I’d like to welcome you to the August 18th, 2026 meeting of the King County Council. My name is Jorge Baron. I have the privilege of serving as vice chair of the council. I will be acting as chair today. I’m joined by my colleagues. Council colleagues here today and online.
And this meeting is called to order. Before we begin, please join me in acknowledging that we are on the traditional lands of the Salish peoples, past and present.
We thank these caretakers of this land who have lived here and continue to live here since time immemorial, bringing their cultural ways of life and greatly enriching our communities. With that. Clerk Foss, would you please call the roll? Thank you. Chair. Baron Councilmember Balducci. here. Council member Dembowski here. Council member. Dunn. Councilmember Fain here. Councilmember Mosqueda. Councilmember. Louis. Councilmember Mosqueda. Here. Council. Perry. Councilmember von Reichbauer. Here. Chair. Baron. Here. You have a quorum. Wonderful. Thank you very much.
Next, I will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. So if you’re here in chambers, please stand. If you’re able. I pledge allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, and. Thank you very much.
Next, we’ll have approval of the minutes. Vice chair Dunn. May I please have a motion to approve the minutes of the July 21st, 2026 and July 28th, 2026 Council meetings. Move approval. Of July 21st and July 28th, 2026 meeting minutes. Thank you very much. The motion is before us. Are there any comments or questions regarding the minutes? Seeing none.
All those in favor, please say aye. Aye aye aye. Any opposed? Please say nay. The minutes are approved. Clerk Foss, I understand that we have some additions to the Council agenda. I have one item being added to the agenda today. It’s item 2820 260207.
A motion accepting a King County regional Homelessness Authority contract transition plan and report providing responses to motion 16970. And this item is being referred to the Committee of the whole. Thank you very much. We’re going to turn next to a special item, which is a proclamation of August 18th, 2026, as Dolores Dane, King County, Councilmember Dembowski, and the Chief Operating Officer for Executive Sarlahi.
Kim will be presenting this item. So I would invite you to come to the podium and, get started whenever you’re ready. Thank you very much, chair and colleagues. It’s my pleasure. Today, uh, to present a very special proclamation on behalf of the Council and the executive, uh, declaring August 18th, 2026. Dolores Day in King County.
I’m really happy to be joined by our King County chief operations officer, Hale Kim. Uh, and together, we’re going to share a few remarks about a very special person who has lived a tremendous life in King County and made an incredible difference for so many folks.
Uh, but before we get into the proclamation, those remarks, I thought I would let Ko Kim say a few words as well. Thank you. Council member Dembowski, on behalf of Executive Zahilay, I just wanted to acknowledge and thank Randy, you and your family for being here on behalf of your mother.
Um, it means so much to me as a young person who got started in politics. I think Dolores was one of the first people that I got to meet, and she was already retired, but still a force of nature. And like so many people, I think, that have read about her life and are going to enjoy reading some more. In her new memoir.
Um, I think it is such an inspiration to not only past generations, but to future generations to know that she broke so many barriers. She was such a trailblazer, and she was so courageous in the face of incredible, incredible, systemic challenges, many of which we still face today.
But she led the way in breaking barriers that I think so very few of us can really, truly appreciate. So on behalf of executive administration, I joined Councilmember Dembowski in just expressing our deep appreciation to your mother’s leadership.. Very nice.
Um, Dolores turned 95 years old just a few days ago on August 12th. Um, she was the first Filipino American to graduate from the University of Washington journalism program in 1952. She was the first Filipino American man or woman attorney in the state of Washington. In 1973. She served here at the King County Council as a legislative aide to groundbreaking Councilmember Ruby Chow.
Uh, after leaving the county council, she worked in the county’s Office of Civil Rights. She was the first woman of color to serve on the Seattle City Council, starting in 1978, where she led the push for Seattle’s first affirmative action ordinance and funding for parks and recreation programs.
Dolores, Zamboanga was the first female executive of the Washington State Human Rights Commission. She served on the King County Board of Tax Appeals and Equalization until just very recently. Her family, where she got started as a little girl, uh, ran a cafe in the Chinatown International District.
She a pioneering Filipino business in our community, and she writes about that experience in her new memoir, which I commend to everybody. Um, she and her late husband, Martin, published the Filipino Forum, a community newspaper which advocated for and coalition led civil rights for the Filipino American community in the 1970s. And she paved the way for women of color to seek and win elected office. She has written the memoir, which I mentioned. I commend it to everybody.
And here at the county. Now, as you all know, for a number of years we have run a program called the Ruth Wu Emerging Leaders Fellowship. Uh, I think we’ve had 50 young people, maybe more, a little less. We’re hoping for 50 soon. Come through the program. Uh, but it would not.
We would not have the program which brings young people who traditionally don’t have access to opportunities in government into the halls of power here at the county to learn about careers and to be able to serve across our various departments. Uh, the idea came from Dolores and her good friend Joan Yoshitomo.
Uh, they came to see then Councilmember McDermott and I many years ago now and asked that we form it. And it’s been a very successful program, and it is consistent with the life that she has led. Uh, in terms of building systems to create pathways of opportunity for those who, uh, Hale talked about might not otherwise have as easy access to it.
So she has done an incredible amount of civic work in her time here, and we wanted to take a moment to recognize her today. And with that, maybe Q Kim, you could help me read the proclamation. Absolutely. All right. Would you like to go first? Thank you.
Whereas Dolores was born on August 12th, 1931, growing up in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, where her family ran the Iroquois Cafe. A pioneer of business in Filipino town. And whereas Dolores is a trailblazer in many different fields. As I mentioned, she was the first Filipino American attorney in the state of Washington.
In 1973, the first female executive of the Washington State Human Rights Commission. In 1975, and the first woman of color to serve on the Seattle City Council in 1978. And whereas. During her time on Seattle City Council, she led the push for Seattle’s first affirmative action ordinance, elevated workers rights and employment issues, championed economic development, and fought discrimination against women of color, and.
Whereas her public service extends beyond elected office, and she served on several public service commissions, including the Washington Horse Racing Commission, the State Human Rights Commission, and our own King County Board of Tax Appeals and Equalization. And Whereas.
Throughout her life, Dolores has been a voice for the community, with a journalism career spanning across print, television, and eventually garnering an Emmy nomination for her work with KOMO TV. And Whereas. In the spring of 2017, Dolores Vega and John Yoshitomo approached the county about creating the Ruth Wu Emerging Leaders Fellowship to honor their late friend Ruth Wu and provide disadvantaged young people with opportunities in government. And whereas.
, in these ways and countless others, Dolores shines as an advocate, a leader, a trailblazer, and a role model. Now, therefore, we, the Metropolitan King County Council and the King County Executive, proclaim August 18th, 2026, as Dolores Day O. In King County. In recognition of her achievements and contributions to the community. All right.
As Dolores texted me and Christina recently, we’re going to go try and see her. She said. The mind is willing, but the body isn’t. Um. We’ve both. She’s been in touch with us today, and she.
Sorry she can’t be here, but, um, one of my favorite constituents in Lake Forest Park, her daughter Randy is here, and I wondered if you might want to come up and say a few words. I am. Honored to represent mom today. Um, she turned 95 last week, and her mind is keen as ever, but her body, unfortunately, is really failing her.
Otherwise, she would be here today to express her deepest gratitude for this recognition. Mom isn’t one to ever expect or want accolades for her achievements. So over the years, any number of community folks would urge her to write her memoir.
Um, she finally capitulated after realizing that, oh my goodness, this history of growing up in Chinatown in the 30s needed to be captured. Um, and also that if her story would inspire anyone, particularly young people, to become activists and advocates, then it would be worth it. So at 90, for her book The Best Adobo in Town was birthed.
Um, mom, I asked mom to think about three, uh, key life lessons that she’d want to share with you all today. The first is, and I think she talks about this in her book, When Doors Open, walk through them and she speaks about folks who came before her. Trailblazers like Ruby, Councilmember Ruby Chow, um, publisher Victor Velasco.
And throughout her career, she’s also tried to do the same. Um, and as she’s been declining in health, so many people have stepped forward and she’s just been so comforted by the fact that, um, people tell her it’s because of you that I went to law school.
It’s because of you that I got into journalism and decided to run for public office. The second is, you need to have a seat at the table if you want to make a difference. Um, be the advocate for folks who don’t have a voice. And finally, um, know your worth and never stop fighting for justice. Thank you again. Oh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We’ll just do a little.
Photo right here. Okay. Alex, if you want to join. Uh Councilmember Dembowski. This is is. I speak. East Tulsa, okay. I don’t want to. Because. So. Great. You’re here. Yeah. There’s two. Of us. Oh, beautiful. She’ll put it on display. Good. Thank you very much. Councilmember Dembowski and CEO Kim for that presentation.
Uh, we are now going to turn to the reading of items into the record and the hearing of public comments. Uh, but before we start that, um, before the clerk reads the items into the record, we have a handful of procedural matters to take care of colleagues. So bear with me here.
Uh, first Vice Chair Dunn, will you please make a motion to relieve the local Services and Land Use Committee for items seven and eight. Move to relieve the local Services and land use Committee for items both seven and eight. Thank you very much. That motion is before us. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, please say nay.
The motion is approved. Next. Council member Dembowski, will you please make a motion to remove item nine from the consent agenda? So moved. Thank you. The motion is before us. All those in favor say aye. Aye, aye. Those opposed say nay. The motion is approved.
Turning to our next procedural matter, which concerns agenda item 13, the sponsor of this legislation, Councilmember Dembowski, has requested this item not be taken up today and is to be placed on the agenda for first reading and referral. This item will therefore be referred to the transportation, Economy and Environment Committee.
I understand that Councilmember Dembowski would like to make a few remarks, so please go ahead, Councilmember Busk. Thank you, Mister Chair. Um, this particular ordinance is is unusual in nature, I acknowledge, and it relates to a service change that is occurring largely in my district related to route 372, a very popular route that basically runs from UW Bothell to the UW main campus, right
down what I call the spine of my district, which is State Route 522 Bothell Way, Lake City Way. Depending on where you are on it. It’s a real workhorse route. It has been for many years. It’s the interestingly, the most popular University of Washington.
You pass route, uh, in 2025, they had 919,000 boardings. Using a you pass on route 372, a lot of riders, uh, it’s going away in a couple of weeks, and it’s caused a lot of concern in my district.
I think all of you received a letter, uh, signed on by a number of folks, including, uh, cities of Lake Forest Park, the city of Kenmore, City of Bothell, the North Urban Human Services Alliance, um Transit Riders Union, the Urbanist, shoreline, um Lake City Business Alliance, the Non Drivers Alliance, and others. Um, it’s in my time here on the council. I’ve done a lot of service changes and when you eliminate a route, it’s usually not very popular.
People don’t like to see their routes go away, and sometimes it’s hard to see the replacement routes. But this one has caused quite a bit of challenges. Um, I had the ordinance drafted introduced because there was some communication from Metro at a presentation to the Lake Forest Park City Council, and then also in some written
communication, basically kind of saying, well, the county council did this and it would take a legislative act to undo it. Um, which is true. But really what we did was adopt the Metro proposal. Um, and uh, I was in communication with Metro in the office.
I thought perhaps there might be given the great interest in the route. A pause, administrative pause, and they might need a legislative companion to endorse that. So, um, I’m not asking for a vote here today because it’s not practical. The way we run routes, um, you know, routes are picked by our drivers.
You got to have the equipment to run it. Um, there’s a lot that goes into a service change, but I did want to take a few moments to just acknowledge that this is a difficult change for the community. We included in our budget a proviso asking for a Gaps analysis to see how we might.
We’ll see the impacts of this and then see how we might address it later. But the core of it is, um, a lot of one seat rides can serve a lot of communities, including the struggling community of of Lake City, where we’ve lost a number of drugstores and grocery stores.
Um, are going to have some challenges getting through this corridor. There’s definitely replacement service coming to connect to light rail. Um, but for certain rides, it’s not as convenient and not as effective. And and the transfers around 145 Lake City were particularly challenging. So I guess what I wanted to say is, um, I appreciate the outreach from the community.
We are going to keep working on service in this in this area. And, um, but this this is not ready, ready to take action on practically. So thanks for letting me share a few words. And thanks for Metro for being here. Thank you very much. Councilmember Dembowski.
Um, we will move forward then with that. Uh, Clerk Foss, will you please read the items into the record? Thank you. Item number six, proclamation of August 18th is Dolores Day and King County. Item seven is proposed. Motion 2026 0168. Appointing a qualified person to position number two on fire. District number 24. Board of commissioners.
Item eight is proposed. Motion 2026 0169 appointing a qualified person to position three on the fire district. Number 24. Board of commissioners. Item nine is proposed. Substitute ordinance 2026 0097 relating to the sale of surplus property.
Parcel 1521049016 located near South 328th Street and Military Road, South Federal Way, Washington and Council District seven, item number ten is proposed ordinance 2026 0117 authorizing the County Executive to enter into an interlocal agreement for the provision of autopsy and forensic pathology services by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office to Skagit County. Item 11 is proposed.
Substitute Ordinance 2026 0161, authorizing the execution of a new lease to support the operation of Department of Public Health. Item 12 is 2026 0165, an ordinance that adopts the Harborview Medical Center. 2027 Capital Improvement Program annual budget for the year ending June 30th, 2027, and makes appropriations for the capital improvements for the Harborview Medical Center. Item 18 is proposed.
Substitute motion 2026 0119 acknowledging receipt of the Harbor Island Studio Assessment Report required by the 2026 2027 Biennial Budget Ordinance. Item 19 proposed Motion 2026 0146 acknowledging receipt of the Harbor Island Surplus analysis as required by the 2026 2027 Biennial Budget Ordinance. Item 20 is proposed. Substitute motion 2026 0145 acknowledging receipt of the Harborview Medical Center Long Range Planning Committee plan required by the 2026 2027 Biennial Budget Ordinance.
And item 21 is proposed. Motion 2026 0213, confirming the executive’s reappointment of Francesca Renoir, who resides in Council District two to the King County Landmarks Commission as a representative of professionals with experience in historic preservation related disciplines. Thank you very much.
Clerk Fox appreciated the Council will now take public comment on those ordinances, motions, proclamations and recognitions on today’s agenda for action. Listening to the public and taking into consideration the public’s thoughts is an important part of our process and one that enhances our deliberations in order to allow everyone equal time to provide. Comment I would like to set the following ground rules. Please limit comments to two minutes.
Remain seated until time for your public comment, and do not make audible noises during the meeting without being recognized. This is 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 council rules. Disruptive behavior can or may lead to an audience member being asked to leave the meeting. In addition to the behavior already mentioned.
This includes holding signs that obstruct the free passenger view of others attending the meeting, or holding signs at the podium while providing comment and the use of bullhorns or noisemakers for online comment. Press star nine on the phone or click the raise hand icon on the zoom toolbar, located at the bottom of the screen, to notify the clerk.
The clerk will call the names of the or the last three digits of the phone numbers in order, and will then unmute each line at the end of each comment. The clerk will lower hands with that clerk. Mueller, 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 Alex Zimmerman. Thank you very much. Hi. My name Alex Zimmerman. I president of Stand Up America.
Mr. Zimmerman, keep the sign up. Thank you. Yeah yeah yeah I rules very important who destroy rules will go in jail. Yes. So because I know council Dembowski for many years. You know what this means. So I want speaking about buses proposition. What is he did so for ten years. Very interesting situation. Come to Seattle.
The Seattle is King County to. So ten year ago Council make third street only for buses. Smarter day. Exactly. Absolutely. So for ten years I’m talking why buses have a special street number three in downtown. You know what is mean.
But most buses go in street for why? What is the reason for this? Who these people with soft brain who cannot fix this problem is idiotic situation. Please cost us a million bucks. And this complication. Because four in downtown is very busy. So these buses make situation complicated, dangerous and cost a ton of money.
I don’t understand who this freaking idiot who different in approximately 3040ft from one line to another cannot move buses to street number three. And I token, this doesn’t time for three for ten years and nothing happened. No one. Sorry man, without brain, you know what this mean? One fixes this.
So my question right now why people in King County, you know, what is men don’t understand says I, African and Nazi buster. You know fascist. You know what is mean? What is not care about people, money. Viva Trump. Even your American Revolution. It’s very complicated. Stand up Slovene happy cows, very complicated. Make one third avenue. Thank you. Your time is up. The next name on the list is Yvette Danish. Welcome, Yvette. So this is.
A quick aside. I didn’t know that we’re here long. She’s just so secret. I had to comment out of. So no. Uh. Good afternoon. Yvette. Donna, I’m from the South End, and, uh, the the Lord’s day was remarkable because the honors her achievements and advocacy, which in turn reminded me of another female trailblazer,
Jennifer Dunn, which in turn reminded me of her son, Councilmember Reagan Dunn, which in turn are brought to mind the article in the Seattle Times that he wrote saying that the Seattle region’s approach to homelessness needs a complete overhaul and that it does.
And in particular, I refer to the last paragraph in which he states that King County and Seattle have an opportunity to move beyond the false choice between compassion and accountability. We need both a successful system to invest in our diversity of solutions, but not shy away from holding people accountable and intervening when people are too sick to help themselves. Other jurisdictions are proving that these strategies work.
Local leaders should implement them here and revert to failed policy. Experiments over the last decade. Well written and I totally agree with what he had to say. Thank you. Thank you. Reagan all signed that. If you want an autographed copy of it. Well. Yeah, I’m serious. If you want. Thank you very much.
Let’s go to. the next one. Next speaker. Gotcha. That’s good buddy. The next name on the list is Joe Kunstler. Craigslist. Joe. Hi, everybody. Can you hear me? Yes. Great. Joe Kunstler here. Always happy to call in. I understand what your Councilmember Dembowski needs. A bus saved from Nazis.
And, uh, I very much support his efforts today. I think it’s important we have neighborhood service. I think it’s important that we have democratic representation over public transportation. And I believe that route free 72 should be renamed the Dombrowski route. Um, to remain consistent with all my teachings.
Like, for instance, we should name the East Main station the Claudia duty station. Hi, Claudia. And we should also, um, you know what? What? We’re, uh, yammering away here. Um, you know, really make sure that, uh, King County metro is responsive to the local residents and fans of King County Metro, especially as I’ll be writing Sound Transit tomorrow to go to the airport.
So I want to thank you for public service. And, uh, and I’ll leave it at that. Thank you. Thank you. Joe. Chair Barone, there are currently no. All right. Seeing no further requests for public comment, we will close public comment for today.
Uh, turning to the first action items on today’s agenda item seven and eight, which concerned appointments to the fire district. Number 24, Board of commissioners. Uh Councilmember Fain. Will you please move? Proposed motion 2026 0168. So moved. Thank you very much. Proposed motion 2026 0168 is before us.
Uh, before we proceed, I will note that since the Local Services and Land Use Committee has been relieved of, item seven and eight will begin with a briefing from Sherrie Hsu, from council staff. After the briefing, colleagues can ask any questions with central staff, and then we’ll move on to the next part of the appointment process. With that. Sherry, please go ahead when you’re ready. Thank you. Vice Chair Brown.
Good afternoon. I’m Sherrie Hsu with council staff and the materials for this item begin on page 32 of the meeting packet. Um, the clerk also emailed some additional materials out to members this morning. Before you today are two motions.
Proposed motion 2026 0168 and 0169, which would fill two vacant positions on the fire district number 24, Board of Commissioners. All three board positions are currently vacant, and the district has not held any elections for commissioners since 2013.
Under state law, if there are less than two members of a governing body for a special purpose district, then the legislative authority of the county is responsible for appointing physicians until the body has two members, and then those two commissioners have 90 days to fill the remaining vacancy. As a brief background, Fire district 24 is a small special purpose district located in unincorporated King County.
There is a map on the screen, um, and it’s in between the cities of Tukwila, Kent and SeaTac. Uh, just some brief history. Originally included what is now the city of SeaTac. Uh, the city was incorporated in 1989. Um, just 2% of the district at that time remain outside of that area. And then ten years later, in 22,009, um, three fourths of the district was annexed by the city of Tukwila.
So the district currently does not provide direct fire services. Instead, there is an MoU under which Tukwila provides services to a portion of the district that is within Tukwila.
Potential annexation area, and then under another legacy agreement with the city of SeaTac, the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority provides services to the remainder of the district, which is in the City of Kent’s potential annexation area.
Um under state law, by June 1st of each year, the county’s auditor, which in the case of King County is the Department of Elections, is required to search records and then notify the legislative authority, which in the case of King County is you, the council, um, if any special purpose districts are appear to be inactive after this notice from elections, the council is required to hold a public hearing before September 1st to determine whether these districts are meeting the criteria for being inactive.
Every year since 2000, 22, elections has notified the council of the apparently inactive status of this district. Um, as I mentioned, elections has no record that the district has held any elections for commissioners since 2013, and the state Auditor also declared the district as quote unquote, unaudited in its report from 2021.
The council has provided a public hearing in accordance with state law each year since 2022, and it has chosen to defer action. The next hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, August 25th. So that brings us to today.
As I mentioned, all three positions are currently vacant, and the proposed motions would fill positions two and three, after which the two commissioners would then have 90 days to fill the remaining vacancy for position one. If those two commissioners do not fill that position, this will come back to you, and the Council will then have 180 days to fill the third position.
Uh, as far as terms go, any of the positions appointed by council would be held until the next general election in 2027. And then after that election, position one would be a two year term. Position two would be a four year term, and position three would be a six year term to stagger those.
Next up for the district, due to the apparent inactivity of the district and the need to continue to provide ongoing services, the council has considered different options over the years regarding the future of the district, and one potential would be a proposal to merge the district with Fire District 37. Filling the board would allow the commissioners to work together to determine the next steps on their own.
Um proposed motion 2026 0168 would appoint Mr. Anton, Joseph, Zach or Tony to fill position number two on the board. Uh, he grew up in the neighborhood associated with Fire District 24 and has served as a commissioner for King County Drainage District Number two and has experience in fund accounting from working with Kent School District.
Proposed motion 2026 0169 would appoint Mr. James Donald Hopf or Jim to fill position number three on the board. He has lived in Fire District number 24 with his family for ten years, and has experience in account management. Uh, Mr. Hoff is with us today for an interview. And since Mr.
Dragon wasn’t able to join, uh, I believe Councilmember Fain office has distributed written responses to the interview questions. And as I mentioned, you all have the resumes in your email as well. Thank you. Thank you very much, cherry. Appreciate that report. Uh, do my colleagues have any questions for Sherry or comments for discussion before we proceed? Kent Councilmember Fain.
Thank you. No questions. Just would like to speak to it. Thank you. Thank you all for, uh, allowing these appointments to bypass the committee.
For context, they were referred to committee, but because of timing and, um, somewhat urgent need to move this along, we asked the chair to bring them directly to us at council for consideration today. So, uh, motion 0168 relating to, uh, Mr. Reagan’s appointment is before us, but I’m going to speak to, um, well, what I speak to will apply to both. So we’ll save some time here.
Um, this is an unusual situation that has been unresolved for a long time. As you heard, uh, fire district 24 sits in unincorporated district five. We had put the map up earlier. Just, um, to illustrate that the unincorporated area is in red. Uh, here in the center of the page, it sits somewhat of as an island.
Um, you’ll see to the west it sits SeaTac, directly to the east is Tukwila in the darker yellow and then pale yellow to the east and south sits Kent, and then Des Moines is in the orange there. Um, it is complicated, as you can imagine, with several different potential annexation areas with Tukwila and Kent. Um, and then SeaTac also providing some services there.
So, um, residents, I do want to reiterate, residents, uh, do receive fire service, so they’re not without fire service, but it’s through existing agreements and there’s no functioning board of commissioners to oversee the district or oversee any outstanding financial issues or even really address the future of this district.
So over the past seven months, our offices work closely with our local and regional affairs team and the residents of the district to identify available options and identify um residents who are willing to serve as commissioners, for which we are very grateful.
Um, after many conversations and meetings with property owners and residents, I agree with the residents that appointing commissioners is the next best next step. It restores local representation, gives the residents a direct role in addressing the district’s outstanding issues and and ability to work on the best long term plan.
As you’ve heard from Sherry’s report, um, council has previously considered other options for the district, including a potential merger with another fire district. But rather than us making that decision for them, these appointments give residents a more direct role in determining what comes next. So with that, I am pleased to sponsor both appointments.
But the first one here before us today is the appointment of, um, Mr. Anton Reagan. And he is a lifelong resident of the Fire District. He was not able to join us today. So he has submitted written comments, responses to questions that we provided ahead of time with your office’s collaboration.
Um, those have been emailed and a hard copy, I believe is at your desk. Um, I think that restoring a functional board is going to be the best path forward. Gives residents a voice in what happens in their district going forward, and ask for your support.
Um, again, for both, I want to thank our local and regional affairs team, especially Tom Goff and Tanya Medaka, for their work with residents in this small unincorporated area over many years. Um, I also want to thank Sherrie Hsu for providing policy support. Kendall Morris provided a fair number of or a fair amount of legal guidance. So thank you.
Um, and a special thanks to my district manager, Cimarron Paddle, for leading this effort. It is, um, been complicated. So, with that support, appointment number one, which is, um, motion. Sorry, I lost that. 260168. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Councilmember Fain appreciate your work on this.
Uh, to to try to resolve this issue, uh, as colleagues, as we heard, our first candidate, Mr. Gregory, is not available to join us. Um, but the materials were distributed to council members in the first green folder sent at 10:09 a.m. today. Do my colleagues have any discussion? Um, further discussion or questions regarding the candidate, his qualifications before we proceed with a vote? Anything further from Councilmember Fain? All right.
Clerk Foss, will you please call the roll on this motion? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci. High. Council member Dembowski. I. Councilmember Dunn. Aye. Councilmember Fain. I Councilmember Louis. Councilmember Mosqueda. I Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. I. Jerry Bratton. I the vote is seven I’s and council members Lewis and Perry excused.
Thank you very much. By our vote, we have adopted proposed motion 2026 0168. Congratulations to Anton, and thank you very much for your willingness to serve. We are now going to turn to item eight, which is the second appointment to the fire district number 24 board.
We will be interviewing the candidate today. Councilmember Fain, will you please move? Proposed motion 2026 0169. So moved. Thank you very much. That motion is before us. Sherry already gave us a briefing, so I would like not to invite James Hough to join us. He’s at the table there. Thank you very much for your willingness to serve.
Um, uh, we, um, are going to have a series of three quick questions for you to answer. I’ll be asking the first question. Councilmember Fain what’s the second question of Councilmember Dunn last, third question? And then, uh, let’s get us started.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your qualifications to be a commissioner for Fire Protection. District number 24. Um, yes. Hi. Thank you for having me today. Um, and thank you for Steffanie Fain Councilmember Fain, uh, staff. That’s been amazing through this whole process. Um, I didn’t know such issues existed when I moved into this, um, beautiful piece of property that we have.
And, um, when I first started getting all of the letters, I was like, oh, somebody else is going to take care of this, you know, it’s it’s not can’t be me.
Like, I’m like, I’m not qualified to do any of this stuff and then realize that we are in a very small district and there really isn’t a whole lot of other options. And so when, um, council member Fein’s uh, staff reached out to me, finally answered, I’m like, what’s what’s going on here? Like what? What can I, you know, is this a spam email or spam call? Like, you know, you get all these things like, yeah, sure,
sure, buddy. Um, but but you know, realize Tom did a great job of, uh, outlining what it was that was in front of us and what we needed to do. Um, the whole staff has been great.
And and bringing this to my attention and knowing that it’s not a spam issue. And, um, so who am I? Uh, James Hoff? I grew up here. Uh, I grew up, born in Seattle, grew up on the East side. Um, moved out to Enumclaw, uh, quickly started a company back in 2000.
We moved to Kent, and, um, I’ve been running a trade show exhibit, uh, company for the last 25 years. Uh, we’ve kind of. We started this company in 2000, quickly had to deal with that 11 and being a live events company, that was an easy, uh, then, you know, 2007, 2010 happened and we had to navigate the whole economic downturn.
Um, and then Covid was the real, um, one that really threw us for a loop. So, um, I’ve been able to navigate a live event company through the ups and downs of the economy over the years.
Um, I think outside of that, I don’t really have qualifications to be a fire commissioner, but I would look at this as as I do any other project that that’s in front of me and kind of get the facts and get the, uh, what what options we do have and, um, kind of work alongside Tony to, um, figure out what is the best course for us.
Um, so as far as qualifications for a business, I live in the district. Um, and I’m willing and able to, um, to help out and do what I can, um, for you all. And and the people in our district. Thank you very much, Mr. Councilmember Fain.
Do you want to ask further questions? Sure. Thank you so much. I would say that, um, you are qualified as an engaged resident. Um, and you own a business and and employ folks here in Kent, in our district.
And thank you for being willing to serve and for hosting us several times, both at your home and your business, um, in meetings so that we could meet with you and other community members. It’s been very helpful to have you there. So you are qualified.
Um, if appointed, would what do you believe is the best long term path for Fire District 24 and the residents it serves? Uh, well over the last seven months? Uh, it’s we’ve went around and around about different options and, um, what’s seems to be the most likely option is merging with 37. Uh, Tony and I both kind of agree with this. Um, direction. I don’t honestly think that there’s any other viable option. There are other options out there, but I think that this is the best for our district.
Thank you, and chair, for context, uh, Fire District 37 sits, um, to the west, east. Uh, it’s right next door, so it would not have to provide its own services and fire district. The other option really is Fire District 24 would contract with Fire District 37 for services.
So, um, it makes sense for a merger to be the most efficient way. And then the fire district 24 wouldn’t have to maintain a board of commissioners and maintain all of its, um, structure going forward. Uh, just for context, thank you. Thank you very much. Councilmember Fain.
Are there any further questions or comments from colleagues? And a quick. Comment, Councilman. Just wanted to thank you for your willingness to serve. I think you’re eminently qualified and you do great in politics, except you’re too modest. Thank you, Councilmember basket. Agree. Uh, colleagues, we normally ask the candidate to step aside for a moment, but I don’t know that that’s necessary now.
So do we have any further comments or questions before we move to vote? Thank you very much, Mr. Hoff, for being willing to serve. Seeing no further discussion, clerk, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Chair. Brian Councilmember Balducci. Hi. Councilmember Dembowski. Hi, Councilmember Dunn. Hi. Councilmember Fain. Hi. Councilmember Lewis Councilmember Mosqueda. I Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. Hi.
Jerry Bratton. Hi. Vote is seven eyes and council members Lewis and Perry excused. Thank you very much. By our vote, we have adopted proposed motion 2026 0169. Congratulations, Commissioner or board member. Huff, thank you very much for your willingness to serve and look forward to getting the issues resolved with the Fire district. Clerk on. The swearing. Councilmember.
We have plans to get sworn in. I’ll be doing both separately. Great. Thank you. Great. Thank you for checking you on that. All right, colleagues, now we’re turning now to the consent agenda. Items ten through 12. As a reminder, item nine was removed from the consent agenda. We’ll take it up after items ten through 12.
Vice Chair Dunn, will you please move? Consent agenda items ten through 12. Move consent agenda items ten through 12. Thank you very much. Those items are before us. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci. Hi. Councilmember Dembowski. Aye. Councilmember Don Councilmember Fain. Councilmember Lewis. Councilmember Mosqueda.. Aye. Councilmember Perry. Councilmember. von Reichbauer. Aye. Chair. Baron.
Aye. The vote is six I’s and Councilmember Fain Lewis and Perry excused. Thank you very much. By our vote, we have adopted Proposed ordinance 2026 01170161 and 0165. Turning back to item nine, Proposed Ordinance 2026 0097 concerning the sale of surplus property in Federal Way. Councilmember von Reichbauer. Will you please move? Proposed ordinance 2026 0097. So moved.
Thank you very much. The proposed ordinance is before us. Before we proceed, I will note that we have Nick Bowman from council staff available to answer questions or to provide a briefing if needed. There is an amendment to this legislation, which is I think we pulled it out of consent.
Uh, do my colleagues have any opening comments or questions for discussion? I would just. Say. Before the council, and I do pass the recommendation out of the Budget and management committee. There was a technical error with regard to the attachment. So we’re merely bringing it off to get the correct attachment on there. That’s correct. Yep.
Thank you very much, Nick. Anything, any anything else that we should know? No, I would just if you would like me to brief the amendment, I can do so quickly. But the council member just described it perfectly. It’s just a simple error with the attachment, and we’re correcting that error. Great. Thank you.
Seeing no further discussion, let’s proceed with the amendment. Councilmember basket, will you please move amendment one? Thank you very much. Amendment one is before us. Would you like to speak any further to it? No. All right. Any discussion from colleagues? No. If there’s no further discussion, we’ll proceed with a vote. All those in favor of amendment one, please say I. I.
All those opposed say nay. Amendment one is adopted. Turning to the underlying ordinance, as amended before we proceed to the vote, any further comments on this legislation? Seeing none. Uh, Clerk Foster, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci. Hi. Councilmember Dembowski I, Councilmember Dunn. I Councilmember Fain. I Councilmember Louis. Councilmember Mosqueda. I Councilmember Perry.
Councilmember von Reichbauer. I. Chair Baron. I vote is seven eyes and council members Lewis and Perry excused. Thank you. By our vote we have adopted proposed Substitute Ordinance 2026 0097, as amended. Uh, as a reminder, colleagues, uh, item 13 has been referred to tree.
So we will now be taking action on it today and will be proceeding to the next item of the agenda. Turning to hearing examiner consent agenda items 14 and 17. Clerk Foss, will you please read the items into the record? Yes, I will.
Item 14 is Proposed Substitute ordinance 2026 0065, authorizing the vacation of a portion of a portion of 149th Avenue Southeast and portions of King County Road numbers nine, 49, 1182, 12, 44, and 2323-5 for lying between the Cedar River and the existing cul de sac limits for 1/49 Avenue Southeast, north of Maple Valley Highway. Item 15 is proposed.
Substitute ordinance 2026 0148, concurring with the recommendations of the hearing examiner to approve subject to conditions, the application for Public Benefit Rating System assessed valuation for Open Space. Submitted by Justin and Michelle Van Hall for property located at 16519 300 and Avenue Northeast, Duval, Washington.
Item 16 is proposed substitute Ordinance 2026 0149 concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve, subject to conditions, the application for Public Benefit rating System assessed valuation for open Space submitted by Justin and Michelle Van Hall for property located at 1650 1/300 Avenue Northeast, Duvall, Washington.
Item 17 is 2026 0151, concurring with the recommendation of the hearing examiner to approve, subject to conditions, the application for Public Benefit Rating system assessed valuation for open space submitted by Jeremy and Kristen Tinder et al. For property located at 65056 6036515 282nd Avenue Southeast Issaquah, Washington, 98027. Thank you very much. Clerk Foss. Uh Councilmember Fain. Will you please move? Consent agenda items 14 through 17. I move consent agenda items 14 to 17.
Thank you very much. Those items are before us. Click. Foss, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci. Councilmember Balducci. Councilmember Dembowski. Councilmember Balducci. We had a hard time hearing you. Councilmember Balducci. We did not record your vote. Do you want to try again? I, I take that as an I councilmember.
Dembowski Councilmember Dunn aye. Councilmember Fain. I Councilmember Lewis. Councilmember Mosqueda. I Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. I. Chair. Barton. A vote is seven eyes and councilmembers Lewis and Perry excused. By our vote.
We have adopted proposed ordinances 2026 006501480149 and 0151 turning next to the motion consent agenda, Vice Chair Dunn, will you please move consent agenda items 18 and 19. Move consent agenda items 18 to 19 for approval. Thank you. Those items are before us. Clerk Foss, will you please call the roll. Councilmember Balducci. Councilmember Balducci. We still can’t hear you, but you can give me a thumbs up if you like. Or down. Thumbs up. Thank you. Councilmember Dembowski. Hi. Councilmember Dunn aye.
Councilmember Fain I Councilmember Lewis. Councilmember Mosqueda. Councilmember Mosqueda. I. Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. I. hear I. The vote is seven eyes and Council members Lewis and Perry excused. Thank you very much. By our vote, we have adopted proposed substitute motions number 2026 0119 and proposed motion 2026 0146.
Turning to item 20, proposed motion 2026 0145, which acknowledges receipt of the Harborview Medical Center Long Range Planning Committee plan. Councilmember Mosqueda, will you please move? Proposed Substitute motion 2026 0145.2. So moved. Thank you very much. The proposed motion is before us. Before we proceed, I will note that we have, uh, do we have Sam Porter? Oh, she’s on line.
Okay. Thank you. Sam, thank you very much. From council. Staff is available to answer your questions or provide a briefing if needed. Executive staff are also available for questions with that. Councilmember Mosqueda would you like to provide any opening remarks? Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank Sam Porter, as well as Olivia Bray, for their work on this. In addition to Chris Lampkin from my team colleagues. Thanks for your support in the 2026 2027 budget, which included a proviso asking for the creation of the Harborview Long Range Planning Committee.
This is a long awaited committee that many people are very interested in in terms of merging together. Conversations around financing, planning and strategy for our county’s hospital, Harborview Long Range Planning Committee will serve as a forum for Harborview, the University of Washington Medicine, and the Harborview Board of Trustees, along with King County members to support coordinated, forward looking,
transparent approach to planning. Very excited about this committee, and I thank the members of the health, Housing and Human Services Committee for their feedback and making sure that this committee is creating an integrated financial plan and will be focused on discussing topics related to long range planning for the medical center.
Very important as we think about the compounding pressures from the federal government and our need to make sure that our county’s hospital has all of its revenue streams and financial planning in order. Very proud to work with you all on this. Thanks for all your support. Thank you very much. Councilmember Mosqueda.
I’m going to call next on Councilmember Fain. Thank you chair. Thank you, Councilmember Mosqueda for putting this in the budget proviso. Um, it is um, speaking as a long time, uh, Harborview Board of Trustees member and board president, I very strongly support this, and I’m very excited to see this move forward.
This gives, um, University of Washington, um, University of Washington medicine, uh, Harborview leadership, the executive and Council, an opportunity to have conversations on all sorts of issues that we can’t get to every month in our own public meetings here at council. So it allows them to discuss financial and long term clinical strategies.
And, um, hopefully the Harborview Bond project, uh, very strongly support this. Really appreciate all the work that was done with all the parties. And again, thank you to Councilmember Mosqueda for leading this effort. Thank you very much. Councilmember Fain. I joined in those comments. I think this is going to be an Important venue to have some important conversations about Harborview.
And so I appreciate that. And I want to recognize you and go, good to you. Who’s here from you, the medicine, and look forward to this, this important, uh, venue to get started soon. Colleagues, any further discussion or anything else to close? All right.
Seeing no further discussion, we, um, we’re going to turn to final adoption. Clerk Foss, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci. Councilmember Dembowski. I. Councilmember Dunn I. Councilmember Fain. I Councilmember Councilmember Mosqueda. I. Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. I. Chair Baron. I. The vote is six eyes and Councilmember Balducci Louis and Perry excused. Thank you very much.
By our vote we have adopted proposed substitute motion 2026 0145. Turning to the last action item on today’s agenda, a reappointment consent agenda item 21. Vice Chair Dunn, will you please move? Consent agenda item 21. So moved. Thank you very much. The item is before us. Clerk Foss, will you please call the roll? Thank you. Councilmember Balducci Council member Dembowski. I.
Councilmember Dunn. I Councilmember Fain. I Councilmember Lewis. Councilmember Mosqueda. I. Councilmember Perry Councilmember von Reichbauer. Aye. Here. Button a. Vote is six eyes and Councilmember Balducci Lewis and Perry excused. Thank you very much. By our vote, we have adopted a proposed motion. 2026 0213.
If there is no objection to publish marked agenda together with any changes made in today’s meeting, will stand approved as the first reading, referral and referral of ordinances and motions items 22 through 25 is listed. Item 26 Proposed Ordinance 2026 0217 is listed as being referred to the local Services and Land Use Committee.
It will instead be referred to the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. Item 28 proposed motion 2026 0207 is being referred to the Committee of the whole and as I noted earlier, item 13 Proposed Ordinance 2026 0218 is being referred to transportation, Economy and Environment Committee. Do my colleagues have any other business for the good of the order? Seeing no further business, this meeting