. To
meet those demand. Spikes we
have clean and prosperous have
identified 100 energy storage
projects currently stuck in
Washington
s pipeline that
could provide the grid with
10.72gw of clean energy
capacity. These storage
projects represent tens of
billions of dollars in economic
activity and thousands of
highly skilled and long term
jobs. Ten of these projects are
located in King County. So just
want to thank you again for
passing this ordinance. It
should remain in place so as to
avoid delaying the grid
reliability and the clean
energy economy that we cannot
afford to wait for.
Thank you for your testimony.
The next name on the list is
Aaron Cargill.
Hi, my name is Aaron McArthur.
I am one of the security leads
for the solidarity day. Uh,
that happens down in Tacoma at
the detention center. As a part
of that, I try to create an
environment that is safe by
default, because that is what
is required for safety. If
safety requires action on the
part of the people involved,
they cannot be reliably
considered safe. The Ice
flights are doing what are
called hot fueling, which is
fueling while people are on
board, they are shackled and
they are unable to move at any
kind of speed to keep
themselves safe. It
s against
faa regulations, and it is
risking the lives and safety of
thousands of people that move
through King County Airport
every month. These are people
that could not get themselves
out. Fire safety requires clear
exits, requires people to be
reasonably be able to.
Escape the space.
They are in. There are so many
people that would die, trampled
and burning in the event of a
fire. During this, I ask you to
make the choice to create this
safe environment, to design the
safe environment so that we can
treat people as people and not
just things to be discarded.
Thank you for your testimony.
The next name on the list is
Rick Bogart.
My name is Rich. I
m here to
talk about the supporting the
King County Battery Energy
storage system. I
m not going
to repeat what other folks have
said. My comments are more just
in general with climate change
to fight climate change. We
have to reduce fossil fuels,
and that means electrifying
everything. To do that, we need
more electricity. And as was
pointed out, we
re dead last in
the country and making new
energy. And that is because of
geography. Renewable energy
works best in the eastern side
of the state, and getting
transmission lines up over the
Cascades is expensive. So the
way out of that is with
batteries. So, um, don
t back
down. Use your political will
and don
t cave in to any of the
folks who say no to that.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
Sure, you are currently no
further names listed on the in
person sign up, though we do
have an online.
All right. Is there anyone else
in the room that would like to
speak that didn
t have a chance
to sign up? Anyone else in the
room who would like to make
comments that did not have a
chance?
Thanks.
Anyone seeing anyone.
Know Chuck Berry?
Thanks very much. Okay, let
s
go ahead and move on to online
testimony.
Thank you. Chair Perry. The
first name online is Shalom
Khan.
Um, hi. Yeah. My name is, uh,
Shalom Khanum, 16 years old.
Uh, cricket has been one of the
biggest parts of my life for as
long as I can remember. It is
shaped who I am, not just as an
athlete, but as a person.
Through cricket, I
ve learned
discipline, resilience,
leadership, and the importance
of working together as a team.
Every match teaches me
something new, whether it
s
celebrating a victory or
learning from a tough loss.
These lessons have helped me
become more confident in
school, in my community, in
everyday life. As a girl who
plays cricket, I
ve also seen
how powerful the sport can be.
It gives young women a place
where they can challenge
themselves, build lifelong
friendships and discover what
they
re capable of. But one of
the biggest challenges we face
is not having a dedicated place
to play. We often have to
adjust to fields that weren
t
designed for the sport, making
it harder to grow the sport and
welcome new players. A cricket
field and Mary Moore would
change that. It would create
opportunities for youth
programs, school teams,
community events and
tournaments while giving girls
like me a place where we can
train, compete and inspire the
next generation. It wouldn
t
just be a field, it would be a
home for growing community. I
hope you support the Cricket
Community Park at Mary Moore,
because investing in cricket
means investing in young
people. It means creating
opportunities, building
stronger communities, and
giving future generations a
place where they can grow both
on and off the field. Thank
you.
Thank you, Shalane, for your
testimony.
The next person on line is
Swami.
I, um, my name is Swami, and
I
m speaking not as a coach or
administrator or as a girl. I
m
talking more like a father
whose daughter has actually
picked up cricket. Right? When
she picked up, it was. It was
not just about playing any
sport. Right. So cricket has
given her a lot of resilience,
discipline, confidence and the
teamwork. But, uh, we have
faced some challenges here. So
first we have to actually try
very long distances, searching
for fields similar to what she
learned mentioned. Right
practices are often squeezed in
limited time slots. Right. And,
uh, the young athlete finds it
difficult to actually compete
at the national tournaments
with the lack of facilities
available. Uh, a dedicated
cricket community park at the
marymount would actually change
that. It would give a daughter
a safe, reliable place to
train, compete and train. That
would create an opportunity not
just for today
s players, but
also hundreds of girls who are
actually waiting to discover
this beautiful sport. This
isn
t just about building
cricket fields, it
s about
investing in youth, promoting
healthy lifestyle, and
fostering inclusion and showing
young girls that their dreams
matter just as anyone else
s.
Right? As a father, my greatest
hope is not that my daughter
becomes a famous cricketer.
It
s more about how she goes
into young women who believes,
who can achieve anything she
works hard for. I respectfully
ask the King County and city of
Bolivia to work together with
our community to make sure that
cricket, community park at
minimal becomes a reality, and
it will inspire the generations
of girls, dream bigger, work
harder, and proudly call this
Community Day home. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony,
Swami.
Next name is Suwalki Singh.
Hello Council members, my name
is Swati Singh. I
ve been King
County resident for ten plus
years now. Um, as as previous
Swami and Shalom. I
ve also
been talking in support of
Seattle Orcas commitment to
women
s cricket and developing
cricket facilities throughout
the King County. Uh, actually,
I
m speaking today for my own
dream and for girls who will
pick up cricket bat after me.
Uh, I want them to have more
opportunities, better
facilities, and easier path
into the game than we had at
our time. Uh, the Seattle Orcas
women
s upcoming, uh, t20
tournament gives us hope
because it puts women
s
cricket, cricket in the
spotlight throughout the
international tournament coming
up, which is a great spotlight
on cricket. Women
s cricket in
Seattle. Uh, I trust Seattle to
help deliver cricket. Community
Park that hope into a permanent
opportunity. Uh, so yeah,
please. King County and City of
Bellevue, please work together
with Seattle Orcas and the
cricket community. We have, uh,
to move forward with this
project. Uh, thank you so much.
And you guys are doing great.
Thanks again.
Thank you for your testimony,
Swati.
Next on is iPhone.
Um, hi.
My name is Sarasa Ramanujan,
and I
m 14 years old. Um,
cricket has given me role
models, players who stay calm,
under pressure, support their
teammates and compete with
courage. The women
s t20
tournament being conducted by
the Seattle Orcas can be more
of those role models into view.
For girls like me, role models,
inspires and but mentors and
facilities help us take the
next step at a cricket
community park, experienced
players could coach younger
girls. Teams could practice
regularly, and women
s matches
could become part of our
community life by organizing a
tournament for women, the
Seattle Orcas are showing
leadership. I trust them to
help deliver a part that keeps
girls and women
s cricket at
the center of its plans. I
asked King County and Bellevue
to support the Miramar project
and work with the Seattle Orcas
and our community. Please
create a place where
inspiration can become
instruction and where
instruction can become
achievement. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
So yeah.
Next online is Veer Narayan.
Hello, my name is Vienna and
I
m 12 years old and I
m a
budding cricket player. Bowling
has taught me that real
progress comes from patience,
discipline and the ability to
refine a skill through
consistent practice, repeating
the same motion again and again
has shown me that improvement
depends on balance, accuracy,
and having the right
environment to grow. Young
cricketers need that same
environment to develop fully as
bowlers, batters and fielders.
We need proper run ups, poorly
practice nets and pitches
maintain to recognised cricket
standards. These are essential
for learning the complete game,
not just fragments of it. When
given the right facilities, we
are ready to show the
dedication our community
already has. This is why I
request King County Council to
move forward with the Cricket
community. Park proposed at
Mary Moore, building it as an
international standard. Ground
would place the Seattle region
alongside other established
cricket hubs across the country
and allow us to host the same
level of competition. It is a
rare opportunity to create a
world class venue for a sport
that is already thriving here.
I am fully committed to
cricket. I practised several
hours every week and I play
matches that often lasts seven
hours or more. My cricket
friends train just as hard.
Week after week, season after
season. Together we are fully
invested in the sport and we
are asking you to invest in our
future. We are ready to
practice, learn and compete.
All we need are the facilities
that allow our effort to become
an achievement. Supporting this
park means investing in the
future of cricket and in the
potential of every young
athlete in our community. Thank
you for your time.
Thank you for your testimony.
There.
Next up is Bob Barnett.
I hope you can hear me. My name
is Bob Rangarajan and I have
proudly called King County Home
for more than 11 years now. I
m
also a proud parent whose
daughter has chosen cricket as
a sporting pathway, and I
ve
also had the privilege of
coaching many young cricketers
and budding talent across the
community. I want King County
to be recognised as a place
where girls and women
s cricket
can truly thrive. Uh, the
Seattle Arcus Women
s
tournament is an important
milestone. It provides women
with a high quality,
competitive platform while
giving young girls the
confidence to dream bigger and
believe that they have a place
in this sport. But a tournament
alone is not enough. It is
about creating a permanent home
for cricket, a cricket
community park at Mary Moore
would provide year round
opportunities for girls and
women to train, compete and
grow. It would strengthen youth
development pathways, expand
access to the sport and create
an opportunity for women not
only as players but also as
coaches, mentors, officials and
community leaders. The Seattle
Orcas have demonstrated a
genuine commitment to growing
women
s cricket by partnering
with King County, the City of
Bellevue, and our vibrant
cricket community. We have the
opportunity to create a lasting
public private partnership that
will benefit generations of
residents. While establishing
King County as a leader in the
growth of cricket in the
Pacific Northwest. I
respectfully urge King County
and City of Bellevue to come
together and move this project
forward. Please don
t let this
opportunity pass us by. Invest
in a place where talent is
nurtured. Girls are empowered.
Women are celebrated, and
future champions begin their
journey. Thank you for your
time and consideration,
everyone.
Thank you for your testimony
and. Ash.
Next up is Ben Jenkins.
Well, good afternoon, Chair
Perry and council members. Uh,
my name is Ben Jenkins. I
m a
resident of unincorporated
Snoqualmie. I
ve been here for
the past five years. I
ve
previously lived in Seattle for
six. I
m here to talk about the
local land sale. There
s a 4800
acres, roughly of forest above
Fall City. That
s going on a
sealed bid auction on AUGUST
5th. I know Chair Perry. You
re
aware of this? Um, yeah. Inside
this land sale, there are three
of the four parcels. Are have
mountain bike trails on them
that have been there for over
20 years, and they
ve been, uh,
been able to be used by the
public via a permit system from
the current landowner, which is
a timber company. There
s also
other, uh, recreational
opportunities in that zone for
gravel riding and hiking and
things like that. This region
is, uh, has switched from a
logging economy, obviously, to
a recreation and tourism
economy. And these, these
trails and all these recreation
areas in the, in the vicinity
are really important for this
community, for the economy and
for the residents and all that
kind of stuff. So the area of
Tokyo in particular is
important because it has south
facing slopes and it
s at a
lower elevation and it drains
well. So it becomes a really
big hub for mountain biking and
recreation. In the winter
months, when the other areas
are covered in snow or have
condition problems. So, uh,
what I would like the council
to be aware of, and I know
that
s been on the agenda a
little bit here, but that this
area is not protected. And if
it, you know, as soon as it
gets sold to a new, uh,
property owner, the right to
have access to that
s probably
going to go away. So I
m asking
that, uh, the county is
hopefully actively working on
looking at securing parcels c
and d at a minimum, which is
603 acres. Uh, also, there
s
another parcel b, which would
be great, but I know it
s at a
higher price point. Um, I
d
also like to say that because
of the way that auction is
priced and structured, the
likely buyer is not going to be
someone who
s going to be
looking for a financial return.
So this if this land ends up in
tribal ownership, I
m really
hoping that King County will do
everything in its power to work
with that future owner to
purchase a recreation easement,
uh, on these trail corridors,
hopefully for parcels b, c, and
d. Uh, just to wrap up here,
this area is critical to the
community for Recreation Hub.
It
s right off the Snoqualmie
Valley Trail and it
s a great
resource for the community.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony,
Ben.
Next up is Joe Kunstler.
Hi, Joe.
Council here. It
s good to see
all of you. Um, it
s always a
privilege in orange King County
Council, though. Today is a
tragic anniversary as it is the
20th anniversary since the
assassination of Pamela Zell
and the injury of five Jewish
Federation of Seattle
employees. This is also.
Tomorrow will be the 16th
anniversary of when I was home
invaded by an anti-Semitic, uh,
felon and his nephew. Um, so I
think anti-Semitism very
seriously. And these statements
we
re not supposed to address
previous commenters, but I will
say the statements by a
previous commenter I find is
always anti-Semitic, deeply
offensive and deeply
inappropriate. And I wish they
would stop. Um, I ask that this
council and others continue to
stand up against anti-Semitism
for a more inclusive community,
as well as stand up against
Islamophobia. Um, I think it
s
important that we all come
together and address this, this
kind of hatred that we see
exhibited in public comment
periods. We see exhibited in
the community. Um, I take to
heart, you know, the, um,
statements have been issued by
Jewish leaders remembering the
tragedy of JULY 28th, 2006, and
I
m deeply grateful that one of
the survivors, uh, decided to
join gun responsibility and
work to close gun violence
loopholes like, uh, making sure
the background check on every
single firearms transfer and
assault weapons ban and other
stuff that keeps the public
safe. Um, and I just wanted to
bring that to your attention
and that could that hopefully
explains why I find this one
individual who comes before you
so offensive.
Thank you, MR. Counselor.
Next stop is Patrick Frye.
Hi. Good afternoon Council. I
am here to follow up with, uh,
Ben Jenkins said about the Toco
land sale. Uh, so I won
t
repeat the things that he
touched on because he he stated
them all perfectly. Toco is
really important to the
community. Um, and the false
city community and surrounding
mountain bike, uh, equestrian
and trail running community.
Um, what I will state, though,
is that those 42 or 4800 acres
of recreational use, uh, are
incredibly valuable, and they
actually already have access
that King County already has.
There
s parking lots already
constructed at the trailheads
that are around. Uh, and so
there would be little
infrastructure needed to
continue using these parks. And
so I
m hoping that when sealed
bids for these local, either
King County can be a purchaser
or if not, uh, that they will
work with the purchaser, uh, to
secure access to those, uh,
trails so that we can continue
recreating and using those
trails. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony,
Patrick.
Next on the list is Eddie
Espinosa.
Good afternoon, Chair Perry.
Council members and members of
the community. I
m Eddie
Espinosa. I
m the executive
director of the Evergreen
Mountain Bike Alliance. Um, I
live in Bothell. Our offices in
North Bend, uh, and here to
talk about local, um, I
ll just
add a little bit more to what
folks have already said. Um,
and a little bit more about us.
We
re the statewide nonprofit
that advocates for mountain
biking through education,
community building, and
partnerships. Uh, we have a
membership of close to 10,000.
And we also speak on behalf of
the almost 1 million bike, uh,
bike riders in the state of
Washington. Um, mountain biking
is an important part of the
recreation economy in
Washington, which is just as
big in size as tech and
aerospace, and vocal. Some of
you MAY know is the is a is a
pretty important part of a
region full of mountain bike
trails and areas that have
national, if not world
recognition for the and access
for these trails. Um, also
thank you, Chair Perry, for
your work here. A little bit
over a little bit over a year
ago. Thanks for that. Um, and
we
re a little bit late in the
hour. Uh, the auction is next
month. We spent a bunch of
months, um, this summer, uh,
with outreach to to
organizational partners to to
other land managers and also to
other, uh, offices within King
County. Um, but to echo what a
what everyone else has already
said, um, we would love to make
sure that access is maintained
for whoever owns the property
next. Um, and ideally, if it
could be an acquisition, um,
if, if, if the county could
prioritize the acquisition
itself. Um, in order for us to
maintain that access and
continue building on the, the
economy and opportunity for
mountain biking in this region.
Um, that would be, uh, amazing.
And we
d be hugely, hugely
appreciative.
Thank you for your testimony.
Next on the list is Japonica.
Uh.
Good afternoon councilmembers.
My name is Chopin Edgar, and my
age is 25. I
m from India, and
for me, cricket is like a food.
If I need food to live, I need
cricket to survive as well. And
here in the United States, I
start playing cricket because
as a fun sport. But again, it
becomes part of my life and I
want to continue, uh, further
and represent my national, uh,
the most important part of my
life is my teammates who
encourage me when I make
mistakes and celebrate with me
when I improve. Cricket has
helped me make friends and feel
connected to my community. We
practice everywhere, wherever
space is available, but cricket
needs, as my companion said,
more than open pitches for
grass. We need a ball to bounce
at certain point, but due to
the grass it is not able to
bounce that much. We really
appreciate if in Kansas, if
King County will help us to
build certain pitches that
improve our game and we don
t
need to travel so far for
leather ball matches like
Linden and Northmen, it would
be great initiative and will
really appreciate the moment
that my remote park bring it to
reality. A dedicated home for
cricket would give a team
stability and give many more
girls the chance to discover
this sport. Thank you for
listening to my voice. Thank
you so much.
Thank you for your testimony,
Shibani.
Next on the list is Saravia
Chandrakant.
Good. Uh. Good evening. Uh,
members of council. My name is
Rabia and I
m 27 years old. I
m
here representing a passionate
community of athletes. Uh,
teammates who train beside me
and the girls who look up to
us. All of, uh, all of whom
share a singular dream to see
our sport thrive here at home.
Cricket has been the defining,
has been defining the passion
of my life, a pursuit that has
pushed me to test my limits. We
are fully committed to this
game. Uh, training for over 20
hours every single week to
reach our goal. However, even
the greatest dedication is
hampered when you lack the
infrastructure to support it.
The reality of my team is
incredibly challenging right
now. To make do. We are
constantly forced to improvise,
attempting to convert various
multiple multi-purpose sports
grounds just to make them even
remotely suitable for cricket.
This is not sustainable without
a dedicated, dependable cricket
ground, it is nearly impossible
to properly simulate match
conditions, develop a
professional grade pitch, or
even gain the competitive
experience necessary to grow.
Far too often we have had to
travel great distances just to
find adequate training, losing
valuable time and energy that
should have been spent honing
our craft right here in our own
community. The proposed cricket
community Park at Miramar
represents more than just a
field. It is the infrastructure
needed to create a legitimate,
uh, sustainable pathway for all
of us within this facility. We
could establish consistent
practice routines, access
quality coaching, and finally
host the tournament
s that are
that turn our collective
potential.
Into.
Okay.
Thank you very much for your
testimony. Thank you.
Next up is Mitch Corey.
Good afternoon Council.
My name is Mitch Corey. Um,
I
ve lived in Washington all 36
years of my life. And in King
in Seattle for 32 of those, um,
and probably every weekend I
travel on I-90 to go mountain
biking and probably one half of
those times I go mountain
biking at Tokyo. And so I
m
speaking on the, uh, the land
going up for auction. Um, I, I
feel like I
m almost a resident
of, like, Tokyo. And it
s been
really important to me. Um, but
it
s also really important to
the mountain biking community
in the King County area. I
think what
s said before is
that it
s often used for bike
riding. When the conditions
further along I-90 are too cold
or too snowy. Um, so it
s
really important just for
people that mountain bike and
King County, um, I think that
the entire county and the city
would benefit from, um, the
conservation of that land,
especially for recreation, um,
for not only for mountain
biking, but I know that there
s
a quest train and trail running
in that area, too. Unlike was
said before, there
s also
there
s already infrastructure
in place that would support the
people that would use that. Um,
and that would continue to
travel, um, to, uh, Fall City
and some of the other kind of
areas, uh, almost like
metropolitan areas to support
the businesses that are there.
Um, and I
m thinking of coffee
and restaurants and baked goods
after I
m done mountain biking.
Um, I do think that the local
area is very important for the
mountain bike community in
Washington. And like others
have said, I hope that the
council, uh, I mean, whether it
could be purchased by the city,
um, or whoever does purchase
it, the there would be, um,
cooperation to allow continued,
uh, mountain biking on the
property. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
Next up is Rachel Dwivedi.
Um, hello, everyone. My name is
Rachel dvd, and I
m 17 years
old. Cricket has genuinely been
one of the greatest gifts in my
life. Um, it
s taught me
resilience, discipline,
teamwork and confidence. Some
of my closest friendships have
been built on the cricket
field, and every match teaches
me something new about myself.
Um, today, cricket is known as
one of the fastest growing
sports in the world. It has
more than 2.5 billion fans
globally, if I remember
correctly, and it makes it the
world
s second most popular
sport, and it
s returned to the
2028 Los Angeles Olympics is
helping fuel even more growth,
especially here in the United
States. A cricket community
park at Mary Moore would allow
our region to grow alongside
that momentum. It wouldn
t just
be another sports field, it
would become a home for rapidly
growing community. It would
create opportunities for youth
programs, school teams,
leagues, tournaments and
community events while bringing
families from all backgrounds
together through a shared love
of the game. As a girl who
plays cricket, this park means
even more to me. Cricket has
traditionally been a male
dominated sport, but that is
also changing. More girls are
stepping onto the field than
ever before, and women
s
cricket is experiencing
incredible growth around the
world. I also believe that this
park would become an incredible
asset for King County, just as
we proudly rally behind the
Seahawks, the Mariners, the
Sounders and the storm, we have
the opportunity to build an
equally passionate cricket
community right here in the
Pacific Northwest. We already
have thousands of players and
families who love this game. We
have a dedicated I mean, a
dedicated cricket park would
help bring them together,
attract new players and host
regional and national
tournaments, which would help
establish King County as a
leader in one of the world
s
fastest growing sports. For
players like me, this park
represents opportunity. It
s a
place where lifelong
friendships are formed,
confidence is built, and young
people learn leadership.
Cricket has shaped me into the
person I am today, and I know
it can do the same for
countless others. I hope your
support the Cricket Community
Park at Mary Moore, and help
create a space that will
inspire generations of players
and girls for years to come.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimonial
to..
Next up is Radha Shriram.
I love.
Hi, my name is Radha and I
m 16
years old. One of my favorite
moments in cricket is walking
out to bat, knowing that my
team believes in me. Batting
takes focus, confidence and
courage, and even when I feel
nervous, I
ve learned to trust
my preparation, stay calm and
make good decisions one ball at
a time. But for girls to become
strong, confident batters, we
need regular opportunities to
practice against different
bowlers and play on proper
cricket fields. Right now,
limited access to quality
facilities means fewer chances
to develop our skills, play
full matches and learn from
both our successes and our
mistakes. A dedicated cricket
community park at Mary Moore
would give girls like me the
opportunity to practice
consistently, compete
regularly, and grow as players.
It could also host youth
matches and tournaments that
help us prepare for the next
level of cricket, while
bringing our community
together. I respectfully ask
King County and the City of
Bellevue to work together to
make this park a reality. We
re
not asking for our dreams to be
handed to us. We
re simply
asking for a fair opportunity
to work hard and improve and
pursue those dreams. Thank you
for your time, your support,
and for investing in the future
of girls cricket.
Thank you Radha for your
testimony.
Next on the list is Kevin
Alzheimer.
MR. Alzheimer, are you there?
We
re not hearing you. Are you
muted?
Can you hear me now?
We can sir. Go right ahead.
Okay. Yes, I thank Sir Perry
and counsel. I
m here in
opposition to motion 2026 0197.
I
m in. I don
t I don
t approve
of it, but I don
t have a
problem if if you decide to get
an individual in this position.
Here
s where my dissatisfaction
with this, uh, ordinance or
potential uh, ordinance under
this motion is you still have a
legal issue, and your legal
issue is that you have a
constitutional issue. Perhaps
under Washington state versus,
uh, actually state versus
miles. Now, in that there is a
portion of the Constitution of
Washington state, article one,
section seven, that actually
says that the that the state
Supreme Court had already ruled
a citizen cannot be compelled
to be subpoenaed by an agency.
And it seems like your
legislation is still trying to
push that. At the same time.
Rob Dembowski was involved. I
have his email way back in
OCTOBER. I found his email that
came and came in today where he
was pushing for an inspector
general
s position, and that
s
why he wanted this to go to the
office. And the office had no
constitutional right to even be
in investigate that potential
crime when they don
t even have
it under the Constitution.
Actually, under their
ordinance, uh, under the
county, what they have is the
ability to investigate the
agencies and investigate
workers, but they can
t
investigate contractors. So you
guys already went outside of
that scope. I couldn
t believe
of all you people who were
involved in this whole
investigation with Clerk
Newberg and getting him, uh,
funded after he was already
working from the executive
office. And Rob Dembowski sends
an email out to Shannon
Braddock asking her to turn
this over to, uh, Jeremy Bell
with the office. Office? There
is so much evidence against
this. This, uh, this whole
operation that it
s about to
come out. And I think that you
guys know this, but you have a
real big problem.
Thank you, MR. Alzheimer. Are
there more online?
Yes, yes there are, chair
Perry.
Sorry any more? Are.
Um, three.
Okay.
Next up is.
Tom Reeves.
Thank you.
Hello. Council members. Uh,
thank you for having me today.
My name is Tom Reeves. I
ve
lived in the Central district
of Seattle for 11 years. Uh,
I
m an avid mountain biker, and
I
m here to give my support for
the total, uh, for conserving
the local riding area in Fall
City today. Uh, ever since I
moved to Seattle, I
ve spent a
lot of time in Tokyo riding
there on a consistent basis.
It
s great recreation for for
my wife and I. I look forward
to bringing my son there when
he
s old enough. Uh, it
s also
help helped us to bring build
great community and get to know
the people here, while also
supporting the local community,
uh, the local community in Fall
City. Uh, you know, as we go
forward, I ask that you do
everything in your power to
conserve that area. Um, it
means a lot to us, a lot to our
community. And thank you very
much for your time.
Thank you for your testimony,
Tom.
Next up is Kelly Amesbury.
Hi. Uh, thank you for letting
me speak here today. Um, my
name is Kelly Amesbury. I am a
mountain biker, mountain bike
advocate. Um, former youth
coach, and sometimes trail
builder at local. Um, over
Covid, I spent countless
hundreds of hours building a
trail and maintaining it
specifically for youth and
youth sports training there for
youth cycling training. And I
would just like to encourage
the, um, the council to do
everything in their power to
help maintain this wonderful
asset for recreation, not only
for mountain biking, but for
equestrians, um, trail runners
and other outdoor enthusiasts.
I would also encourage you to
look at the model that the city
of Bellingham has followed with
the Galbraith Mountain
Preservation, where the city
has put together a consortium
of private land timberland, um,
protected, uh, uh, I think, um,
forest pieces and also city
park together into a
recreational easement that
really protects that, um, land
in perpetuity for all sorts of
recreational activities and
also for wildlife and the
environment. Um, thank you for
my time. Really appreciate it.
And and hope you can move
forward in helping us protect
this land. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony,
Kelly.
And the last hand raised on the
list is Rachel. Damian.
Hi there. Thank you, council
members, for your time today.
My name is Rachel Damian. I
m a
34 year old. I live in Bellevue
since 2019 and I board my
horses in Fall City. I spent
nearly half of my week for the
past six years at the barn. And
tackle is not just where I
ride, it
s part of my community
and it is my home. To is
essential because many riders
don
t own a truck and trailer
with local access, they don
t
have another convenient place
to ride. They lose the
opportunity altogether, and
horses are pivotal to our
lives, so taking away that
access takes away many
livelihoods. Tokyo is also
unique to horseback riders
because of the soil. Even after
heavy rain, the infamous Tokyo
soil drains quickly and it
allows year round riding.
Previously in my life, I was
limited to only six years or
six months of outdoor riding,
and moving to Seattle means
that my season is every day and
that
s incredible. I
d also
like to speak to the
friendliness that I
ve
experienced with the mountain
bikers there. I do firmly
believe that horseback riders
and bikers can coexist on
trails, and total is a
testament to that. So I know
it
s a very challenging
situation, balancing the needs
of urban and rural and bikers
and equestrians. But I do ask
you to try and use with all of
your resources and your skills
to try and keep our public
access there. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony,
Rachel.
That was the last hand raised
Chair Perry that I see online.
All right. Is there anybody
else online that has not had a
chance to speak who would like
to? If so, please raise your
hand again. Raise your hand if
you haven
t had a chance to
speak and you would like to.
Are we seeing anybody raising
their hands?
I am not okay.
Thank you so much. Seeing no
further request, I want to
thank each and every person who
showed up to testify in person
and online. Today we take your
comments and your time very
seriously, and it matters a lot
to our deliberative process. So
thank you very much for being
with us today. And with that we
will close the public hearing,
turning next to those
ordinances on the agenda for
discussion and action,
beginning with item six, which
is an ordinance concerning King
County Employee Code of Ethics.
Councilmember von Reichbauer,
would you please move? Um, uh,
ordinance 2026 0126.
So moved.
Thank you. Uh, proposed
ordinance 2026 0126 is before
us. Before we proceed, I
ll
note that we have Randy Bello
and council staff available to
brief the item or answer
questions. With that, I
d like
to ask if Councilmember Dunne
s
as sponsor would like to offer
any opening remarks, or if
you
d like the item briefed.
Yeah, I don
t think we need the
item brief. We passed this
unanimously up here. Um, from
committee, but, um, just to
remind my colleagues, as we
continue to improve the
functions of King County
government as we continue to
reform, uh, what we do,
delivering local services. Uh,
this is another piece of that.
As you all know, we
ve done
some audits and really worked
hard to make our grantmaking
process, uh, greater
accountability moving forward
with the tax dollars that we
are bestowed by the taxpayers.
We
ve done things recently like
streamlined the homeless
governance. Uh, organization,
uh, working to make that more
efficient, bringing employees
back to work following the
pandemic. And there are other
things we
ve been working on as
well. This one is in the form
of reforming our King County
ethics code. It is always a
work in progress as new
situations are uncovered, new
technologies are uncovered. The
ethics code is a living
document. Um, and this, uh,
this piece of legislation seeks
to continue to reform. It
really came, I think, quite
effectively from Seattle Times
investigation that many of you
will remember, uh, that
involved an employee who, uh,
according to the Seattle Times,
uh, had distributed grants to
five, uh, family members. Um,
uh, on the nature of about
$800,000. And so this gives us
the option, and we have the
legal authority to actually,
uh, amend the King County
ethics code. We can do that by
ordinance, which we are
attempting to do here in this
resolution, this ethics reform
package, uh, does a couple of
things. First, it expands and
clarifies, uh, the conflict of
interest rules to very clearly
prohibit close relationships.
In other words, significant
relationships as defined in the
legislation. It also requires
that conflicts of interest be
resolved, uh, before a
distribution not just
disclosed. And right now, uh,
in this case, disclosure, but
no resolution. We need to have
resolution. So a conflict of
interest, uh, doesn
t occur.
Finally, this clarifies, uh,
the ethics code, um, in a
variety of ways to ensure
consistency throughout reading
of the document. There are a
couple of amendments Brandi
might want to speak to those,
uh, Chair Perry, um, which I
m
happy to move at the right
time. And that
s the
introduction and look forward
to a discussion on this issue.
Thank you very much,
colleagues. Are there any
questions for staff or comments
for the discussion at this
moment? Please say please speak
out. If you do. Okay. I also
understand there
s a technical
amendment. Councilmember Dunn
would you please move amendment
one?
Sure, sure. Councilmember Lewis
has her hand up.
Oh, thank you, Councilmember
Lewis. Thank you, Vice chair.
Thank you. I just have a couple
of, um, pretty basic questions.
Uh, one being how will
employees be be notified of
these changes? And, um, given
the opportunity to comply with
them? And the other has to do
with whether or not we should
have a regular cadence to
update the ethics code like we
do with the charter and and
other regulations. Those MAY be
questions for the executive.
I
m not sure.
Uh.
For my brand. Do you want to
take a cut at that? And then
I
m happy to add in what I
know.
Sure.
Uh, thank you, Council members.
For the record.
Brandy parabola with council
central staff. I can try to
answer the first one, and I am
not equipped to answer the
second. Um, the first one.
There is no language in the
ordinance that directs how any
county employees should be made
aware of these changes. That
would be, um, at the discretion
of the executive side on how
they would prefer to do that.
Um.
Great. Um, yeah. I think the
work this, this legislation
changes the code. Uh, then once
the code is changed, um, we
will encourage both the Board
of Ethics as well as the
executive to use their
appropriate outreach channels
to get the information to our
employees. Things like our
regular trainings will be one
method, uh, newsletters, emails
for managers will be another
will certainly use the news
media to enhance that. But it
s
one thing to have a rule, but
if it
s not broadly known, it
has no effect. So we look
forward to the next steps of
this being that outreach
process, which will, since the
overwhelming majority of
employees are within the
executive branch. Uh, we got to
make sure that that that will
happen moving forward. With
respect to the regular cadence,
uh, first let me say that, uh,
Councilmember Balducci has I
think, uh, taken on, uh,
laboring or on some additional
ethics, uh, reform that needs
to happen, including pulling
together a stakeholder group,
which I think is wise. It MAY
be as part of that review that
we look at a regular cadence of
review to make sure that, uh,
this code is updated from time
to time. The Board of Ethics
did weigh in recently, maybe a
little bit too late, but very
helpful still nonetheless. And
then we want to continue to
review, because we do have a
board that
s supposed to be
making these recommendations.
Of course, nothing stops us
from doing that as well.
Thank you, Vice Chair. Don.
Great question. Councilmember
Lewis. Um, Councilmember
Dembowski has something.
Thank you. Chair. Just adding
to the discussion and maybe
APRIL Sanders could supply some
precision here. But in the last
supplemental budget, we did
increase the fte authority for
the executive ethics function
and added some additional
dollars, uh, presumably to help,
um, educate and and ensure
compliance with this
legislation that we knew was
coming. I think it was a couple
FTEs or just shy of that.
Okay. Thank you. Uh
Councilmember Dembowski. Any
other questions? Oh, my
colleagues for staff or
comment. Okay. Not seeing any,
um. Let
s see. So technical
amendment has been moved. Uh.
No, it hasn
t yet.
I
ll move. Okay.
Would you.
Please I think there
s an
amendment. I think there
s two
amendments. So I
m happy to
move amendment one.
Amendment one. Okay. Thank you.
Amendment one is before us.
Would you like to speak to
amendment one? Uh, Vice Chair
Dan.
Just very generally it
s a
technical Stryker. And what it
does is it changes the language
since last meeting or meeting
before last, we put language in
regarding the inspector
general. This added and
acknowledges the existence of
that office. And so it
s a
technical Stryker, and I
d urge
your support.
Thank you. Any discussions from
my colleague on that amendment.
If I MAY.
She. Yes, Randy.
Go ahead. Um, there is actually
only one amendment, and the
technical amendment, um, is
related to a couple of, uh,
suggestions by the Board of
Ethics that really just cleans
up the language a little bit to
make it clearer to read. Okay.
Um, I
m not sure if
Councilmember Dunn has another
amendment that I
m not aware
of, but the one that I have
worked on is amendment one.
Will you.
Brief amendment one for us?
I just did amendment one.
That
s all you have. Okay.
That
s all you, Councilmember.
My understanding was what Randy
just spoke to was amendment
two. Sounds like, uh, amendment
one is the technical striker
that provides clarity as
recommended by the Board of
Ethics, and I certainly support
that as well. So, um, it
doesn
t change my motion for
amendment one. I just want to
make sure that what I
m putting
forward is properly labeled
within the council meeting
materials.
It is properly labeled. So the
additional materials packet
that went out this morning from
the clerk
s office, it is
labeled as amendment one. And
it is the only amendment in
that packet.
Very well then, uh, and that
will be all we
ll amend with
unless council members have an
additional amendment as well.
Okay. All those in favor of
amendment one say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed? Nay. Nay.
Amendment one is adopted.
Moving on to the underlying
ordinance as amended. And my
colleagues have any closing
comments before we proceed.
Sure.
Yeah. Uh, Council Member
Balducci, I think, followed by
Councilmember Dembowski.
He
s shaking his head. No.
Okay. Councilmember Balducci go
right ahead.
Um.
Thank you. Chair. I just wanted
to speak in favor of the
ordinance. I will be voting in
favor of the ordinance. I think
this is a very important change
in clarification. Uh, it is a
key feature of ethics code
ordinances in many, many
places. That individual
government employees should not
and cannot work on, uh,
contracts or other projects
that financially benefit their
relatives or or business
partners. Uh, and so, uh, this,
this, in my view, closes an
important hole that should have
been closed in our code
probably long ago. And I
m glad
we
re doing it now. Uh, just
wanted to quickly echo and
update from what Councilmember
Dunn said. Uh, it has been
brought to our attention as a
council that the ethics code,
on the whole, is really in need
of some updating and and
clarifying. And I have indeed
raised my hand to say that I
will work on a larger project
to try to clean up the code.
You will be hearing from our
office about this. We
ve had a
kickoff meeting with, uh,
stakeholders. We have assigned
staff and both central policy
staff and from the Ombuds
office to help carry the water.
And putting this together, it
s
going to be a longer road and a
more detailed progress project.
And to Councilmember Lewis
s
questions, uh, have spoken to
the executive
s office. They
will be included in the work
because they have some
interest, obviously, in this as
well. And a really important
need to have a clear enough
code to put together employee
training so that they can train
the staff and inform the staff
of what they need to do, and
they are observing that the
code in some places is not
clear enough to do a good job
of that. So they have a keen
interest in implementation and
in what the code should be, so
they will be part of it. The
Board of Ethics will also be
invited to participate and have
already expressed an interest
in participating. So much more
to come. But this is a really
important step and I
m very
happy to vote in favor today.
Thank you chair.
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci. Seeing no further
discussion, Claire Kay, will.
You please close.
To close to close.
Oh, sorry about that. Uh,
sponsor to close. Vice Chair
Dunn.
Uh, thanks very much. And thank
you, Chair Perry, for having
this in an expedited forum
today. And I want to thank, uh,
my colleagues, Councilmember
Billie Jean Louis, uh
Dembowski, and others for their
comments. And, uh, and smithing
this and making this better.
Uh, we have a board of ethics.
We should use them, continue to
use them and listen to what
they they have to say. We MAY
not always agree with them, but
they certainly have very
positive input. That
s
important. We should have a
regular update process. I want
to thank investigative
journalists like Lulu Ramadan
and, uh, and uh, David Gutman
and others for getting some
information that helped make
this legislation better. I
continue to believe the Fourth
Estate is an important part of
our democratic process, and
this is an example of that. Um,
this is a good, um, significant
piece of legislation.
Obviously, you shouldn
t be
doling out public dollars to
members of your family. It just
isn
t it just doesn
t pass the
laugh test. And it isn
t
appropriate. It might be
illegal, and there
s a lot of
other things there. And so we
have to make sure that we make
it clear up front through our
own ethics codes. Uh, that that
isn
t something we
re going to
stand for or tolerate. Um,
County has run into some
challenging issues of
perception, and I think for
good reason. And we
ve got a
lot of work in reform area to
continue forward on. I
ll be
driving that forward. Other
members of the council, uh, as
well, that I mentioned in these
comments and want to thank
Kevin Reichbauer for holding
this important legislation in
his committee and properly
addressing it. I would urge my
colleagues support, and let
s
take another step in making
King County, uh, a great county
running well and, uh, fully
reformed and paying great
attention to the tax dollars
that we are given, uh, control
over. I urge support.
Thank you, Vice Chair Dunn. Uh,
seeing no further discussion.
Clerk. Hey, will you please
call the roll?
Thank you. Chair. Perry
Councilmember Balducci.
Hi.
Council member Baron.
Hi.
Councilmember Dembowski.
I am.
Councilmember Dunn. I
Councilmember Fain.
I.
Member Lewis. I Councilmember
Mosqueda. Councilmember
Mosqueda. Councilmember von
Reichbauer.
All right.
Mosqueda.
Apologies.
Mosqueda votes.
I thank you.
And I got Councilmember von
Reichbauer chair Perry. I vote
is nine eyes and zero nose.
Thank you. By a vote we
ve
adopted proposed substitute
ordinance 2026 0126, as
amended. Turning next to item
seven and eight, which
concerned labor agreements.
Vice Chair Ron, will you please
move? Proposed ordinance 2026
0189.
So moved.
Thank you. Proposed ordinance
2026 says Dash 0189 is before
us. Before we proceed with
discussion, I
ll note that we
have Angela marshall, labor
relations interim director, and
John Woodcock, labor relations
negotiator from the executive
s
office, available to answer
questions. We also have Yusuf
al-Hamawi, union representative
for protec 17, available as
well. But first, I
d like to
ask Erika Newman from council
staff to brief the item. Erica,
please go ahead when you
re
ready.
Erica, you
re on mute.
There we go. Um, sorry about
that. Um, uh, Erica Newman,
Council central staff. The
proposed items, uh, the
proposed Ida, the item for
proposed ordinance 2026 0189,
begin on page 46 of your
packet. The proposed ordinance
would adopt the memorandum of
agreement that was negotiated,
became, uh County and 17, which
represents engineering services
manager, employees and the
Department of Natural Resources
and part um, this is from a
broader alignment within the
Solid Waste Division and the
county and protect 17. They
engaged in to discuss
operational concerns with the
operational structure of the
engineering and environmental
compliance work. Historically,
these functions were
consolidated under a single
engineering services manager
under the proposed structure,
the engineering Service Manager
classification would be able to
serve as the manager of an
engineering unit or the section
Manager responsible for
environmental science and
compliance. Um, the the
bargaining, the terms and
bargaining include, uh,
increasing the pay rate for the
engineering services manager,
which is currently at arrange
77 to arrange 78, and the King
County uh, square table uh. If
adopted, this agreement would
be considered effective. The
first day of the first full pay
period following the effective
date. Um, according to the
fiscal note, uh, the cumulative
total for the duration of the
agreement is a little over
$15,000 that would be expended
from the solid Waste Operating
Fund. Executive staff note that
there will be no supplemental
budget authority needed to
implement the agreement. MADAM
Chair, that concludes my
remarks.
Thank you very much, Erica.
With that, I
d like to ask if
there
s any discussion from my
colleagues opening this up so I
can see any hands or questions.
Okay. Not seeing any questions
from my colleagues. Let
s
proceed with a vote. Clerk.
Hey, will you please call the
roll?
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci. I Councilmember
Baron.
Hi.
Councilmember Dembowski.
Hi.
Councilmember Dunn. I
Councilmember Fain I remember,
Louis. I Councilmember
Mosqueda. I Councilmember von
Reichbauer.
I.
Chair Perry.
Hi.
Hello. It is nine I
s zero nos.
Thank you. Clerk. By our vote,
we
ve adopted proposed
ordinance 2026 0189. Turning
next to item eight, proposed
Ordinance 2026 0196. Vice Chair
Brown, will you please move
proposed ordinance 2026 0196..
So moved.
Thank you. The proposed
ordinance is before us. Before
we proceed with the discussion,
I
ll note that we have Maria
Williams, PRESIDENT Of the
director of Teamsters Local 117
and co-chair of the King County
Coalition of Unions, along with
Michael Gonzalez, senior
business agent for Teamsters
Local 174 and co-chair of the
King County Coalition of
Unions, available to answer any
questions. First, I
d like to
ask Erika Newman from council
staff to brief the item. Erika,
please go ahead when you
re
ready.
Thank you, MADAM Chair. Erika
and Council center staff the
items for proposed ordinance
20260167. Begin on page 50 of
your packet. Uh, the proposed
ordinance would adopt the four
successor agreement to the 2125
Forward Coalition labor
agreement. And, uh, between
King County and the coalition
of Unions, which represents
employees from the Department
of Natural Resources and Parks,
Department of Local Services
and the Department of Executive
Services. The changes are
consistent with the item County
labor policies. Bargaining
began in JUNE of 25 and
agreements were reached by the
end of MAY of 2026. The the
agreement would be. If adopted,
the agreement will cover the
period of JANUARY 1st, 26
through DECEMBER 31st of 28.
Um. This will be referred to as
appendix 160, which represents
um employees. Uh, like I said,
of Department of Natural
Resources and part local
services and Department of
Executive Services, these
employees usually hold the
title of truck drivers, sign
and marketing specialists. Uh
fleet uh divisions and road
signing services. Um, there
s
some notable changes to the
cla, which is which includes a
2.5% solid waste hauling of
equipment premiums, uh,
hazardous material endorsement
premium increase from $70 an
hour to $100 a month and added
theory delay pay employees
report to dash on will be
compensated. Their normal pay
for delay time when a scheduled
theory is canceled and there
are no remaining alternative
free books available within one
hour or less. Um, after that,
council votes, there will be
changes to our weather related,
such as snow and ice alert.
Work overtime will be paid when
weather events require
alteration of shifts without
required advance notifications.
Uh, there
s going to be a
adding added bargaining
reopening to establish, uh,
sorry, uh, to establish a
discipline matrix, uh, to cover
instances of motor vehicle and
or equipment accidents,
property damages, snp
violations, um, and then the
other one is they
re going to
pilot establishing of regular
Friday and start time for solid
waste division truck drivers.
Um, and yeah there
s uh,
they
re going to also do some
17 work schedules from Monday
from a Monday through Sunday
workweek, Tuesday through
Monday work week. The
cumulative total to implement
the, um, the cumulative total
for the duration of there is a
little it
s almost $9 million,
which will be extended from,
um, the way operating from the
county Road Fund and the parks
levy operating fund. Um,
according to this, executive
staff will be the supplemental
budget authority, uh, needed to
implement this approved. MADAM
Chair, that concludes my
remarks.
Thank you very much. Erica. Do
my colleagues have any
questions, comments, discussion
at this point? Okay.
MISTER Chair Perry.
Yes.
Um.
Councilmember Lewis, thank you.
Thank you. Um, I would just
like to say that I was really
pleased to see the, um, the
bilingual pay, um, provision
in, uh, in the agreement. And I
appreciate the Teamsters and,
um, the county negotiating
that. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.
Okay, seeing no further
discussion, let
s proceed to
the vote. Clerk, will you
please call the roll?
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci.
I.
Councilmember Marone. I
Councilmember Dembowski. I
Councilmember Dunn. I
Councilmember Fain. I
Councilmember. I Councilmember
Mosqueda. I it
s a member von
Reichbauer.
I.
Hear Perry. I vote is nine I
zero no
s.
Thank you. Uh, by our vote
we
ve adopted proposed
ordinance 2026-0196. Thank you.
Turning now to hearing examiner
consent agenda items nine and
ten. Clerk. Hey, will you
please read the items into the
record?
Thank you. Chair. Perry, item
nine is proposed. Substitute
ordinance number 2026 0091,
concurring with a
recommendation of the hearing
examiner to approve, subject to
conditions, the application for
both benefit rating system
assessed valuation for Open
Space. Submitted by Deborah
Mallory and John Van. Wiring
for property located in
Enumclaw and item ten is
proposed subsidy Ordinance
Number 2026 0120, authorizing
the vacation of a portion of
County Road 393 se Twist Road
and Enumclaw file number be
2776 for petitioners Alexis and
Devin Jones and Garth Cook.
Thank you very much. Council
member Fain, will you please
move consent agenda items nine
and ten.
So moved.
Thank you. Consent agenda items
nine and ten. And before us.
Clerk, will you please call the
roll?
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci. I Councilmember
Baron..
Hi.
Councilmember Dembowski.
Hi.
Councilmember Dunn..
Hi.
Councilmember Fain. I
Councilmember Lewis. I
Councilmember Mosqueda. I
Councilmember von Reichbauer. I
you
re Perry.
I.
Go to nine eyes zero noes.
Thank you. By your vote we
ve
adopted proposed substitute
ordinances 2026 0091 and 0120.
Turning next to the motion
consent agenda. Vice chair,
will you please move consent
agenda item 11.
I move item 11.
Consent agenda item is before
as clerk, will you please call
the roll?
Thank you.
Councilmember Balducci I.
Council member Baron.
Aye.
Councilmember Dembowski
enthusiastically I.
Never done. I.
Fain. I Councilmember Lewis. I
Councilmember Mosqueda. I
Councilmember von Reichbauer. I
chair.
Perry I.
Vote is nine eyes zero noes.
Thank you bio but we
ve adopted
proposed motion 2026 0115.
Turning the final action item
on today
s agenda item 12,
which is motion approving the
job description for the
position of Inspector General
Vice Chair Baron, will you
please move? Proposed motion
2026 0197.
So moved.
Thank you. Proposed motion 2026
0197 is before us. Before we
proceed, I will briefly share
that the reason we relieved the
committee of this item to take
action today was to ensure that
we could begin the Inspector
General recruitment process in
earnest, with council recess
beginning next week. The
Employment and Administration
Committee, eac, will not be
meeting again until SEPTEMBER.
This is where this conversation
is usually held. It
s important
that we begin this process
expeditiously, so that the
Inspector General can begin the
crucial work of standing up the
infrastructure of the office as
soon as possible. With that, I
will note that we have
Stephanine Cirkovich Chief of
Staff on the council available
to answer any questions before
I open it up to my colleagues,
I
d like to ask Councilmember
Dembowski if you
d like to
provide any other opening
remarks.
Uh, thank you very much, chair.
And this is the follow on step
following approval of the
Office of Inspector General
that we did a week or two ago,
I wanted to just express deep
gratitude to our council Chief
of staff, Stephanine Cirkovich,
for accelerating the process
here. We were looking at a
couple of months through an eac
process, and she really jumped
on it and did a great bit of
research. Looking around the
country and inspectors, general
positions and scopes of work.
Uh, then the draft was shared
out and a number of our
colleagues provided some
suggestions, I think, all of
which were were included or
will be and, uh, just really
pleased to see the forward
momentum on this to get the
recruitment going. And I
suspect we
re going to have a
lot of great candidates. It
s
an it
s a really nicely done
job description, and I
m
looking forward to seeing our
applicants. So thanks for your
leadership, Chair Perry. And as
chair of the Employment
Administration Committee and
the Council and expediting this
through and making sure we, uh,
got it before everybody today.
I appreciate you very much.
Thank you. Council Member
Dembowski, for your sponsorship
and leadership on this. Is
there any are there any other
comments from my colleagues?
Okay.
I just want to say thank you to
this.
Council member Balducci.
Thank you. Chair, I just want
to say thank you to the
sponsor, uh, and your office
for seeking and incorporating
feedback. Uh, we provided a
couple of thoughts, and they
show up very beautifully in
this current draft, and that
really makes it easy to move
forward quickly. So really
appreciate that effort. And I
support the, uh, I support the
both the proposal and the
expeditious nature of the
process.
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci. Uh, seeing no
further, we have a an amendment
which attaches the job
description to the motion.
Councilmember Dembowski, please
move. Amendment one.
So moved.
Thank you. Amendment one is
before us. Any discussion from
colleagues seeing no discussion
on amendment. Let
s proceed
with the vote. All those in
favor of amendment one say I.
Aye.
All those opposed. Nay.
Amendment one is adopted. Any
final closing remarks before we
proceed with the final adoption
of the underlying motion? Okay.
Seeing no further discussion,
clerk, will you please call the
roll?
Thank you. Councilmember
Balducci.
Hi, Councilmember.
Hi.
Councilmember. Dembowski.
Aye. Councilmember Dunn.
I Councilmember.
Fain I.
Councilmember Lewis. I
Councilmember Mosqueda. I
Councilmember von Reichbauer.
I.
Chair Perry.
I I
m.
In our meeting.
The vote is nine I zero no.
Uh thank you. By our vote,
we
ve adopted proposed motion
2026 0197, as amended. If
there
s no objection, the
publish marked agenda, together
with any changes made in
today
s meeting, we
ll stand
approved as the first reading
and referral of ordinances and
motions. Items 13 through 23,
as listed. And before we
adjourn, I
ll note we have a
proclamation celebrating
India
s Independence Day being
presented in community by
Councilmember von Reichbauer.
Additionally, I want to take a
brief moment to announce the
names of the nominees to fill
Council nominated At-Large
vacancy on the Conservation
Futures Advisory Committee.
Ellen Sheffer, Jamie Strobel,
Masa Clements, Jane Boyce.
Before we move on, I want to
briefly recognize Vice Chair
Barone to say a few final words
after the recent tragedy at the
bite of Seattle, Councilmember
Baron.
Thank you, Chair Perry, and I
appreciate your taking a
beginning of the meeting with
with a moment of silence. I
also wanted to take a moment to
acknowledge the horrific
incident that took place this
weekend. Industry for at the
Bite of Seattle event in
Seattle Center. I believe I
speak for everybody here when I
say that our hearts are with
the victims of this tragedy,
their families and loved ones
and everyone who has been
impacted, and that we
re
grateful for the prompt actions
of first responders, including
Seattle police and fire
departments and the staff of
our own county hospital,
Harborview Medical Center. So
thank you on everybody
s and
our thoughts.
Thank you very much. Vice chair
maroon. With that, I want to
share a quick reminder to the
public that the council will be
observing our annual AUGUST
recess from AUGUST 3rd through
AUGUST 14th. The council will
not be meeting during this
time, and our next regularly
scheduled council meeting will
be held on Tuesday, AUGUST
18th. With that, do my
colleagues have any other
business for the good of the
order? Seeing no further
business before us, the meeting