[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