Raw transcript is available as the primary artifact for this meeting, so downstream LLM parsing can use the original source material directly.
This meeting still exposes the raw source and transcript artifacts directly.
Meeting metadata file x177972.json.
Transcript file 2025-07-16_budget_select-budget-committee-special-meeting-_x177972.srt.
THE COMMITTEE. WILL THE CLERK PLEASE CALL THE ROLL? COUNCILMEMBER HOLLINGSWORTH: COUNCILMEMBER HOLLINGSWORTH. COUNCILMEMBER KETTLE. HERE: HERE. COUNCILMEMBER NELSON: COUNCILMEMBER NELSON. COUNCILMEMBER [ INAUDIBLE ] PRESENT. COUNCILMEMBER SAKA: COUNCILMEMBER SAKA. COUNCILMEMBER SULLIVAN. AND CHAIR STRAUSS. FIVE PRESENT. THANK YOU, THOSE NOT PRESENT ARE EXCUSED UNTIL THEY ARRIVE. THE FOUR ITEMS WE HAVE ON THE AGENDA TODAY ARE ALL FOR BRIEFING AND DISCUSSION, AND SO WE ARE GOING TO TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS WE NEED TO TODAY TO DISCUSS THE UNDERLYING ELEMENTS OF THESE BILLS. THANK YOU COUNCILMEMBER SOLOMON FOR CANCELING THE LAND-USE COMMITTEE THIS AFTERNOON. I KNOW SOME FOLKS WILL HAVE HARD STOPS BUT WE ALSO DO NOT HAVE A COMMITTEE THIS AFTERNOON. THE FOUR ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA ARE THE SHIELD INITIATIVE, THE LEGISLATION THAT WOULD MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TUBA CITY'S E AND O TAX, TWO ORDINANCES RELATING TO THE MIDYEAR SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET. THE FIRST IS AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING AND AUTHORIZING GRANT EXPENDITURES AND THE SECOND IS THE 2025 MIDYEAR SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET ORDINANCE. WE ALSO HAVE AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO WORLD CUP APPROPRIATIONS, AND FINALLY AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE FINANCING OF HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PROJECT, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS WORKDAY. COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA IS NOW PRESENT. BEFORE WE BEGIN, IF THERE IS NO OBJECTION, THE AGENDA WILL BE ADOPTED. HEARING NO OBJECTION, THE AGENDA IS ADOPTED. WE NOW MOVE INTO THE HYBRID PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. PUBLIC COMMENTS SHOULD RELATE TO THE ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA AND WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE. HOW MANY FOLKS DO WE HAVE PHYSICALLY SIGNED UP TODAY? WE HAVE NINE REMOTE AND NINE: WE HAVE NINE REMOTE AND NINE IN PERSON. WONDERFUL. WE'LL START WITH THE IN PERSON SPEAKERS. I'M GOING TO CALL EVERYONE'S NAME, AND IF YOU COULD LINE UP SO WE COULD TAKE THROUGH THIS RAPIDLY, WITH 18 SIGNED UP WE WILL STILL STAY WITH TWO MINUTES. THAT DOES MEAN WE'LL EXCEED THE 20 MINUTE ALLOTTED TIME AND WE'LL MOVE FORWARD. SO WITH THAT WE HAVE RACHEL SNELL, EUGENE WASSERMAN, HALLIE WILLIS, BLAKE GARFIELD, JASON AUSTIN, DENNIS SILLS, ANISHA ZANE, MARTHA KIDNEY, AND LILLIE HAYWARD. RACHEL, WELCOME? CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY: CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YES . PERFECT. ALL RIGHT. GOOD MORNING CHAIR STRAUSS AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE. I NAME IS RACHEL SNELL TESTIFYING STRONGLY IN FAVOR OF THE SEATTLE SHIELD INITIATIVE. IN A TIME WHERE OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS GIVING US MASSIVE CUTS, NOW MORE THAN EVER IT IS CRITICAL TO SUPPORT RECURSIVE REVENUE. NOW MORE THAN EVER IT'S CRITICAL TO PROVIDE AID TO HARD-WORKING SEATTLEITES AND SMALL BUSINESSES IN ORDER TO CREATE A ROBUST CITY FOR ALL TO THRIVE. AND THANK YOU COUNCILMEMBER RINK FOR YOUR TIRELESS LEADERSHIP IN THIS INITIATIVE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. FOLLOWING RACHEL IS EUGENE WASSERMAN, EITHER MICROPHONE, FOLLOWED BY HALEY WILSON -- [ INAUDIBLE ] THE BOX NEXT TO YOU WHICH: THE BOX NEXT TO YOU WHICH SAYS PLEASE PLACE HERE. HI, I'M EUGENE WASSERMAN. I'M HERE TODAY SPEAKING AS AN INDIVIDUAL. NORMALLY I COME AND SPEAK FOR MY ORGANIZATION, NORTH SEATTLE INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION, BUT WE HAVE HAD NOT ENOUGH TIME OR INFORMATION TO REVIEW THIS PROPOSAL. SO I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I COME UP WITH. MOST OF THE MARITIME COMMUNITY WILL BE HIT WITH THIS TAX. WHEN PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY ARE HAVING A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH TARIFFS AND ONE DAY THE PORT IS FULL, NEXT DAY IT'S EMPTY. THERE'S A LOT OF COMPETITION FROM THE RUSSIAN FISHING INDUSTRY. THIS WOULD NOT BE A GOOD TIME TO DO IT. I LEFT YOU THIS, WHICH IS FROM ONE OF YOUR PACKETS IN COUNCIL. THIS SHOWS YOU HOW OUT OF WHACK YOUR BE ENDO TAXES WOULD BE TO THE REST OF THE REGION, AND RIGHT NOW SEATTLE'S NOT DOING A LOT ECONOMICALLY. GO IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S PIERCED THIS AREA OF CITY HALL BUT THAT'S, I THINK BECAUSE YOU'RE DOING TOO MUCH [ INAUDIBLE ] STUFF, CREATING UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS THAT I DON'T THINK WILL EVER HAPPEN. BUT WE ARE AT A COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE IN THE CITY, AND THIS WILL NOT HELP IT. THIS IS -- BUSINESSES, I'VE LOST FIVE MAJOR BUSINESSES IN THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AND THREE OF THEM ARE UNION. THREE OF THEM ARE UNION. I LOST FOUR, AND ONE OF THEM WAS NONUNION. SO THEY JUST LEFT THE AREA. I KNOW OTHER BUSINESSES ARE CONTEMPLATING LEAVING THE AREA, AND PASSING THINGS LIKE THIS, I'M NOT GOING TO SAY THIS IS THE FINAL WORD FOR THEM BUT IT JUST INDICATES HOW ANTIBUSINESS THE CITY IS TO THEM, NOT TO ME. I MUST SAY AT THIS POINT THE CITY HAS MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. THINGS ARE GETTING A LOT BETTER BUT THINGS ARE STILL NOT GOOD. OUR MEMBERS STILL CARRY GUNS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND DOWNTOWN IS VACANT, [ INAUDIBLE ] 31%, WHICH IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE COUNTRY. THANK YOU. UP NEXT IS HALEY WILL IS FOLLOWED BY BLAKE GARFIELD AND JASON AUSTIN. WELCOME HALEY. HALLIE, SORRY. AT EVENING COUNCILMEMBER'S, MY NAME IS HALLIE WILLIS AND I AM THE POLICY MANAGER FOR THE SEATTLE KING COUNTY COALITION ON HOMELESSNESS, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT 5. I'M HERE TO SUPPORT COUNCIL MEMBER R [preview truncated]