[0:02] Great. Thank you. It is 6 o'clock. So I'm going to call to order the Limwood City Council business meeting for Monday, April 13, 20, 26 at 6 p.m.

[0:58] At the city of Linwood is located on the traditional lands of the homeless people and

[1:05] this confederation of toilet tribes and their families for generation.

[1:12] These indigenous communities have lived here on this land and

[1:16] we recognize support and advocate alongside them.

[1:20] We also acknowledge the forced removal of indigenous communities from their homeland.

[1:26] As a result of the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott, we understand that the land acknowledgment are not only the first steps in our efforts to support coastish,

[1:41] Snosh, Snosh, tribes, and educate non-natives about their lived history.

[1:49] We strive to achieve this through building relationships with indigenous communities,

[1:54] supporting indigenous commerce, government to government partnerships, and

[1:59] lifting indigenous voices to create equal equality for all.

[2:05] Through these actions, we hope to not only pay respect to the past but

[2:09] that also collaborate in creating sustainable future, hand in hand with the first process,

[2:23] sorry, our shared environment.

[2:27] All right, thank you.

[2:29] Councilor Executive Assistant, Rokall.

[2:34] Mayor Hurst.

[2:36] I'm here, thank you.

[2:37] Council President Kuehlo.

[2:38] Here.

[2:39] Council Vice President Eskamea.

[2:41] Here.

[2:41] Council Member Lutweiler.

[2:43] Here.

[2:43] here. Council Member Mata, here. Council Member O'Links.

[2:46] Here. Council Member Partial.

[2:49] Ready. Council Member Wright.

[2:50] Present. All present, Mayor.

[2:55] Thank you. Council President.

[2:59] Thank you, Mayor. I have a note here. I move to amend tonight's agenda item 12A,

[3:05] federal priorities with lobbyist partner Mark Dietrich to be moved to follow item 7B,

[3:12] Proclamation Volunteer Week.

[3:20] second motion's been moved in second in any discussion I'll just speak to

[3:24] it really briefly our lobbyist is in DC where he should be and it's a little

[3:31] late there so we wanted to just move it up out of respect to that all those

[3:37] in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries we'll go to message and papers

[3:45] members from the mayor as far as messages.

[3:49] Some things from last week.

[3:52] I was happy and honored to have a young man be my job shadow on Wednesday, Thursday.

[4:00] Ismail Elbibari, we did it together and I think he made some great connoisseurs, how you

[4:09] smell.

[4:10] He's right there.

[4:11] And we're able to pop their way ground breaking,

[4:16] properly bridge ground, ground break breaking, can't talk.

[4:21] And then towards some of the facilities, the ground breaking was great,

[4:25] because it got to meet a lot of representatives, both state and federal.

[4:33] So it was really a good Wednesday of Thursday.

[4:37] I learned a lot, I hope, is melted too, yes.

[4:39] And then over the weekend, I heard on the news that Katie Wilson, the mayor, Seattle, had her first 100 days, and then I sat there and went, oh, me too.

[4:54] So April 10th was my 100th day in office.

[4:59] I sent out, or email was sent out to staff and counsel this morning, and we'll go out to the public tomorrow.

[5:07] and really all I want to say is this is the best job I've ever had and I'm very

[5:13] honored to be able to serve the City of Linguine. Also over the weekend I watched

[5:18] a movie called Nuremberg and it talked about how it showed a couple of

[5:25] things. One, it's how easy fascism can get into a government and can just

[5:33] in a date the society. And part of that was there was some really disturbing film from some of

[5:42] the concentration camps during the Holocaust during that movie. So then I realized that tomorrow April

[5:51] 14th is holocaust martyrs and heroes remembrance day. And we just will never forget because if we do

[6:00] history will repeat. With that I then go to a where there are papers for the

[6:08] mayor's I don't think there were.

[6:15] And then we'll go to written communications and

[6:18] petitions.

[6:20] City Clerk.

[6:23] Good evening. We had one public comment. One community

[6:27] member reports frequent speeding on 188th Street Southwest between 48th Avenue

[6:33] any west and 52nd have any west that poses a safety risks and requests traffic homing

[6:40] measures and next steps.

[6:43] All right, thank you.

[6:45] Now we'll go to item 7, a proclamation for our per day and council vice president Derrick

[6:53] Eskimo will be approaching the dius and any of those who are to attend for that proclamation

[7:01] can join her up front.

[7:03] Thank you.

[7:03] Okay.

[7:22] I would like to thank everybody for joining us here on Arbor Day. Today's

[7:29] proclamation will be Arbor Day. As we all know April we celebrate Earth Month. I'm

[7:33] also an environmental scientist and so these things are near and dear to me and so

[7:38] I am honored to be giving this proclamation with all these beautiful people

[7:42] behind me. So here we go. Whereas in 1872, Jay Sterling-Morton noted

[7:48] politician, editor and courticulturalist proposed to the Nebraska board of

[7:54] agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees and whereas

[8:00] this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed in 1872 with the planting of

[8:07] more than a million trees in Nebraska and whereas Arbor Day is observed each year

[8:13] throughout the nation and the world on the last Friday in April and whereas

[8:18] as Arbor Day is observed in the state of Washington

[8:21] on the second Wednesday in April.

[8:24] And whereas, trees reduce the erosion

[8:27] of our precious top soil by wind and water,

[8:30] cut heating and cooling costs,

[8:33] moderate the temperature, clean the air,

[8:36] produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife.

[8:39] And whereas trees beautify our city,

[8:43] increase property values,

[8:44] and enhance the economic vitality of business areas.

[8:48] And whereas trees, wherever they are planted,

[8:52] are a source of comfort, joy, peace, and spiritual renewal,

[8:57] whereas the city of Linwood in collaboration

[9:00] with Linwood Elementary School students

[9:02] and local descendants of the Snohomish peoples

[9:06] will celebrate Arbor Day by planting native trees

[9:09] and providing education about our urban forest

[9:12] at the South Linwood Park on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026.

[9:19] Now, therefore be it resolved that we, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of

[9:24] Linwood, do hereby urge all Linwood citizens to celebrate our everyday and to support

[9:32] efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and further.

[9:36] We urge all citizens to plant trees, to glad in the heart and promote the well-being of

[9:42] this and future generations.

[9:44] Signed Mayor George Hurst and Council President Nick Cuello.

[9:49] Receiving this proclamation from the city of Linwood,

[9:52] we have, and there may be others,

[9:54] but I have Quinn Van Order on our Parks and Recreation Board.

[9:58] We are gonna take a picture altogether.

[10:00] I'm in the front, David Barber.

[10:02] I write's care of our parks.

[10:04] We've got Katie McCown also on our part.

[10:09] And Holly Hernandez.

[10:14] and Darwin's stuff.

[10:17] I guess mine. All right. Thank you, guys, let's all go up.

[10:21] Can I say something? Oh yes, yes. If anyone has anything to say, sorry, I forgot that part. Thank you.

[10:29] Good evening, Mayor, Council members and members of the community. My name is

[10:34] Darlene Stokes. I'm the education and outreach specialist with the Environmental and Surface Water Division in Public Works.

[10:42] On behalf of the City of Linwood Environmental and Surface Water Division, we sincerely thank

[10:49] you for recognizing Arbor Day and for your continued commitment to celebrating and protecting

[10:54] our urban forests.

[10:56] This proclamation highlights the importance of trees in our community not only for their

[11:02] environmental benefits such as improving air and water quality and reducing stormwater impacts,

[11:08] but also for the beauty, shade, and sense of place they provide throughout

[11:13] Linwood. We are especially grateful for the opportunity to connect this

[11:19] recognition with local efforts like the City of Linwood's Tree Voucher Program

[11:23] which empowers residents to actively participate in expanding the city's

[11:29] tree canopy. Programs like this make it easier for our community to invest in a

[11:38] appreciate your support in raising awareness about the value of trees and inspiring residents,

[11:44] students, and local organizations to take an active role in caring for our natural resources.

[11:51] The City of Linwood remains dedicated to responsible stewardship of our urban forest,

[11:58] and we are thankful for your partnership in recognizing Arbor Day as an opportunity

[12:03] to reflect on and invest in the future of our environment.

[12:08] Thank you again for this meaningful proclamation

[12:11] and for helping promote a greener,

[12:13] more resilient, Linwood.

[12:27] Howdy folks, equipment order, 98036.

[12:30] I know it's not enough to do that, but it's a force of habit.

[12:32] I'm here today with a great honor of speaking on behalf

[12:34] of the Park's Recreation and Cultural Arts Board.

[12:37] I'm gonna keep it short,

[12:38] a lot of what I was gonna say has already been covered

[12:40] and I don't wanna keep being a dead horse,

[12:42] But I really appreciate y'all taking the time to recognize this important day.

[12:47] As already mentioned, Jay Sterling Morton started this holiday in 1872.

[12:53] What everyone shortens it to is Jay and the Jay stands for Julius. Now you know.

[12:57] Now the importance of this day has been made very clear by previous people.

[13:03] But for me, it was driven home the day I moved to Washington.

[13:05] I moved to Washington the day of the Oslo landslide.

[13:08] But that was an interesting day, and what we saw was by cutting down a lot of trees, a

[13:15] lot of land decided to be elsewhere.

[13:17] Trees are very important for maintaining the integrity of our soil, to say nothing of

[13:21] their protection against the heat islands that come when we carve out broad spots of trees.

[13:27] We're now on the 27th year of being tree-city USA, and I think that is an amazing accomplishment

[13:33] that we should continue to pursue.

[13:35] I wanted to highlight that we're going to be having an event and Scriber Lake Park.

[13:40] That's going to be this Saturday at 9.30 a.m.

[13:43] Come help us pull out some invasive species, plant some cool new stuff,

[13:46] to say nothing of our upcoming event on the 22nd in Southland with Park.

[13:50] So, got lots of fun stuff coming up. Also, as a reminder,

[13:53] everyone, please plant a tree, we want to give you trees.

[13:56] We will give you trees for the low low price of zero dollars.

[13:59] We've got tons of tree trees, so hit us up.

[14:02] We'd love to give you trees to plant in our beautiful city.

[14:04] So thank you all for your time and have a wonderful day.

[14:18] Okay, time for a picture.

[15:03] Now, we'll go to item 7B, Proclamation on volunteer work and Councilor President Coilo is approaching the podium and all those who are here to celebrate that Proclamation. Please come forward also.

[15:25] You don't have to be on a special list, guys. If you're a volunteer in our community and some capacity, feel free to stand up, join us.

[15:35] Okay.

[15:42] Okay. Having memories of state of the city. All right. Whereas volunteering, no matter how big or small,

[15:50] can affect positive change with an entire community and whereas volunteers can

[15:57] connect with their local community with service opportunities through

[16:00] hundreds of community service organizations and whereas the giving of one

[16:06] self-in-service to another empowers the giver and the recipient and whereas the

[16:13] week of April 19 through the 25th is National Volunteer Week. A time to

[16:18] recognize the impact of volunteer service and the power of volunteers to tackle society's

[16:24] greatest challenges to build stronger communities and be a force that transforms the world.

[16:31] Whereas the city of Lindwood wishes to express our sincere appreciation to our city volunteers

[16:37] and those that volunteer in our community and recognize their commitment to service.

[16:42] And whereas millions of volunteers working in their communities utilize their time

[16:48] and talents daily to make a real difference.

[16:51] And now, therefore, be it resolved that we,

[16:55] Mayor George Hurst and the Linwood City Council,

[16:57] proclaim April 19th through the 25th, 2026,

[17:01] as National Volunteer Week in the city of Linwood.

[17:05] And we encourage our fellow community members

[17:07] to volunteer and light the way in their community.

[17:12] And at this time, do I have any volunteers

[17:15] to come and speak about volunteering?

[17:17] Maybe something you've done in the community

[17:19] that you're proud of?

[17:22] This is awkward. Well, no, I'll just add that volunteering is very

[17:28] special to me. I kind of consider myself a humanist and one of the most selfless things

[17:32] you can do is just volunteer. It's just acknowledging that we all live in a little blue dot

[17:40] in the galaxy and we're all in it together. So, I appreciate you guys and so does everybody else

[17:45] here. So picture time? Okay. Oh, there we go.

[17:55] I get the applause before I speak. Thank

[17:58] you.

[18:01] Somebody had to say something. It sounded very grand the way you put it. But I think

[18:11] that if any of the rest of the volunteers are like me, we're all kind of just quietly doing

[18:18] something to help out here and there. I was impressed a long time ago by the words of

[18:26] someone named Ashley Brilliant. Yeah, so his real name, believe it or shut up. And what

[18:35] he wrote was right in the corner where you are. That's it. I'm not meant or destined for

[18:44] great things all I can do are small things and all I try to do is brighten the

[18:49] corner where I am and I think everybody here kind of feels that way awesome

[19:02] well

[19:03] let's go get a picture and I have a lot of these bad boys to hand out

[19:45] yeah

[19:48] scootch it if you just scoot in just a little bit you're

[19:56] covering up your

[19:57] volunteer right there let's not do that there we go perfect all right okay see all

[20:03] Council Member, see all the volunteers.

[20:05] Three, two, one.

[20:06] One more time.

[20:08] Volunteer.

[20:09] Awesome.

[20:10] Thank you so much.

[20:41] So council executive assistant, do we have Mr. Dieter?

[20:48] Okay.

[20:48] All right.

[20:49] So we're going to move to item 12A, which was changed at the beginning of the meeting and

[20:55] moved into this time slot.

[20:56] I'm going to talk about federal priorities with lobbyist partner Mark Dietrich.

[21:03] And he's there.

[21:04] And so federal lobbyist Mark Dietrich was somewhat strategies will give the City Council an update on the federal government and explain everything that's going on in DC and counsel will discuss federal priorities and engagement strategies. Thank you, Mr. Dietrich.

[21:23] Thank you, excuse me, thank you so much, Mayor and Council, and I also appreciate you all agreeing to move me forward in the program.

[21:32] Definitely makes my quality of life better, so thank you so much.

[21:40] And I'm going to go forward and try to share my screen here.

[22:00] Are you all seeing in hearing this?

[22:03] Yes, we are.

[22:05] Perfect.

[22:06] I never know with technology exactly how well it's working out.

[22:09] So just,

[22:17] first of all, again, thank you for giving that community talk with you all today.

[22:21] It's always a pleasure to be speaking with you all.

[22:24] I hope to have the opportunity to do so in the next couple of months out in person.

[22:30] I always enjoy trying to get out into your city at least once per year

[22:34] and would love to, very much looking forward to having the chance to do that relatively soon.

[22:38] It's been, I've been your federal lobbyist since the beginning of 2018 and it's always

[22:47] a pleasure to be in line with just period, but it's always also just very incredible

[22:52] to see all the different kind of positive changes in developments and such that happen

[22:58] from each time since I'm there, not every single day to see all the changes each time that

[23:04] I'm in there that happen to the city.

[23:05] It's always just wonderful to see and all the wonderful projects and things that you are looking for.

[23:11] For those of you who don't know me and aren't familiar with with me and our team in my work,

[23:19] my name is Mark Dendrick. I'm a partner at Summit Strategies. I work with my colleague,

[23:25] Enez Neavis, on your behalf. And we, as I said, have been working on behalf of the City of

[23:34] would sense the beginning of 2018.

[23:37] Summit strategies is a small boutique federal lobbying firm that has offices in Washington,

[23:45] D.C.

[23:45] And we also have one in Portland, Oregon.

[23:48] We specialize primarily in transportation infrastructure and economic development work.

[23:54] That's kind of one of the through lines throughout our work across all clients.

[23:57] Because of that, we do a lot of work with cities, counties and public governments.

[24:03] that includes public ports, regional transportation, organizations and authorities, transit agencies,

[24:14] like said cities, counties, a number of other different sorts of public entities like that,

[24:19] including the city of Lindwood, Washington. We work very closely with the Washington Congressional

[24:26] delegation and we do a like, given our office in Portland, we do a lot of work in the Pacific

[24:31] the northwest in general.

[24:33] For myself, I'm originally from a small town in Oregon

[24:37] about an hour south of Portland.

[24:39] I moved to Washington, DC in 1997.

[24:43] I did 10 years on Capitol Hill and Sensein have worked

[24:47] as a federal lobbyist initially

[24:49] with the government affairs practice group of a law firm

[24:52] that was headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

[24:55] And then in 2015, several of my colleagues

[24:57] that I spun off from that law firm

[24:59] to form some of the strategies.

[25:00] and shortly after that, started working with the city.

[25:06] Some of the stuff that you were kind of initially hired to work on with you all and kind of

[25:10] are the core things that we're working on kind of day-to-day with the city is to develop

[25:14] and improve relationships in Washington DC.

[25:17] I think the city has excellent relationships right now with your federal delegation, but

[25:23] there are always new relationships.

[25:24] There are always new members of Congress and new staff that are coming on board.

[25:27] They're always way to kind of continue to improve and make sure it can date you increase the

[25:31] the visibility and the status of the city back in Washington DC to make sure that when the city is making necessary federal

[25:39] question, which we'll talk about here in a little bit, and they need the delegation to step into place.

[25:43] We're never introducing ourselves for the first time.

[25:46] We have these established relationships back there and are able to call on them when needed in order to try and help out the city.

[25:53] We're brought on to kind of seek federal grant opportunities.

[25:56] And then as kind of a later core goal because he's in existence in 2018 when we began our work with the city to collaborate with the city on what I

[26:06] being an old timer referred to as earmarks, but which right now either referred to as

[26:12] congressional directed spending or CDS if you are on the house side or community funded projects or CFP if you are on the center side.

[26:22] But some of our work in these areas over the last number of years, and one of the first

[26:30] projects that I was made aware of with the City of Linwood was basically the two main projects

[26:37] that were on deck when I was brought on board were one to try and help shake loose the funding

[26:42] for sound transit for the Linwood link.

[26:45] The administration was holding that up, which at the time was very new thing because that

[26:50] was the, um, during the first Trump administration, and they were specifically holding up this

[26:55] sound transit your mark to, uh, let the money flow for the Linwood link. Um, we were hired

[27:01] to kind of help try to shake that, that lose more part of the team. Um, I can't claim

[27:06] anywhere near sole credit for that. We're part of the team, part of the effort to shake

[27:09] that money and lose from, um, the administration, since then a lot of other grants have gone

[27:14] on to be held up in the second administration this time around.

[27:21] We're also hired to work on the popular bridge over I-5.

[27:27] So among our work has been working with the city to secure the raised grant for the

[27:32] multimodal bridge.

[27:34] And then very recently during the government shutdown at the end of last year, there was

[27:39] actually a hold put on the funding right at the very end is the city is

[27:43] going to go to bid on the project and we kind of jumped in and worked with you

[27:50] all and your staff to get that that project kind of even during the

[27:55] government shutdown moved up to the secretary or to the general counsel's desk

[28:03] and then actually get that project pushed out the door and from what I

[28:08] I understand when we worked on the inside, it was the only grant during the government shutdown that actually was moved through the process at that point in time.

[28:15] But it was able to get the project begin moving towards going to bid and keep things on pace to where you all had a groundbreaking, I believe, a couple days ago.

[28:28] We've also worked with the city and the staff to secure commercial directed spending, including a couple of

[28:35] different earmarks for Scribord Creek Trail, as well as funding for the 44th Avenue West underpass under I-5.

[28:46] Looking at kind of the outlook for this coming year, I've kind of listed out some of the big bills that are out there that

[28:54] that we're going to be looking towards.

[28:56] I do just want to start in general by saying that last year was one of the more kind of

[29:05] singular years that I've worked on when it came to congressional schedule in the way

[29:10] that the Congress and the administration interacted during my time in Washington DC.

[29:15] I think we all were always kind of saying, oh, we as if we get through this thing and then

[29:21] We go into regular normal order and then that's when we kind of start moving on this bill or that bill or we're working on the funding and the appropriations process, working on this authorization bill, we're kind of doing whatever, whatever it is that we kind of do during a normal session of Congress and last year, it really felt like there was no end to the once we get through this thing, it was, we're finishing up the FY25 budget which lasted well in the

[29:51] March before they got that finalized.

[29:53] We're doing a kind of large reconciliation bill.

[30:00] We're trying to increase funding or do you differently just spending for this administration's priorities? We're doing do's where they're actually cutting, trying to cut workers from the federal workforce are doing different things there. It was not, it just was one kind of large thing after the other that was really sticking up all the options in the room, which really kind of affected the way that the Congress worked. And I think that's one of the things that work curious about, I'm curious about for this year,

[30:27] is if that sort of pattern continues and we end up doing a lot fewer piece of legislation than we might do during a normal congress,

[30:35] maybe in kind of larger bills, exactly how it's going to affect the congress.

[30:38] This was last year or so, get from anything that we've kind of experienced before.

[30:42] I kind of try to use my experience and my understanding of kind of what's happening and what needs to happen and what bills kind of need to pass and what needs to move to figure out the session's going to work.

[30:53] But there's a lot that I think is really just kind of unknowable about this session, and we'll just kind of kind of see as we go and adapt as we go to what happens and to what is happening.

[31:06] The appropriations process, so I will say even though the, I mean, we're still in a partial government shutdown right now, the DHS appropriations bill has not been signed into law.

[31:18] It's still, still hanging out there, there's still some federal workers who are not being paid.

[31:24] But despite that, and despite the fact that the FY26 appropriations bills were unfunded into this, this calendar year,

[31:36] the process for FY27 is moving right along kind of as if this were a normal year.

[31:45] The House and the Senate have both collected their CDS or CPF requests from their constituents

[31:53] and are submitting those into the committees.

[31:57] The committee process and the House they released today, their schedule for when they're

[32:06] going to be having markups on the different bills about the subcommittee and the full committee

[32:10] level over the next month and a half.

[32:13] So they're moving full speed ahead as if this were, you know, as I was saying, it appears that everything is kind of on normal pace by what they've at least announced what their intentions are.

[32:23] So, um, that seems to be moving along, which is important because even though it kind of feels like we're still early in the year and we've kind of earlier in the calendar year, the fiscal year ends at the end of September.

[32:35] And if the bills are not moving very soon in the house,

[32:40] there's no way in the world they're going to get finished or close to finished by the end of September when the fiscal year is over.

[32:46] Although I will say, and it comes to quote unquote normal order of the last time all the bills were passed as individual bills.

[32:54] And by the end of the fiscal year and signed into law, was in 1994, which is three years before I actually arrived in Washington DC.

[33:01] So I'm not really sure if we're going to refer to that as a normal order when it comes to the way the appropriations and the spending process in Washington, you'd see works any more.

[33:11] There are a couple of other kind of big several other and I listen to them here, big infrastructure bills that are out there, which your member of Congress Rick Larson who represents you all is ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee.

[33:26] Both these bills, the Service Transportation Reauthorization Act and the Water Resources Development Act would go through his committee, also a portion of the Service Administration Reauthorization Act would go through the committee of Senator Cantwell, who is the ranking member on the Senate Congress committee.

[33:45] These bills, the Water Resource Development Act tends to go in a two-year cycle where it happens in the even years.

[33:51] These are primarily the Army Corps of Engineers projects and are mostly authorized projects and funding.

[33:58] For when it comes to things like dams, levees, jetties, locks, projects along those lines, kind of major infrastructure.

[34:07] That bill seems to be moving along as if it's going to pass again.

[34:11] And I know that on the House side, the Democrats and Republicans are currently kind of in final negotiations with their bipartisan bill.

[34:19] The T&I committee has been a real kind of bastion of bipartisan shift even in what's often been a polarizing Congress with a lot of on kind of both sides.

[34:30] The outer edges of the caucus is kind of pulling them apart.

[34:37] The larger bill is the Service Transition Reauthorization Act, which was also this last time

[34:42] around, known as the I-I-J-A, or oftentimes the bill, or the bipartisan infrastructure

[34:48] law.

[34:50] That bill also expires at the end of September at the end of this fiscal year.

[34:56] Again, the committees are working on trying to reauthorize that.

[34:58] It's a much more challenging and tricky bill.

[35:02] They also, I don't think since the early, I think it's since in the mid 1980s, they've

[35:09] actually done a service transition reauthorization with that at least one extension.

[35:13] So I'm a little skeptical of their ability to get one done by the end of this fiscal year.

[35:20] But that's a large bill that funds highways, bike ped, transit, some rail, and it includes

[35:29] actual kind of real dollars into a lot of these programs.

[35:31] There's a lot of the formula funding that goes through wash dot to the city or to local

[35:39] regions and individual projects throughout the state of Washington.

[35:42] Those are federal funding, that those are federal dollars that are authorized through

[35:45] this bill and the formulas by which that money is pushed out are authorized in this bill.

[35:50] The chair of the committee, Sam Graves, on the house side is retiring at the end of this year.

[35:56] He's very motivated in order to get a bill done.

[35:58] He and Congressman Larson worked very well and very closely together.

[36:03] So I'm hopeful they're going to be able to reach a consensus and actually move a bill

[36:08] this year.

[36:09] It's also one that in the past has often included earmarks for specific projects.

[36:14] And so that's another one that we're kind of monitoring as we move through this and even

[36:18] if it does not happen this year, it's one that I'm confident will be happening probably first

[36:24] year of the next Congress and next year, which could have a different makeup than what this

[36:29] Congress is right now.

[36:34] We've been working with the city to submit a couple of different

[36:36] appropriation requests, including the popular way bridge trading and some additional dollars

[36:41] for that as well as a park project.

[36:48] And I just kind of want to wrap it. I wanted to leave

[36:50] definitely plenty of time for any questions that anyone may have. Again, I know our job here in

[36:58] and Washington disease kind of be your voice

[37:00] and to be able to advocate for you all out here in DC

[37:04] and your staff has always been wonderful to work with

[37:08] and whenever there have been issues

[37:09] with individual grants coming out

[37:11] or hangups or problems there had,

[37:13] they've always been quick to notify us and notify me.

[37:17] We stand ready to kind of help you out

[37:19] on not only proactively searching for new dollars

[37:23] as we are doing every day as we're looking

[37:25] at different federal grant programs and notice the funding opportunities that are put out there

[37:30] on the street. But any kind of other issues you'll have in the federal government, we kind

[37:36] of stand here ready to kind of help and assist you as best we can and kind of look forward to

[37:41] continuing to do so into the future. So again, thank you so much for the opportunity to chat with you all

[37:48] and look forward to answering any questions anyone may have.

[37:52] Very good. Thank you, sir. Any council members have any questions for our lobbyists?

[37:59] Council member Luw Weiler.

[38:02] We have just a quick question for you, Mark, and thanks for the presentation.

[38:06] I think a lot of us have seen in the news that the Department of Transportation at the federal level

[38:11] has, they've talked a lot about shifting to different formulas and priorities that are very much around

[38:17] and the automobile, accounting for family household sizes

[38:22] and communities, moving away from multimodal sidewalks,

[38:27] bike lanes, that type of infrastructure,

[38:29] which is where a lot of our planning has obviously been

[38:33] going as a city.

[38:34] So is it too early to see how much of that

[38:37] is gonna be a reality, or can you share any thoughts

[38:41] on that?

[38:42] Yeah. So it's a really good question. It definitely did get a lot of coverage

[38:49] and understandably because a lot of it was definitely were some different and newer

[38:55] ways of looking at how you might choose to spread the dollars around.

[38:59] I think it is definitely too early to tell. I think it also can be too easy to somewhat overreact.

[39:07] I think it's most tools in nature when you see someone like to overreact some of the what's been coming out on that the vast majority of the transportation dollars that are

[39:17] Provided by the federal government are pushed out the door either to

[39:22] roads or transit via formula

[39:24] Those formulas are set in law on the authorization bill and DOT is

[39:29] Primarily a pass through on that and the money goes to washed out and in some cases is sub allocated down to

[39:34] individual cities or MPOs

[39:36] Again, depending kind of by formula and by law on how that money moves out or in the case

[39:41] of transit is sent out again by formula when things go out where DOT can have an impact

[39:47] on something like that is on the discretionary grant programs.

[39:51] There were a lot of those that were kind of created or dramatically expanded as part of the

[39:59] IJ and we've seen a little of that on some of the novos that have come out right now in terms

[40:05] terms of definitely prioritizing, you know, safety, freight mobility, you know, and highways

[40:15] and kind of work along those lines.

[40:18] As opposed to some of the priorities in the previous administration, what I've seen

[40:23] so far has not really been that different than I would say kind of a transition from a typical

[40:28] democratic to Republican administration, like from Obama to, well, to the first Trump administration

[40:36] or form Clinton to George W. Bush or something kind of like that. They've been very much

[40:42] kind of in lines with, we're administering the grant programs the way that they're outlined in

[40:47] law, so with the requirements that are in the law there. And we're just going to use a slightly

[40:52] different lens on it, which is often meant that you could submit the same project as a city

[40:58] just highlight different aspects of that project. And highlight different elements of it.

[41:03] Maybe push the transit and the bike-ped elements to the front on a democratic administration

[41:10] and push the increased freight mobility, safety, decrease in congestion to the forward

[41:16] under kind of a Republican administration.

[41:19] So I think we haven't really seen a lot in terms

[41:23] of the discretionary grant, new discretionary grants go out.

[41:26] The first round of build grants went out.

[41:29] The NOFO on that came out kind of the tail end of last year.

[41:36] We haven't seen the awards yet.

[41:38] Until we kind of see that,

[41:39] we won't really get a real sense

[41:40] of I think exactly how far they're gonna be trying

[41:44] to push things.

[41:46] And my sense from talking to people inside the building inside DOT is I don't think when

[41:51] it comes to the like family size and you know increase number of child bursts and things

[41:58] like that.

[41:59] I don't think they really have something set up right now to try and deal with that and

[42:02] if you're at a factor that into what is they're doing.

[42:04] So I don't, that was when they got a lot of attention.

[42:06] It's definitely one that caught my eye.

[42:09] But I'm not, I don't think that they, that that's something they're going to be moving

[42:13] on soon.

[42:13] but I'm again we'll see as they roll out more of these grants. I hope that answers the question.

[42:18] It does. Thank you very much. Absolutely.

[42:21] Great. Council Vice President.

[42:25] Hello. Thank you for your presentation and update. More than anything, just thank you.

[42:31] It is, I think we're really fortunate here in Linwood in the most of the stuff that we would have been,

[42:38] you know, hoping and praying and in line for, you know, we got the light rail here. We've got

[42:44] So we're so I think bless and fortunate in that at this point in

[42:50] budgetary federally and state we kind of

[42:53] You know are on the other end of some of those and thankfully we don't have like 10 ask, you know

[42:59] So if anything I just wanted to say thank you

[43:02] We appreciate everything that the federal government has done up to this point

[43:07] We're also fortunate here in Linwood and that we're at the you know, we're at the crux of 405 and 5

[43:13] And so it really is super, super important to keep up with the infrastructure here.

[43:21] And with that in mind, I know here in Washington State, there was a push towards infrastructure spending.

[43:27] And there's going to be a focus on like dilapidated bridges and

[43:33] overpasses and that kind of stuff fairies.

[43:37] On the federal side in the transportation kind of world, and luckily for us, you know, our reps are on the committee, do you, can you see if they're going to be kind of focusing more on urban areas or suburban areas like where can you see in this market and fiscal kind of uncertainty, where do you think the government is going to go with infrastructure monies with what, where you're at right now?

[44:04] Yeah, absolutely. Good question. I think, I mean in terms of the urban rural pull push that's that's kind of a constant theme going through. I think the one thing is right now with the way that Congress is set up and it, you know, there's a relatively narrow margin in the Senate.

[44:22] about, you know, the need to get 60 votes in order to break a filibuster, and that always,

[44:27] you know, creates something extra burden when it comes to passing stuff out of the Senate.

[44:32] The margin of the house are closer than in the Senate, especially in percentage terms right now.

[44:38] And the way that the house is functioning, it's not that they are 60% of the votes in order to pass

[44:44] things. They really need, for anything at all, contentious, 67% or 66 plus one vote,

[44:50] So, percent of the house in order to actually pass something through the technique they've been moving.

[45:00] So, you need an actual kind of bipartisan approach and a bipartisan bill in order to do that. And so, I think that whatever kind of thing, whatever kind of bill they're able to move forward, it's going to be kind of in line with what we've seen in the past. There's going to be some stuff that's good for rural areas. There's going to be some stuff that's good for urban areas, but I don't really see the pendulum swinging that far one side or the other, which I think is good for the city of London.

[45:28] And what I know when, in the previous Trump administration, initially when the discretionary

[45:34] grant programs, they swung the pendulum very far back towards rural areas receiving an

[45:40] overwhelming percentage of like the bill grants, for example, which we were applying for

[45:44] popular at that time under that bill, under that grant.

[45:50] And the Congress actually, in a bipartisan way, changed the law in order to say it can't

[45:55] more than 50% rural grants awarded in a given cycle for that build grant.

[46:03] So I think on some of the stuff you mentioned, I know Chairman Graves in the House, the

[46:08] bridge program is a top priority.

[46:10] I think money for bridges is definitely something that's going to come through.

[46:13] I think the number of discretionary grant programs is going to decrease.

[46:18] I think everyone, I think there's a general feeling that there were too many different grant

[46:23] programs, which were really taxing the ability of local governments, especially kind of smaller local governments to apply and

[46:31] left them overwhelmed by kind of what was out there. So I think the number is probably going to decrease.

[46:36] The size of some of those grant programs may increase as a result. And more of that money may go into formula dollars and

[46:43] even formula dollars that I moved down into local and regional governments. But I think the bill that any bill that

[46:52] actually get signed into law is going to need to be one that has bipartisan support because

[46:57] that's what you're going to need to pass both the House and the Senate. There's just no way

[47:00] to do it all with one party, the way that Congress currently set up.

[47:06] No, thank you very much. I was asking for that exact reason because in the past there has been

[47:10] monies kind of, and I'm like, with this regime like, you know, what do we do? Where should we be at?

[47:17] Where do you want us? Where should we be paying attention?

[47:21] And what we've been telling our other lobbyists is how can we be a good supportive partner right now in that we're not asking?

[47:29] We're just, you know, tell us how we can be good partners and be paying attention.

[47:33] And where the things are trickling down so that us and the staff can be ready to rock and roll when it's time.

[47:39] Thank you.

[47:41] Absolutely.

[47:42] Great. Council President.

[47:44] Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Mark.

[47:47] I know we pay you, but, and I was a huge skeptic of lobbyists coming into this role, but I have seen the value that you guys bring to our city.

[47:56] That's at the federal level or at our state level, and I just really appreciate what you do for this community, these.

[48:04] The dollars and the successes we've seen, these are real dollars.

[48:07] I mean, what, three million dollars, we're hoping to get some more.

[48:10] but millions and millions of dollars in our community

[48:13] that would otherwise be taken out from programs

[48:16] that our community depends on.

[48:19] So on that note, it is election season,

[48:22] and we're starting to see our congressional representatives

[48:24] in our community more, and I've been able to talk

[48:29] to them occasionally.

[48:31] And I wanted to ask, are there any do's and don'ts

[48:36] that you would kind of advise for me and my colleagues

[48:39] when we do encounter our representatives and inevitably get stuck into some kind of moment of advocacy.

[48:48] Absolutely, and that's a really good question I appreciate you asking it.

[48:53] Number one, I think any time you can start your conversation with a thank you, even if it's something that's from several years ago

[49:00] or something like that, that they worked on the better.

[49:03] I mean, the fact that you, again, you have so many kind of different projects that your

[49:09] different members of your delegation have been involved in, there are a lot of different

[49:13] things you can thank people for, Rick Larson has been very involved in.

[49:17] As we're both senators in the popular race grant application, the light rail, the scriboard

[49:26] creek trail, there's a bunch of 44th underpass, there's a lot of things that they've been involved

[49:32] and helpful and so anytime you can kind of thank you open up with thank you for your help or we

[49:37] or even just we appreciate the work you're doing on transportation infrastructure funding or you

[49:41] appreciate the work you're doing on parks or something like that I think everyone always likes to have

[49:46] that as an opening so I think that's always a good a good starting point and then I mean I think

[49:55] they're telling them what kind of the needs are in your community and what matters to you all I think

[50:00] is also, you know, the right, the right thing to do.

[50:03] I mean, we're taking our, we back here and you see

[50:05] we're taking our direction from you all and kind of

[50:07] what your priorities are and what the needs of the city are

[50:11] and how the federal government can help.

[50:13] So I think if there are areas where you're really seeing an issue,

[50:17] I think bringing that up and talking about what matters to you

[50:20] is important.

[50:24] Okay, thank you.

[50:27] Any other council members?

[50:32] So I have a question.

[50:34] All excited about the $3 million ask for proper way bridge and the $750,000 for road park.

[50:40] When do you think we would know anything about that?

[50:43] We should know very soon I think on that kind of a where things are.

[50:49] The announcements have to be made, well the committee process starting on the house very soon I think.

[50:58] And on the center side they have another deadline so she submit the request yet.

[51:02] but in the house they're required by a certain date to post those requests so we should know I think I have any day on the house side whether our projects are kind of alive or not and the Senate will be a little bit later than that.

[51:14] Okay.

[51:15] Great.

[51:16] And in the spirit of we do thank you for your service for the city. We really appreciate it.

[51:22] All right.

[51:22] All right, with that, I know you're three hours ahead of us, so we're going to let you go.

[51:29] Thank you, sir.

[51:30] Appreciate it.

[51:31] Thank you so much.

[51:32] It's great to see you all.

[51:33] I'm great to talk with you.

[51:34] All right.

[51:38] Right now, we're going to go into the public comment.

[51:42] I'm going to ask Councilor Exhaustion Assistant, has anybody from Zoom registered?

[51:50] Oh, okay.

[51:51] Good.

[51:52] All right.

[51:53] Let me get through this script, then.

[51:54] The public comments segment of our agenda provides an opportunity for community members to give their comments to the mayor and council members.

[52:02] We're here to listen to your comments and there will be no response or debate with you.

[52:07] Comments should be related to the city of Limwood or agenda items only.

[52:11] You may also provide comments through the city website.

[52:15] We set aside 30 minutes for individuals to have an opportunity to speak up to three minutes each.

[52:20] First, we will call on those who signed up to speak on the list outside of Council Chambers here at City Hall.

[52:26] After that, we will call on anyone present that did not sign up prior to the meeting and wish to speak in person.

[52:33] Individuals providing public comment must not disrupt or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of the meeting.

[52:39] This is not a form for hate speech and it will not be tolerated.

[52:43] People seeking to use this form for that purpose will have their mic turned off and or be removed from the meeting.

[52:49] We ask that the audience refrain from clapping, cheering, or booing.

[52:54] Comments for the purpose of assisting the campaign for election of any person to any office, or the promotion of, or opposition to any ballot proposition are not allowed.

[53:04] When you're called upon to speak, if you are in person, which is what we have, please come to the podium, confirm the microphone is on, and state your name in zip code for the record and make your comments.

[53:17] When your three minutes are complete, you'll be prompted to conclude your remarks.

[53:21] If you do not conclude your remarks after the three minutes, the chair, which is aye.

[53:26] May I ask for your mic to be turned off?

[53:29] Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your comments with us.

[53:35] So the first person who signed up to speak is Philip Lipson.

[53:49] Thank you, sir.

[53:50] Hello,

[53:56] my name is Philip Nixon, 98036.

[54:01] In June of last year, Limit Pride was the first Pride event ever in Lindwood, and still

[54:06] has not been acknowledged as such, requested the city ordinance be revised to allow Pride

[54:13] Flag to be raised at Wilcox Park.

[54:16] At that time, we were told the city cannot appoint any written policy of excluding the Pride Flag,

[54:22] and even has a non-American flag,

[54:24] GW flag flying.

[54:26] We encourage the city to see there is no reason

[54:29] to exclude the pride flag from flying

[54:32] on a public flag pole and to recognize adversity.

[54:36] It may have last year, Joel,

[54:37] Favorite Director of Parks and Rec told us,

[54:40] I looked into whether local municipal code

[54:43] restricts flying any flag other than the American flag

[54:45] in our parks.

[54:47] After a thorough review, I found no such regulation.

[54:50] So we were shocked to discover that September 9th, 2025, the former mayor established a policy

[54:56] that stated, the city's flag was not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by

[55:03] the public.

[55:06] And so as far as we could tell, Linwood Prie was never informed of this policy, it was never

[55:11] voted on by the City Council, and it seemed to be hurriedly put together in a sense to

[55:17] to cover themselves and to keep us quiet and directly contradict our request.

[55:22] So again, many requests that in order to be established by the council to allow a price like a Wilcox park.

[55:29] During June, which is considered pride month, thank you very much.

[55:34] Thank you.

[55:42] Indeed, the next person is Charlotte LaFever.

[55:46] Thank you.

[55:49] My name is Charlotte LaFever, 98036.

[55:53] districts, Founder and Director Lumewood-Preg.

[55:58] And just like my colleague mentioned,

[56:03] and I would like to sit there and remind every city council person.

[56:08] And our mayor, that it was last year, last year in May that we recrested two members of the city council, that they enact an ordinance.

[56:26] not a policy, an ordinance that we may raise a pride flag at Roll Cox Park and we have

[56:37] not heard back.

[56:40] And I want to remind City Council it was exactly two weeks ago we were

[56:44] here again requesting a city ordinance to raise simply a pride flag in Linwood's public

[56:56] part that even by the city's own

[57:01] admittance has a public flagpole of

[57:08] no

[57:08] today we're really glad to sit there

[57:13] in here that Stonewall this current

[57:17] administration is allowing the pride

[57:19] flag to be flown again at Stonewall so

[57:24] I wonder line as you know it's very

[57:26] important for the community to have this

[57:30] flag it is representative is

[57:35] important for all communities and you as elected officials

[57:41] are elected and it's taken in oath of office to represent. And that means everyone.

[57:54] So I'm again here today to ask you specifically for

[58:04] an ordinance to

[58:08] allow for the raising

[58:09] of a pride flag, simple requests, simple ordinance.

[58:16] Seattle and other cities, they have no problem, no problem at all raising a pride flag.

[58:24] It's Pride Month,

[58:27] June 1st, many cities, Seattle, Edmunds, we have been asked and

[58:37] have attended and spoken at Everett's, Snomers County Pride flag raising in Everett.

[58:45] So, again, we're asking you to, again,

[58:54] please remember our request.

[58:57] Please answer our emails.

[59:00] Please respectfully respond in some manner.

[59:05] And again, is to our disappointment.

[59:13] As many times as we have visited the City Council in this very room, over the last three years,

[59:20] that

[59:26] our former mayor actually enacted a policy September 9th of last year,

[59:36] directly contradicting our request and restricting the raising of a pride flag.

[59:46] I would ask this city council and this city to sit there review the legality of that as a violation of expressive rights.

[1:00:00] And I would specifically ask this city council and mayor to do as much as they can to help support the community.

[1:00:12] And again, I want to thank you for all that you have done, but I really want to encourage you to do more communication. And please respect our request.

[1:00:26] Thank you.

[1:00:30] Thank you. Next to signed up is Allen.

[1:00:33] Charlie.

[1:00:42] Good evening, Alan Ternley, 98036. So a few weeks ago, I heard from some of my former students at Lendale Elementary who evidently found a old bike pump in Lendale Park when they were picking up trash as part of their efforts and also remembering me always picking up trash out from the playground.

[1:01:01] so they've turned that bike pump as well as old soda bottles they found in the

[1:01:06] park into rockets that they can shoot with it and are hoping to have

[1:01:11] demonstration soon so that they can have things either for Earth Day or

[1:01:15] something else in the summer to celebrate not only environmental stewardship

[1:01:20] but also just how looking after your own community and so unfortunately they are

[1:01:26] still in the phase where they're not feeling comfortable with wanting to say

[1:01:30] this so they ask me to speak on their behalf. But as soon as they do they want to invite all of you

[1:01:35] to come see their demonstration most likely at Lindale Park and I will definitely be happy to

[1:01:41] be there conduit in any shape or form but I am very proud of them and actually council member

[1:01:47] partial spoke to some of them last year and they definitely remember that so they definitely

[1:01:52] feel the city council will be receptive to their ideas and these are just some amazing elementary

[1:01:58] students and I'm very proud of them but I'm looking forward to seeing what they do because they

[1:02:03] also don't want to show me yet but the fact that they they've shown me the parts what they've been

[1:02:09] doing just they have not shown me any of their demonstrations according to one of their parents

[1:02:13] but farthest any of these bottle things have shot is about only nine feet but they do like the idea

[1:02:19] of using this as a way to just promote a healthier and cleaner community. Thank you very much and

[1:02:26] have a wonderful evening. Great, thank you. Anyone else wish to speak now? Yes, sir.

[1:02:52] Excuse me, David and council, hope you're doing well. Judith from 98037. First of all,

[1:02:57] go ahead and ignore everything that that lady said about the pride flag. It is not an inclusive flag.

[1:03:03] It is an ex-coup of fact to Christians like me who do not find that behavior to be moral because it's

[1:03:08] not the flag that we all pledge to this very evening is in this room. It's the American flag.

[1:03:13] That is the United Flag, so if you want to find unity, please pledge yourself to that,

[1:03:18] not to who you have sex with. That's just gross to celebrate that and felt like it's indecent.

[1:03:23] So in light of that, speaking of God and morality, happy belated Easter Monday,

[1:03:28] especially to the two of you who share my conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[1:03:33] Today is a day as good as any to celebrate the hope we have in Christ because he rose from the grave.

[1:03:38] And everyone who hasn't done so should repent and believe the good news that we can know with

[1:03:42] certainty from Scripture. Since the Gospel of Jesus Christ compels Christians to preach the good

[1:03:47] news to all who have years to hear, that includes the city where my family and I live and where we meet

[1:03:52] for church, the city of Linwood. Less than there be any doubt that Jesus died or that he rose,

[1:03:57] I'd like to take this opportunity to review the evidence we have from Scripture on this question.

[1:04:03] John records in chapter 19 that the legs of the robbers crucified with Jesus were broken

[1:04:08] so that they would suffocate and die quickly, did Sabbath. John then writes the following

[1:04:14] in verses 35.

[1:04:17] But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they

[1:04:20] did not break his legs. Instead one of the soldiers pierced Jesus's side with the spear, bringing

[1:04:25] a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony and his testimony

[1:04:30] is true. He knows that he tells the truth and he testifies so that you also may believe.

[1:04:36] Verse 34 here says that both blood and water flowed from the side of Jesus.

[1:04:41] We can know with certainty today that this means Jesus was already dead when the soldier

[1:04:46] stepped.

[1:04:47] The flowing of water from the side of Jesus indicates that his heart had stopped, resulting

[1:04:51] in water collecting in a sack around the heart.

[1:04:54] He didn't faint or pretend to die, he really died, publicly and shamedfully.

[1:04:59] As the evidence that he rose, all you have to do is read the Gospel accounts for which

[1:05:03] include nine separate appearances of the risen Jesus to various witnesses, not to mention

[1:05:09] Paul's inclusion in 1 Corinthians 15 or 6 that says the risen Jesus appeared to 500 brothers

[1:05:16] at one time. Most historians date that passage within two years of the crucifixion. That's

[1:05:23] nothing. Can we all remember when Trump was elected in 2016? That was 10 years ago. We're talking

[1:05:27] about two years within the crucifixion. Scripture is directing clear on this point.

[1:05:32] Jesus died and rose again three days later just as Jesus himself said that he would.

[1:05:38] Denying this is just copium. This is historical facts and it's time to confess

[1:05:42] believe the good news. In conclusion, if Jesus can predict his own death and

[1:05:47] resurrection, he's him. He must be whom he says he is. He got himself in the flesh.

[1:05:53] So we ought to obey his commands. He is risen. Hallelujah. Thank you.

[1:06:01] Okay. Any other

[1:06:02] public comments. Yes sir?

[1:06:15] Luke Deaderman, 90-036. I just want to comment that the

[1:06:20] general lady made earlier about fascism and how, oh my pardon me, I guess it was the

[1:06:25] mayor, but the point is fascism can creep into government absolutely. One thing

[1:06:31] implicit in fascism is the idea that one idea is correct and to heck with the

[1:06:38] others. The pride flag is an idea that is fascist in nature. It does not represent me, nor

[1:06:46] my family. I appreciate that you folks I guess so far have kind of ignored the issue.

[1:06:53] I encourage you to continue to do so. We have a perfectly good flag up there. It unites

[1:06:58] all of us as Americans. So let's continue to just use that one. Thank you.

[1:07:06] Thank you. Any other public comments?

[1:07:11] Seeing none, public comment is closed. Thank you.

[1:07:15] We'll now go to council comments, and let's start with council member Moda.

[1:07:24] Woof.

[1:07:27] I don't have any comments today.

[1:07:31] If you don't have anything nice to say, shouldn't say anything at all.

[1:07:35] I'm going to say nothing today.

[1:07:38] Okay.

[1:07:41] Council member partial.

[1:07:42] Thank you, I do want to depart from my prepare comments

[1:07:48] briefly and harken back to the volunteer comments about small things.

[1:07:54] I really struck a chord with me because I have such a background in teaching and coaching.

[1:08:00] One of the things we always try to teach are players that small things lead to big things.

[1:08:06] So don't underestimate the importance of small things.

[1:08:10] Set a good screen, make a good pass, communicate with the teammate, that will lead to a basket.

[1:08:18] Basket will lead to winning a game, winning a game, will lead to making playoffs.

[1:08:23] So never underestimate the value of small things. I think that's really important for everyone.

[1:08:29] And it really goes hand in hand with our volunteers.

[1:08:34] Back to regularly scheduled comments.

[1:08:36] I wanted to recognize a couple of days that I missed because we had a Monday off and it's been a while since we've got a business meeting.

[1:08:45] I want to recognize that April 2nd is International Autism Awareness Day.

[1:08:52] And this is also Autism Awareness Month.

[1:08:56] So to all my friends, family members and everyone out there that is touched by Autism, happy Autism Awareness Month.

[1:09:07] March 31st was transgender day of visibility, and I want to say the same thing about that to my family, extended family village, we see you, we love you.

[1:09:20] I want to thank some staff members as well.

[1:09:23] From DBS, thank you to Director Walters, Community Planning Manager Ongren, the city center planning manager, Cho, and then I also wanted to thank

[1:09:32] a court administrator, Dean Morale, I just, I never take it lightly when staff members take some time to help me learn new things, so I appreciate, I appreciate their support and everything they do for the City of Loonwood.

[1:09:45] That's all for today, thank you.

[1:09:49] Thank you, Council Vice President Esquamiya.

[1:09:53] Thank you everybody for being here.

[1:09:56] More than anything, I just want to thank everyone for their comments, and I guess we're not supposed to address anything specifically,

[1:10:04] and I'm not, but I want you to know that you're heard, Charlotte and Philip, and I personally apologize for not responding.

[1:10:17] But I do want you to know that your comments haven't fallen upon deaf ears, and we have discussed what you came forward to in leadership, and the Mayor immediately brought forward the resolution

[1:10:32] or whatever it is that the mayor did last year that we weren't really intimately familiar with.

[1:10:37] So I apologize on my behalf for not responding and letting you know that not only were you heard

[1:10:43] but that we're working on it. I know that that can go a long ways especially when you're frustrated.

[1:10:50] So I just wanted to say thank you for coming and reminding us and as soon as we have an update

[1:10:57] we will bring one back to you. A lot of times it happens to us, too.

[1:11:01] We're not always aware of things that are happening in the background with the city departments and the directors, but it doesn't mean that they're not working on it.

[1:11:10] And so we just have to give ourselves grace and make sure to remind people and ask.

[1:11:15] And you've always been heard, young lady and young man, okay? So thank you. That's all I have for tonight.

[1:11:23] Councillor Preston, go ahead, though.

[1:11:26] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:11:27] Just again in the spirit of the Volunteer Week coming up and Arbor Day and Earth Day,

[1:11:32] we do, again, have Earth Day in the park.

[1:11:35] This Saturday, it is the best, in my opinion, the best volunteer day of the year.

[1:11:41] We're going to be in Scriber Lake Park, removing invasive species, beautifying the park, and if

[1:11:44] you haven't been there, it's gorgeous with just daffodils everywhere.

[1:11:48] There's going to be hands-on, sustainable crafts and activities for kids and more information on how to get involved and become a steward of that park.

[1:11:57] We have an incredible urban forest or with our city for a few more years.

[1:12:02] One of the things she's charged with doing in the city is building a sustainable volunteer kind of a conservation core program.

[1:12:08] And she's done an incredible job in South Linwood so far.

[1:12:11] I would love to see us as council members get out there and help her canvas the neighborhood

[1:12:18] around Describer Lake Park over the course of this week. I'll be printing out some flyers and

[1:12:24] Recruiting people people in these neighborhoods. They want to get out. They want to volunteer

[1:12:28] They want to know what they can do to help out their city and those small acts that

[1:12:33] Councilmember partial mentioned and we have the ability to show them what they can do

[1:12:37] So some of the longest running volunteers we now have in that park stewardship program have come from last year when then vice president Benda and councilmember lootweiler helped me canvas and neighborhoods around Southland would park.

[1:12:51] And so I would love to see that precedent continue every year and more information to come but look forward to that.

[1:12:59] Thank you, Council Member Wright.

[1:13:04] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:13:06] Just a few things, I do want to thank the folks that came out for the Aruday recognition and as well as volunteer week.

[1:13:14] Volunteer week is extremely important to me and I am incredibly grateful for all of our volunteers and

[1:13:20] how they contribute to our little big city that we love so much.

[1:13:25] A few people have talked about a few things, but the theme this year was igniting volunteerism.

[1:13:31] And individuals have the power to spark positive and real change.

[1:13:36] We can build a community infrastructure and create something that's long lasting beyond our years.

[1:13:41] So thank you for every hour and every minute, every second that you've spent loving on this city.

[1:13:49] April is National Minority Health Month.

[1:13:51] This recognizes and focuses on strengthening efforts to advance health equity and reduce disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations.

[1:14:02] Linwood is one of the most diverse cities around, and I appreciate that.

[1:14:08] We want to be the source for better health, so I wanted to shut out National Minority Health Month.

[1:14:15] Thank you for your comments, everybody who has listed them, such a diverse group of comments.

[1:14:24] I'm excited to see Rockets get shot from Mendoza Elementary School students.

[1:14:30] I understand the frustration of wanting something and not getting it and having to deal with

[1:14:35] time and slow moving things.

[1:14:40] I am thankful for my faith.

[1:14:41] So I thank you for your comments as well.

[1:14:45] No other comments other than I'll be attending the history and heritage board meeting tomorrow,

[1:14:49] as well as the future of light rail in so much county.

[1:14:53] So I will report on that on Wednesday.

[1:14:55] Thank you.

[1:14:57] Thank you.

[1:14:58] Councilor Murray, a little weather.

[1:15:00] Thank you, Mayor. You know, earlier today, I had been thinking how it's the 250th anniversary for our country. And I think there's this sense of, you know, from some people, do I want to celebrate? Are there even events happening in the city or in the region? You know, everyone's just maybe in a different vibes that they're going through right now.

[1:15:30] And, anyway, to be honest, I had a really kind of just downer attitude just thinking like,

[1:15:35] what's going on? And sitting here tonight, I was just thinking, all the stories we've

[1:15:40] heard about volunteering, like, put a great way to honor the 250th anniversary is seek out

[1:15:47] volunteer opportunities. And then plan a tree. Get a free tree from the city, and then with

[1:15:55] if your friends or family plan it in honor of whatever you want, maybe pick the 250th anniversary

[1:16:01] of our country as you add some more greenery to our city.

[1:16:08] And I will see, I might miss the park events on Saturday because I'm donating blood.

[1:16:14] They need platelets desperately and if you've done that before, it's like a two hour process.

[1:16:20] I'm trying to force myself to do it again.

[1:16:22] But I look forward to the transit event tomorrow, and I hope to see Councilmember Wright, and I believe Councilmember Partial, so you've got maybe some friendly faces, familiar faces if you go to that event tomorrow night and Everett. Thank you.

[1:16:38] Great. And finally, Councilmember Owens.

[1:16:42] I have fond memories as a child planting trees for Arbor Day, so I appreciate seeing that grow from a lot smaller of a thing to being larger now.

[1:16:58] It was also very touching to see all the people that volunteer here in person.

[1:17:02] So I want to extend thank you to not only them, but everybody that

[1:17:07] Donates their time to the city to to keep things going honestly. It's the volunteers that really keep things going around here and

[1:17:15] I think it's good that we're taking the time to honor them. I think that it's oftentimes forgotten. That's really all I have to say today. Thank you

[1:17:24] Very good. Thank you. All right, so we're going to move on to item 10 which is approval of the minutes

[1:17:33] and with for that council member, right?

[1:17:37] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:17:38] Does any council member have any changes to the minutes?

[1:17:42] If not, I move to approve the minutes of the February 21st, 2026, City Council Special Work Session.

[1:17:50] The March 17th, 2026, City Council Finance Committee meeting, the March 18th, 2026, City Council Work Session.

[1:17:59] and the March 23rd, 2026 City Council business meeting.

[1:18:04] Second.

[1:18:06] Motion's been moved and seconded.

[1:18:09] Any other further comments?

[1:18:12] All those in favor of proving the minutes?

[1:18:14] Say aye.

[1:18:15] Aye.

[1:18:16] Any opposed?

[1:18:18] Motion picked.

[1:18:20] Now we move on to the item 11.

[1:18:22] Your none of us consent agenda and for that we have Council President Coilo.

[1:18:26] So, thank you mayor, does,

[1:18:33] you're making sound effects, that's cool, all right, I think

[1:18:37] the comment is, it's a lot there, oh yeah, okay, I'll get my water in, okay, please do.

[1:18:45] Does any council member wish to remove an item from the consent agenda and I'll wait

[1:18:50] this time?

[1:18:52] Okay, if not, the following will be approved by unanimous consent.

[1:18:57] A, voucher approval 1, approved claims in the amount of $3,604,468.36 for the period of March 16th, 2026 through April 2nd, 2026.

[1:19:10] 2, approved payroll in the amount of $1,772,955 in 82 cents stated March 20th, 2026.

[1:19:20] six, three approved payroll in the amount of $1,793,418.21 since dated April 3, 2026.

[1:19:31] And then, B, approve the request for public works to purchase side-corp international's

[1:19:36] biologic sludge deodorizing agent for continued use at the wastewater treatment plant at a cost

[1:19:45] of $126,720, not including tax.

[1:19:52] See, approve the request for public works to enter an agreement with combined construction

[1:19:57] to perform the requested updates at the wastewater treatment plant in the amount of $125,206,

[1:20:07] not including tax.

[1:20:09] D, authorize the mayor to sign the six remnant settlement Washington Statewide Opioid Settlement Agreement Participation Form.

[1:20:17] E, grant final contract acceptance of the work performed under the 40th Avenue Water Tank Improvements Project Construction Contract,

[1:20:27] subject to appropriate state and federal agencies and ultimately release of retainage to the contractor if any.

[1:20:35] F authorize the mayor to enter into and execute on behalf of the city a contract with BHC consultants LLC for design services related to the Scriber Creek corridor sewer main improvements project and an amount not to exceed a total contract value of $460,000.

[1:20:55] Thank

[1:20:58] you, and since this is the unanimous consent agenda, there's a proof that's read.

[1:21:03] So we're going to now go to business item 12b, I hope, which is an interview and appointment of DEI Commissioner applicant.

[1:21:17] Boy, they ship the ready cura,

[1:21:25] human service coordinator Kyle Ward.

[1:21:27] That's me. Hi, Mayor. Hi, Council. And Nicky should be joining us on. Oh, wonderful. I have to look this way.

[1:21:37] All right. Good evening, Council. Thank you for having us this evening.

[1:21:40] Of course, y'all know my name is Kyle Ward. I'm the Human Services Coordinator and the staff liaison to the Human Services Commission and the DEI Commission.

[1:21:48] And today I am introducing you all to our newest DEI Commission applicant, Nick Chippa, ready, Kura.

[1:21:55] Nikki interviewed with the chair and one of our members of the DEIC about like a month and a half ago and then also interviewed with Mayor Hurst not too long ago.

[1:22:06] I am impressed by Nikki's experience working within community groups and nonprofits in particular her work serving women and minority small business owners.

[1:22:17] She also brings a great deal of experience coordinating with volunteers and outreach

[1:22:22] efforts.

[1:22:23] And I believe that those things along with her perspective as an immigrant will serve

[1:22:27] the DEI commission well.

[1:22:29] Nikki, would you like to introduce yourself?

[1:22:33] Yes.

[1:22:34] What evening and I really wanted to be in person today somehow plans changed and something

[1:22:41] came up and I have to join virtually.

[1:22:43] but very good to see you all, and as mentioned, my name is Nick Ship that I do, but I go with

[1:22:53] Mickey, which is easy, and I am a community leader and a founder of Swachia, an organization

[1:23:00] focused on empowering women and creating inclusive community spaces.

[1:23:07] And as an immigrant, one thing I have personally experienced is what it feels like to enter a new space where everything is unfamiliar,

[1:23:16] from culture to communication and how meaningful it is when even one person makes you feel like you belong.

[1:23:24] And that small sense of inclusion can make a huge difference is what I believe in.

[1:23:29] and that experience stayed with me and shaped the work I do today creating spaces where people feel

[1:23:36] seen, heard and connected through my community initiatives. I have been able to bring together

[1:23:42] like people from diverse backgrounds and foster the sense of belonging. I'm really excited about

[1:23:50] this opportunity to contribute to the city and support its efforts in building a more inclusive

[1:23:56] and connected community.

[1:24:02] Great, very good.

[1:24:03] And thank you for applying for this important commission.

[1:24:06] And we will go around to council members

[1:24:10] and see if they have questions or any clarifications.

[1:24:14] So let's start at, we'll go on reverse or here.

[1:24:17] Council member Owens.

[1:24:20] Any questions?

[1:24:22] I just want to say thank you for interviewing with us

[1:24:25] and taking it this time.

[1:24:26] I don't have any questions at this moment.

[1:24:29] I just wanted to say I appreciate you.

[1:24:33] Scout?

[1:24:34] Yes, Councilmember Littleweather?

[1:24:37] No, you've got a great background.

[1:24:39] I'm particularly excited from your experience,

[1:24:43] not just working in the nonprofit and community space,

[1:24:46] but some of the stuff you had on facilities management

[1:24:50] and more of the event logistics.

[1:24:52] I think we've got so much excitement going on right now

[1:24:55] with events we're talking about, doing events we got on the books, place making, community

[1:25:02] building, so just very excited to have you apply and hoping we can get you on the commission.

[1:25:10] Thank you.

[1:25:12] That's true.

[1:25:13] Councilmember Wright.

[1:25:15] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:25:17] Thank you, Nikki, for applying.

[1:25:20] I was very impressed what I read.

[1:25:22] I have such a space in my heart for the DEI commission because that's where I started here, and I am super excited for this opportunity for you and I'm very excited to meet you.

[1:25:36] Thank you.

[1:25:37] Thank you.

[1:25:40] Thank you, Nikki, for volunteering. That's what we were talking about all day.

[1:25:44] And I just echo everything that's already been said.

[1:25:48] I think you'll be an enormous asset, especially to this commission, which is the way I've seen it before is largely a member driven.

[1:25:56] And so I think you'll have a lot of space to bring your passion into that commission.

[1:26:02] So excited to see what you bring.

[1:26:04] Thank you.

[1:26:05] All right, so now these are really hard-hitting questions, so we're, so council vice president.

[1:26:13] Thank you for applying.

[1:26:16] I saw that you applied all the way back in January, and so I'm really happy that you're still available and ready to volunteer.

[1:26:26] I'm really excited with everything that you wrote in your application, the fact that you're like everything about you is very exciting for this commission, and not only that we've been talking about in leadership how to get our commissions and boards feeling like they're doing something.

[1:26:42] and they're not just there.

[1:26:43] And so something that we've been talking about

[1:26:45] is how do we get them to get more involved

[1:26:47] in the proclamations and whatnot.

[1:26:50] And so as we've been adding members

[1:26:51] it's just really exciting to see the new DEI commission

[1:26:56] and the different kind of just backgrounds

[1:26:59] that everyone has so that as we're kind of growing

[1:27:03] and refreshing all of our boards and commissions

[1:27:05] we have really good representation.

[1:27:07] So thank you for joining.

[1:27:12] Thank you for being with us tonight as we're celebrating volunteers and thank you for volunteering for the city.

[1:27:19] I'm always curious when people come in as volunteers, what was that moment where you were sitting at home, you're very busy, but you decided I need more things to do.

[1:27:32] And so you decided I'm going to volunteer for the city of

[1:27:36] Illinois. So what was that moment that led you to

[1:27:38] violence here for us here at the city?

[1:27:41] Yes. This doesn't mean a question. I mean, this is not a

[1:27:45] new question for me because I've been asked by so many

[1:27:49] people about this because as you've had seen in my

[1:27:52] application, I work full time like five days a week and then I

[1:27:58] I have a baby, she's like 15 month old now.

[1:28:03] And apart from that, I run an organization

[1:28:04] and I also contribute to various nonprofits.

[1:28:08] And maybe I would start it like personally,

[1:28:14] as I mentioned earlier,

[1:28:18] like Washington has been my home since 2017

[1:28:22] and community service has now,

[1:28:24] I think it's part of my family,

[1:28:26] like my dad, my mom or part of various community organizations and charity stuff that they have done

[1:28:31] and I think that had some sort of impact on me too and while I was raised I've seen them serving

[1:28:39] and that could be one reason I feel but also personally and practically it's always I always feel like

[1:28:50] it has been a lived responsibility of mine and moving to a new country taught me first hand

[1:28:57] like what inclusion truly means and as I already mentioned like being seen heard and supported

[1:29:04] and you know given equitable access to opportunities regardless of where one comes from

[1:29:10] along with that and all of those experiences that I had shaped my desire to consistently give back

[1:29:18] and advocate for spaces where, you know, some diverse voices are not only welcome but valued

[1:29:27] and over the past several years in Seattle area, I have actively served through like a number of

[1:29:37] In fact, whenever I have time, I feel like that is what something like that makes my day

[1:29:48] complete.

[1:29:49] At least do something before I go, but that's been there and I think I practice it overall.

[1:29:56] and also I applied for CDO fluid even.

[1:30:00] I'm glad that I'm able to, like, get interviewed and go through all these processes now. Maybe, yeah. So this passion, it also led me to found a switcher, which I was talking about. And through switcher, I've been like supporting small and minority-owned businesses and creating some sort of inclusive platforms for storytelling, leadership, and collaboration. So since moving to limber in 2022,

[1:30:29] and begin to see it not just as a place I live, but as a community I want to actively serve

[1:30:37] and Linwood's growing diversity. It presents a meaningful opportunity to strengthen

[1:30:43] about equity driven initiatives that reflect the live experiences of its residents.

[1:30:50] So I believe this is the right time for me to contribute my perspective. So that's what made me

[1:30:55] to apply and serve for the City of

[1:30:59] Landwood through the DIA commission,

[1:31:01] which I am always,

[1:31:04] you know,

[1:31:05] that's what I look into and my

[1:31:07] interest in serving on this commission

[1:31:09] from comes from a general desire

[1:31:12] to listen, learn and also collaborate.

[1:31:16] That's what, yeah, I feel.

[1:31:20] Well, thank you for letting me draw

[1:31:22] some extra detail out of you.

[1:31:23] I really appreciate that.

[1:31:25] I think you're going to get this, but if you need extra points, bring that baby in.

[1:31:31] We can give you some cute baby points if you think you need some more for your application.

[1:31:36] Thank you, Nikki.

[1:31:39] Tell us where we're at.

[1:31:41] Thank you again for offering the serve, for applying.

[1:31:43] I think that you'll be an amazing addition to the DEI team.

[1:31:48] With that, I moved to a point.

[1:31:51] Nick Sheepza, ready, Cura to the DEI commission for position number five for a term ending December 31st, 2029. Do I have a second?

[1:32:00] Second.

[1:32:05] I don't care who did.

[1:32:07] But it's been moving to the second end by several people. Any other comments?

[1:32:12] All right, here we go.

[1:32:16] All those in favor of appointing Nicky, ready, Cura to the DEI commission? Say aye.

[1:32:22] Hi. Hi. Hi. Any dare to oppose. Very good. Welcome to the DEI commission of

[1:32:30] language. Thank you. And then yeah. Thank you, Council. Thanks, Nikki. Thank you.

[1:32:42] All right. We've come to the point in the, we usually take a break here, but I think

[1:32:47] I think we're okay.

[1:32:49] Any new business, any new business?

[1:32:54] Oh, hi, Councilor Ramana.

[1:32:56] So I have two things.

[1:32:58] The first is one I forgot to mention in my council comments.

[1:33:02] Linwood DEI Commission is so excited to announce that the applications are now open for the

[1:33:08] Spring 2026 neighborhood equity grant.

[1:33:12] It's a grant that offers monetary wars up to $1,000 for local projects, service improvements

[1:33:17] events or initiatives that support DEI efforts and serve Linwood residents.

[1:33:22] Our project should align with the City of Linwood's strategic plan of being a diverse

[1:33:25] and welcoming and equitable, livable city, as well as the city's goals of pursuing and

[1:33:29] maintaining collaborative relationships with the community.

[1:33:32] You can find all of the information on our website at the DEI kind of page, so LinwoodWa.gov,

[1:33:41] just search diversity equity inclusion commission and you'll find it.

[1:33:44] It's a simple application, so I encourage everybody to apply.

[1:33:49] The applications for this round closed June 1st, so that's important to note.

[1:33:54] My second new business, it's more of a question clarifying.

[1:33:58] We've talked this year about potentially raising the minimum wage in Linwood and having

[1:34:04] an ordinance or a resolution for that.

[1:34:06] So my first question is, I think for the mayor, if anyone is currently on the executive team

[1:34:12] already working on this. If not, I would love to bring it to the table and kind of start

[1:34:18] that process.

[1:34:21] No one is currently looking at that yet.

[1:34:24] Okay, so I think the process would be that I need to have two others in support of this

[1:34:29] so that I can work on a resolution and get it on the agenda. So at this time I'm looking

[1:34:33] for two people to back me up on hopefully creating this ordinance.

[1:34:45] I don't know if I need a task group so much, but what's your question?

[1:34:48] I was just thinking I know we have the group that we set up just recently that was going

[1:34:53] to look at a lot of labor related items.

[1:34:57] I don't know if is this similar enough that that group would take that on or do.

[1:35:02] I think they're two separate things from the conversations I've had.

[1:35:05] Okay.

[1:35:06] I'm remain on board with discussing this, so I'm putting my name forward for that.

[1:35:12] Cool.

[1:35:12] Is there anyone else?

[1:35:15] I think we, I think we had not.

[1:35:17] I think you had a height now, that's sure.

[1:35:18] Cool.

[1:35:19] I can join you.

[1:35:20] Awesome.

[1:35:21] So I'm going to work on a resolution that would ask the mayor to direct staff to work on

[1:35:27] an ordinance.

[1:35:28] So I'm going to just start that process and go from there.

[1:35:32] Okay.

[1:35:33] Nick.

[1:35:33] Just so we're clear, what you just did is you're requesting that I put an item on the agenda within 45 days.

[1:35:40] Yes.

[1:35:41] Okay.

[1:35:42] And I did not say those words, but that is exactly what I was asking.

[1:35:46] So I don't think a resolution is needed, correct?

[1:35:48] Is it a resolution or should I just get, do I just work on an order resolution?

[1:35:52] Okay, cool, thanks.

[1:35:59] Any other new business?

[1:36:04] With that then, we are adjourned.

Apr 13, 2026 City Council Business Meeting

Agenda

Transcript