[0:06] Second meeting of the Law and

[0:08] Justice Committee. My name is

[0:09] Rhonda Lewis. I am the chair

[0:11] and I appreciate you being here

[0:13] today. I appreciate the large

[0:15] contingent from the Office of

[0:17] Law Enforcement Oversight as

[0:17] well. It

[0:18] s good to see you here

[0:20] this morning. On today

[0:21] s

[0:23] agenda, we have three

[0:25] appointment confirmations for

[0:27] the Community Advisory

[0:28] Committee for Law Enforcement

[0:30] Oversight. We have the Office

[0:32] of Law Enforcement Oversight

[0:34] annual report. And then lastly,

[0:36] we have a briefing from the

[0:37] Human and Civil Rights

[0:39] Commission on their annual

[0:41] report. And we will begin this

[0:42] morning by calling the roll

[0:44] clerk. Williams, please call

[0:44] the roll.

[0:46] Thank you. Chair Councilmember

[0:47] Balducci Councilmember Baron

[0:49] here. Council member Dembowski.

[0:52] Here. Councilmember Mosqueda.

[0:57] Chair. Lewis here.

[1:01] Okay. Moving on. Um. Vice

[1:02] chair, MAY I have a motion to

[1:04] approve the minutes from the

[1:06] JULY 1st, 2026 meeting?

[1:07] I

[1:08] m happy to do that. I

[1:08] m not

[1:09] the vice chair of the

[1:10] committee, but I just want to

[1:11] make sure that I. I

[1:11] ll move for

[1:12] you. I

[1:13] ll move. I move approval

[1:13] of the minutes. I don

[1:14] t want to

[1:15] overtake somebody.

[1:17] All right, I appreciate that.

[1:18] All right. All those in favor

[1:19] say aye.

[1:24] I.

[1:27] Now we will turn. Is that an I

[1:29] from Council member Dembowski?

[1:30] It was sorry for the late vote.

[1:33] Thank you. And I see

[1:36] Councilmember Mosqueda is

[1:39] signing it. Present. All right.

[1:39] We

[1:41] ll now turn to public

[1:43] comment. Uh, Clerk Calderon, do

[1:45] we have anyone in person or on

[1:47] the line wishing to provide

[1:48] public comment?

[1:51] We do have one person in

[1:54] chambers, and nobody has raised

[1:55] their hand on zoom, but I had

[1:57] two people there.

[2:00] All right. Thank you. Um, I

[2:00] ll

[2:01] review the rules for public

[2:04] comment just really quickly.

[2:05] Uh, public comment must be

[2:06] related to items on today

[2:07] s

[2:09] meeting. Agenda cannot be used

[2:11] for the purpose of assisting a

[2:13] campaign for election of any

[2:14] person to office or for the

[2:16] promotion of, or opposition to

[2:20] any ballot proposition. It also

[2:23] must not include obscene speech.

[2:25] If a speaker fails to abide by

[2:27] these restrictions. The speaker

[2:28] will be ruled out of order and

[2:30] the microphone will be turned

[2:30] off. You

[2:32] ll have two minutes to

[2:32] speak, and then you

[2:33] ll hear a

[2:34] timer. At that point, you MAY

[2:36] finish your thought, but please

[2:37] wrap up your comments. If you

[2:39] go past two minutes, you MAY be

[2:41] muted. Uh, we

[2:41] ll begin by

[2:44] calling on the person who has

[2:46] signed up to speak in person.

[2:53] That would be Alex Zimmerman.

[2:57] Yes, I am Alex. Yes.

[2:59] Um.

[2:59] I

[3:00] m PRESIDENT Of Stand-Up

[3:02] America. I want to speak about

[3:05] this a little nice piggy Nazi

[3:08] piggy hook. For a dozen years,

[3:11] I MAY complain to our life like

[3:11] committee doesn

[3:12] t complain. I

[3:15] never have one answer. You

[3:16] understand? Look, this. It

[3:16] s a

[3:18] new generation of Democrat

[3:22] Nazi. Piggy. Yes. Why? Because

[3:23] I complained to you three

[3:27] months ago. Twice. About

[3:30] Superior Court. My story.

[3:32] Complain. Small claims. Court

[3:36] cases. Complain to Superior

[3:41] Court and not one accept. No

[3:43] one ever registered or

[3:45] dismissed without registration.

[3:47] Mama, you remember I have this

[3:49] complaint. Not only here. I

[3:51] write to you twice. Whereas

[3:53] answer for this. Are you a?

[3:53] She

[3:55] s a French. Who are you?

[3:57] You forgot about this. You

[4:00] have. Right? Give me answer. So

[4:02] what are we talking about? This

[4:03] Nazi piggy. You know what this

[4:05] means. When bosses don

[4:05] t

[4:07] respect constitutional law.

[4:09] Three months. I ask you for

[4:12] answer of my complaint. I bring

[4:14] you complaint yourself. Might

[4:16] complain. You know what is mean

[4:18] in writing. Where is answer?

[4:20] Where is the answer? So when

[4:23] you acting like a Nazi Gestapo

[4:24] pig, you know what does it

[4:25] mean? So what is you talking

[4:27] about? This new generation.

[4:28] Look, they faces this all

[4:31] Democrat and all stupid and all

[4:33] Nazi. Democrat. Nazi. Yeah,

[4:34] exactly. They say, are you

[4:36] talking for many years? Viva

[4:37] Trump! Viva new American

[4:39] Revolution. Stand up slave and

[4:41] happy cow. Change this. Look.

[4:44] This is face is dirty. Thank

[4:47] you very much. You too.

[4:50] Thank you, MR. Zimmerman. Is

[4:52] there anyone else in chambers

[4:54] who was not able to sign up

[4:56] that would like to, um, make a

[5:00] public comment?

[5:02] No one has raised their hand

[5:03] online.

[5:05] Online. Okay, great. Well, we

[5:08] will, um, move on. Uh, if

[5:08] there

[5:12] s no one on online.

[5:14] Seeing no further request, we

[5:19] will close public comment. Okay,

[5:22] moving on to our first item on

[5:23] the agenda. The first three

[5:25] items on the agenda are

[5:27] confirmations of appointments

[5:28] to the Community Advisory

[5:30] Committee for Law Enforcement

[5:32] Oversight, uh, commonly known

[5:33] as cackling. So I

[5:34] m pleased to

[5:36] welcome these appointees before

[5:38] us today. We appreciate members

[5:39] of the public who stepped

[5:41] forward to serve on committees.

[5:44] Your participation plays an

[5:45] important advisory role in

[5:47] helping inform the work of King

[5:48] County government, and we are

[5:50] grateful for your time and

[5:51] commitment to public service

[5:54] for each appointment appointee.

[5:55] Rather, we will hear an

[5:56] introduction from Nick Bowman,

[5:58] Council Counsel staff, and then

[6:00] we will have an opportunity to

[6:01] hear from each appointee and

[6:03] ask questions. Nick, please

[6:07] breathe in.

[6:08] Good morning, Council members.

[6:09] For the record. Nick Bowman,

[6:10] Council central staff.

[6:11] As the chair mentioned, there

[6:14] are three At-Large appointments

[6:15] to the clerk, Leo, on the

[6:17] agenda today, which are items

[6:19] five, six and seven. The

[6:20] materials for agenda item

[6:22] number five begin on page eight

[6:23] of your packet. I

[6:24] m going to

[6:25] start with just a very brief

[6:27] overview of the advisory

[6:28] committee and then introduce

[6:30] the first appointee, the

[6:31] Community Advisory Committee

[6:32] for Law Enforcement Oversight

[6:34] is an 11 member committee which

[6:36] supports the activities of the

[6:36] county

[6:37] s Office of Law

[6:39] Enforcement Oversight. Some of

[6:39] the committee

[6:41] s duties include

[6:43] serving as liaison between Olio

[6:45] and the communities it serves,

[6:46] advising Olio on law

[6:48] enforcement training policies

[6:50] and procedures, and advising

[6:52] cxo and the Council on matters

[6:54] of equity and social justice

[6:55] related to law enforcement, as

[6:57] well as on problems and

[6:58] opportunities for improvement

[7:01] in cxo practices. All right. So

[7:03] agenda item number five is

[7:08] proposed motion 2026 0170. And

[7:09] this would confirm the

[7:09] executive

[7:10] s appointment of

[7:12] Daniel Santon who resides in

[7:13] County Council District seven,

[7:15] for a term expiring on MARCH

[7:18] 31st, 2027. According to his

[7:20] application materials. MR.

[7:21] Sansone is a King County Metro

[7:23] employee who previously served

[7:25] on the Sound Transit Citizens

[7:26] Oversight Panel and has a

[7:27] passion for improving the

[7:28] community

[7:28] s relationship with

[7:30] law enforcement. Now, staff

[7:31] have not identified any issues

[7:33] with the proposed appointment.

[7:36] And that concludes my remarks.

[7:39] Thank you. Nick. MR. Santon,

[7:41] would you like to introduce

[7:43] yourself and tell us a little

[7:44] bit about why you

[7:45] d like to be

[7:47] on the committee?

[7:49] Hello, Council members. Um,

[7:51] once again, my name is Dan

[7:53] Stanton. Uh, not just a little

[7:56] different from the, uh, the the

[7:59] blurb at the bottom. Um, uh, I

[8:01] work for King County Metro, and

[8:03] there was a call in the Asian

[8:04] American, Native Hawaiian

[8:05] Pacific Islander employee

[8:07] resource group for volunteers

[8:09] to this particular committee.

[8:11] And my son is, uh, attending

[8:13] the University of Washington

[8:14] and was interested in becoming

[8:16] a police officer. And so i

[8:18] figured that it would align

[8:19] with my interest as a father to

[8:20] understand where my son

[8:21] s

[8:23] interests are and learn a

[8:26] little bit more about, um, uh,

[8:29] policing and, uh, give my time

[8:31] to help improve the

[8:33] relationship between the police

[8:34] and the community. Uh, I was

[8:36] born in Japan, and the

[8:38] relationship between the police

[8:40] and, uh, the Japanese, uh,

[8:42] population is very different

[8:43] than in the United States. I

[8:45] would like to bridge that gap a

[8:47] little bit.

[8:48] Great. Well, that

[8:49] s great

[8:50] motivation for signing up,

[8:51] getting to know more about your

[8:54] son and and his interests. Um,

[8:55] colleagues, do we have any

[9:01] questions for, uh, MR. Stanton?

[9:03] My colleagues online. Do you

[9:12] have any questions? All right,

[9:15] then, MAY I have a motion to

[9:20] approve? Proposed motion 2020

[9:21] 60170?

[9:23] Chair, I move that we give a do

[9:24] pass recommendation to propose

[9:30] motion 2026 01708.

[9:31] Clerk Williams, will you please

[9:32] call the roll?

[9:33] Thank you. Chair Councilmember

[9:36] Balducci Councilmember Baron. I

[9:37] Councilmember Dembowski. I

[9:39] Councilmember Mosqueda I chair

[9:42] Lewis, I vote is for ayes zero

[9:43] noes with Councilmember

[9:45] Balducci excused.

[9:47] Thank you. By our vote, we have

[9:51] approved proposed motion

[9:55] 2026-0170 with a do pass

[9:57] recommendation. If there are no

[9:59] concerns, we will place this on

[10:02] the consent agenda for the next

[10:03] appropriate full council

[10:05] meeting. And that would be the

[10:07] meeting of SEPTEMBER 15th. Mr.

[10:09] Stanton, you do not need to

[10:10] attend the meeting, but you

[10:10] re

[10:12] welcome to do so. Thank you for

[10:14] your interest in serving.

[10:21] Appreciate it. Okay. Our next

[10:24] item is a motion confirming the

[10:26] appointment of Kyle Jones to

[10:28] the ceo. Nick, would you please

[10:29] introduce MR. Jones?

[10:31] Absolutely. The materials for

[10:32] agenda item number six can be

[10:33] found on page 16 of your

[10:36] packet. Uh, proposed motion

[10:38] 2026 0183 would confirm the

[10:38] executive

[10:39] s appointment of Kyle

[10:41] Jones, who resides in Council

[10:42] District two, for a term to

[10:45] expire on MARCH 31st, 2028.

[10:46] According to his application

[10:48] materials. MR. Jones is the

[10:50] director of programs at Look to

[10:51] Justice, a nonprofit

[10:53] organization that provides

[10:55] civic education to system

[10:56] impacted communities so they

[10:58] are able to participate in the

[10:59] legislative process. Again,

[11:00] staff have not identified any

[11:01] issues with the proposed

[11:03] appointment. That concludes my

[11:04] remarks.

[11:05] Thank you. I

[11:06] m always proud

[11:09] when the members constituents

[11:12] step up to serve. I appreciate

[11:14] your service. MR. Jones. Would

[11:16] you like to make a statement?

[11:17] Um, yeah, I

[11:18] ll just say hello

[11:19] and thank you for your time and

[11:22] your consideration. Um, as was

[11:23] mentioned, my name is K.J.. I

[11:23] m

[11:25] actually now a deputy director

[11:26] at Look to Justice. I just got

[11:29] a promotion. Um, and, yeah, I

[11:30] would just say I worked at

[11:31] Apple for eight and a half

[11:33] years as a genius. Um, I played

[11:36] a role there in unionizing the

[11:38] stores in Washington and

[11:39] Oregon. Actually started a

[11:41] union campaign with with both

[11:42] states, you know, shared

[11:44] information on unionizing and

[11:46] the importance of, you know,

[11:49] workers standing up for what

[11:49] s

[11:50] right and what they deserve.

[11:52] Um, and just bridging that gap

[11:54] between business and the

[11:55] worker. Right. And I think in

[11:56] community, we have the same

[11:57] issues. A lot of times there

[11:57] s

[11:58] disconnects between government

[12:00] and community. And so I

[12:00] m just

[12:02] looking forward to being able

[12:03] to be someone who can help

[12:07] bridge that gap.

[12:10] Thank you. We have any any

[12:15] questions for MR. Jones?

[12:17] Colleagues online. Any

[12:17] questions? I don

[12:18] t see any

[12:22] hands. All right, then we will

[12:24] move on to the motion

[12:26] confirming the appointment of

[12:28] Kyle Jones to the clerk. Leo,

[12:30] MAY I have a motion? Um, a

[12:33] motion to move the proposed

[12:34] motion.

[12:35] Sure. Sure. I move that we give

[12:37] a do pass recommendation to

[12:43] propose motion 2026 0183.

[12:44] Clerk, would you please call

[12:45] the roll?

[12:48] Thank you. Chair. Councilmember

[12:49] Balducci. Councilmember Baron.

[12:50] I.

[12:52] Councilmember Dembowski.. I

[12:56] Councilmember I Chair Louis. I

[12:58] vote is for ayes zero noes with

[13:00] Councilmember Balducci excused.

[13:02] Thank you. By our vote, we have

[13:05] approved proposed motion 2026

[13:08] 0183 with a do pass

[13:10] recommendation. And again, if

[13:11] there are no concerns, we will

[13:13] place this item on the consent

[13:15] agenda for the SEPTEMBER 15th

[13:18] Council meeting. MR. Jones, um,

[13:20] thank you for your interest and

[13:21] serving. You do not need to

[13:22] attend that meeting, but you

[13:23] re

[13:25] welcome to do so if you choose.

[13:26] So congratulations and

[13:27] congratulations on your

[13:29] appointment. I mean, on your,

[13:31] um, promotion.

[13:34] Thank you. And thank you all.

[13:38] Okay, our final confirmation

[13:40] for today is Samuel Hawkins.

[13:42] Nick, would you please

[13:43] introduce MR. Hawkins?

[13:44] Yes.

[13:45] Uh, agenda item number seven.

[13:47] And the materials can be found

[13:49] on page 24 of your packet.

[13:53] Proposed motion 2026 0186 would

[13:54] confirm the executive

[13:56] appointment of Samuel Hawkins,

[13:57] who resides in Council District

[13:59] five, for a term to expire on

[14:02] MARCH 31st, 2028. According to

[14:03] his application materials. MR.

[14:04] Hawkins is currently a

[14:06] volunteer for a non-profit

[14:08] organization, Filthy Rags

[14:09] Outreach, assisting with young

[14:10] men who are a justice system

[14:11] involved and helping

[14:13] individuals as they transition

[14:14] from the Department of

[14:15] Corrections back into the

[14:16] community. A staff has not

[14:17] identified any issues with the

[14:19] proposed appointment, and that

[14:20] concludes my remarks.

[14:22] Thank you. We do have MR.

[14:25] Hawkins in chambers this

[14:26] morning. And MR. Hawkins, if

[14:26] you

[14:29] d like to come up front and

[14:30] make some remarks, we

[14:31] d

[14:35] appreciate that. MR. Hawkins

[14:37] explained to me this morning

[14:37] he

[14:38] s been pretty patient with

[14:41] this, um, appointment process,

[14:45] and we appreciate that as well.

[14:47] Good morning. Uh, my name is

[14:51] Samuel Hawkins, and, uh, my

[14:54] reason for, uh, second

[14:58] appointment is to better

[15:02] communicate. Uh, the

[15:04] transitions with youth and law

[15:06] enforcement as they transition

[15:08] back into the community as well

[15:09] as adults. I

[15:10] ve worked with,

[15:15] uh, adults as well. And. I

[15:15] m

[15:17] just looking forward to trying

[15:20] to build something that will

[15:22] precipitate change and a better

[15:23] understanding between both

[15:26] communities.

[15:28] Great. Thank you for that. Um,

[15:30] any questions for MISTER

[15:32] Hawkins?

[15:33] Not so much a question, but

[15:35] just, uh, gratitude to you and

[15:37] to the other people who

[15:38] ve, uh,

[15:39] decided to put forth their

[15:40] names and be patient with us in

[15:42] our appointment process and

[15:43] grateful for your willingness

[15:44] to serve the community in this

[15:49] role. So thank you. Thank you.

[15:52] Any of my other colleagues

[15:57] questions or comments? Again,

[15:59] MISTER Hawkins, we do, um,

[16:01] appreciate so much work that

[16:01] you

[16:02] ve done in community and

[16:03] the work that you continue to

[16:05] do and then look forward to

[16:08] your serving on Kaleo. So at

[16:09] this point, MAY I have a motion

[16:13] to move? Proposed motion 2026

[16:15] 0186.

[16:17] Chair I move that we give a do

[16:18] pass recommendation to propose

[16:20] motion 2026 0186.

[16:23] Thank you. Clerk Williams,

[16:24] would you please call the roll?

[16:26] Thank you. Chair Councilmember

[16:28] Balducci Councilmember Baron.

[16:28] Aye.

[16:30] Councilmember Dembowski.

[16:31] Aye.

[16:33] Councilmember Mosqueda I.

[16:34] Chair Lewis.

[16:34] , I.

[16:37] What is for eyes zero noes with

[16:39] Councilmember Balducci excused.

[16:41] Thank you. By our vote, we have

[16:45] approved proposed motion 2026

[16:47] 0186 with a do pass

[16:49] recommendation. Um, MR.

[16:50] Hawkins, have you, as you heard

[16:51] me say to the others, um, this

[16:53] item will be placed on the

[16:55] SEPTEMBER 15th council meeting.

[16:56] Uh, you don

[16:57] t need to attend

[16:57] the meeting, but you

[16:58] re welcome

[16:59] to if you if you

[17:00] d like to be

[17:02] present. Uh, congratulations.

[17:04] Thank you for your commitment.

[17:05] Thank you for your patience and

[17:07] hanging in there and serving in

[17:08] the meantime while you wait it

[17:10] to be a point appointed. Thank

[17:11] you.

[17:12] Thank you so much. Appreciate.

[17:15] Thank you.

[17:21] All right. Our next agenda item

[17:23] is a report from the Office of

[17:25] Law Enforcement Oversight. It

[17:25] s

[17:28] their annual report from 2025.

[17:30] Uh, the work of the Office of

[17:31] Law Enforcement Oversight is

[17:34] very important in providing

[17:35] civilian oversight to help

[17:36] ensure county law enforcement

[17:39] is accountable and fair. So

[17:41] today, we have the director of

[17:43] Olio here with us to provide,

[17:47] um, the report. Council member.

[17:47] Yes.

[17:49] Did you mention if the previous

[17:51] item was on consent or not?

[17:52] Um, I thought I did, but if I

[17:54] did not, I I

[17:55] ll say that we

[17:57] will put that on consent for

[18:00] the SEPTEMBER 15th meeting.

[18:13] Thank you. Director Abizaid,

[18:14] thank you for being here today.

[18:16] And please proceed when you

[18:16] re

[18:18] ready.

[18:21] Thank you. Thank you.

[18:28] Thank you very much. Thank you,

[18:29] Chair Lewis, for inviting me to

[18:30] speak to the Law and Justice

[18:32] Committee today and to present

[18:32] Ohio

[18:35] s 2025 annual report. The

[18:37] annual report was transmitted

[18:38] to the Council at the beginning

[18:40] of JUNE. I hope that everyone

[18:41] has had a chance to peruse it.

[18:42] Uh, as usual, I highly

[18:44] recommend reading the report in

[18:47] its entirety. Um, I have

[18:48] received feedback in the past

[18:49] that sometimes I get a little

[18:51] too far into the weeds when I

[18:52] give these presentations, so

[18:52] I

[18:54] m going to keep it more high

[18:56] level today. But obviously, um,

[18:57] we

[18:58] ll gladly take any questions

[19:00] that that you MAY have. Um, and

[19:01] of course, the report is

[19:03] available on our website for

[19:04] any members of the public to

[19:06] look at as well. We will begin,

[19:08] as usual, by going over some

[19:11] data about investigations and

[19:12] allegations of misconduct by

[19:13] the King County Sheriff

[19:13] s

[19:16] Office, or cxo. Uh, overall,

[19:18] the total number of complaints,

[19:20] uh, this year or in 2025 was

[19:23] down by 4% year over year and

[19:28] down by 6% compared to the 2021

[19:30] to 2024 average. Compared to

[19:32] that time frame. The number of

[19:34] complaints originating from

[19:34] within the sheriff

[19:35] s office

[19:37] have declined by 9%, while the

[19:38] number of complaints

[19:40] originating from the community

[19:43] have climbed 5%. Nearly half of

[19:45] all complaints were classified

[19:47] in the expedited category

[19:48] because preliminary evidence

[19:50] was conclusive, about a third

[19:52] of complaints was classified as

[19:54] formal investigations with

[19:58] serious policy allegations.

[20:00] Allegations coming from within

[20:04] cxo were formally investigated

[20:06] far more often than allegations

[20:06] coming from within the

[20:08] community, which were more

[20:09] often expedited. Again, because

[20:11] preliminary evidence was

[20:13] conclusive. Uh oleo certified

[20:16] 87. Internal investigations.

[20:17] Those are investigations that

[20:19] are conducted by CSOs. Internal

[20:21] Investigations Unit while being

[20:23] monitored by Olio. And we only

[20:25] declined to certify one

[20:29] investigation. Uh, 2025 was

[20:30] also the year oleo began

[20:31] officially conducting

[20:33] independent investigations. And

[20:35] we completed 11 independent

[20:37] investigations in that year,

[20:42] uh, 29% of all cxo deputies

[20:44] were subjects of one or more

[20:46] allegation, which is just

[20:48] slightly higher than the

[20:49] previous few years. That

[20:52] increase is almost entirely

[20:54] accounted for by deputies who

[20:55] received a single allegation

[20:57] from a community member. The

[20:59] percentage of deputies with

[21:03] three, 4 or 5 allegations

[21:05] decreased. Notably, while the

[21:07] percentage with just 1 or 2

[21:15] allegations has grown. The vast

[21:17] majority of all specific

[21:19] allegations fell into four

[21:21] categories violation of

[21:24] directives, subpar performance,

[21:27] discourtesy and use of force.

[21:29] Two of those violations of

[21:30] directives and subpar

[21:32] performance are a little too

[21:35] general to be of value for us.

[21:37] So in 2026, we have started

[21:39] applying what we are calling

[21:41] descriptive allegations, just

[21:42] as an aid to help folks

[21:44] understand what type of conduct

[21:45] we are talking about. In any

[21:47] specific case, because

[21:48] something like violation of

[21:49] directives or subpar

[21:50] performance MAY not necessarily

[21:52] explain what the conduct that

[21:52] we

[21:57] re talking about is. Of the

[21:59] 614 total allegations

[22:01] investigated and closed in

[22:04] 2025, about a quarter ended

[22:06] with sustained findings, almost

[22:08] double the rate of the previous

[22:09] year. That includes

[22:11] investigations that resulted in

[22:13] performance related training,

[22:14] but no other forms of

[22:16] corrective action, such as

[22:18] discipline. For example, that

[22:20] number rises to over two thirds

[22:22] sustained when looking at

[22:24] allegations originating from

[22:25] within the sheriff

[22:26] s office.

[22:27] The difference in that

[22:29] sustained rate is present even

[22:31] when taking into account

[22:33] allegations that are related to

[22:35] internal training needs or

[22:37] minor policy violations. For

[22:39] allegations originating from

[22:42] community members, about 14% of

[22:44] those were sustained, which is

[22:45] consistent with the numbers

[22:51] from last year. On the policy

[22:53] side, we are proud to have

[22:55] completed in 2025 our first

[22:57] community guided policy

[22:59] project. And since the

[23:00] publication of the annual

[23:02] report, we have also published

[23:03] one more, while another should

[23:05] be published next week. The

[23:08] first project was related to

[23:10] traffic enforcement. Our

[23:11] community partners identified

[23:13] traffic enforcement and road

[23:16] safety as a top concern, and we

[23:17] published those recommendations

[23:19] last year. Oleo and its

[23:21] community partners completed

[23:22] outreach with local

[23:24] communities, worked with

[23:24] sheriff

[23:26] s office personnel,

[23:28] researched best practices, and

[23:31] developed four recommendations

[23:32] to develop a data driven

[23:35] traffic safety strategy that

[23:37] prioritizes safety related

[23:38] enforcement, traffic

[23:41] enforcement to reform guidance

[23:43] for traffic stop procedures to

[23:45] improve data collection

[23:48] practices, and to refrain from

[23:49] increasing automated traffic

[23:52] enforcement using cameras until

[23:53] a feasibility, until and unless

[23:55] a feasibility and equity study

[23:57] is conducting to analyze and

[23:59] mitigate any privacy and equity

[24:01] concerns, and that process must

[24:03] include robust community

[24:07] engagement. In the last few

[24:09] weeks, we published a second

[24:12] community guided policy project

[24:13] on responding to increased

[24:16] federal immigration enforcement

[24:17] as immigration enforcement

[24:19] intensifies intensifies

[24:21] nationwide, community members

[24:22] have been seeking additional

[24:24] resources and protections for

[24:26] immigrants in King County,

[24:28] leveraging community input.

[24:29] Olio and its partners

[24:30] recommended that the sheriff

[24:30] s

[24:32] office strengthen current

[24:33] policy to be more responsive to

[24:36] community needs, expand

[24:37] community education and

[24:39] outreach, and promote

[24:41] understanding by clarifying the

[24:43] existing policy, language. And

[24:45] a third project to be published

[24:47] next week. So be on the lookout

[24:48] for that. We

[24:49] ll focus on crowd

[24:51] management and the use of the

[24:53] Rapid Deployment Force within

[24:53] the Sheriff

[24:56] s office. Our

[24:58] community engagement work is

[24:59] essential to our policy

[25:01] recommendations. Olios policy

[25:03] recommendations are developed

[25:04] in direct collaboration and

[25:06] consultation with community

[25:07] members and community

[25:09] organizations. We prioritize

[25:11] equity and reflect community

[25:14] interests, legal standards, and

[25:16] law enforcement best practices

[25:19] in our recommendations. We now

[25:20] have seven formal partnerships

[25:22] with MoUs with various

[25:24] community based organizations.

[25:26] They have put in dozens of

[25:27] hours of work, including

[25:29] providing a direct link to

[25:30] community members through

[25:32] surveys and listening sessions.

[25:34] We are so grateful to our

[25:36] community partners. Archiv King

[25:38] County Urban family look to

[25:40] justice Congolese Integration

[25:41] Network, People Power,

[25:43] Washington Transportation

[25:45] Choices Coalition and Eastside

[25:47] for all and we are always

[25:49] looking for more partners. So

[25:51] if anyone is listening, please

[25:53] reach out to us. We also want

[25:55] to thank the members of Kaleo,

[25:57] both past, present and those

[25:59] who will hopefully be appointed

[26:01] soon. Uh, you are right, we

[26:02] were all very patient with the

[26:05] appointment process and we are

[26:06] really glad to see these

[26:07] appointments coming through,

[26:08] and we are really grateful to

[26:10] all the community members who

[26:11] are willing to put in the time

[26:13] and effort to help us build a

[26:16] better King County. Those are

[26:18] the main highlights of our

[26:19] report. And like I said, I

[26:20] highly encourage you and

[26:21] members of the public to read

[26:22] our report, which is available

[26:26] on our website. This is my

[26:27] sixth and final annual report

[26:29] presentation to you. As you all

[26:31] know, I am leaving my position

[26:32] in just about a month, so I

[26:34] request your indulgence while I

[26:34] take a moment to say a couple

[26:37] of things about the office over

[26:40] the last five years, oleo has

[26:41] made tremendous strides in

[26:42] delivering accountability to

[26:44] the residents of King County,

[26:45] though there remains much more

[26:47] to be done. We have doubled the

[26:48] size of the office and more

[26:50] than doubled the number of

[26:52] investigations we handled. We

[26:53] have built an independent

[26:55] investigations program from the

[26:57] ground up. We created a mini

[26:59] think tank in the office,

[27:00] dramatically increasing the

[27:02] number and scope of our policy

[27:04] recommendations. We have

[27:05] entered into strong

[27:07] partnerships with community

[27:09] organizations. We have staffed

[27:11] and strengthened. Kaleo. We

[27:13] also work tirelessly to develop

[27:15] internal policies and

[27:17] procedures that make the office

[27:19] able to function smoothly and

[27:20] with accountability.

[27:22] Operations. Work is often done

[27:23] behind the scenes, and I want

[27:24] to acknowledge the tremendous

[27:26] strides that we have seen in

[27:28] that area as well. The last

[27:29] five years at Olio have seen

[27:31] the office blossom, and I am so

[27:33] proud to be leaving Olio in the

[27:36] shape that it is in. And as

[27:37] much as I would love to take

[27:39] credit for all of that, the

[27:40] real credit belongs to the

[27:42] staff at Olio. I am amazed

[27:45] every day by their dedication

[27:46] to civilian oversight and their

[27:48] commitment to serving the

[27:57] people of King County. The job

[27:59] of a police accountability, the

[28:00] job of director of a police

[28:02] accountability agency is not a

[28:03] fun one. If you do your job

[28:05] right, somebody is always mad

[28:06] at you, sometimes for real

[28:08] reasons and sometimes for made

[28:10] up ones. And I am sure you are

[28:11] familiar with that dynamic as

[28:14] well. In your positions. But I

[28:15] will tell you what has made

[28:17] this job worth it for me. It

[28:18] s

[28:19] people, and I

[28:19] m referring to

[28:21] the people of King County who

[28:23] deserve a strong, transparent

[28:25] and unbiased civilian system of

[28:27] oversight over law enforcement.

[28:28] And I am referring to the

[28:30] people who work at Olio, many

[28:32] of whom are behind me today,

[28:34] who deserve your support and

[28:37] your courage. They are each one

[28:38] a shining example of what it

[28:40] means to be a mission driven

[28:42] public servant. I am not

[28:43] exaggerating when I say it has

[28:45] been the honor of my life to

[28:47] lead this group, to work with

[28:49] them and to learn from them day

[28:52] in and day out. So please allow

[28:54] me to acknowledge them by name.

[28:57] Liz dop, Hans, Leah Hunter,

[29:00] Katie Kirshner, Megan Kraft,

[29:03] Ryan McPhail, Kate Miller,

[29:05] Vonnie Ananda, Rick Powell,

[29:06] Jamie Ridgeway, Jamie

[29:09] Toggenburg, Molly Webster, and

[29:11] Sophie Celiac. You all are

[29:13] olio. You are what made Olio

[29:15] the office it is today and you

[29:17] will be what keeps Olio in true

[29:20] service to our communities. And

[29:22] with that I say to you goodbye

[29:23] for now, and I thank you

[29:25] sincerely for the opportunity

[29:25] you

[29:26] ve given me to serve the

[29:30] people of King County.

[29:33] Thank you, Director Abizaid.

[29:36] Um, you were very eloquent in

[29:37] calling out your staff. And

[29:37] I

[29:39] ll just say that the tone at

[29:41] the top is very important. And

[29:43] you set the stage with your

[29:45] leadership for the kind of

[29:46] performance that we

[29:46] ve seen

[29:48] from Olio. So thank you for

[29:48] that.

[29:50] Thank you very much. Thank you.

[29:51] So before we get into

[29:52] discussion, I

[29:52] m going to ask

[29:54] for a motion. And then we can

[29:55] go back to our discussion. So

[29:58] MAY I have a motion to, um,

[30:02] move proposed motion 2020

[30:04] 60144.

[30:06] Sure. So moved.

[30:08] Thank you. Okay. So now

[30:11] discussion, colleagues.

[30:13] Um, happy to start us off. Uh,

[30:16] director. Thank you. I wanted

[30:19] to acknowledge, uh, the as you

[30:22] did, uh, the opportunity that

[30:24] you had now to present your

[30:25] final report. And I just wanted

[30:25] to say that we

[30:27] re very grateful

[30:28] for your service to our

[30:30] community. And I think you have

[30:31] left Olio in a better place

[30:32] than you found it. And that

[30:32] s

[30:34] important as a sub director.

[30:36] And I want to say a gratitude

[30:37] to all the all your staff

[30:38] that

[30:39] s here and a commitment

[30:40] from from me. Uh, and I know

[30:42] that my colleagues share this

[30:43] in terms of maintaining the

[30:45] independence of Olio and

[30:47] strengthening our, uh,

[30:48] accountability mechanisms. So

[30:49] thank you for your service to

[30:51] all of you and especially to

[30:52] you as the departing director.

[30:53] So thank you very much for

[30:54] that.

[30:55] Thank you so much.

[30:58] Um, I wanted to just ask, uh,

[30:59] turning more to the details of

[31:01] the report. Um, you know, a

[31:03] couple of things that I found

[31:05] notable. Uh, one is the

[31:06] reduction in the number of

[31:08] complaints. And, you know, you

[31:09] can think of it

[31:10] s always tricky

[31:12] to look at that number and and

[31:14] understand what MAY be behind

[31:15] it. Right? Because on the one

[31:17] hand, you might say, okay,

[31:19] well, this is a good, a good

[31:20] news scenario because there

[31:20] s,

[31:21] there

[31:22] s, you know, uh, fewer

[31:24] incidents that are leading to

[31:25] somebody having to complain.

[31:25] And that

[31:26] s, that

[31:27] s a good sign.

[31:28] On the other hand, it could be

[31:31] because maybe people have are

[31:32] not paying enough attention, or

[31:32] maybe they

[31:34] re not engaged. So

[31:35] do we have any sense? And i

[31:37] also think of like the number

[31:38] of interactions that people are

[31:40] having. I know in the past

[31:41] year, you know, which is

[31:43] obviously a positive thing. You

[31:45] know, our crime rate, uh,

[31:46] overall has gone down. So maybe

[31:48] there are fewer. Any thoughts

[31:50] about any trend lines that you

[31:51] could you could share about

[31:52] what you see in that number, in

[31:53] that reduction of of

[31:55] complaints, which again could

[31:56] be seen as a positive? I don

[31:56] t

[31:57] want to dispel that. It MAY

[31:58] just be a reflection of, of,

[32:02] of, of our law enforcement, um,

[32:03] arm here at the county, the cso

[32:06] doing well. Um, but just wanted

[32:07] to understand how we can think

[32:09] of that number.

[32:12] Uh, that that is $1 million

[32:13] question. Um, that

[32:14] s always the

[32:15] question when you see, when you

[32:17] see a reductions. Um, I will

[32:19] say that the reductions that

[32:19] we

[32:20] ve seen have been fairly

[32:22] consistent over the last few

[32:24] years. And so that tells me

[32:26] that it is, um, not necessarily

[32:28] due to people feeling like they

[32:28] can

[32:31] t reach out. Um, so when

[32:33] when we see that kind of, um,

[32:35] consistent decrease, I think it

[32:37] probably means it probably

[32:38] means that we

[32:39] re doing things

[32:41] better and more effectively.

[32:44] Um, I also think that taken,

[32:46] um, in conjunction with the

[32:48] sustained rates, for example,

[32:49] where this year the sustained

[32:52] rates jumped higher. Um, it

[32:55] means that, you know, there is

[32:58] a focus on the actual, you

[32:59] know, the actual violations and

[33:01] making sure that those that,

[33:03] that, um, deputies who MAY have

[33:05] engaged in, in policy

[33:07] violations are handled

[33:09] accordingly. Um, and that

[33:10] things are being done to, to

[33:11] address those things. So I

[33:13] think taking those two numbers

[33:14] in conjunction with one

[33:17] another, um, to me presents a

[33:19] positive picture with the

[33:21] caveat that we don

[33:21] t really

[33:23] know. Um, I think one of the

[33:24] things that the council is

[33:27] going to be looking at soon is

[33:29] the idea of improving data

[33:31] collection. I think that is

[33:32] something that is really

[33:33] important for us to be able to

[33:36] read more into those numbers.

[33:37] Um, when we are, when we start

[33:39] collecting better data about

[33:41] stops, about, um, you know,

[33:42] about reasonable suspicion

[33:44] stops about traffic stops, all

[33:45] that kind of all that kind of

[33:46] stuff. Um, we are going to be

[33:50] able to get a better idea of is

[33:53] the decline in complaints be a

[33:55] positive thing, or is it

[33:57] because people are losing, you

[33:58] know, trust in the system? I

[33:58] haven

[34:00] t seen, um, indications

[34:02] that it is because people are

[34:08] no longer, uh, complaining.

[34:11] All right. Thank you.

[34:13] Colleagues. Uh Mosqueda.

[34:16] Dembowski. Any questions or

[34:21] comments? Councilmember

[34:27] Mosqueda.

[34:28] Thank you very much. Well,

[34:29] first, let me add to the

[34:31] comments that my colleagues

[34:34] both, uh, Council Committee

[34:35] Chair Lewis and council member,

[34:38] but I have noted. Um, you

[34:39] mentioned that the team, the

[34:40] incredible team behind you,

[34:42] which I think is a testament to

[34:43] your leadership, that they are

[34:45] there today. Uh, you mentioned

[34:46] that they are shining examples

[34:48] of public servants, and I just

[34:51] want to call attention to how

[34:54] much your work and your

[34:55] presence and your thoughtful

[34:57] approach to this office is also

[34:59] a shining example of public

[35:01] service. So thank you for being

[35:03] that public servant to the

[35:05] county because of your work and

[35:08] your honesty and your

[35:10] willingness to try to hold

[35:12] institutions accountable. I do

[35:13] think that King County is in a

[35:15] better place, and I absolutely

[35:16] wish we had more time with you

[35:18] to continue to grow the

[35:18] strength that you

[35:19] ve already

[35:21] brought to this office. Um, I

[35:22] am so appreciative of your

[35:25] leadership and for continuing

[35:27] to speak truth to power, and

[35:27] I

[35:28] m so thankful for the

[35:29] innovation that you brought to

[35:31] this office and to really be

[35:33] thoughtful about the engagement

[35:33] that you

[35:34] ve had with law

[35:36] enforcement agencies, with

[35:38] community partners, with

[35:39] elected officials, with members

[35:41] of the public. Um, the

[35:43] relationship and respect that I

[35:43] think you

[35:45] ve earned from all of

[35:47] those stakeholders is palpable.

[35:50] And I know that when I had some

[35:51] questions about how the

[35:52] engagement went with King

[35:52] County Sheriff

[35:53] s Office and

[35:55] inquired about those, there was

[35:56] only positive things to say

[35:58] about how the office and you,

[35:59] as a director, had engaged with

[36:00] the King County Sheriff

[36:00] s

[36:02] Office. Even if you

[36:03] re relaying

[36:03] information that

[36:05] s hard to hear

[36:06] about, changes that are desired

[36:09] or needed. Um, there was always

[36:12] a thread of respect and

[36:14] appreciation for the role that

[36:15] you had and the way that you

[36:17] did it. So thank you for your

[36:17] time with us. I think it

[36:18] s an

[36:19] unfortunately cut short

[36:20] prematurely, but I

[36:21] m forever

[36:22] grateful for your service, and

[36:23] I

[36:24] m hopeful that we will

[36:25] continue to build on the

[36:27] recommendations that you have

[36:28] offered, not just in this

[36:29] report, but in the previous

[36:31] reports as well, that we know

[36:33] some of those recommendations

[36:35] are still outstanding. Um, I

[36:37] also wanted to just build on

[36:39] some of the questions that my

[36:42] colleagues had. Um, and wanted

[36:48] to ask about, um, sort of the

[36:48] way in which you

[36:50] re seeing Ice

[36:52] officers engage with the King

[36:52] County Sheriff

[36:53] s Office, I

[36:55] guess, wondering how the

[36:56] response to the federal

[36:57] immigration enforcement that

[36:59] you called out, any reflections

[37:01] on specific room for growth in

[37:04] cxo? Um, we know across the

[37:06] country and here locally that

[37:06] the sheriff

[37:08] s office, um, is

[37:10] not in a unique position to

[37:13] having Ice officers call and

[37:15] try to I think, um,

[37:16] inappropriately use our King

[37:17] County Sheriff

[37:18] s Office when

[37:18] they

[37:20] re feeling unsafe as, uh,

[37:21] even though there

[37:22] s lawfully

[37:23] protected activities like

[37:27] observing Ice proceedings. Um,

[37:29] cxo and other local law

[37:31] enforcement, I think are, um,

[37:33] getting, uh, looped in, uh, to

[37:34] calls from ice when they feel

[37:36] like they need protection. So

[37:38] anything that you hear of in

[37:40] that realm that you think is a

[37:42] prime example for improvements

[37:44] or policy recommendations that

[37:47] you want to elaborate on.

[37:49] Uh, thank you for your kind

[37:51] words. First of all,

[37:53] Councilmember Mosqueda, um,

[37:57] the, um, there is a timeline on

[37:58] the on the, uh, policy

[38:00] recommendations on, on the

[38:01] federal immigration

[38:02] enforcement. And we are, um, we

[38:04] are waiting right now for, uh,

[38:05] responses from the sheriff

[38:05] s

[38:07] office. I think once that

[38:09] happens, I think the plan is to

[38:11] have a full briefing on that.

[38:13] Um, here in this committee, uh,

[38:15] to discuss our recommendations,

[38:18] uh, in detail. Um, I will say

[38:20] that we, you know, just to be

[38:22] completely frank, we anticipate

[38:24] that one of our recommendations

[38:26] is going to be a, uh, a hot

[38:29] button issue, which is the idea

[38:31] that some, um, and this is

[38:33] something that, uh, a few

[38:34] jurisdictions around the

[38:36] country are considering, which

[38:37] is whether, um, there should be

[38:39] any intervention at all on the

[38:41] part of the King County

[38:41] Sheriff

[38:43] s Office if they

[38:44] witness, for example, federal

[38:47] law enforcement, um, engaging

[38:47] in, let

[38:48] s say, excessive force.

[38:49] And our recommendation is

[38:50] specifically based on excessive

[38:53] force. What we heard, uh, time

[38:54] and again from community

[38:57] members is that, um, they do

[38:59] not feel protected. Um, you

[39:02] know, if, if, if a person, if a

[39:04] civilian is beating them up

[39:06] against the law, um, then that

[39:07] civilian will be stopped. But

[39:09] it is if it is if someone if a

[39:11] federal officer is exceeding

[39:14] the scope of their duties and

[39:15] engaged in excessive force,

[39:16] then they do not trust that

[39:18] that will be stopped. And that

[39:19] is currently the guidance. Is

[39:21] that no intervention at all?

[39:22] Uh, one of our, uh,

[39:24] recommendations is for the

[39:25] sheriff

[39:26] s office to, in

[39:27] consultation, of course, with

[39:29] legal advisors and community

[39:31] members to create a policy

[39:33] directing deputies to intervene

[39:35] in very limited circumstances

[39:37] when there is a use of

[39:38] excessive force. We anticipate

[39:39] that that

[39:40] s a hot topic issue,

[39:43] and it brings up a lot of, um,

[39:46] legal issues that are somewhat

[39:47] novel because it

[39:47] s not

[39:48] something that has been really

[39:50] done before, but it is

[39:50] something that some

[39:52] jurisdictions are currently

[39:53] considering. And we believe

[39:54] that King County, um, can be on

[39:56] the front lines when it comes

[39:57] to that, just like those other

[39:59] jurisdictions are when it comes

[40:01] to protecting our immigrant

[40:04] communities. Um, and, uh, there

[40:05] will, like I said, hopefully be

[40:07] a, um, not hopefully. I

[40:07] m

[40:08] certain there will be a full

[40:10] briefing on on this once, once

[40:11] the, uh, response from the

[40:12] sheriff

[40:13] s office, um, is

[40:14] presented as well. And then we

[40:17] can have a further discussion

[40:18] in the committee when that

[40:20] happens, too. Not sure I

[40:21] ll be

[40:23] here for it, but it will it

[40:24] will happen.

[40:27] And, chair, just a follow up.

[40:28] Go ahead.

[40:31] Uh, thanks. Um, I appreciate

[40:33] the, you know, for

[40:34] foreshadowing of the report

[40:34] that

[40:36] s coming. And I also think

[40:38] that there is an opportunity

[40:40] for us to remind members of the

[40:42] public and everybody who is a

[40:44] public servant as well, what is

[40:47] a legally protected, um, a an

[40:48] observer role, right. There

[40:49] s

[40:51] lawfully protected observer

[40:53] roles that anybody can have.

[40:54] And in fact, Governor Ferguson

[40:56] encouraged the residents of

[40:58] Washington state to continue to

[41:01] be vigilant to film ice, to,

[41:04] um, make sure that when we see

[41:05] Ice operating in our

[41:06] communities, we hold them

[41:07] accountable by filming them.

[41:08] Obviously, we don

[41:08] t want to put

[41:10] people in danger by any means,

[41:12] but you can legally observe,

[41:14] you can call out the fact that

[41:14] they

[41:15] re in a neighborhood. You

[41:17] can use a horn and, um, noise

[41:19] machines to let people know if

[41:19] that

[41:21] s what the community, um,

[41:23] strategy and desire is. All of

[41:24] those things are legal. And to

[41:28] the degree that a, uh, legal

[41:29] observer is using those

[41:31] techniques and tactics that

[41:34] should not trigger a Ice agent

[41:36] calling any officer to

[41:37] intervene in those situations.

[41:39] So I appreciate the

[41:40] foreshadowing of the report to

[41:41] come and just would encourage

[41:42] as well, looking at other

[41:44] jurisdictions that have helped

[41:48] to provide education and, um,

[41:49] revamping of internal policies

[41:51] so that everybody knows what

[41:53] the legally observed,

[41:55] protected, legally legal

[41:57] observers can do, um, in their

[41:59] citizen roles so that they

[41:59] don

[42:01] t get in a position where

[42:03] ice is. I think, you know, um,

[42:05] trying to ask a law enforcement

[42:06] officer to intervene when

[42:06] someone

[42:06] s just legally

[42:07] observing. So that

[42:08] s a slight,

[42:10] slight different category than,

[42:11] um, which you articulated, but

[42:12] I think it

[42:13] s an important one

[42:16] as well. And, um, and then my

[42:18] last question is, uh, really

[42:21] related to the, um, like the

[42:24] requirement to take action in

[42:27] the packet on pages 41 and 42,

[42:28] it talks about how olios

[42:30] policies or investigative

[42:33] recommendations are potentially

[42:35] considered and then acted on.

[42:37] Uh, we have seen in the report

[42:39] that cxo is not necessarily

[42:40] required to take action on the

[42:42] recommendations. That was a

[42:43] point of discussion that I had

[42:45] with folks, which led lent

[42:46] itself to the discussion I

[42:47] mentioned earlier, where people

[42:49] really had positive things to

[42:50] say about the interaction and

[42:52] and the the professional

[42:53] relationship with the office

[42:56] itself. But there there does

[43:00] seem to be, um, a clear, um,

[43:01] delineation between a

[43:04] recommendation versus, um, like

[43:06] a directive to include the

[43:08] policy outcomes. So are there

[43:10] other agencies that are

[43:12] similarly situated to you that,

[43:14] um, receive recommendations but

[43:14] don

[43:16] t have to act on it? For

[43:17] example, like, does the

[43:17] auditor

[43:20] s office mean that an

[43:22] agency must implement a

[43:23] recommendation, or are those

[43:26] also recommendations and not a

[43:27] directive? How does it compare

[43:29] between similarly situated

[43:32] offices that are independent?

[43:34] I think generally speaking,

[43:36] yes. Most of the time it is

[43:39] recommendations and there is no

[43:39] way. And they

[43:40] re not

[43:41] directives, there is no way to

[43:44] force any agency to take the

[43:46] actions. Um, what we have

[43:49] started doing and, um, what we

[43:51] have started doing is we now do

[43:54] a six month and 12 month kind

[43:57] of evaluation period after we

[43:59] make recommendations so that we

[44:00] can update the council and the

[44:02] public on which of our

[44:03] recommendations have been

[44:04] considered, which have been

[44:05] implemented, which have been

[44:07] rejected, which are pending, so

[44:09] that people have a better idea.

[44:11] Um, but really, the the, the

[44:14] power that we have is, is to

[44:16] bring it to light. Um, I will

[44:17] say, just to echo what you

[44:17] ve

[44:19] said about about the

[44:22] relationship, um, you know, it

[44:23] is it is it is a two way

[44:25] street, um, with us in the

[44:25] sheriff

[44:27] s office. Um, so just

[44:29] like, um, we are, um,

[44:32] respectful of of their role,

[44:33] and we make our

[44:34] recommendations. They are also

[44:36] respectful of our role and us

[44:38] making recommendations.

[44:40] Sometimes we disagree. Uh,

[44:41] sometimes recommendations are

[44:43] held up for other reasons.

[44:43] According to the sheriff

[44:43] s

[44:44] office, it could be something

[44:45] like money. It could be

[44:46] something like staffing.

[44:48] Whatever the case is. Um, so

[44:50] that is why we have we started

[44:52] the six month and 12 month

[44:54] implementation evaluation that

[44:54] we

[44:55] re going to be doing moving

[44:57] forward, uh, to let people know

[44:58] and let the council know which

[45:00] of our recommendations are

[45:01] being are being followed and

[45:02] which aren

[45:04] t. Uh, and we are

[45:06] also working through processes

[45:07] with the sheriff

[45:08] s office right

[45:09] now to make sure that our

[45:10] communication is even better

[45:12] than it has been. Um, and to

[45:13] make sure that things are being

[45:15] presented in a holistic way,

[45:17] both to the council and and to

[45:19] the public. But to answer that,

[45:21] that question again, um, it is,

[45:23] generally speaking, uh, I would

[45:25] say most, uh, civilian

[45:28] oversight agencies do not have

[45:30] the ability to give a directive

[45:31] to a law enforcement agency.

[45:32] They only present

[45:34] recommendations. And I believe

[45:34] that the auditor

[45:35] s officers

[45:36] office is the same. It

[45:36] s not

[45:38] necessarily that someone is

[45:40] required to, uh, to take the

[45:42] action. They are required to

[45:43] respond to the recommendations

[45:44] of the sheriff

[45:45] s office. Uh,

[45:45] the recommendations of the

[45:46] auditor

[45:46] s office, but they

[45:47] re

[45:48] not necessarily required to

[45:49] take the action, which is also

[45:52] why the auditor also does, um,

[45:54] you know, follow up reports to

[45:55] indicate which of their

[45:57] recommendations have been

[46:00] accepted and which have not.

[46:01] Okay. Great. And that was part

[46:03] of my question to do they do

[46:06] the agencies respond even if

[46:06] they

[46:07] re not a policies that are

[46:09] adopted? It sounds like yes to

[46:11] Olios recommendation. To Olios

[46:12] recommendation. There

[46:12] s a

[46:13] response whether or not it

[46:13] s

[46:15] adopted. Um, that way there

[46:15] s

[46:16] like a full dialogue on the

[46:17] concept.

[46:19] Yes. And sometimes it takes a

[46:20] little bit longer than others

[46:21] because obviously they

[46:22] re very

[46:23] complicated matters. And, you

[46:24] know, they have to run it

[46:25] through their policy people and

[46:26] all that stuff. So it takes

[46:28] some time. But generally

[46:30] speaking, um, you know, first

[46:31] we request an initial response

[46:33] from them that we publish at

[46:35] the same time as publishing our

[46:36] report so that people can see

[46:38] everything. And then we also

[46:39] let folks know when we

[46:41] anticipate a more, um, a more

[46:43] full or a deeper, uh, response.

[46:45] And then sometimes we will

[46:47] respond to their response and

[46:51] so on.

[46:53] Thank you.

[46:56] So, director, uh, Abizaid, in

[46:58] keeping with the theme of

[47:00] recommendations, I have a

[47:02] couple of questions. Um, of the

[47:05] 12 recommendations that you

[47:07] mentioned in the report, what

[47:09] allegation group did they

[47:10] address to? Yes. Do they

[47:13] address or attempt to remedy?

[47:15] And then of those 12, do you

[47:17] know yet? Um, how many have

[47:18] been partially implemented,

[47:22] fully implemented or, um,

[47:23] rejected?

[47:26] Um, I will answer that by

[47:27] telling you that you should be

[47:29] receiving in the next couple of

[47:32] days. Um, a kind of a

[47:35] guideline, um, of all of our

[47:36] policy, all of our outstanding

[47:38] policy recommendations, or

[47:39] really all of our policy

[47:40] recommendations, period, and

[47:42] going through them and saying

[47:43] what percentage of them were

[47:45] fully adopted, partially

[47:47] adopted, not adopting and and

[47:48] pending. So we will be sharing

[47:50] that with, uh, council members

[47:52] in the next couple of days so

[47:53] that you have a complete

[47:55] understanding of, of each

[47:57] recommendation. And, and what,

[47:59] um, what the status of it is

[48:01] right now as far as allegation

[48:01] groups, we don

[48:03] t really um, we

[48:03] don

[48:06] t really keep track of the

[48:07] recommendations in terms of in

[48:08] terms of allegation groups,

[48:09] because they

[48:10] re not necessarily

[48:12] directly related to violations

[48:14] or investigations. Uh, some of

[48:15] the recommendations are not

[48:17] necessarily related to specific

[48:18] allegations, but they are just

[48:20] recommendations for improvement

[48:22] or clarity or taking a

[48:23] different stance. And so we

[48:23] don

[48:25] t really group them that

[48:27] way. But I think the document

[48:28] that you receive in the next

[48:29] couple of days will be very

[48:30] informative in terms of

[48:32] answering those, answering

[48:33] those questions.

[48:36] Great. Thank you. Um, I have

[48:38] one more question. Uh, and

[48:38] that

[48:40] s about the external, um,

[48:42] allegations. You mentioned

[48:45] that, um, some of those are

[48:48] handled in an expedited way

[48:50] when preliminary evidence was

[48:52] deemed to be conclusive by the

[48:52] sheriff

[48:54] s office. So what is

[48:55] the standard that

[48:56] s used to

[48:58] evaluate inclusiveness?

[49:01] Uh, so, uh, the classification

[49:02] of preliminary evidence is

[49:04] conclusive is first proposed by

[49:05] the sheriff

[49:07] s office. Um, when

[49:09] they look at when they start an

[49:11] investigation, um, they first

[49:12] propose it. But we have to

[49:14] agree with them that the

[49:15] preliminary evidence is

[49:16] conclusive. And what that means

[49:18] is that there is, um, you know,

[49:20] clear and convincing evidence

[49:23] that, um, the whatever is being

[49:24] alleged either happened or, or

[49:24] didn

[49:27] t happen, uh, because

[49:27] sheriff

[49:29] s office deputies now,

[49:30] uh, a lot of them are wearing

[49:31] body worn cameras. That has

[49:33] made our job a lot easier in

[49:35] terms of identifying whether

[49:37] conduct has occurred or not.

[49:39] And preliminary evidence being

[49:40] conclusive does not necessarily

[49:42] mean that an allegation is not

[49:43] sustained. Sometimes the

[49:44] preliminary evidence is

[49:46] conclusive, and so it will go

[49:48] straight to, um, you know, for

[49:49] example, doing some kind of

[49:50] performance related training if

[49:50] there

[49:51] s no discipline involved,

[49:52] if it

[49:52] s a minor, if it

[49:53] s a

[49:54] minor violation, things like

[49:56] that. Um, it might go that

[49:59] route as well. Uh, but it is a

[50:02] process that occurs both within

[50:02] the sheriff

[50:03] s office and at

[50:05] Olio separately, where we have

[50:07] to agree, um, whether there is

[50:08] clear and convincing evidence

[50:10] within what we see, uh, that

[50:12] shows us, uh, clearly what

[50:13] happened. And so then there

[50:13] s

[50:15] no, um, there

[50:16] s no necessity

[50:17] for further investigation. So

[50:17] it

[50:19] s a way to kind of, uh, and

[50:20] this is, this is a category

[50:22] that we came up with together

[50:22] with the sheriff

[50:23] s office when

[50:24] we were reworking the

[50:25] classification system. It

[50:25] s

[50:27] something that took maybe a

[50:28] year and a half to to develop

[50:30] this new classification system.

[50:32] And this was one of the ways to

[50:35] be able to make sure to, uh,

[50:36] handle, uh, you know, handle

[50:38] all the complaints that we get,

[50:40] but do so, uh, you know, in a

[50:42] fair manner that is fair to

[50:44] complainants and, and law

[50:46] enforcement officers as well.

[50:46] Uh, and it

[50:47] s been it

[50:47] s been

[50:49] working really well with the

[50:50] aid of, uh, I would say body

[50:52] worn cameras has made it a lot

[50:54] easier.

[50:56] Great. Thank you very much.

[50:57] Questions?

[50:58] Thank you. Sorry. I want to

[51:00] make sure that other folks got

[51:01] a chance to ask questions

[51:02] before I ask my next one. So,

[51:04] um, uh, director, I said one of

[51:06] the things that I also wanted

[51:08] to, uh, note on your report on

[51:10] this is on page 19, where you

[51:12] talk about the, um, the number

[51:15] of allegations against the

[51:16] individual officers and kind of

[51:18] how many are deputies and how

[51:19] many people. And obviously, you

[51:20] know, important to note that,

[51:22] like the majority of our

[51:24] deputies did not actually have

[51:25] any allegations against them.

[51:26] And then it kind of breaks down

[51:30] the numbers. And, um, and so I

[51:32] think one of the questions that

[51:34] I have is with, with deputies

[51:36] that had it

[51:38] s a small number,

[51:40] um, that have six or more

[51:44] allegations in a calendar year,

[51:46] do you all kind of and I

[51:47] realize that, like, you

[51:47] re not

[51:48] necessarily involved in the

[51:49] discipline part of this, but

[51:49] I

[51:50] m just wondering if there

[51:50] s

[51:53] any kind of tracking over time.

[51:55] Um, of, like, who those

[51:57] deputies might be. And, you

[51:58] know, whether there

[51:58] s kind of

[52:00] patterns year over year, like

[52:00] you

[52:01] re seeing like the there

[52:01] s

[52:02] a little bit of a pattern here

[52:03] and that there

[52:04] s like a very

[52:05] high number of allegations

[52:07] against a, in this case, three.

[52:09] There were two last year. I

[52:09] m

[52:10] just trying to understand like

[52:11] whether that

[52:11] s something that

[52:13] you all look at at sort of the,

[52:15] the pattern. And I realize that

[52:15] there

[52:16] s complicated issues

[52:17] around the collective

[52:19] bargaining agreements. And in

[52:20] terms of the discipline. But is

[52:21] that something that that you

[52:23] all kind of engage with cxo in

[52:24] terms of not just the

[52:25] individual, but when you start

[52:27] seeing sort of those patterns

[52:29] of how how that gets resolved?

[52:30] I imagine for the community, I

[52:30] think it

[52:31] s an important thing

[52:34] to to, for us to consider to.

[52:36] Absolutely. And, um, when we

[52:37] were working on the annual

[52:39] report for this year, um, part

[52:41] of what we were looking for,

[52:42] that is something that we were

[52:44] specifically looking for,

[52:47] whether the, deputies who have

[52:49] a high number of allegations

[52:51] this year are the same deputies

[52:52] who have had the high number of

[52:54] allegations in the years

[52:56] previous. Um, and when we used

[52:58] their, you know, their unique

[52:59] identifiers to kind of figure

[53:02] that out, there was not a very

[53:03] there was not a strong trend

[53:06] that we noticed. Um, and so,

[53:08] uh, the trend is it

[53:09] s is still

[53:11] that there is a small number

[53:13] that is responsible for, you

[53:14] know, a disproportionate number

[53:18] of, of, of allegations. Um, but

[53:20] there is not we did not see

[53:22] that. We did not see a trend

[53:24] about specific, specific

[53:27] deputies. For example, we did

[53:29] look for it if we had found it.

[53:30] Of course, we, you know, we

[53:31] would have had to figure out

[53:33] how to communicate that without

[53:35] running afoul of any collective

[53:37] bargaining agreement. Uh,

[53:39] conditions. Um, but yeah, we

[53:41] did not we did not necessarily

[53:43] find that that pattern.

[53:44] Okay. Well, I appreciate that.

[53:44] You

[53:45] re you

[53:46] re looking at it.

[53:48] Yep. Somewhat reassuring that

[53:48] you

[53:49] re not seeing that pattern

[53:50] because I think that that would

[53:51] cause some concern. But I

[53:53] appreciate that your, uh, your

[53:54] analysis goes in depth like

[53:58] that. So thank you. Thank you.

[54:05] Are there questions, comments?

[54:07] Well, we do have a motion

[54:10] before us, uh, to approve

[54:14] proposed motion 2026 0144 with

[54:16] a do pass recommendation. Um,

[54:17] Clerk Williams, would you

[54:18] please call the roll?

[54:21] Thank you. Chair Councilmember

[54:23] Balducci Councilmember Baron. I

[54:26] Councilmember. I Councilmember

[54:28] Mosqueda. I Chair Lewis, I vote

[54:31] is four ayes zero noes with

[54:33] Councilmember Balducci excused.

[54:36] Thank you. Um, by our vote, we

[54:38] have approved proposed motion

[54:41] 2026 0144 with the due pass

[54:43] recommendations. If there are

[54:45] no concerns from my colleagues,

[54:47] we will place this item on the

[54:51] consent agenda for the

[54:53] SEPTEMBER 15th uh Council

[54:54] meeting. And i

[54:55] ll close by

[54:57] saying, um, Director Abizaid,

[54:58] we appreciate your work so

[55:01] much, and thank you for leaving

[55:02] the Office of Law Enforcement

[55:05] Oversight in better shape than

[55:06] you found it. Thank you.

[55:07] Thank you so much, Chair Lewis.

[55:09] Thank you, Council members.

[55:14] Thank you.

[55:18] Okay, moving on to our final

[55:22] agenda item. Uh, it is another

[55:24] annual report and this time

[55:26] from the Human and Civil Rights

[55:28] Commission. Um, the Human and

[55:29] Civil Rights Commission, as you

[55:30] know, colleagues was formed

[55:33] last year, making today their

[55:35] first time providing an annual

[55:37] report to the Law and Justice

[55:39] Committee. We are grateful to

[55:40] have their executive committee

[55:43] members here today to present

[55:44] and to tell us about the

[55:46] important work that they are

[55:48] undertaking. Um, at this time,

[55:48] I

[55:51] d like to call on, um, Human

[55:53] and Civil Rights Commission

[55:55] co-chair Jennifer Carlson to

[55:57] begin. And please start by

[55:59] introducing yourself and your

[56:07] other commissioners.

[56:09] Good morning, Chair Lewis. Vice

[56:11] chair Dembowski and members of

[56:13] the committee. Thank you for

[56:15] this opportunity to brief the

[56:17] Law and Justice Committee on

[56:18] the Human and Civil Rights

[56:18] Commission

[56:20] s annual report,

[56:22] which we transmitted in APRIL

[56:25] of this year. I am the crc

[56:28] co-chair, Jennifer Curls. I use

[56:29] her pronouns, and I

[56:30] m joined

[56:32] today by my fellow executive

[56:33] committee members who I

[56:34] ll

[56:35] pause here to allow them to

[56:37] introduce themselves.

[56:45] Good morning.

[56:47] Good morning. My name is Daisy

[56:49] Wong. I am the co-chair of the

[56:51] commission, and my pronouns are

[56:54] she her.

[56:57] Good morning. My name is Alison

[57:00] Hastings, and I am the

[57:05] secretary of the commission.

[57:05] And I believe you

[57:07] ll see our

[57:08] presentation for you today as

[57:11] well. So, as a reminder,

[57:11] today

[57:13] s briefing focuses on our

[57:16] inaugural annual report, which

[57:19] covers the period from

[57:21] SEPTEMBER 2025 through MARCH of

[57:24] 2026. The next reporting period

[57:25] will span the 12 months from

[57:29] MARCH of 2026 to MARCH of 2027,

[57:31] and will include the one time

[57:32] reporting requirement

[57:34] associated with the changes to

[57:35] powers and duties,

[57:36] recommendation. As you can see

[57:38] on the slide, much of the

[57:40] inaugural period centered on

[57:41] establishing foundational

[57:43] structures for the Commission,

[57:45] a major focus was developing

[57:47] our bylaws to bring clarity to

[57:50] the operations and support long

[57:52] term sustainability. This work

[57:55] can occur as the inaugural

[57:57] Commission stepped into a

[57:59] period of transition following

[58:01] the NOVEMBER election.

[58:03] Throughout this period, we have

[58:05] been diligent in refocusing our

[58:07] efforts to ensure alignment

[58:09] with our mission while

[58:12] navigating these organizational

[58:14] changes. While the Commission

[58:17] has experienced significant

[58:19] transitions. We have also made

[58:21] substantial progress. Progress.

[58:23] We look forward to sharing in

[58:24] greater detail with you all in

[58:30] our next annual report. So

[58:31] continuing from that timeline

[58:33] that we just reviewed, I wanted

[58:34] to just highlight a few of

[58:37] those foundational activities.

[58:39] Trans um, translated into our

[58:43] key accomplishments for 2025.

[58:45] We began by successfully

[58:46] establishing the Commission

[58:48] following the inaugural member

[58:50] appointments in the summer of

[58:53] 2025. The foundational, um,

[58:55] that foundational step set the

[58:56] stage for all of the work that

[58:58] followed that year, we launched

[59:00] our public facing work with our

[59:03] first official hrc meeting in

[59:06] SEPTEMBER of 2025, marking the

[59:07] start of our community

[59:09] engagement and advisory

[59:12] responsibilities. As noted in

[59:14] the timeline, we formed our

[59:16] bylaws in the fall and

[59:17] completed the first draft of

[59:19] our governance bylaws by

[59:21] DECEMBER. This was a major

[59:23] milestone that has helped

[59:26] create clarity, consistency,

[59:28] and long term sustainability in

[59:30] how the Commission operates. We

[59:32] also established a

[59:34] collaboration with the King

[59:35] County Immigrant and Refugee

[59:37] Commission through DECEMBER,

[59:39] Joint Convening, which helped

[59:40] build an understanding of

[59:42] shared priorities and create an

[59:45] opportunity for connection. And

[59:46] throughout the year,

[59:48] commissioners were building

[59:49] foundational knowledge

[59:52] essential to our advisory role

[59:53] learning about civil rights

[59:55] investigations, county

[59:57] processes, and the broader

[59:59] program structure. We closed

[1:00:01] out our year by electing

[1:00:03] officers to support coordinated

[1:00:06] leadership, and all together,

[1:00:08] these accomplishments reflect a

[1:00:10] year of building, grounding and

[1:00:12] preparing the commission to

[1:00:15] move into more substantive

[1:00:17] advisory work. And I just want

[1:00:18] to say that we

[1:00:18] re very

[1:00:21] appreciative of the staff who

[1:00:22] have been supporting the

[1:00:25] Commission and our work and our

[1:00:27] growth over this past year. So

[1:00:27] with that, I

[1:00:28] ll give the floor

[1:00:30] to my co-chair, dc.

[1:00:32] Thank you. So looking ahead,

[1:00:34] the goals we included in the

[1:00:36] annual report outline our long

[1:00:38] term direction. Um,

[1:00:39] strengthening community

[1:00:41] connections, reviewing the

[1:00:43] civil rights program, assessing

[1:00:45] protected classes and legal

[1:00:47] updates. Um, along with

[1:00:48] reviewing policies and

[1:00:49] enhancing partnership to

[1:00:51] support stronger civil rights

[1:00:54] outcomes. And as we gained

[1:00:55] experience, we

[1:00:56] ve also refined

[1:00:58] our focus based on lessons

[1:01:01] learned. The commission

[1:01:02] experienced commissioner

[1:01:03] turnover,

[1:01:06] Vacancies and shift in staff

[1:01:07] support following the election

[1:01:10] and county reorganisation.

[1:01:12] These realities helped clarify

[1:01:14] where immediate efforts need to

[1:01:17] be, and as a result, we have

[1:01:19] pivoted towards priorities that

[1:01:22] reinforce our strengthening our

[1:01:24] infrastructure, developing

[1:01:26] structured study sessions and

[1:01:29] onboarding. Filling vacancies

[1:01:31] and completing the first draft

[1:01:33] of the changes to the Powers

[1:01:36] and duties report. These

[1:01:38] refined goals help ensure that

[1:01:39] as we move forward, we are

[1:01:41] grounded, coordinated and set

[1:01:43] up for long term term

[1:01:46] effectiveness.

[1:01:48] We have already begun

[1:01:49] implementing several of these

[1:01:51] priorities over the past few

[1:01:51] months. We

[1:01:52] ve developed a

[1:01:54] structured study session

[1:01:56] curriculum. The civil rights

[1:01:57] team has put together an

[1:01:59] incredibly robust framework for

[1:02:01] us. The eight sessions that

[1:02:01] we

[1:02:02] ve had so far have helped

[1:02:04] clarify our understanding of

[1:02:07] county functions, civil rights

[1:02:08] processes, and the current

[1:02:10] oversight landscape. We have an

[1:02:11] additional ten sessions

[1:02:13] scheduled throughout this month

[1:02:14] in the early fall, and we

[1:02:15] re

[1:02:16] planning an in-person retreat

[1:02:18] this fall as well. To support

[1:02:19] onboarding of new

[1:02:21] commissioners, team building

[1:02:24] and collective learning, in

[1:02:24] SEPTEMBER, we

[1:02:25] ll also conduct a

[1:02:27] mapping exercise to synthesize

[1:02:27] what we

[1:02:29] ve learned so far, and

[1:02:30] we will use this to shape how

[1:02:32] we approach the powers and

[1:02:35] duties report. That will inform

[1:02:37] our initial recommendations.

[1:02:39] And those might include things

[1:02:40] such as budget, staffing and

[1:02:43] process considerations needed

[1:02:44] to support the Commission

[1:02:44] s

[1:02:47] long term goals. And to close,

[1:02:49] we want to emphasize that this

[1:02:51] first year has been both

[1:02:53] foundational and instructive.

[1:02:55] We are building the structures,

[1:02:57] relationships, and internal

[1:02:58] clarity needed to support

[1:02:59] meaningful civil rights

[1:03:01] oversight in the years ahead.

[1:03:03] And despite the transitions and

[1:03:04] learning curves, the Commission

[1:03:05] remains committed to

[1:03:06] strengthening equity,

[1:03:07] accountability and community

[1:03:09] partnership across King County.

[1:03:10] We

[1:03:11] re grateful for the Law and

[1:03:11] Justice Committee

[1:03:12] s ongoing

[1:03:14] support and guidance, and

[1:03:16] extremely grateful to the staff

[1:03:16] support that we

[1:03:17] ve received,

[1:03:18] and we look forward to

[1:03:20] continuing this work with you.

[1:03:20] At this point, we

[1:03:21] re happy to

[1:03:22] answer any questions you MAY

[1:03:25] have. Thank you.

[1:03:26] Great. Thank you for that

[1:03:29] presentation. I am impressed

[1:03:31] with how much you

[1:03:31] ve been able

[1:03:34] to accomplish in, just what,

[1:03:36] maybe 13 months or so. So

[1:03:36] that

[1:03:37] s really impressive. And

[1:03:38] to see the foundation that

[1:03:39] you

[1:03:40] ve laid for future years.

[1:03:41] With that, I will turn to

[1:03:45] colleagues for questions,

[1:03:48] comments..

[1:03:49] Well thank you. Well, first of

[1:03:50] all, I just want to say express

[1:03:53] our deep gratitude to to all of

[1:03:55] you for serving in this role.

[1:03:56] Um, I

[1:03:57] m very excited and I

[1:03:58] wanted to defer a little bit to

[1:03:59] Vice Chair Dembowski just

[1:04:02] because he led the effort here

[1:04:05] to, I would say, revitalize the

[1:04:07] commission from from prior

[1:04:10] iterations. Um, I think the,

[1:04:12] you know, as, as the chair

[1:04:13] mentioned, you know, I

[1:04:14] appreciate all the work that

[1:04:14] s

[1:04:15] been done already in this, in

[1:04:16] this relatively short period of

[1:04:18] time. I know that the that was

[1:04:20] a lot of kind of foundational

[1:04:21] work, and the substance lies

[1:04:23] ahead. Um, I will just it

[1:04:23] s

[1:04:25] more of a, um, you

[1:04:25] ve kind of

[1:04:26] answered a little bit of the

[1:04:27] question that I had, which is

[1:04:29] like, you know, what? What

[1:04:30] supports do you need? And it

[1:04:30] sounds like there

[1:04:31] s some work

[1:04:32] to actually kind of present

[1:04:33] that. And we look forward to I

[1:04:34] want to be sort of cautious in

[1:04:36] terms of what we can promise in

[1:04:37] terms of, uh, particularly when

[1:04:38] it comes to the budget because

[1:04:40] of our constraints here, but

[1:04:41] especially in the general fund.

[1:04:43] But but I do want to I do, I do

[1:04:44] we do want to hear it, I guess

[1:04:47] I do want to open and say that,

[1:04:48] uh, one of the things that I

[1:04:49] think we discussed a lot when

[1:04:51] this, uh, commission was being

[1:04:53] discussed and this new

[1:04:55] iteration is the ensuring that

[1:04:55] there

[1:04:56] s strong support. So I

[1:04:56] m

[1:04:57] glad to hear, in terms of the

[1:04:59] report about the fact that that

[1:05:01] that is coming from from our

[1:05:02] executive branch colleagues

[1:05:05] and, um, and really want to

[1:05:07] make sure that you get what we,

[1:05:09] um, you know, that that you get

[1:05:11] the support to make this effort

[1:05:14] successful and also that we,

[1:05:16] we, you know, we want, you

[1:05:18] know, part of the reason that

[1:05:19] that I think we we wanted this

[1:05:23] to be a revitalized, uh, part

[1:05:25] of our county government is we

[1:05:27] want this kind of independent

[1:05:27] group that

[1:05:28] s telling us that

[1:05:30] the council and, and the county

[1:05:32] government more generally, how

[1:05:34] do we can improve in the area

[1:05:35] of, of civil and human rights.

[1:05:36] Right. I often think that

[1:05:38] especially if we are going to

[1:05:40] be living and working in a

[1:05:41] doctor, King

[1:05:42] s face is actually

[1:05:43] behind this thing right here.

[1:05:45] But I think that that, you

[1:05:47] know, we need to be really

[1:05:49] particularly here in King

[1:05:50] County in a place named after

[1:05:52] him, be living, uh, the values

[1:05:54] of human civil rights. And so I

[1:05:55] appreciate the Lord to your

[1:05:57] already undertaking and look

[1:05:59] forward to hearing, uh, your

[1:06:00] recommendations on how we can

[1:06:02] do better at the local level.

[1:06:06] So thank you.

[1:06:07] Councilmember Dembowski.

[1:06:09] Thank you, chair. I want to

[1:06:10] join my colleagues in

[1:06:11] expressing gratitude for the

[1:06:12] tremendous work you

[1:06:13] re doing to

[1:06:15] set this up for long term

[1:06:17] sustainability. Um, and just to

[1:06:21] maybe be a little more specific

[1:06:22] to Councilmember Brown

[1:06:22] s

[1:06:24] question, do you feel, do you

[1:06:27] feel do you have adequate staff

[1:06:30] support? One of the one of the

[1:06:32] challenges with the prior

[1:06:33] version of the Civil Rights

[1:06:35] Commission was there was a long

[1:06:36] time staffer, and then when she

[1:06:38] retired, kind of the the

[1:06:40] staffing support kind of I

[1:06:40] don

[1:06:42] t know about evaporated.

[1:06:44] But yeah, it dissipated. And

[1:06:45] that led to some kind of

[1:06:48] anemic, um, uh, an anemic

[1:06:50] situation there. So we follow

[1:06:51] up on Councilmember Brown

[1:06:52] s

[1:06:53] kind of inquiry there. How do

[1:06:55] you feel about the staff

[1:06:55] support? I

[1:06:56] m not asking you

[1:06:57] whether you like the person

[1:06:57] who

[1:06:58] s staffing. I

[1:06:59] m saying, do

[1:07:00] you have enough help to get

[1:07:04] your job done?

[1:07:07] Oh, um, well, I will say we

[1:07:09] have experienced some

[1:07:10] transitions in the staff

[1:07:12] support for this commission

[1:07:14] since we came together for that

[1:07:15] first meeting in SEPTEMBER of

[1:07:18] 2025. Each person that has, um,

[1:07:21] supported us has been really

[1:07:22] incredible. Um, so I would say

[1:07:25] we we like them. We appreciate

[1:07:27] them. And they have been, um,

[1:07:29] really incredible in helping us

[1:07:31] to wrap our arms around the

[1:07:34] mission of this body of work. I

[1:07:35] do think we will continue to

[1:07:37] kind of explore what kind of

[1:07:39] resources and staffing support

[1:07:42] this commission might need in

[1:07:44] order to be sustainable and

[1:07:45] effective and efficient for the

[1:07:46] county. And that

[1:07:46] s something

[1:07:47] we

[1:07:48] ll be focusing on a bit when

[1:07:49] we have this retreat in

[1:07:51] SEPTEMBER and start thinking

[1:07:52] about, um, what kind of

[1:07:53] recommendations we want to put

[1:07:55] into the Powers and Duties

[1:07:57] report. What if anyone wants to

[1:07:58] add anything?

[1:08:00] I would encourage you to. Don

[1:08:00] t

[1:08:02] be a stranger. We we want to

[1:08:04] support you over here. And we

[1:08:06] we have a little bit of a say

[1:08:07] on budget and things like that.

[1:08:08] And I will acknowledge too,

[1:08:09] we

[1:08:10] ve had a change for the

[1:08:12] first time in about 16 years of

[1:08:13] executive administration and

[1:08:14] new people. And so that

[1:08:14] s

[1:08:16] probably led to some

[1:08:18] transitions. I would suspect,

[1:08:20] uh, the second area I wanted to

[1:08:21] ask you about, we were very

[1:08:23] deliberate in adding the human

[1:08:26] rights component to this

[1:08:28] commission beyond the Civil

[1:08:32] Rights Foundation. 1 in 4

[1:08:33] residents of King County were

[1:08:35] not was not born here. We are

[1:08:38] facing an unprecedented assault

[1:08:39] on human, in my view, on human

[1:08:41] and civil rights in the county

[1:08:42] by our federal government,

[1:08:44] particularly with respect to

[1:08:48] immigrants and refugees. And

[1:08:50] while our powers to respond to

[1:08:53] that are somewhat constrained,

[1:08:56] uh, I think bearing witness, we

[1:08:58] heard some testimony or not

[1:08:59] testimony, but we covered this

[1:09:00] a little bit on the oleo

[1:09:03] report. But bearing witness to

[1:09:03] what

[1:09:04] s going on and then

[1:09:07] raising a voice collectively

[1:09:09] and from an official body like

[1:09:11] yours, I think could add some

[1:09:13] value. I think folks here in

[1:09:18] the county are desperate for a

[1:09:20] response. I feel sometimes, you

[1:09:21] know, we

[1:09:21] re we don

[1:09:23] t have the

[1:09:24] the tools and the powers that

[1:09:26] we could do it, but I would I

[1:09:28] guess I would ask, do you have

[1:09:28] I know you

[1:09:29] re getting all set

[1:09:32] up, but do you have any, um,

[1:09:34] plans or would you consider

[1:09:35] perhaps conducting some

[1:09:39] hearings, uh, to highlight

[1:09:39] what

[1:09:40] s going on here in King

[1:09:42] County with respect to these

[1:09:44] issues, perhaps issuing a

[1:09:45] statement, perhaps a joint

[1:09:46] statement with the King County

[1:09:47] Immigrant and Refugee

[1:09:50] Commission of support for our

[1:09:52] immigrant and refugee residents

[1:09:55] here, and a condemnation of the

[1:09:57] treatment of them by the

[1:10:02] federal government. Um, just

[1:10:02] wondering if you

[1:10:03] ve considered

[1:10:10] engaging in this area.

[1:10:14] Uh, I appreciate that question.

[1:10:18] And certainly that is something

[1:10:20] that, you know, we have heard

[1:10:22] from the public about, um,

[1:10:24] already and some of the

[1:10:26] engagement that the Commission

[1:10:27] has experienced already

[1:10:30] addresses those issues. I would

[1:10:32] say that we will certainly

[1:10:34] bring that up with the full

[1:10:36] commission when we next meet

[1:10:39] and discuss that as, uh, you

[1:10:41] know, uh, an opportunity, I

[1:10:43] guess, for the commission and

[1:10:44] moving forward, thinking in

[1:10:49] those regards. Yeah.

[1:10:50] Okay. Well, thank you. I and

[1:10:52] and I would also say, uh, you

[1:10:52] know, we

[1:10:53] ve heard some

[1:10:54] testimony in recent weeks here

[1:10:57] in chambers from particularly

[1:10:58] around, uh, organizations and

[1:11:00] people that are keeping an eye

[1:11:01] on the flights out of Boeing

[1:11:02] Field. We

[1:11:03] ve got a long history

[1:11:04] of litigation there and doing

[1:11:06] some things. But, um, I would

[1:11:08] encourage you not to be shy

[1:11:11] about aiming your gaze at King

[1:11:11] County

[1:11:13] s operations and making

[1:11:14] recommendations about how we

[1:11:16] can be a better government.

[1:11:16] There

[1:11:18] s no one leader or body

[1:11:20] or group that has all the

[1:11:24] answers. And, um, we we we are

[1:11:25] looking for help and we are

[1:11:26] looking for guidance and we

[1:11:26] re

[1:11:28] looking for some suggestions.

[1:11:29] And I know you got your hands

[1:11:30] full kind of getting set up,

[1:11:32] but this is such a pressing

[1:11:35] issue right now. Uh, that I

[1:11:35] think I

[1:11:37] m asking for your work

[1:11:44] and help in this area.

[1:11:50] Other questions or comments?

[1:11:52] All right. Well, thank you very

[1:11:54] much. Um, as I said, the work

[1:11:54] that you

[1:11:55] ve done so far has

[1:11:57] been impressive, even though

[1:11:57] it

[1:11:57] s, you know, it

[1:11:58] s startup

[1:11:59] and foundational. And we do

[1:12:00] look forward to hearing more

[1:12:03] from you as you get stronger in

[1:12:05] your group and as you move on

[1:12:08] with actual subject matter

[1:12:11] expertise and considerations.

[1:12:12] So thank you. Thank you so

[1:12:13] much.

[1:12:16] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:12:18] So if there is nothing else to

[1:12:20] come before the committee, I

[1:12:22] want to thank everyone who

[1:12:23] participated in today

[1:12:24] s meeting.

[1:12:26] And can we get all the votes?

[1:12:28] Oh. Thank you. Um, clerk did we

[1:12:31] get all of the votes counted

[1:12:31] today?

[1:12:34] Um, Councilmember Balducci was

[1:12:36] excused on all four items, but

[1:12:37] other than that, we did.

[1:12:39] All right. Thank you. Selfish

[1:12:42] question. No, thank you. Um, so

[1:12:43] if there

[1:12:44] s no other business to

[1:12:45] come before the committee, we

Law and Justice Committee

Agenda

Transcript