2026-10-20 - City Council

00:07Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday,

00:09October 20th, 2026 business meeting of

00:12the Olympia City Council. For the

00:15record, we have a quorum with Council

00:16Member Madron, excused tonight. Uh so,

00:20uh with that, I need a motion to approve

00:22this evening's agenda.

00:26>> Move to approve.

00:28>> Second. All those in favor of the agenda

00:31as published, signify by saying I.

00:33>> I.

00:33>> I.

00:34>> We have an agenda.

00:36>> So our first item tonight is item 2A on

00:39our agenda. It is a special recognition

00:41proclamation recognizing Hindu Heritage

00:44Month. And we have a shared reading of

00:46that proclamation beginning with Council

00:48Member Vanderpool.

00:50Whereas Hindu-Americans in in Olympia

00:53represent a variety of ethnic

00:55backgrounds including individuals of

00:58Indian, Pakistani, Bangladesh,

01:02Malaysian, Indonesian, Afghani, Nepali,

01:07Bhutanese, Sriankan, Fijian, Caribbean,

01:12African and European descent. And

01:15>> whereas our community has benefited from

01:18the many innovations of Hindu Americans

01:20including ayurveetic medicine, classical

01:23art, dance, music, meditation, yoga,

01:26literature and community services. And

01:30whereas Hindu communities are staunch

01:32advocates for the principles of

01:34inclusion, pluralism and religious

01:36freedom which are deeply ingrained in

01:39their beliefs. And

01:42>> whereas Hindu Americans, despite their

01:44positive contributions to Olympia, the

01:46state of Washington, and the nation,

01:48face stereotypes and misconceptions

01:50about their heritage and have been the

01:52targets of bullying, discrimination,

01:55hate speech, and bias motivated crimes.

01:58And whereas the Hindu community in

02:01Olympia take pride in sharing their

02:03vibrant culture and joyous celebrations

02:05observed across their diverse

02:07communities. And whereas the city of

02:09Olympia is committed to embracing

02:11diversity and inclusion by paying

02:13tribute to Hindu heritage through

02:15education, acknowledgement and

02:17celebration within our community. And

02:19>> whereas

02:21>> whereas Hindu Heritage Month is

02:24celebrated every October which coincides

02:27with major Hindu festivals such as

02:30Ganesh Katy

02:33Raksha Banton Pongal Onan

02:38Sarasuadi Puja

02:41Navi and Diwali. And

02:45>> now therefore be it resolved, the

02:48Olympia City Council does hereby

02:49proclaim October 2026 as Hindu Heritage

02:52Month in the city of Olympia in order to

02:55increase awareness and understanding of

02:57the Hindu American community and to

02:59encourage all residents to recognize and

03:02acknowledge the significant

03:04contributions made by Olympia residents

03:07of Hindu heritage in our city. Signed in

03:10the city of Olympia, Washington this

03:1220th day of October 2026. Olympia City

03:15Council Dante Payne, Mayor.

03:25All right. Thank you, council. And now

03:26I'd like to invite up uh Krishna Kumar

03:29from the Olympia Hindu Temple and

03:31Cultural Center. Please uh sir, if you'd

03:34like to share a few words and then we'll

03:35present you with the proclamation.

03:49Namaste everyone.

03:51Thank you, honorable Mayor um Donte Pin

03:55and all members of Olympia City Council

03:59for this incredible honor. Accepting

04:04this proclamation for Hindu Heritage

04:06Month fills my heart with immense

04:10gratitude.

04:12At least some of us might feel or may

04:15wonder what is the importance of Hindu

04:18Heritage Month.

04:20Today if we as we look at the world we

04:25cannot ignore

04:27the pain the sufferings of lot of

04:31innocent people

04:34and the geographical

04:37conflicts across the globe

04:45as the

04:47Hindu

04:49philosophy ophy.

04:51It is very important to remember

04:54we it teaches

04:57uh Hindu

04:59heritage month with the basis of wasa

05:04kurumbam. So wasva kurumbagam it's a

05:07sanskrit vers it means that the whole

05:11world is one all our sisters and

05:16brothers.

05:17So if everyone follows that values in

05:20mind I feel there won't be any conflict

05:25everywhere

05:28as everyone knows

05:31if the if one part of the family hurt

05:35the whole family feels the pain. So that

05:38is what exactly happening. Um everywhere

05:41if we look at geographically

05:48it is precisely in the heavy

05:51[clears throat] moment.

05:53We have to think how we can overcome

05:57with this

06:00recognition by the city of council.

06:04It

06:06recommends that or it uh reminds the us

06:10that

06:12our collective

06:15responsibility to stand with peace.

06:20Extend compassion across the borders

06:25and nurture a community

06:28where everyone feels

06:32values and connected

06:36with

06:38again thank you for celebrating Hindu

06:41heritage

06:43and championing universal unity.

06:48we so desperately needed today. Thank

06:52you.

07:01>> Thank you very much Krishna. Are there

07:03any comments from the days? Council

07:06member Gilman.

07:08>> I very gratefully receive your remarks

07:12and I agree. I think one of the reasons

07:15that we we have these honoring and

07:18celebrations is that when we recognize

07:22and we make visible the many communities

07:25that come together to make our city, we

07:29lessen suffering. We make people feel

07:32more included and um and we we help

07:36especially for our children to tell them

07:38that it's a world with many different

07:40people in it and that it's okay. It's

07:43actually it's a gift. So, I'm I'm glad

07:46that we're here today to celebrate. And

07:49as [clears throat] we move forward,

07:50every year, one council member has to

07:52pronounce the names of each of the

07:54holidays.

07:56And we'll keep rotating that. So, a

07:57different person has to attempt that

07:59each year. Yeah. [laughter]

08:02Thank you.

08:05Thank you, Council Member Gilman.

08:07Additional comments.

08:09All right. Uh first of all, thank you so

08:12much for being here. Um I can't remember

08:15which year it is uh now that we've been

08:18recognizing Hindu Heritage Month, but I

08:20want to say it's probably only the third

08:23time

08:24>> we've ever done it.

08:25>> Um and so it's just such a huge honor to

08:28to continue to share this with you. I um

08:32I I think it's really important for

08:34people to know that we have a Hindu

08:36community that's here in Olympia. um you

08:39have a new temple that's on the west

08:41side um and it's uh you're just starting

08:44out. So we just had a brief conversation

08:46about this and how you you hope to grow

08:49in the coming years as our city grows

08:51and and um and hopefully people who are

08:53not Hindu uh from our community can go

08:56and learn and check it out and learn

08:59more about your community and uh and all

09:01the ways that you contribute to the city

09:03of Olympia. Um, if you have not been to

09:06a Dvali celebration before, I encourage

09:09you to go. Um, it's one of the most fun

09:12uh events that I've ever been to. Uh,

09:14Dvali is a very fun time. Um, especially

09:18in the darker months where, you know,

09:20there's so much color. Um, and I just

09:23enjoyed the hospitality from the

09:25community. I was welcomed uh with uh

09:29great joy. And so um it's one of my most

09:31memorable moments actually so far as

09:34mayor. So I thank you all um for that

09:37hospitality and congratulations again on

09:40another recognized Hindu Heritage Month.

09:44>> So yeah and uh please feel for uh feel

09:46free to come forward and we'll take a

09:48photo with the with the proclamation.

09:51>> Anyone like to share any words?

10:04Do you like to share any words?

10:06>> So what

10:06>> do you like to share any words?

10:23Three.

10:48One. Two.

10:51Melissa.

11:45Thank you all again. wishing you a very

11:47happy uh Dvali season.

11:50[clears throat]

11:52>> All right. Um so we're going to move on

11:55to our next agenda item which is also a

11:57special recognition

11:59um which is uh the 45 year anniversary

12:03delegation visit to our sister city uh

12:06Kato Japan and uh our city manager Jay

12:09Bernie is presenting tonight.

12:12>> Thank you. Good evening mayor, council

12:13members. Again, for the record, Jay

12:15Bernie, city manager. I appreciate the

12:17time set aside this evening to provide a

12:19quick briefing and to share some

12:20reflections of our recent trip to honor

12:22the 45th anniversary of our sister city

12:25relationship with Kato, Japan.

12:30The sister cities movement began in the

12:32years following World War II

12:33[clears throat] with the goal of

12:34building peace and international

12:36understanding through relationships

12:38between communities. In 1956, President

12:41Dwight D. Eisenhower helped advance this

12:43vision through the people-to-people

12:45program, encouraging citizens to build

12:47friendships across national borders. For

12:50more than 45 years, Olympia Washington

12:52and Kato Japan have carried that vision

12:54forward through cultural exchanges,

12:57education, friendship, and a shared

13:00commitment to bringing people together.

13:02Established in April 1981 between

13:05Olympia and the Japanese town of

13:07Yashiro, the relationship has grown

13:09across generations. In 06 Yhiro merged

13:13with the neighboring towns of Tino and

13:15Tojoyo to form Kato City, continuing a

13:18sister city relationship with Olympia

13:20under a new city name. The Olympia Kato

13:23Sister City Association or Oxa as we

13:26know it plays an important role in

13:28sustaining this relationship by helping

13:29foster cultural exchanges, coordinate

13:32activities and visits and build

13:34connections between residents of both

13:36communities. Working alongside the city

13:38of Olympia and the partners in Japan,

13:40OPSA helps ensure the relationship

13:43extends beyond official agreements to

13:45include the people, families, students,

13:47and volunteers who brought it to life.

13:50Today, the relationship connects our

13:52communities through student exchanges,

13:54cultural experiences, visits by

13:57community leaders, and their friendships

13:58formed along the way. A sister city

14:00relationship is more than an agreement

14:02between two cities. It creates

14:04opportunities for people to learn from

14:05one another, experience different

14:07perspectives, and build understanding

14:09that extends beyond borders. The Olympia

14:11Kato relationship demonstrates how

14:13international friendship can endure and

14:15grow through meaningful connections

14:16between people and communities.

14:20The Olympia KTO sister city relationship

14:22is important because [clears throat] it

14:24builds lasting connections between

14:26people, strengthens international

14:28understanding, and creates opportunities

14:30for both communities to learn from one

14:32another. The relationship, again

14:34established in 1981, creates a lasting

14:36connection between two communities

14:38across different cultures and countries,

14:40strengthening our international

14:41friendship and a shared understanding of

14:43cultures. Student exchanges allow young

14:46people to experience another culture

14:48firsthand, develop broader perspectives,

14:50and build friendships that can last a

14:52lifetime. Mutual learning and shared

14:55ideas. Olympian and Kato exchange

14:58perspectives on education, local

15:00government, environmental stewardship,

15:02economic development, and community

15:04life, creating opportunities for mutual

15:06learning and shared ideas. The

15:09relationship is sustained not just by

15:11elected officials, but by residents,

15:14families, educators, and the Olympia

15:16Kato Sister City Association. The

15:18relationship demonstrates a meaningful

15:20international partnership and how it can

15:22continue across generations and create a

15:25foundation for future collaboration.

15:29Our partnership is sustained by

15:31reciprocal visits, cultural exchange and

15:34community [clears throat] connections

15:35with the Olympia Kato Sister City

15:37Association helping keep the

15:39relationship active across generations.

15:41This is not a complete list or a

15:43tripby-trip history, but highlights our

15:45recent time together over the past

15:47several years. We have been active with

15:49both student exchanges and delegation

15:51trips between us for decades.

15:56This year, our delegation celebrated 45

16:00years of friendship while strengthening

16:02Olympia's government-to-government

16:03relationship with Kato and building

16:05connections for future collaboration.

16:07Our recent visit just completed between

16:10September 28th and October 6th. Council

16:12members included uh Mayor Dante Payne,

16:15Council Member Kelly Green, Council

16:17Member Robert Vanderpool, Council Member

16:19Clark Gilman. Some of them brought

16:20family members with them. Uh city staff

16:23included myself, uh parks arts and

16:25recreation director Sana Nhauser, and

16:27our economic development director

16:29Jennica Mashado. And then we had um two

16:33OXA members uh former Senator Karen

16:35Frasier and former mayor Chel Cheryl

16:37Selby also joined us uh on this trip. Um

16:40just in terms of costs, uh Oaksa members

16:43covered their own travel costs. The city

16:45covered a portion of each council member

16:47and staff cost and all costs for guests

16:49or family member costs were paid out of

16:51pocket. Kotto City also has a sister

16:54city association called Kotto

16:56International Association.

16:57[clears throat] They officially hosted

16:59us. They paid for all most of the

17:01majority of the meals, the receptions,

17:04all of our tours and activities were

17:06hosted by the Kato International

17:08Association and we are grateful for

17:09their hospitality that they showed us

17:11all throughout the time that we were

17:12there. The visit consisted of

17:14government-togovernment relations. We

17:16met with Kato city leaders, held

17:18discussions with the Kato city council,

17:20toured the city council chambers, and

17:22participated in a formal welcome

17:23reception with municipal and community

17:25leaders. We had community and cultural

17:27exchange. We experienced Japanese

17:29traditions through a tea ceremony,

17:31visits to historic sites and temples,

17:33and a tour of Tamaki Nimi's textile

17:36operation, which I'll show some photos

17:37of in a moment. We also talked a bit

17:40about disaster preparedness. We visited

17:42the Great Hansshin Earthquake Museum to

17:44learn about earthquake impacts and

17:46disaster education, which for me was uh

17:49one of my highlights to just understand

17:50how they rebuilt sustainability

17:53innovation. We explored recycling and

17:54environmental technology at the

17:55Panasonic Echote Technology Center. And

17:58then we learned about local industry and

18:00heritage by visiting a tile factory, a

18:02local sake brewery, an art museum, and

18:04other sites highlighting the reg

18:05region's culture and economy.

18:08So I mentioned we [clears throat] toured

18:10the one we toured the wonderful gardens

18:12around Castle.

18:16Uh while we were there, we participated,

18:17as I mentioned, in a tea ceremony as

18:19part of our visit to Himeji Castle.

18:22I want am I one ahead?

18:25There's That's the one I want.

18:29We visited the Hoggo Prefixure Museum

18:31and exchanged remarks with the director

18:32of the museum and international affairs

18:34staff.

18:38We visited a wonderful textile factory.

18:40Oh, I'm still getting one ahead of

18:42myself.

18:44Oh, I'm missing one.

18:54I'm a bit out of order, but there's the

18:56textile factory and then the the temple

18:59that we visited is over on the right

19:01side. On the left side is is adjacent to

19:03the textile factory that we visited.

19:04There's this wonderful water and a

19:06waterfall. As you walked in, I think

19:08just about every one of us stepped up

19:10and took a photo at that place.

19:16And I mentioned

19:18I'm gonna go back one. I moved some

19:21things and didn't tell Susan, so it's my

19:22fault. Um, but this is the Kiomi Temple

19:26and Grounds. It was again another

19:27highlight, another highlight for me, I

19:29think, for most of us. And um, there's a

19:32photo. Maybe I don't have it, but

19:34there's a there's a well that's there

19:36that's actually shaded and um, if you

19:40can see your reflection, the um, they

19:43say it adds three years to your life. So

19:45most of us visited that well several

19:47times.

19:52And then we finished our trip with a

19:54visit and idea sharing exchange at at

19:56Kato City Hall

19:59and which included providing a replica

20:01of our Kato Street sign and a photo in

20:03front of the Olympia street sign which

20:04was a few slides back.

20:07So overall it was an amazing and

20:10thoughtprovoking experience for me. One

20:12of the things my son and I talked about

20:14uh was a degree of kindness that we

20:17experienced at all phases in all

20:19destinations with everyone that we

20:20interacted with. Our visit to the

20:22Panasonic recycling factory showed us

20:24that we can go further in our work to

20:26protect our planet and become more

20:27innovative in our approaches to climate

20:29change mitigation. I appreciated

20:31learning more about how they budget and

20:33determine community priorities. I also

20:35found their approach to recovery and

20:37building in Coobe following the

20:39earthquake to be thoughtprovoking in

20:41terms of how we may manage our emergency

20:42management into the future. With that, I

20:45would like to invite council members

20:47that were part of our delegation to

20:48share any reflections from your time in

20:49Coobe Kata or Osaka and I'll turn it

20:51over to the mayor for those reflections.

20:55>> Thank you so much, Jay. Uh that was a

20:57quick summary of of so many things. I

20:59wish we could share more. Um but um it

21:02looks like we'll hear about that from

21:04some of the council members. So um any

21:07comments from council? Council member

21:09Vanderpool. You know, there's a there's

21:13a lot you get you work on and see while

21:15you're there in in such a short period

21:17of time. I mean, we would uh um looking

21:20at the itinerary, looking back on it

21:22because I got asked quite a bit from

21:24folks in the community, what you know,

21:26what did you do when you were there and

21:27this and that. And you know, some of

21:29these these agendas uh that that were

21:32built for us, we would start early in

21:33the morning and we wouldn't get done

21:34till 5 6:00 at night at at times because

21:37there were so many aspects of the

21:41prefecture and then the sister city

21:44itself and um economic, cultural,

21:49practical, right? There's a number of

21:51layers to it and uh it took quite a bit

21:54of reflecting to even start to sort some

21:56of these things because you know I I was

22:00interested in transportation systems and

22:03affordability and like asking how how do

22:06you do these different things that we

22:07don't do as in in here in the United

22:09States but how how are you able to do it

22:11there and vice versa and you know it was

22:15it was enlightening to hear about oh we

22:17just kind of we've been doing this right

22:19like the recycle recycling facility that

22:20Panasonic uh recycling facility is

22:23because um

22:26you don't want they don't want to create

22:28more landfill and so when you buy a

22:30product part of the price of pine the

22:33ping the product goes to the end of the

22:35life of the uh appliance that you

22:37purchase and it just gets reused

22:40and it's something that

22:43I think about quite often about our

22:45state and about our city is how do we

22:47how do we ensure that things after it's

22:50been used make it back into the system

22:52the raw materials and so there are so

22:54many different layers like that I mean

22:58um when we first came in that first 24

23:00hours we had uh a a little bit of time

23:03to get adjusted the time zone and so

23:06what I did as a person who believes in

23:08and looks at transportation systems and

23:10urbanism and thinking about how do we

23:13housing versus how do we get around

23:15places I immediately went all over the

23:18place in transportation system. I went

23:20to the um the uh uh rail museum in co in

23:24uh Kyoto that that day and I went and uh

23:28talked with folks who have been living

23:30with these different transportation

23:32systems for years and learned quite a

23:34bit about how you get around an area

23:37similar to the Pacific Northwest. Um,

23:39and I think similar to the earthquake

23:42museum, there are these commonalities to

23:45our environment, right, and our culture

23:47that we, you know, we have to think

23:50about how can we try these things from

23:52not just a cultural but a practical

23:54standpoint. And so those are the things

23:55that I I I will carry on going forward.

23:58Um, it it is quite a quite an experience

24:02to to to have that exchange, right? um

24:06the arts is becoming more and more

24:07important in our sister city because of

24:09our focus on the arts here, right? And

24:12so that's the cultural cultural and

24:15practical aspects that I I really do

24:17appreciate from this exchange, but um I

24:20can keep going on and on, but I'll leave

24:22it up to my other council mates to put

24:24in some more details.

24:27>> Thanks, Council Member Green.

24:29>> Yeah. Uh thank you, Mayor. Um and and

24:32just huge thank you to the city and to

24:35the sister city association uh everyone

24:37who organized this Susan Jay um it was

24:39really a tremendous opportunity and so I

24:41did narrow my reflections down to just a

24:43few but you know like my like my

24:45seatmates I think uh I there's so much

24:47more to say but one thing that kept

24:49striking me particularly uh once we

24:51arrived in Katoau and interacted um

24:53quite a bit with uh folks from the the

24:55Kato International Association and with

24:58uh their city council members and with

24:59their their city staff um 45 years just

25:03kept hitting me that to keep to have a

25:06relationship sustained over that period

25:08of time between two cities who you know

25:10over that period of time we we uh one

25:14country or the other at any given time

25:15is is dealing with a disaster or a

25:17pandemic or a war or a changing uh

25:20national government. And and several of

25:22the people that we talked to um have

25:24been involved with this relationship for

25:26the full 45 years. And so it just really

25:29um made me appreciate all the work that

25:31has gone into uh really making this what

25:33it is. And and I think uh so often in

25:36our day-to-day we get very used to a

25:37very transactional world, right? Well, I

25:39I I can just get on Zoom and I can talk

25:41to someone anywhere in the world and we

25:43can do whatever business it is we need

25:44to do. And so um you know, participating

25:47in something like this and and having

25:49that recognition of Yeah. But

25:51relationships like this are it's not

25:53transactional. Like there are there are

25:54moments where we have transactions. Um,

25:57so that 45 years just kept striking me.

26:00I mean, I'm 46. Uh, so like, you know,

26:04my whole lifetime we we've had this

26:06sister city. Um,

26:09one of [clears throat] the the the

26:10second thing that has really stuck with

26:11me, similar to you, uh, city manager, is

26:13the the earthquake museum and disaster

26:16preparedness. And it was uh uh you know

26:20recognition that uh unfortunately it

26:22seems to cross cultures that we severely

26:24underfund preparedness and you know uh

26:27Japan knows that that earthquakes are

26:29one of their biggest uh risks. We know

26:31that earthquakes are one of our most

26:33significant risks and we do so

26:35relatively little. um you know our our

26:38police department and fire department do

26:40do preparations our emergency county

26:42emergency management state all of that

26:44but to see the changes they have made

26:46after uh such a you know that disaster

26:49killed what was it 6,000 people it was a

26:51really significant number of people and

26:53so then starting to implement um uh

26:56requirements in terms of uh designs of

26:58buildings and some of those things so

27:00you know that just really struck me as

27:01oh none of us do this very well and and

27:04how do we uh encourage ourselves How do

27:07we encourage our governments to fund

27:09some of that uh stuff that will save

27:11lives when we know things are going to

27:14happen at some point? Um so that struck

27:16me. And then really the last thing, the

27:18uh the temple that you mentioned uh you

27:21know that's been um a religious site for

27:241,399

27:26years. Uh they're going to celebrate

27:28their 1400th anniversary next year. And

27:32uh I kind of jokingly asked a couple of

27:34people what in Olympia is going to still

27:36be standing in 1400 years and uh you

27:39know of course nobody could come up with

27:40an answer. I mean, I think we could talk

27:42with our uh squawks and neighbors and

27:43they could tell us some, but even that

27:46um and so just, you know, that has kind

27:47of hung with me of of how do we um as we

27:50as we temporarily get to occupy these

27:52roles um and how we think about uh you

27:56know uh supporting this this city uh

27:58past, present, and future. And I mean

28:00real real future. Um and I don't have

28:03good answers to that, but that has just

28:04kind of stuck with me of thinking about

28:06I don't know what what's still going to

28:08be here in 1400 years. So, so yeah. So,

28:11those were a few of my reflections.

28:13Looks like Council Member Vanderpool.

28:15Yeah.

28:17>> Yeah. So, uh I'm glad you talked about

28:20that because the longevity of things is

28:22something that I thought about a little

28:23bit too was when we visited the Saki

28:25factory that actually uses rice from our

28:27sister city. um on the wall the when you

28:31do the tour they have 14 generations

28:34have been running this business and it's

28:36one location and it's been almost

28:38consistently other than that earthquake

28:39when it got knocked over but it's been

28:41consistently the same business for 14

28:43generations and you're looking at it and

28:45then there's the last guy on there and

28:47you look over and he's like oh he's

28:48right there there's the CEO he came down

28:49to say hi to anyone who took the tour

28:52that day and I found that uh fascinating

28:56from a um an American standpoint how

28:58much a um longevity of business,

29:02longevity of government, focusing on

29:04generation after generation after

29:06generation rather that there isn't a

29:07like

29:09quickness [snorts] to it. It's a very

29:11deliberate way of thinking um and and

29:14and ensuring things last beyond one's

29:18own uh time. And I found that uh over

29:22and over again particularly in the

29:25government but also in those businesses

29:27that we went to. It's like this business

29:28is going to be here for a long time.

29:31[clears throat]

29:34>> Council member Gilman. Thank you, Mayor

29:37Payne. Um, so there was some discussion

29:41on Facebook of why I would travel to

29:43Japan with an ukulele. And um the

29:47[clears throat] uh the the music

29:50connection allowed me to meet with um um

29:54an instrument wholesaler

29:56um to see the work of several luers from

29:59the region that we were visiting and to

30:03visit the factory that makes the strings

30:05that I use. And in in each of those

30:07there were great conversations about um

30:11is it still possible to be an artisan or

30:13a crafts person and make a living in a

30:16globalized economy and um computerized

30:20factories in other countries that can

30:22even imitate your handwork marks on your

30:24on your products, right? And um so I was

30:28intrigued that they're they're work

30:29they're wrestling with the same thing.

30:31Um that was really useful for me. Um,

30:35and one moment that really it was it was

30:39um the mayor and council member

30:41Vanderpool's question when we met with

30:43the the mayor of of Kato City and we're

30:47looking out the window and they have a

30:49new education complex. They have uh um

30:53combined they consolidated grade

30:54schools. So they have consolidated grade

30:57school middle schools now. And then they

30:59had a new high school and a child care

31:01early childhood com complex next to it.

31:05And so our question was, well, what

31:07about the child care crisis? How do you

31:09manage that? And the interpreter is not

31:12getting it across. And the mayor tries

31:14to qualify and and says, well, about

31:17affordability,

31:19h how do how do families pay? And and

31:21they're still not understanding it. And

31:23they say, well, it's part of our

31:25universal healthcare. Is it not part of

31:26your universal healthcare? M

31:28>> do you not care for your children from

31:30when they're born until they're 18?

31:32>> And we said, well, if families can

31:34afford to, they do care for their

31:36children. Yeah. It's um Anyhow, it was

31:39it was a striking moment because they

31:41didn't even we didn't even have common

31:43language through the interpreter to talk

31:45about the affordability challenges that

31:48we have right now. um they made a

31:50different decision as a society to

31:53prioritize education and um young

31:57children and elder care and and

31:59healthcare access. So that was that was

32:02kind of a stunning moment to me. I just

32:04I really appreciated the trip and

32:06learned a lot.

32:10>> Thanks. Um, the first thing I want to

32:13say is a big thank you um to all of our

32:16city staff, especially to Susan for uh

32:20all of the work to plan for us to to

32:22take this trip. Um, and then of course

32:25to the sister city association and to uh

32:27Kato International Association. Um, and

32:30then to our whole delegation. Um, it was

32:33a really great group. I thoroughly

32:36enjoyed

32:37um just getting to spend more time with

32:40everybody and getting to um have more

32:43time with uh the family members that

32:45came and to um just get to, you know,

32:49learn more from from everybody and um

32:52and no drama. I don't know if you've

32:54ever been anywhere with 15 people, but

32:57there's usually something that goes down

33:00and there was nothing, right? And so I

33:03um yeah, I just really enjoyed the trip.

33:07And um some of the the takeaways for me

33:11uh were um really um first of all in

33:16terms of hospitality,

33:18how they are in receiving us um and how

33:22serious they take that and how important

33:24it is to them as a culture. Um which was

33:28pretty evident uh throughout the entire

33:30trip. Um you'll see that I'm wearing a

33:33mask. Let the record reflect that the

33:36mayor had the flu unfortunately on this

33:39trip.

33:40Um but I um so I was able to do most of

33:45the things but I did miss a couple days

33:48of activities. Um but from what I did uh

33:52participate in um especially in

33:54conversations with the mayor and uh

33:56government officials um there was uh uh

34:01pretty um significant interest um in our

34:06uh relocation of our Japanese garden. Of

34:09course, as some of our community members

34:11are familiar with. Um we did take our

34:13director of parks with us on this trip

34:15as well as our economic development

34:17director. And the reasons that we did so

34:19was um because we knew that these are

34:22two important aspects of our exchange.

34:25Um and we uh had a a conversation with

34:28them about the relocation of the

34:30Japanese garden. And one of the things

34:32that the mayor uh had said to us was uh

34:35he would be interested of course in

34:36sharing with us what uh what attracts

34:40Japanese people and what draws them to

34:42the space. And so we're looking forward

34:44to receiving their contributions and how

34:47we develop a new space uh for the

34:50Japanese garden. [snorts] Um one of the

34:52other things uh for me uh was a

34:56highlight for me was the earthquake

34:57museum uh and um I believe it was within

35:01the same 24hour period that we were

35:04there, we got reports that there had

35:06been an earthquake here. Um and and so

35:11um you know this we had some brief

35:15conversations about how are we prepared

35:17and some of the uh disaster preparation

35:20meetings that we used to have um more uh

35:23regionally of course um and how we can

35:26get back to a place of maybe resuming

35:28those and making sure that we are

35:30prepared. Um and so very much looking

35:34forward to those conversations uh going

35:36forward. And then um you know just the

35:40uh I was surprised to to learn because

35:43we have been hearing that they uh were

35:46suffering from population decline and I

35:48was surprised to hear that it seems like

35:50they're actually reversing uh that trend

35:53and that's actually not the case

35:55anymore. So I was surprised to learn

35:57that. Um and it's a beautiful city as

36:00you can see. Uh, Kato is more of a rural

36:03community. So, we were able to get

36:05aspects of of of what city life is like

36:08in Japan and also what more rural

36:11community life is like in Japan. Um, and

36:13so overall, it was a great trip. We took

36:16away quite a bit. Um, and I'm looking

36:19forward to how we take what we've

36:22learned from this trip and put it into

36:24uh what we do next here for the city.

36:26So, I just appreciate everybody's

36:28participation and contributions and it

36:30was a great trip. So, thank you.

36:34>> Awesome. Thank you all. I appreciate you

36:36all sharing some perspectives. And I

36:37just one more double down for Susan. Um

36:41it's not just the plan of the trip. She

36:43put the presentation together that I

36:44just gave you and then I moved a bunch

36:45of slides around, didn't tell her. So,

36:46sorry Susan. [laughter]

36:48Um but she's done an amazing job of

36:50keeping us all organized and then when

36:52things came up, she was able to help us

36:53work through them. And so, um, Susan was

36:56on a past trip, so her input to this was

36:58really helpful, um, in helping us

37:00navigate everywhere we were. So, all

37:02those things that could have been rough

37:04edges were smoothed out because I talked

37:06to Susan in advance. She said, "But

37:07don't forget to do this, do this, do

37:08this, and do this." So,

37:10>> thank you, Susan. And then,

37:11>> thank you. Um,

37:16and lastly, you can verify with with

37:18Chief Flowers that in my first one alone

37:21with her as I got back, the first thing

37:22I talked to her about was emergency

37:24management.

37:26So, she and I are off on a path right

37:28now on that. So, anyway, thank you,

37:30Chief. Thank you all.

37:32>> Thank you, Jay.

37:34All right. Um, oh, one other point I

37:37forgot to mention actually about this

37:38trip that kind of speaks to what Council

37:41Member Gilman was speaking about. I got

37:43a taste of what it was like to

37:44experience uh at least briefly Japanese

37:47healthc care um by by being sick and

37:50taking Japanese overthe-counter

37:51medications and then eventually going to

37:53the doctor. And I was very surprised

37:56that for being tested uh for COVID and

37:59influenza and also uh for prescription

38:02medication, I spent less than $100 US

38:07for all of it. So just to put into

38:09perspective the the differences between

38:12our our health care systems uh between

38:15the countries and so hopefully there is

38:17more that we can learn from each other

38:18through these exchanges. Um so all right

38:22well thank you very much uh city manager

38:25Bernie. So that concludes our special

38:28recognition portion of our agenda for

38:30tonight. Um we are going to move on to

38:32public comment. Uh we do have a couple

38:35just a couple people signed up in person

38:37and then one online commenter. Uh we'll

38:40begin with those who are present in

38:42person. Uh there is a uh clock to my

38:45right, your left here on the wall

38:47indicating that you have two minutes of

38:48time for your comments. Uh when the

38:51light on the box there turns yellow,

38:53that means you have about 30 seconds

38:55remaining in your comments. Uh and

38:57please uh finish your sentence when you

38:59reach your twominut limit. Uh and if you

39:02do not finish your comments, feel free

39:03to email them to the uh to the council.

39:06Uh we are in election season so please

39:09refrain from expressing your support or

39:11opposition to a candidate or bot ballot

39:14measure uh during your comments tonight.

39:17So first I'm going to call forward

39:19Connley Samson

39:23followed by Chad Kate.

39:28Hello. I uh I guess I don't know if this

39:31is the right uh approach uh to speak

39:34about the Washington initiative 638 and

39:38maybe just little league in general.

39:41It's not.

39:42>> Unfortunately, you cannot express your

39:44support or opposition to a ballot

39:46measure. Um the only time that you're

39:48able to do so is during a public hearing

39:51uh when we have it open.

39:53>> Thank you.

39:53>> Yes.

39:54>> Uh I just submitted stuff to you guys.

39:56If you want to read it, awesome. your

39:58time.

39:58>> Thank you.

40:03>> All right, Chad.

40:06Okay.

40:17>> Sweet. Greetings. Thank you, Mayor

40:19Council, for having me today. I just

40:22wanted to come in today and kind of

40:25share just a perspective where I'm at.

40:27Um, due to the position I've been in,

40:30I've been receiving a lot of attention

40:32due to the position. Nothing other than

40:35that. Uh, currently I think I have

40:38nothing against any one of you guys. Uh,

40:41I'm bipartisan as well as I like our

40:44governor. I think he's great. Um I'm

40:47here today

40:49um because it's actually more than that.

40:51I think you guys are actually the right

40:53people um who are given me the

40:55opportunity to be here today um and have

40:58organized everything so that I can

41:01operate be it service um and yet

41:03contribute to society and following the

41:05rules. Um here because

41:10uh this was impromptu too. Um here

41:15because

41:20yeah,

41:23I forgot where I was going to go for on

41:25this one, but I just wanted to um yeah,

41:28make the point that personally I'm

41:30bipartisan. Um I see value and I

41:34appreciate each and one of you guys in

41:36your seats where you're at and I wish

41:38nothing but like peace and happiness for

41:40all of you and your family. I think the

41:44governor is also the right person for

41:46the position as well. And I think that

41:48we should have more of what he resembled

41:51to the Trump administration. Um, and

41:53having people fact check everything that

41:55everyone says, especially for people who

41:58are in positions of power. Um, here

42:02partially today because I wanted to

42:04nominate my friend David Gardner Wade uh

42:07for city council. I've known David for

42:10about 12 years. Uh David's honest,

42:14caring, uh also bipartisan, and I think

42:16would be a great member to contribute to

42:18city council. Thank you.

42:22>> Thank you, Chad. That concludes our

42:24in-person public comment for tonight.

42:27We're going to switch to our online

42:29commenter, and that is uh Andrean

42:31Iscardo.

42:54Okay, Angeline, can you hear me? Or

42:57Andrein,

43:02you're free to speak if you can hear me.

43:25Okay, Angeline, I'm being told that it

43:27says you're on hold and so that's

43:29something you'll have to take care of on

43:33your end. Uh, so if you can hear me, uh,

43:37please unmute yourself and begin your

43:39comments.

44:08And Angeline, whenever you're ready,

44:10you're free to begin.

44:16Okay. So uh it looks like our online

44:20public commenter has declined to comment

44:22and has exited uh the meeting. So uh

44:26with that that concludes uh public

44:28comment uh for tonight. Um are there any

44:32comments from the deis?

44:35Mayor prom.

44:37>> Yeah. Um well uh public comment uh is is

44:42not a time for uh being pro or against

44:45ballot initiatives.

44:47um or and anyone or anything on the

44:50ballot. Uh I do appreciate people making

44:52the effort to come in person uh for both

44:54of our public commenters today. And then

44:57uh also we heard one of our public

44:58commenters talk about peace

45:03and um I don't have too much to say on

45:05that but I have a deep value for peace

45:08and uh I I see that more and more as a

45:13as a desire and a value and a yearning

45:16for peace throughout the community. So

45:19even though it's impromptu thank thank

45:21you for saying so. And um uh while we

45:25don't uh typically take nominations or

45:27that's not our process for city council,

45:30um uh if if a friend of mine ever

45:32nominated me for something in a big

45:34public meeting, um I depending on what

45:38it is, I might be embarrassed. Uh but I

45:40would also be really flattered. Uh so um

45:43that's very kind. And uh and for folks

45:46that may not know um we uh do um city

45:51council is a huge privilege. It's it's a

45:53fascinating role and uh our election

45:56cycle is an odd number of years and so

45:59uh next year is an odd number year. So

46:02uh hopefully voters will have um a lot

46:04of really good candidates to choose

46:05from. So thanks for coming in.

46:09>> Thank you mayor prom. Additional

46:10comments.

46:12Uh I'll just mention briefly that the

46:14reason um we were able to receive uh

46:17public comment if you will uh just a

46:20couple weeks ago on the ballot

46:21initiatives is uh once again as I said

46:25uh because of a public hearing on a

46:27resolution that the city council uh had

46:30on its agenda. And so state law permits

46:33us under a hearing to receive those

46:36comments. Now that that hearing is

46:38closed, we are no longer to uh able to

46:41receive comments in support or

46:43opposition to those uh ballot measures

46:46uh according to state state law.

46:49So uh with that um I need a motion to uh

46:53adopt this evening's consent calendar.

46:58>> I move we adopt uh the consent calendar

47:00as presented.

47:02>> Second.

47:03>> All right, we have a motion and a

47:04second. And all those in favor of

47:06adopting tonight's consent calendar is

47:07published, signify by saying I.

47:09>> I.

47:10>> I.

47:10>> I.

47:11>> I.

47:12>> Consent calendar is adopted.

47:15>> So that takes us to our first business

47:17item on our agenda, item 6A, which is

47:20the approval of the 2027 city of Olympia

47:22legislative agenda. Uh, and to kick us

47:26off tonight is our city manager, Jay

47:28Bernie, who will introduce our uh

47:30lobbyist from Capital Path Consulting.

47:34Thank you, mayor and council members.

47:35Again, for the record, Jay Bernie, city

47:37manager. Uh, I'm here tonight alongside

47:39our lobbyist team from Capitol Path to

47:41provide an overview of a few things. One

47:43is our work during the interim session

47:45between sessions. Um, to get an overview

47:48of the upcoming session and things that

47:50are of importance for us to pay

47:51attention to and to seek your approval

47:53of our 2027 legislative agenda. Uh, I'm

47:57filling in for Stacy Ray who is our our

47:59legislative leazison as she is out of

48:01town this week. But I do want to thank

48:03Stacy and also Susan Gisham for all of

48:05their work with Capitol Path, their help

48:07in organizing meetings with our state

48:09delegation and others and getting this

48:11approval to all of you much earlier than

48:14we have in the past, which is one of the

48:16requests that you all had from last

48:18year. Our annual meeting with our

48:20delegation is set for early December,

48:22which is also earlier in past years. And

48:24all of this is going to allow us to

48:25really hit the ground running in

48:27January. Capital Path is also an amazing

48:30partner in this work and I'm grateful

48:32that we have them as part of our team.

48:34And so with that, I will turn it over to

48:36Kyla and Daniel to introduce themselves

48:38and then they're going to walk you

48:39through our agenda, some other key

48:41talking points, and then I will be

48:42sitting right here to help answer

48:44questions as we move along.

48:48>> Good evening.

48:49>> Good evening, Kyla. Good to see you

48:51both.

48:51>> Good to see you. Uh for the record,

48:53Cascco Blair, Capital Path Consulting.

48:55Thank [clears throat and snorts] you,

48:55sir.

48:56>> Uh and Daniel Pale Thorp, Capital Path

48:58Consulting.

48:59>> Um so before we jump into the look ahead

49:02to the 2027 legislative agenda and what

49:06we expect to see this session, we did

49:08want to just jog all of our memories of

49:10the 2026 um legislative session. So, it

49:14was about a year ago I was standing up

49:17here introducing myself to you all and

49:19letting you know that the state was in a

49:21$2 billion deficit as we headed into the

49:242026 legislative agenda. So, if you'll

49:26recall um at the time the governor uh

49:30said that he would be proposing an all

49:32cuts budget. Um it was a $2 billion

49:34deficit. Later he he worked with the

49:38legislature on um some progressive

49:40revenue which we'll get into. Um but the

49:43reason for that deficit was largely due

49:44to increased needs that they saw in

49:47services while at the same time a

49:49reduction in federal funding for those

49:52services as well as some COVID um

49:55programs expiring. Um therefore they

49:57couldn't be used. Um the legislature

50:00worked diligently to balance that

50:01budget. That is their call um what

50:05they're called to do. So they worked

50:06diligently to um to balance that budget.

50:10They did that by doing a few things.

50:12One, they closed some tax preferences.

50:14So, you may recall there were some data

50:15center tax preferences that were on the

50:17table. They closed those down. Um, so

50:20those aren't available. They're on

50:22refurbishment of data centers. Um, they

50:25also made some reductions in some

50:26programs, I will say, um, as well as at

50:29some agency levels. The other thing

50:31they, um, they did was they pulled

50:34one-time funding from the Left One

50:35pension account. This will be important

50:37heading into next legislative session.

50:39So, just keep that in the back of your

50:40mind. Um, pulled onetime funding from

50:42the pension from the left one pension

50:44account at $3 billion to help balance

50:47the budget. And then they of course pass

50:49the um millionaires tax, which is a 9.9%

50:53tax on any income over a million

50:56dollars. Um, however, those funds will

50:59not begin to be collected till 2028.

51:01Therefore, we will not see the revenue

51:03for those funds until 2029.

51:06Um some other items that happened. Um

51:10the legislature, you may recall, passed

51:12a large omnibus bill, House Bill 2442,

51:16which um gave some some offerings to

51:20local municipalities to offset some

51:22budget constraints. One of which would

51:24be Councilmatic authority to slightly

51:26increase sales tax um for programs that

51:29go directly to children and families

51:31such as after school programs, child

51:33care um or shelter or rental assistance,

51:36things like that. The other thing we saw

51:38last session was increased flexibility

51:40on housing zoning. So, we saw that with

51:42shelters as well as in our commercial

51:44residential zone. Um,

51:48and

51:50yeah, with shelters and in our in our

51:51commercial zones. Um, so those are just

51:54some some things that happened last

51:56legislative session and then we'll get

51:58into going forward.

52:02Great. Uh, going to talk a little bit

52:04over kind of the post session over the

52:05interim developments. So, uh, the state

52:08is still in a revenue shortfall for the

52:09upcoming bienium. Uh there was a more

52:11positive forecast in June um that gave

52:14some relief from the capital gains tax

52:16um coming in higher than expected. The

52:19September forecast did unfortunately

52:20confirmed that the state is still in a

52:21budget shortfall for the short term.

52:23There is some better news in the out

52:25years on the bianiums but uh for the

52:27short term they are still facing you

52:29know a major deficit this upcoming

52:31session um both in the operating but

52:34also in the transportation side as well.

52:36There'll be another uh forecast in in uh

52:38November and then ultimately one in

52:40February that they'll make the final

52:41numbers off of. Um couple other impacts.

52:45The the cuts from HR1 from the federal

52:48level on Medicaid continue to roll down.

52:50So many of those have taken place, but

52:51those are still coming and impacting um

52:54HCA and the state's funding and ability

52:56to backfill those cuts. Also, this is a

52:58contract year for public unions. Uh so I

53:01think the governor sent out a statement

53:02today that said that all uh contracts

53:04have been ratified. Um so this is you

53:06know of course a big issue in terms of

53:08the budget for the state but for this

53:10community and the residents many of

53:11which that work at the state that this

53:12is also an important time for them. Uh

53:15water and wildfires it was one of the

53:17worst wildfire seasons in um in years.

53:19Um there are multiple deaths around the

53:20state. Um predominantly the wildfires

53:22are in eastern Washington but not

53:24entirely and um there's going to be

53:27significant costs to the state in

53:28Spokane in particular for the rebuild.

53:30Um but then also for fighting the fires

53:32as well. Uh lastly I'll mention drought

53:35conditions. So in late spring uh the

53:38governor rolled out the Washington's

53:39water future initiative which is looking

53:41at drought conditions primarily around

53:42the state. So again mostly an eastern

53:44Washington issue but also there's

53:46drought conditions over here impacts. So

53:48we expect to see some proposals

53:50particularly in the capital side for

53:52that on this upcoming session.

53:57>> Perfect. So um we heard the the call

54:00loud and clear to get to work um in the

54:02interim uh so we could be prepared for

54:04the 2027 legislative session. So, right

54:06out the gate, um, in late April, Daniel

54:09and I met after we presented to you all,

54:11Daniel and I met with the executive team

54:13here at the city to hear about, um, to

54:16give them an overview of session, but

54:17then also hear about things that they

54:18were working on and concerns they had

54:20and any pain points that they were

54:21feeling and uh, create a list based off

54:24of those, some of which you'll see in

54:25the the draft proposal uh, for the

54:28legislative agenda. Um, from there, we

54:31set up meetings early with the

54:32delegation. So, I think we began meeting

54:35with our delegation that over the summer

54:37in June, set up one-on-one meetings with

54:39all of them. Jay and others attended

54:41those. Um, and that was really a time to

54:44for us to hear about things that they

54:46were working on. Um, and for us to sort

54:48of test water, some things we wanted to

54:51see going forward. We also heard um from

54:54the executive team some things that were

54:57working and not working with state

54:59agencies and we flagged those for our

55:00delegation who then um are working with

55:02us to set up meetings with our state

55:04agencies um as well. Um, in August,

55:09August, August, uh, we met with the

55:11governor's office regarding the

55:14encampment resolution program as well as

55:17the giving them an update on the jungle

55:20encampment and then um, also wanted to

55:22talk to them about more of a statewide

55:24approach to homelessness. So, making

55:26sure that multiple agencies are involved

55:29in the homelessness response and if this

55:31is something that the state could help

55:33lead, that would be helpful. Um, since

55:36that meeting, we've sent um letters to

55:40the governor's office around increased

55:42funding for ERP and ensuring the funding

55:44for ERP stays in place. Um, and we have

55:47also set up follow-up meetings with the

55:49Department of Commerce on those um,

55:52programs and some brainstorming around

55:54um, some funding potential as well. Um,

55:57we will also be working with our partner

56:00cities through the association

56:01Washington cities on building out more

56:03coalition support around these issues as

56:05well.

56:08>> Yeah. Before we move on, I just I want

56:10[clears throat] to thank the mayor for a

56:11couple things. One is he also attended

56:13as many as he could of the delegation

56:15meetings that we had and then the

56:16mayor's leadership of pulling the

56:18meeting together with the governor's

56:19office and helping to kind of wrap our

56:21heads around what's the ask and what's

56:23that look like. I know we had lots of

56:25conversations with all of you and with

56:26staff so we could figure out what's the

56:28conversation we really need and really

56:29it's about more coordination at a

56:31statewide level at the local level and

56:33how important the the encampment

56:34resolution funds are and then we've also

56:36got a head start on talking about our

56:38needs as we support the jungle and so um

56:41just based on those conversations we've

56:43already had a a meeting with the city of

56:44Bellingham reached out to us because

56:46they heard of our efforts and reached

56:48out to the mayor and asked if they could

56:49kind of join us in some of these efforts

56:51and so and I think as as Kylin mentioned

56:54as they work further with AWC, I I

56:56suspect some other cities will start to

56:58join in kind of our work around this

57:00too. So, I just want to highlight some

57:01really great work by the mayor um uh to

57:04get us where we are on all this stuff.

57:05So, thank you, mayor.

57:07>> One other thing I'll add is the state's

57:09in the process of setting up a

57:10department of housing and so there's

57:12been a work group that's been going all

57:13year and I think the final

57:14recommendations are going to perhaps be

57:16out in November. Seems like they're

57:17going to kind of do a phased approach to

57:19stand up a state agency that's focused

57:21on housing. a lot of conversations about

57:23which programs get pulled in from other

57:24entities, but this is going to be a

57:26natural place that we're probably going

57:27to work with moving forward.

57:30Okay, legislative agenda. Um so, first

57:33going to talk about kind of three areas

57:35of funding request. Uh the first is uh

57:38funding to resolve the jungle encampment

57:41and um we are working with staff to uh

57:44apply for there's a governor's uh form

57:46that's due at the end of this month

57:48where they can include capital budget

57:49requests. And so we're working with

57:50staff um to draft that and make sure

57:52that that gets in to see if the governor

57:54um is interested in funding this at some

57:55level based on our earlier conversations

57:57that were quite productive. Um next up

57:59is the Dashoot estuary project. So I

58:02know um city manager Jay has been in

58:04contact with ecology after their

58:06decision packages came out in September

58:08regarding the funding request. So we

58:10will of course be continuing to work on

58:12this and making it clear that the city

58:14is very supportive but ultimately this

58:15is an ecology request and an ecology

58:17project. Uh lastly is going to be

58:19capital way. Um this is in the

58:22transportation budget. Um they're still

58:23accepting to our knowledge local

58:25projects and this will be the project

58:27that we are going to submit um is my

58:29understanding and it's going to be uh

58:31focused on working on Capital Way

58:33particularly around bike and ped um so

58:35bike and pedestrian infrastructure and

58:37as somebody who bikes on that road it's

58:39you know it's terrifying to bike on. So

58:41these are the three funding requests

58:42that will probably I believe are at the

58:44top and the forefront of our agenda.

58:49Um, great. As well as advocating for ERP

58:52funding, which I will get into in just a

58:54second. So, I won't read all this to

58:55you. Um, I will not bore you with my

58:58reading, but I mean it's worded lovely,

59:00but um, uh, in expanding housing and

59:04homelessness largely around what we what

59:06we focus on with the governor's office,

59:08which is more of a statewide approach

59:10with local jurisdictions, the state um,

59:13and state agencies really working all

59:16together in a more coordinated way to

59:17address homelessness um, and housing

59:20issues across our state. Um the second

59:23piece is obviously the encounter

59:24resolution program which is something

59:26the city has utilized those funds in a

59:28very strategic way um that has been

59:31incredibly impactful to the community.

59:33So um wanting to keep those funds in

59:35place and expand them if possible. Um

59:39the last one is providing an alternative

59:41eviction process for residents of

59:44transitional housing. This is largely

59:46around clarity of the process for these

59:48folks um and for those uh housing

59:51providers that serve them. Um this is

59:54something I believe that came up in our

59:55executive team meeting as well.

1:00:01>> Great. Uh so first going to talk a

1:00:04little bit about the impacts from the

1:00:05millionaire's tax. So um in the

1:00:07millionaire's tax uh there are tax

1:00:09exemptions for hygiene uh projects

1:00:11predominantly and those sales taxes go

1:00:16some of it goes to the state some of it

1:00:17goes to you all some of it goes to the

1:00:18county and so there's a big push from

1:00:19both the association of Washington

1:00:21cities and Washington counties to make

1:00:22sure that you all are backfilled for the

1:00:25cuts that you are inadvertently

1:00:26receiving um as a state is taking in

1:00:28more money via the millionaire's tax.

1:00:30So, there's a lot of different numbers

1:00:32that have been thrown around. Um, but

1:00:34there has been um we're we're going to

1:00:36be definitely be making sure to be part

1:00:37of the course on that to make sure you

1:00:38don't receive a cut invertently from

1:00:40this new policy. Um, the next one is

1:00:43assessed value threshold for fire

1:00:45protection coverage. So, there is a very

1:00:47specific state law that says that if the

1:00:49assessed value of state of Washington

1:00:51facilities within a jurisdiction is

1:00:53greater than 10%, they must contract

1:00:56with you for fire protection coverage.

1:00:57If it's below that 10% threshold, they

1:01:00may contract with you. And my

1:01:02understanding is as the city has grown,

1:01:04um the state's assessed value has has

1:01:06decreased as a percentage. And so it's

1:01:08getting close to that thresh threshold.

1:01:10So working with our delegation on a

1:01:11bill, um to find there's a couple of

1:01:14different ideas we're throwing around

1:01:15for potential solutions to make sure

1:01:16that the state still contracts with the

1:01:18city of Olympia um for all of its

1:01:20complex facilities that it has around

1:01:21the city. Um lastly on the CCA um

1:01:25working with uh Department of Commerce

1:01:27to look at uh kind of two different

1:01:29things. Making sure funding is sustained

1:01:30but also if there's a way to make it

1:01:32more predictable um because it can be

1:01:34difficult to plan for programs and

1:01:36projects over multiple years if you're

1:01:38going after funding um for each year. So

1:01:40conversations there.

1:01:43>> I'll also add um if you recall in the

1:01:46beginning the $3 billion they took out

1:01:48the left one account. Um obviously

1:01:50cities have paid into that account as

1:01:52well. Um and they're taking that those

1:01:54funds to balance their budget. Um so

1:01:57they're it has been acknowledged that

1:01:59they need to address that as well. So

1:02:01that's something else that kind of

1:02:04bucketed into that mitigation account

1:02:06for local governments.

1:02:09>> Yeah. Oh yeah.

1:02:13>> Yeah. Just a couple things um here um

1:02:16probably on well actually for the first

1:02:18two bullets. So um we haven't yet

1:02:20quantified the impact to the city of

1:02:22Olympia around the loss of the exemption

1:02:25around feminine hygiene products and

1:02:26diapers. So that's something we need to

1:02:28work on so that we can make sure we're

1:02:30clear with our deleation. What do we

1:02:31think our portion of that is? They have

1:02:33set up a mitigation account to account

1:02:35for that. But what's not clear to any of

1:02:38us right now is is the amount they've

1:02:39set aside enough? How is it going to be

1:02:42distributed? and make sure there's a

1:02:44recognition it's not onetime money,

1:02:46right? It's there's an ongoing loss of

1:02:47revenue that needs to be replaced for

1:02:49local government. So, that's really our

1:02:50talking point there. The second one

1:02:52you're really aware of because you're

1:02:54seeing it unfold in front of you as part

1:02:56of our 2027 budget. We've had a robust

1:02:59sales tax year because the new the new

1:03:02previously exempted categories are

1:03:04adding to our revenue stream. And so, I

1:03:06asked our finance director, you know,

1:03:08what's it mean to us if we lose those in

1:03:102029? $3 million.

1:03:13Right. So, it's a $3 million loss if

1:03:15those categories go away um as as

1:03:18planned with the millionaires tax. And

1:03:20then for the the state uh fire

1:03:23department uh contracts, that's a $2

1:03:25million a year contract with the state

1:03:27of Washington for fire services. So, we

1:03:29have $5 million worth of revenue tied

1:03:32into these very specific asks. And so,

1:03:34it's significant. And those are the

1:03:36kinds of numbers we'll be sharing with

1:03:37our delegation and others as we have our

1:03:39meetings to just emphasize the point of

1:03:41how important these uh issues are for us

1:03:43and our revenue streams.

1:03:47>> And they um the legislature put about

1:03:50200 million from the millionaire tax

1:03:52into that mitigation account. Again, um

1:03:57partners with AWC and others do not

1:03:59believe that's enough. So conversations

1:04:01around what that looks like, which is

1:04:03helpful to have the data from the

1:04:05cities.

1:04:10Comments and questions.

1:04:12>> All right. Thank you both. Um, are there

1:04:16any questions or comments from council?

1:04:19All right. Council member Vanderpool,

1:04:22>> I appreciate the work you guys have done

1:04:24the last few years now. I it it seemed

1:04:26very clear and very concise especially

1:04:29from the outside. Um I think that uh uh

1:04:34these are all very important things and

1:04:35I appreciate the ranking of it and doing

1:04:38all of this work ahead right and I and I

1:04:40appreciate the fact you're going to be

1:04:41meeting with the delegation earlier that

1:04:43that does help a lot helps set the

1:04:45agenda and priorities as a city. Um I do

1:04:48have a quick question though. Um, you

1:04:51talked about how the as you're going

1:04:52through this, you're running into

1:04:54coordination with like the AWC,

1:04:56Association of Washington Cities, and

1:04:57other organizations that are also

1:04:59looking at potentially helping or or

1:05:02they're also dealing with the same

1:05:03similar issues. Has there been any um,

1:05:06as you're going through that, has there

1:05:07been any coordination around

1:05:10tax reform in general for local

1:05:12governments? Has there been any

1:05:14conversation? because we're all dealing

1:05:16with a extremely broken tax system and

1:05:20especially for cities and counties and

1:05:23we're all feeling it.

1:05:24>> Yeah.

1:05:24>> Um and we're we it seems like um we're I

1:05:29mean it seems like we should all at one

1:05:33level or another be saying, "Hey,

1:05:35listen. We're going to keep running into

1:05:36cliffs all of these different

1:05:38governments if you don't legislature

1:05:41make changes not just for you but for

1:05:43us."

1:05:44>> Yeah.

1:05:44>> Right. And I I I emphasize like not just

1:05:48like here's a here's a sales tax

1:05:50adjustment or this or that. I'm saying

1:05:51right reform.

1:05:53>> Yeah. I So what I know is that there are

1:05:58conversations around likely another

1:06:01omnibus bill um similar to 2442 that we

1:06:05saw last session. Um and a lot of this

1:06:08is tied to trying to help cities balance

1:06:11their budget. I will say there's

1:06:13conversations on creative ways to do

1:06:17like an increase in sales tax etc. I

1:06:19think in those conversations also

1:06:21reforms are welcome and that's where um

1:06:25would love to kind of pick your brains

1:06:26on how we get some of those ideas and we

1:06:29can set up meetings with some of the the

1:06:30folks that are leading on the bill

1:06:32drafting because I think I think

1:06:33everything's on the table. I think all

1:06:35they're open to suggestions and ideas on

1:06:38what this could look like to help offset

1:06:41the budget constraints that you all are

1:06:42feeling and the constraints put back

1:06:44onto the constituents as you know they

1:06:48increase this tax but they also know

1:06:49that your your budgets are tight too um

1:06:53increase the tax sorry put forward a new

1:06:55revenues tool as well. So, I think those

1:06:58are things that are on the table and

1:07:00conversations that are happening um

1:07:02right now and will happen into session

1:07:04as well.

1:07:06>> The only thing I'll add is I to our

1:07:08knowledge is not a like a like a work

1:07:10group that's thinking like at a big big

1:07:12picture like there's some of that in

1:07:14other spaces like in education there's

1:07:15some variety of different groups that

1:07:16work looking at the funding systems but

1:07:19to our knowledge like for local

1:07:21governments there's not like a a ground

1:07:23zero like look at everything um work

1:07:25group at this time. Um, and that may

1:07:26change.

1:07:27>> Okay. Because it I I appreciate letting

1:07:30me know because it's um it's something

1:07:32we're going to keep running into

1:07:34honestly. And it it seems like every

1:07:36time I talk to someone from another city

1:07:38or a different county, they'll they'll

1:07:41say the same thing.

1:07:42>> But we're also um there's the priorities

1:07:45each of us have to set and what gets on

1:07:48the list each year. And those are very

1:07:50important. Like putting the jungle on

1:07:52number one, right? These are very

1:07:53important needs. But ultimately in the I

1:07:56had someone ask me the other day, what

1:07:57are the highest priorities? I said,

1:07:58well, there are the priorities that we

1:08:00have right now like like housing people

1:08:02in the jungle and getting those services

1:08:04which are very important, but ultimately

1:08:07like our our cities need to be able to

1:08:09self-govern and not have to ask the

1:08:11legislature over and over again, right?

1:08:13And in order to do that, they got to do

1:08:14the tax reform. So, um and and allow us

1:08:18to do more things.

1:08:20>> Yeah. And I think that's something um I

1:08:24think the conversation is open there. So

1:08:26we could almost create a short list for

1:08:28folks and and send that to some

1:08:29legislators that are working on this or

1:08:31set up meetings with them as well.

1:08:33>> Yeah. Thank you.

1:08:34>> Yeah.

1:08:35>> Thank you.

1:08:37>> All right. Mayor Prom followed by

1:08:39Council Member Gilman.

1:08:44>> Uh great presentation. Um, I really um I

1:08:48really like our legislative agenda, so

1:08:50my comments aren't really for you. Also,

1:08:52I've got to see you in action uh both

1:08:55here before uh and then literally when

1:08:57you're on uh when you're on the Capitol

1:08:59campus, and I always appreciate when

1:09:01you're pacing around on the call looking

1:09:03very serious that when you see me, you

1:09:06sort of soften and hi. And I appreciate

1:09:09that. and I love that they're part of

1:09:11your team and being able to experience

1:09:13that federally uh this March and that

1:09:15was really great. My comments just

1:09:16quickly to uh council member Vanderpool

1:09:19is absolutely on the tax reform in

1:09:22general in Washington state and

1:09:24absolutely what can what can we do to

1:09:27help uh you know smaller jurisdictions

1:09:29within um you're not alone. We've this

1:09:34comes up uh year overyear. Um there's

1:09:37been uh earlier years where it has felt

1:09:41much more pie in the sky and uh I

1:09:45actually think that we might be closer

1:09:48to it now. I really do. Maybe not 2027,

1:09:51but what we're seeing with uh the

1:09:53millionaires tax, I believe. And and

1:09:56yes, you know, there's folks that will

1:09:58scrutinize it on both sides. Uh and also

1:10:02this is

1:10:04major not not everything but uh a major

1:10:08part of tax reform that uh it's a big

1:10:11deal. It's a big deal and then uh

1:10:14catching that there's going to be some

1:10:16unintended consequences. Um and how do

1:10:18we course correct that for for cities

1:10:21which of course we just heard in the

1:10:22presentation. Um, so then here's this

1:10:25big step for uh making inroads on tax

1:10:28reform and then uhoh well that's going

1:10:31to harm cities and then here's that uh

1:10:33here it opens another tea up for well

1:10:36how can we address that? So I think

1:10:37we're getting closer and closer. Um I'm

1:10:40I feel encouraged. Uh so you're not

1:10:43alone. And I would also add that um

1:10:48yeah, you're you're right, you know, and

1:10:49you've been a part of it for a couple

1:10:51years now where uh it's hard to get this

1:10:53legislative agenda down to what is

1:10:55actionable, what is timely, what is uh

1:10:58realistic and um you had made some

1:11:01comments. I think they've done a good

1:11:03job of that or we collectively have done

1:11:05a good job of that. And I will say

1:11:07though that your comments about hey

1:11:09let's make it so that cities can do more

1:11:11things. I think that's really reflected

1:11:13in the types of asks that we're going

1:11:16for even if it doesn't look like, you

1:11:18know, wholesale city tax reform. But

1:11:21some in some of this uh it's about kind

1:11:24of cutting the red tape. You know, let

1:11:27us don't do us any more harm and uh let

1:11:31us uh when we get a pot of money, let us

1:11:34decide what we need to do with it, you

1:11:36know, within reason. So, I hope you're

1:11:38seeing that too um as we dive deep into

1:11:40this. [snorts] Thanks.

1:11:45>> Thank you, Council Member Gilman.

1:11:47>> Thank you, Mayor Payne. I I also want to

1:11:49build on Council Member Vanderpool's

1:11:51comments. Um, first, I I am so grateful

1:11:55for the document we have this year. It's

1:11:58it's been evolving a lot over the last

1:12:00three years and and this year really

1:12:03feels like this is specific interests of

1:12:06the city of Olympia and they're each

1:12:09important to us and attainable. So, I I

1:12:11I think that having that is um a long

1:12:15ways from the laundry list of cool

1:12:18things that state legislators might do,

1:12:20which I still hold in my heart. All of

1:12:22those things, but

1:12:23>> back on the napkin one.

1:12:24>> Yeah. For a threeminute meeting, this

1:12:27>> this is what I want to make sure we we

1:12:29hit on. So, I I guess for me, um we have

1:12:33the legislative agenda that's

1:12:35priorities. We're hoping to work

1:12:37together with our our local delegation

1:12:40and and pursue. We have bills that we

1:12:42track. And I wonder if we have the

1:12:45capacity now to add a third element. Um

1:12:48referring to Council Member Vanderpool's

1:12:50interest that could we make a multi-year

1:12:54plan to recruit allies and talk about

1:12:57what do we do so that property taxes are

1:13:00adjusted with inflation?

1:13:03um what what sort of a levy lid lift

1:13:06kind of um tool might come and and I

1:13:09think that um with your assistance we've

1:13:12built more capacity

1:13:14to um to engage in legislative work and

1:13:17and that this if if we were going to

1:13:19take on one multi-year project that that

1:13:22would be the one for me would be to

1:13:24stabilize our budgets and and those of

1:13:26many other municipalities.

1:13:29>> Thanks for your work.

1:13:30>> Thank you.

1:13:33Thank you, Council Member Barrett.

1:13:37>> Thank you guys. Um, having done the work

1:13:40that you do, I I know how important and

1:13:42difficult it is and um, I just have some

1:13:46thoughts about this. I I thought the

1:13:48presentation was quite good, too, having

1:13:50seen several of these over the years.

1:13:53Um, I I believe that um, developing la

1:13:58lab laser focus is key to success. I

1:14:01actually kind of disagree. I don't want

1:14:03to throw the spaghetti against the wall.

1:14:05We need to be very focused in order for

1:14:09this great team to go in and pound away

1:14:12at a at a few key issues and and make

1:14:15progress. I I uh I believe that

1:14:19incremental progress on homelessness

1:14:24in some of the in in some of the ways

1:14:26that you've discovered or identified

1:14:29will be success if you can come back and

1:14:32you know if you make some incremental

1:14:34progress

1:14:36making incremental progress on the

1:14:38estuary is going to be very uh key to

1:14:41success at the end of session if uh we

1:14:45just kind of get the estuary to the next

1:14:48stage that's going to be successful

1:14:50and um protecting our revenue as um Jay

1:14:55has pointed out uh I'm very concerned

1:14:59about the fiscal

1:15:01uh oh ramifications of all kinds of

1:15:04state policies and so you know what I

1:15:07would beseech you to do please stay

1:15:09focused on a few things don't get uh

1:15:12distracted you know as important And I

1:15:15respect where you're coming from, my

1:15:17colleagues, but I think that's for

1:15:19success, we need focus and uh and and to

1:15:24be able to um uh to to to pursue those

1:15:27things and you know just ears on the

1:15:30ground on what's going on that maybe

1:15:31there are some things that are midcourse

1:15:33connect corrections based on what you're

1:15:35hearing, you know. But anyway, thank

1:15:37you. Thank you, mayor.

1:15:40>> Thank you. Additional comments.

1:15:43All right. Um, seeing none. Thank you

1:15:46both. Um,

1:15:49again, this is

1:15:50>> We have more.

1:15:50>> Oh,

1:15:51>> show's not over, but

1:15:53>> Oh, you have more?

1:15:54>> We do.

1:15:54>> Just All right. Well,

1:15:57>> I guess I will show you get back to it

1:16:00and then [laughter]

1:16:02>> so I'm wondering mayor they're going to

1:16:04talk about what comes next but I'm

1:16:06wondering this might be a good chance

1:16:07this might be a good opportunity to

1:16:08approve the agenda and then if you wish

1:16:11to do so and then they'll talk they're

1:16:12going to talk about what comes next

1:16:14after that.

1:16:15>> Got it. Okay. Um thank you. Um All

1:16:20right. Well, in that case, um do we have

1:16:23a motion to approve uh the agenda as as

1:16:28published?

1:16:31>> I move we uh approve the legislative

1:16:34agenda as presented.

1:16:36>> Second.

1:16:39>> All right, we have a motion and a

1:16:40second. Is there any dis further

1:16:42discussion?

1:16:46>> Okay, seeing none, all those in favor of

1:16:47the motion signify by saying I.

1:16:49>> I. I

1:16:51>> opposed. Motion passes. All right. Thank

1:16:54you very much. We have our legislative

1:16:56agenda.

1:16:57>> Right. Very exciting. Okay. Now, with

1:17:00suspense,

1:17:01looking ahead. Okay. Uh you

1:17:05>> Yeah. Um Okay. So, we kind of talked

1:17:07about this a little bit, but um we have

1:17:08a lot of irons in the fire right now.

1:17:09And so I'm going to be working with

1:17:11commerce um soon having a meeting um

1:17:14with staff to talk about CCA funding and

1:17:16kind of what solutions might um make

1:17:19sense that are best for the city of

1:17:20Olympia, but also work, you know, with

1:17:22how commerce um operates and distributes

1:17:25the CCA dollars um for both operating

1:17:27and also for capital projects as well.

1:17:29Um we already talked about the

1:17:30delegation meeting. A couple other

1:17:32things I want to mention. Um we're

1:17:33planning a legislative tour of kind of

1:17:34the Olympia housing pipeline. Um, so

1:17:37this is going to be likely I mean we had

1:17:38an email in today figuring out dates in

1:17:40November. Um, but we've been working

1:17:42with staff and with Stacy about a

1:17:44multi-stop tour um where we show people

1:17:47the great work across the entirety of

1:17:49the pipeline um in different facilities

1:17:51and so stopping at different places

1:17:53including like Fron

1:17:56Sandy Flats and a third that's escaping

1:17:58me as well. Um so working on setting

1:18:01that up and that will be with um the

1:18:0322nd LD but then also other housing

1:18:04leaders. Um, so obviously Senator

1:18:06Baitman has been the chair of housing in

1:18:09the state senate. So also working with

1:18:10the the chair of the house counterpart

1:18:13committee, Senator Peterson, and then

1:18:14other leaders on the appropriations

1:18:16committee um that really fund and

1:18:18situate that housing work. So that's one

1:18:20um working with the delegation on the

1:18:22fire contracting issues. So I've already

1:18:23been communication with both um

1:18:24Representative Dolio and Representative

1:18:26Parley getting them more information

1:18:28about the costs um to the city. And then

1:18:31um

1:18:33we haven't seen anything yet on kind of

1:18:34what what how we can support ecology,

1:18:36but that's definitely something we are

1:18:37excited to do for the Dashes estuary.

1:18:39And lastly um there's been some

1:18:41conversations about how we can uh talk

1:18:44about the ERP work that the city does.

1:18:46And so there could be a work session on

1:18:47that before session or during session.

1:18:49We don't know yet. But these are just

1:18:50some of the other things that are going

1:18:51on right now. And then

1:18:58>> um Okay. So for the rest of uh the three

1:19:02months in 2026 um we September we saw

1:19:06agency decision packages. Um those are

1:19:09where your state agencies send in budget

1:19:12requests to the governor's office. The

1:19:14governor then makes decisions about um

1:19:17how he or she is going to write their

1:19:19budget. So the um OFM and the governor

1:19:22are currently going through those

1:19:24decision packages and making decisions

1:19:26about what will be funded in his or her

1:19:29um proposed budget. Um we will start to

1:19:32see bills being pre-filed December 1. So

1:19:34that's just around the corner. Um

1:19:36committee and assembly days is happening

1:19:38the week of December 7th. So it will get

1:19:40busy in the city um during those days.

1:19:43Um and then we will see the governor's

1:19:45budget um by December 20th this year. Um

1:19:502027 legislative session begins January

1:19:5211th. Um it's it is a long session as

1:19:55they will be writing their budgets. Um

1:19:58we will want to do another day on the

1:20:01hill. We thought that was um successful

1:20:03last year. So we'll find a date with you

1:20:05all um that works. Um plan out meetings

1:20:08based off of priorities kind of what's

1:20:10happening. And then of course there's

1:20:12always opportunities to um to testify

1:20:16etc. uh which we will alert you about

1:20:18and work closely with you to make sure

1:20:20that you have all the support you need

1:20:21in those areas. So, more to come on the

1:20:23day on the hill date though.

1:20:26>> I think that's it. We are

1:20:30>> all right. Thank you. Uh now, are there

1:20:34any additional comments, Council Member

1:20:37Gilman?

1:20:38So, I I just want to get a little bit of

1:20:40I'm still trying to understand my

1:20:42colleagues comments. And so, first I

1:20:44wanted to ask um the bill trackers that

1:20:47we receive. I I understand you have

1:20:49multiple clients.

1:20:52Is the bill tracker to some degree a

1:20:55shared product that or each

1:21:00how much is it separate work for Olympia

1:21:02to provide us the updates on the bills

1:21:04that you're tracking for? So, what we do

1:21:06is um for you all, we take your

1:21:09legislative agenda um and then we

1:21:11prioritize bills based off of what's in

1:21:13there. The back of the napkin agenda is

1:21:15helpful as well because um if there's

1:21:17something that we know one of you all is

1:21:20tracking closely, but maybe it's not on

1:21:21the main page, but you might want to

1:21:23know about it. We'll look at that and

1:21:25then we'll also flag bills for you all

1:21:28um that are coming up around, I don't

1:21:31know, metal theft or something. Um

1:21:33right. And so it might not be on our our

1:21:36full agenda, but it's just things that

1:21:38hey, we know you're interested about

1:21:40this. We know you're concerned about it.

1:21:41Here's a bill. Let us know. Like we'll

1:21:43track it for you and let us know if you

1:21:44want to testify. Happy to do that. But

1:21:46that's not necessarily what we'll talk

1:21:50about when we're in a meeting with every

1:21:51member of the legislature.

1:21:54>> Absolutely. I I understand that. But it

1:21:56it's um in the past there's been some

1:22:00items that were from particular council

1:22:02members and then there's been other um

1:22:04items of urgency because legislation got

1:22:07some legs and it directly impacts one of

1:22:10our departments and so we've had you

1:22:11track that and we've provided some

1:22:13testimony. So, I I I if that's the

1:22:15spaghetti on the wall, then I I would I

1:22:19would argue that we still want to have

1:22:21if there's a change in firefighter

1:22:23regulations, we want to make sure that

1:22:25the chief's briefed and that we're

1:22:27providing testimony if it's um something

1:22:29that will impact I. So, um I just if um

1:22:34council member, if you'd be willing to

1:22:35explain just a little bit more about how

1:22:37you imagine the focus versus the

1:22:39scattershot, I thank you.

1:22:41>> Well, thank you. Um, you know, uh, we

1:22:46have a very limited contract with this

1:22:48team and they're really good and, you

1:22:50know, we get what we pay for, but we

1:22:53have to have real realistic expectations

1:22:56about how much they are going to be able

1:22:58to go to bat for us. And so when I say

1:23:01it's really important to have a laser

1:23:04focus on a handful of things, they're

1:23:06going to be most effective at delivering

1:23:08at those things if if they're not

1:23:10watered down too much. Now, um, they

1:23:14have legislative trackers and, uh, oh,

1:23:19when I was in this business, we would

1:23:20maybe track a hundred bills for a for

1:23:23for a client, but it was more kind of

1:23:26FYI information rather than as if we

1:23:30were really working all of those bills.

1:23:33That having been said, if there's

1:23:34something critical, you know, it's on

1:23:36the list, it it should. But what I'm

1:23:38talking about is bigger bigger

1:23:41reform type issues. We we can't get

1:23:43distracted by

1:23:46um something that is a a multi-year

1:23:51um tax reform project for instance

1:23:55that's really going to take a lot of

1:23:57coalition building and and whatnot.

1:24:00uh we can monitor those things and and

1:24:02our team can report to us, but but it's

1:24:05not realistic to think they're going to

1:24:06go in and and move the ball on something

1:24:09from scratch in my in my view. You know,

1:24:14I don't know. Maybe you guys can make

1:24:17make miracles happen, but uh but but I I

1:24:20I

1:24:22could we could go on for hours about

1:24:24this, but I and I and I I I I respect

1:24:28everyone at the at the dis here and

1:24:30where they're coming from, but I uh just

1:24:34want to be an advocate for uh setting up

1:24:37our team for the greatest success, too,

1:24:39so that we can focus on the things that

1:24:41are most important to the city. And if

1:24:44we can set up a few wins on our allege

1:24:46agenda list, that will be Nirbana at the

1:24:50end of uh session. [clears throat]

1:24:52I I hope that was helpful.

1:24:55>> Thank you, Council Member Baron. And if

1:24:57if I may, my my suggestion is more like

1:25:01we take on a comprehensive plan update

1:25:03every few years and then we also adjust

1:25:06zoning or permitting rules on an annual

1:25:09basis. and that um not I'm not imagining

1:25:13that it fits within the contract that we

1:25:15have or during the heat of the session,

1:25:18but um could we tap into this momentum

1:25:21of the last few years of really

1:25:23accelerating our engagement in state

1:25:26level advocacy for the city? Um, and uh,

1:25:30I just I just I think that if there's

1:25:32one item that would make a the biggest

1:25:35difference for the city, it would be

1:25:38about allowing us to collect property

1:25:40tax revenue. Um, I so that's that's

1:25:43that's my interest, but not not asking

1:25:45us to to jump over these other immediate

1:25:49projects that we have under this

1:25:50contract.

1:25:53I just thought I'd add I appreciate the

1:25:55the back and forth and dialogue here and

1:25:57assure you that they're going to be

1:25:59laser focused on the very specific

1:26:01things that are here. But a great

1:26:02example of where this comes into play I

1:26:04think for this conversation is so you'll

1:26:05notice that for example the 1% cap on

1:26:08property tax isn't on your agenda this

1:26:09year. It's been on past years. We had a

1:26:11conversation about the likelihood of

1:26:13something moving forward this session.

1:26:15It didn't seem like there was enough of

1:26:16a coalition that was ready to push this.

1:26:18Um and so rather than us being a a one

1:26:21city continue to ask, we took it off the

1:26:23agenda. Now that being said, if they

1:26:26become aware of something building and

1:26:29brewing around property tax, whether it

1:26:31be a levy rate or 1% cap, and just

1:26:34because it's not on our list, if they

1:26:36think there's some promise, we're all

1:26:38going to know about that and then we'll

1:26:40we can then pivot and jump on that if we

1:26:42need to. Um, but we'll look for those

1:26:44opportunities if they if they arise and

1:26:46I think we try to do that every session.

1:26:48But, uh, our main focus will be what you

1:26:50approved and then of course there'll be

1:26:52conversations all throughout the session

1:26:53with all of you as we become aware of

1:26:55things that may change our approach.

1:27:02>> Thank you. Uh, additional comments.

1:27:06All right. Well, I just want to say as I

1:27:08was saying earlier, thank you both. I

1:27:10appreciate it. Um, as council member

1:27:12Vanderpool said, I think, uh, you know,

1:27:14the fact that we have started so much

1:27:16earlier on working on this has been so

1:27:18much better for us. Um, we appreciate

1:27:21all of the work that you've been doing

1:27:22in the interim to get us ready for

1:27:24session. Um, we feel well prepared um to

1:27:29to get into it. Um, there are a few

1:27:32things that I uh just wanted to express

1:27:35to you both in terms of, you know, sort

1:27:37of where my uh thoughts are. um you

1:27:41know, they they evolve over time and um

1:27:45and uh you've heard some of this, but um

1:27:49you know, specifically on the

1:27:50coordinated homelessness response, um

1:27:55that particular piece um similar to what

1:27:59council member Gilman is talking about

1:28:00in terms of long-term,

1:28:03this might very well be an item that we

1:28:05continue to have to ask for, right? Um,

1:28:08and so, um, you know, I'm I'm sort of

1:28:11already managing my own expectations in

1:28:14that sense. Um, but the reason we're

1:28:17asking for this, as you can see at the

1:28:19end, it says to put an end to largecale

1:28:21encampments for good. And what we mean

1:28:23by that is statewide. So, our our

1:28:26current strategy, uh, you know, we're we

1:28:29have a, uh, we rely on grants a lot to

1:28:31respond to homelessness. Um and we also

1:28:35um uh have just accepted that we have

1:28:40encampments to some extent. And really

1:28:43what this item is about is what happens

1:28:45after that or what is next, right? And

1:28:48we shouldn't just indefinitely accept

1:28:50that encampments is something we're

1:28:52going to deal with. And so really what

1:28:54my ask here for this particular item is

1:28:56is that um how are we moving beyond ERP

1:29:02to uh sheltering people more quickly and

1:29:06rapidly right and so that's the the main

1:29:11point that I would really like to come

1:29:13across in our meetings when it comes to

1:29:15this is what is the strategy to more

1:29:18rapidly house people who are on the

1:29:20streets right Now, um, so, uh, that

1:29:25particular piece, uh, in terms of tax

1:29:28reform, I appreciate the conversation,

1:29:30but beyond, uh, tax reform for the sake

1:29:34of local governments being able to

1:29:35generate more more revenue for me, it's

1:29:38also about tax relief. Um and so you

1:29:42know even if you know for example if

1:29:44they said okay cities uh we've addressed

1:29:47levy lit lift I'm not so sure that I

1:29:49would even vote for that right now right

1:29:51because so many uh families are

1:29:54struggling uh and I think that this is

1:29:58uh perhaps where the governor and the

1:29:59legislature sees this as well that we

1:30:02don't want to just continue to pile on

1:30:05and so um you know especially for

1:30:08individuals and families. So, um, what I

1:30:10would like to see is is that if there is

1:30:13a growing interest in the conversation

1:30:15around tax reform, that it isn't just

1:30:18for the sake of local governments being

1:30:20able to generate revenue, but it also is

1:30:23about relief, uh, for for people. Um,

1:30:27and so, uh, I know that Association of

1:30:30Washington Cities has had a conversation

1:30:33about whether or not this is something

1:30:34that should, uh, remain on the

1:30:37legislative agenda for what the cities

1:30:39are asking for. And because we

1:30:41understand that there isn't, uh, the

1:30:43political will at the moment, I believe

1:30:46uh, they're also um, you know, uh,

1:30:49taking that into consideration as well.

1:30:51Um but um that doesn't mean that we

1:30:54can't revisit that in future

1:30:56conversations. And so I just ask that of

1:30:59course you keep your eyes and ears open

1:31:01and uh anything in that regard that you

1:31:05know uh might peique our interest, we'd

1:31:07love to know. Um, [clears throat] and

1:31:10just in terms of the rest of the

1:31:12priorities, I just want to, you know,

1:31:14say that this is by no means meant to be

1:31:16an exhaustive list of what, uh, we as a

1:31:21city think is important. Um, and that's

1:31:24just something I want to get across.

1:31:26The, you know, there's a lot of

1:31:27competing priorities and we just have to

1:31:29decide on a few, uh, that we think, uh,

1:31:32are emergent, um, and really important,

1:31:36um, at the given moment. And so we thank

1:31:38you for helping us get there. Uh for the

1:31:41meetings that we've had thus far and for

1:31:43the work that you're doing behind the

1:31:44scenes that I don't even see or that we

1:31:46don't see. Um and so we appreciate that.

1:31:50Um and we're looking forward to um

1:31:53[clears throat]

1:31:54uh Yes. Thank you. Uh and we're looking

1:31:58forward to um making sure that um we're

1:32:02all ready to go for this session. So,

1:32:05um, by all means, if there's anything at

1:32:08all that you need from us, don't

1:32:09hesitate to reach out and we appreciate

1:32:12your presentation tonight.

1:32:14>> Thank you.

1:32:14>> All right.

1:32:15>> Appreciate it.

1:32:15>> Thank you.

1:32:17>> Um,

1:32:19the mayor prom just wrote me a note to

1:32:22make sure that we add our new assistant

1:32:24city manager to our legislative agenda.

1:32:26Her name is not there.

1:32:27>> Yes. Thank you.

1:32:30All right. Thank you both.

1:32:33[clears throat]

1:32:34All right. So that takes us to our next

1:32:35agenda item, item 6B, which is the

1:32:38approval of a resolution authorizing the

1:32:40sunsetting of the three advisory boards

1:32:42and the restructure of the social

1:32:44justice and equity commission. And we

1:32:46have Marggo Morales, who is our

1:32:48community engagement program specialist,

1:32:51uh, presenting tonight. Hi Marggo.

1:32:53>> Hi. Um, good evening Mayor Payne and

1:32:55council members. Uh, for the record, my

1:32:57name is Margot Morales, community

1:32:59engagement program specialist, and this

1:33:01evening I'm bringing a resolution for

1:33:03consideration authorizing the sunsetting

1:33:05of three advisory boards and the

1:33:07restructure of the social justice and

1:33:09equity commission. Um, this is part of

1:33:11the advisory body and community

1:33:13engagement evaluation process that was

1:33:15started in 2025. Uh this work was

1:33:18initiated by retired communications

1:33:20director Kelly Pur Brassith and then

1:33:23moved forward by retired assistant city

1:33:25manager Debbie Sullivan. Uh the work is

1:33:27being continued by assistant city

1:33:28manager Stacy Ray and supported by Don

1:33:31Carvalo, myself and the consultant

1:33:33Genevie Conco Chan. Um I want to start

1:33:35with gratitude to our advisory body

1:33:37staff leaison who support over 100

1:33:40volunteers on our advisory bodies and

1:33:42have been involved in this work since

1:33:44the offset. Also, thank you to the

1:33:46chairs and members of our advisory

1:33:48bodies for their thoughtful input and

1:33:50feedback throughout this process. And a

1:33:52big thank you to the community

1:33:53livability and public safety committee

1:33:55for providing leadership, guidance, and

1:33:57working with staff on finalizing the

1:33:59recommendation that is before you

1:34:00tonight.

1:34:03Um, so what is in front of you for

1:34:05consideration this evening is a

1:34:06resolution to approve the suns setting

1:34:08of the bicycle and pedestrian advisory

1:34:10committee, the design review board, and

1:34:12the parks and recreation advisory

1:34:14committee, as well as restructure the

1:34:16work of the social justice and equity

1:34:18commission. Um this evening I plan to

1:34:19touch on the purpose and the goals of

1:34:21the advisory body evaluation process,

1:34:23recruitment and work plan timeline

1:34:25improvements, the proposed restructure

1:34:27of um existing advisory bodies, and to

1:34:29briefly touch on the community

1:34:31engagement toolkit. Um the community

1:34:33livability and public safety committee

1:34:34unanimously approved this recommendation

1:34:37on their September 23rd, 2026 meeting.

1:34:39Um and now we're bringing it to the full

1:34:41council for consideration.

1:34:45So, the evaluation of our current

1:34:47advisory body system and community

1:34:48engagement methods has been grounded in

1:34:50the council's goals for community

1:34:52engagement, which are for the community

1:34:54members to provide meaningful input to

1:34:56guide policy and decision-making, ensure

1:34:59equitable and inclusive engagement, that

1:35:01the experience of community members is

1:35:03impactful, and that resources to support

1:35:05engagement are sustainable.

1:35:09For advisory bodies specifically, their

1:35:11purpose is established in the council

1:35:12and advisory guide books. They're a

1:35:14structured way for individual community

1:35:16members to share their opinions and

1:35:18perspectives, study issues, and develop

1:35:20recommendations in a focused small group

1:35:22structure. The primary purpose of

1:35:24advisory bodies is to provide judicious

1:35:26advice from a community member

1:35:28perspective to the city council, which

1:35:30is the city's elected policymaking body.

1:35:34So for context, the city currently has

1:35:3614 council appointed bodies. You'll note

1:35:39that the salary commission and youth

1:35:41council are highlighted in blue and that

1:35:43is because they have different

1:35:44recruitment and appointment processes

1:35:46that fell outside the scope of our

1:35:48evaluation.

1:35:52So what was the purpose of doing an

1:35:54evaluation of our advisory body system?

1:35:56Uh first to our knowledge a

1:35:58comprehensive evaluation of council

1:36:00appointed bodies had not been performed.

1:36:02Both volunteers and staff brought this

1:36:04to the attention of staff and council.

1:36:06Also methods of engagement have evolved

1:36:09and staff and advisory body members were

1:36:11reporting challenges with meeting quorum

1:36:14and confusion regarding their purpose

1:36:15and impact. Also budget considerations

1:36:18meant needing to look for possible

1:36:20efficiencies and more sustainable

1:36:21methods for community engagement.

1:36:26So as part of the evaluation process,

1:36:28opportunities for administrative

1:36:29improvements improvements to the

1:36:31recruitment and work plan timelines were

1:36:32identified.

1:36:35So these improvements include

1:36:37standardized onboarding so that all new

1:36:39members get consistent information about

1:36:41their role processes and procedures and

1:36:44encourage more engagement between

1:36:45members of different advisory bodies. So

1:36:47kind of removing some silos. also change

1:36:50to recruitment cycle and timeline so

1:36:52that new members are appointed in a time

1:36:54that allows them to participate in the

1:36:56development of the new year's work plan

1:36:58and also reduce the heavy lift for

1:37:00advisory body members, staff and council

1:37:03for doing both the work of work planning

1:37:05and recruitment processes at the same

1:37:07time. Also a shift in work plan

1:37:10timelines so that advisory body work

1:37:12plans are better aligned with council

1:37:13priorities. Additional details on these

1:37:16changes are included as an attachment in

1:37:17your packet.

1:37:20So, as we moved through the evaluation

1:37:22process, um the community livability and

1:37:24public safety committee directed staff

1:37:26to identify opportunities for possible

1:37:28restructure of some of the existing

1:37:30advisory bodies.

1:37:33As we reviewed the city's current

1:37:34advisory bodies, we considered the

1:37:36following criteria in identifying

1:37:38opportunity areas. Is there a legal

1:37:40mandate? Is the work duplicative or

1:37:43complimentary to another advisory body?

1:37:46Are members engaged in the current

1:37:48purpose and mission? Is there another

1:37:51entity or option for completing the

1:37:53work?

1:37:56We also considered what a restructure of

1:37:58opportunity areas could look like.

1:38:00Integrating the work into another

1:38:02existing advisory body, reducing the

1:38:04work plan scope and number of meetings,

1:38:07engaging with community collaborators

1:38:08when specific topics or projects arise,

1:38:11or shifting the requirement to be

1:38:13completed administratively by staff.

1:38:17So based on the criteria, four

1:38:19opportunity areas were identified. It's

1:38:21the bicycle and pedestrian advisory

1:38:23committee, the design review board,

1:38:25parks and recreation advisory committee,

1:38:27and the social justice and equity

1:38:28commission. We worked with staff liaison

1:38:30and they talked with their chairs and

1:38:32vice chairs and gathered input from

1:38:34members on the restructure options and

1:38:36about community engagement in the work

1:38:38to develop recommendations for how these

1:38:40four bodies could be restructured.

1:38:43At the September 23rd, 2026 clips

1:38:45meeting, staff brought a further

1:38:47developed proposal for how to transition

1:38:49the social justice and equity commission

1:38:51to a more focused purpose and scope.

1:38:54Transition the design review board to an

1:38:56administrative function within community

1:38:57development and sunset both the bicycle

1:39:00and pedest both the bicycle and

1:39:02pedestrian advisory and parks recreation

1:39:04advisory committees. Clips unanimously

1:39:07approved forwarding the proposal for

1:39:08consideration to the full city council.

1:39:13The bicycle and pedestrian advisory

1:39:16committee is recommended to be sunset

1:39:18because of its strong alignment with the

1:39:19work of the Olympia Planning Commission.

1:39:21The bicycle and pedestrian advisory

1:39:23committee would sunset at the conclusion

1:39:25of their current work plan cycle in

1:39:26March of 2027. Future bicycle and

1:39:29pedestrian work efforts and referrals

1:39:31would be integrated into the planning

1:39:33commission scope and work planning. Uh

1:39:36for less frequent larger projects like

1:39:37the transportation master plan update

1:39:39that will likely kick off in 2028, other

1:39:42engagement tools like community

1:39:44collaborators could be utilized. I have

1:39:46another slide later that will show this

1:39:48as an example for the process of

1:39:49selecting engagement tools for a project

1:39:51like this.

1:39:55the design review board. Um, state

1:39:58legisla the state legislature passed a

1:40:00series of regulatory reforms to increase

1:40:03the speed at which we process land use

1:40:04permits. By streamlining the design

1:40:07review process, were better equipped to

1:40:09meet those timelines. Um, the design

1:40:11review board would also sunset at the

1:40:13conclusion of their current work plan

1:40:15cycle in March of 2027 and shift design

1:40:18review to an administrative process,

1:40:20which also aligns with what other

1:40:21communities are doing and eases the land

1:40:23use review and permitting process.

1:40:26Feedback from current members

1:40:27recommended continuing the awards of

1:40:29merit, which could be accomplished

1:40:30through community collaborators or other

1:40:32engagement tools.

1:40:36The parks and recreation advisory

1:40:38committee would be sunset at the

1:40:40conclusion of the current parks master

1:40:42plan update um probably in February or

1:40:45early 2028. Uh future parks projects

1:40:48would utilize other engagement tools

1:40:50creating opportunity to engage with a

1:40:52larger number of community members and

1:40:54more diverse interest groups and

1:40:56stakeholders on specific projects. It

1:40:58also accounts for the irregular cadence

1:41:00of parks projects and ensures that use

1:41:02of volunteer time is purposeful. Um, an

1:41:05example of how parks is already doing

1:41:07this um is the Rebecca Howard Park

1:41:10approach uh using a steering committee,

1:41:12which could be um kind of the equivalent

1:41:14of using community collaborators.

1:41:19We don't know exactly what this looks

1:41:21like yet, but we know the importance of

1:41:23honoring the work that has been done and

1:41:25the contributions these volunteers have

1:41:26made to our community. [snorts] Uh we

1:41:28know that these bodies are important and

1:41:30some council members have gotten their

1:41:32start with city engagement through the

1:41:33advisory body system. We plan to work

1:41:36with council for former formal

1:41:38acknowledgement um and to memorialize

1:41:40the contributions of the sunsetting

1:41:42advisory bodies. We will continue to

1:41:45work with current members and staff

1:41:46liaison to retain depth of knowledge and

1:41:48expertise by transitioning members to

1:41:51other vacancies if available or

1:41:53identifying future alternate positions

1:41:55and use the engagement toolkit to

1:41:57support large projects that benefit from

1:41:59deeper community outreach and input.

1:42:04The identified opportunity with the

1:42:06social justice and equity commission is

1:42:08to shift to a more focused projectbased

1:42:11work plan with one or two projects per

1:42:13year. The number of meetings would be

1:42:15determined by the scope of the projects,

1:42:17not a traditional standing monthly

1:42:18meeting. Uh at their October retreat,

1:42:21the commission worked on narrowing down

1:42:22project selection for 2027. Um and one

1:42:25of the items they are considering is

1:42:27building out the community engagement

1:42:29toolkit as a significant work effort.

1:42:31The experiences of discrimination work,

1:42:33the belonging in Olympia work could

1:42:35inform the development of the toolkit

1:42:37and as an opportunity for the commission

1:42:39to engage with groups like the coalition

1:42:41of neighborhood associations or

1:42:43Olympians for people oriented places as

1:42:45well as groups who supported the

1:42:46belonging work.

1:42:50So throughout the recommendations this

1:42:52evening, I've mentioned using other

1:42:53engagement toolkit options.

1:42:57So the concept of developing a toolkit

1:42:59is to apply the right engagement

1:43:01approach to the topic, issue or program

1:43:03need. Shown here is a toolkit with five

1:43:06different engagement approaches. Each

1:43:08approach is aimed at helping us to

1:43:10achieve a certain level of engagement. A

1:43:12lower level of engagement might be to

1:43:14inform the community about something all

1:43:16the way up to the highest level which is

1:43:18to collaborate with the community to

1:43:20co-create something together. The

1:43:22concept of a toolkit is that it's an

1:43:25overarching approach to community

1:43:26engagement and all the methods balance

1:43:28each other out in terms of how much time

1:43:30and staff resources they require. When

1:43:33you move from left to right, our graphic

1:43:35shows that each tool shows each tool it

1:43:37requires more staff time and resources.

1:43:40Engage Olympia being fairly light lift

1:43:42all the way to the intensive staffing

1:43:44and resources needed to sustain advisory

1:43:46bodies. The toolkit can be built out and

1:43:49sustained best when it is balanced. Uh,

1:43:52if we're putting less resources into

1:43:54advisory bodies, we can put more into

1:43:56other methods such as fostering

1:43:58community ambassadors or offering a

1:44:00community academy. I'm going to touch

1:44:02briefly on each tool and then provide an

1:44:04example of how the toolkit could be

1:44:05applied to a future project.

1:44:08So, most of you are familiar with engage

1:44:10olympia uh which has been used with

1:44:12great success to engage community

1:44:14members primarily in sharing information

1:44:16and surveys. Then we have community

1:44:18ambassadors who are individuals who have

1:44:20connections to specific constituent

1:44:22groups in the community and who would

1:44:24share information and help host

1:44:26conversations around city initiatives.

1:44:28This might also look like working with

1:44:30existing groups such as the CNA, that

1:44:32coalition of neighborhood associations,

1:44:34or individuals who are active in their

1:44:36neighborhood associations.

1:44:40Community collaborators are individuals

1:44:42with special interests or expertise who

1:44:44could serve on an ad hoc working group

1:44:46or focus groups on different topics or

1:44:48issues throughout the year.

1:44:50Communitymies are city-led learning

1:44:53opportunities to help educate our

1:44:55interested community members on how city

1:44:57government works and how decisions are

1:44:59made. And it could also include

1:45:00information on city-wide projects or

1:45:02initiatives. Lastly, advisory bodies are

1:45:05a structured way for community members

1:45:07uh to share their perspectives and

1:45:08develop recommendations in a focused

1:45:11small group structure. The primary

1:45:12purpose of advisory bodies is to provide

1:45:14judicious advice from a community member

1:45:17perspective to the city council.

1:45:20So, an example of what using the

1:45:21engagement toolkit could look like and

1:45:23how to select those tools um using the

1:45:26transportation master plan update that's

1:45:28anticipated to kick off in 2028. staff

1:45:31would bring a proposal to the city

1:45:32council which would include outreach and

1:45:35community engagement proposals. Um and

1:45:38at before kicking off that

1:45:40transportation master plan update

1:45:42process, council would provide input and

1:45:44guidance to staff on how to proceed,

1:45:46including which engagement tools to use.

1:45:49Staff would then proceed with using the

1:45:50selected engagement tools um to inform

1:45:53the transportation master plan updates.

1:45:58We have a question from council member

1:46:00Vanderpool.

1:46:01>> I'm gonna have a few of these tonight.

1:46:02That's okay. Over this, but um

1:46:07>> does it have to start with staff?

1:46:10>> Not necessarily. I think this is just an

1:46:11example of an upcoming project that

1:46:14we're aware of that might have

1:46:15previously gone to one of the advisory

1:46:17bodies that we're suggesting um should

1:46:19be sunset. So that was why I picked this

1:46:21as an example, but I don't think that's

1:46:23exclusively how this would operate. I

1:46:26mean, I guess that comes down to my

1:46:27question. You may answer this in a

1:46:29couple slides. Um, I I irritated my uh

1:46:33uh faculty at Evergreen for years

1:46:35because the answer was two slides ahead.

1:46:38Um

1:46:40but um I guess the question is like is

1:46:43is who who ultimately decides in the

1:46:45toolkit when these are engaged because I

1:46:50may note that staff resources.

1:46:54I have, you know, I've been I've been a

1:46:55city council member. This is my third

1:46:57year now. And one of the things that

1:46:59I've noticed is that sometimes staff

1:47:02will never have the resources available

1:47:03to to to engage on that level without

1:47:06council involvement. And council

1:47:07involvement requires four of us, right,

1:47:10to to change that policy or to engage

1:47:13something.

1:47:15If we're talking about community

1:47:16involvement, wouldn't it need to be

1:47:18wouldn't it need to be, I guess, for the

1:47:19lack of a better term, easier to do than

1:47:22staff or council to start a process?

1:47:25>> Yeah. So, I think part of what we're

1:47:27focusing on here is related to policy

1:47:29and decision-making, which ultimately

1:47:31comes to the council anyways. So, I

1:47:33think a lot of these tools that we're

1:47:34talking about is applying the tool to

1:47:38help inform council when you guys are

1:47:40making a decision about community

1:47:42priorities. that that's the purpose of

1:47:43an advisory body is to provide you with

1:47:46judicious advice for you as council

1:47:48members to make decisions. So that

1:47:50aspect of the engagement doesn't change

1:47:52in the context of what we're talking

1:47:54about. But I think there is an expanded

1:47:56opportunity that I think you're alluding

1:47:58to for people to just engage with the

1:48:00city in general. Maybe not about a

1:48:02specific initiative that's on the

1:48:04council agenda. Um is that am I

1:48:07understanding correctly?

1:48:09>> Yeah. I mean, I might be putting the

1:48:10cart in front of the horse here, but

1:48:11there's a little bit of a um I guess uh

1:48:16BPAC is a perfect example of this. Um

1:48:21one of the concerns I've heard over the

1:48:23years from people who have left

1:48:25was there was a lack of uh uh engagement

1:48:30in the sense that BPAC ha not BPAC the

1:48:32way the planning commission is able to

1:48:34make land somewhat land use decisions

1:48:36and recommendations, right? and that

1:48:38transportation was a lot less more of a

1:48:41an advisory in they would make

1:48:43recommendations but those

1:48:44recommendations often didn't come to

1:48:46council. It kind of stopped and started

1:48:49at staff depending on if the staff

1:48:50member was willing to pick up that that

1:48:53was just a very honest

1:48:55>> statement I heard. One of my concerns is

1:48:58if BPAC is rolling into planning

1:49:00commission those issues have not gone

1:49:03away.

1:49:05Um, and if the ga if the engagement tool

1:49:07is supposed to help resolve some of

1:49:09those issues, I guess my my my ma my

1:49:12major concern here is guaranteeing

1:49:14ensuring that there is a way to trigger

1:49:17that engagement. Let's say there's a

1:49:19project uh around transportation

1:49:21improvements somewhere in the city. Um,

1:49:24how do I know that the planning

1:49:25commissioner will be able to to make any

1:49:27sort of decision-m or it will or will it

1:49:30just be kind of discussed and then never

1:49:33gone anywhere? I guess that's what I'm

1:49:35trying to say is that um there has to be

1:49:38a level of guaranteed involvement by the

1:49:40public that it eventually makes it to

1:49:43council and not just stops at staff,

1:49:45which is a concern I've had for many

1:49:47years. And I'm wondering if um

1:49:53I'm I'm wondering where the guarantee is

1:49:55here because we have to vote to dissolve

1:49:58well I don't like the word dissolve. I

1:49:59mean, transition some of these into

1:50:01other committees. And I'm I guess that's

1:50:05the thing that I I'm the most concerned

1:50:06about is the guarantee.

1:50:08>> Yeah. And I think I'll take a stab at

1:50:10trying to respond to that. So, one of

1:50:12the things that we saw in assessment, so

1:50:14this last year, I sat down with all of

1:50:17the current advisory body work plans and

1:50:19tried to identify where are things that

1:50:21the advisory bodies have on their work

1:50:23plan align with your priorities as

1:50:24council, which means those things would

1:50:26be coming to you. what things are

1:50:28recommendations to staff and what things

1:50:30were just um learning opportunities that

1:50:33maybe didn't align with any of those

1:50:35priorities and I think some of what

1:50:36we've seen for a number of advisory

1:50:38bodies is that a lot of the things on

1:50:40those work plans don't align with the

1:50:43council agenda and so then the concern

1:50:46is is it is just going to staff and is

1:50:49that appropriate to use an advisory body

1:50:51if the purpose of an advisory body is to

1:50:53give you judicious advice but the stuff

1:50:55they're working on doesn't come to to is

1:50:57this the right engagement tool? And I

1:50:59think that may be some of the challenge

1:51:01is that over the years the advis

1:51:03advisory bodies are an established

1:51:05system that we have that staff may have

1:51:08seen, ooh, this is an opportunity to get

1:51:09community feedback on this project, but

1:51:13maybe actually the advisory body wasn't

1:51:15the appropriate tool because to your

1:51:17point, advice went to staff that didn't

1:51:20ultimately come to decisions that you

1:51:21were being asked to weigh in on. And so

1:51:23that's where I think some of this

1:51:24looking at having the appropriate tool

1:51:26for the appropriate task that maybe the

1:51:29advisory bodies weren't the right tool

1:51:31for some of those projects and that's

1:51:32where the feedback fell flat um would be

1:51:35my best my best attempt at answering I

1:51:38again it's how would we use the tool?

1:51:40So, if we don't use the tool

1:51:41appropriately or correctly, then we may

1:51:43run into some of the same issues, which

1:51:45is where I hope with building out the

1:51:46engagement toolkit that we will have

1:51:48good guidelines um and recommendations

1:51:50for staff and for council on how to

1:51:52select the correct tool for the right

1:51:54project. Um that does that help a little

1:51:58bit?

1:51:59>> Yeah, I'll probably come back around. We

1:52:01can keep going through the slide.

1:52:03>> We appreciate your engagement.

1:52:05>> One moment. Uh city manager Bernie.

1:52:07>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just

1:52:08wanted to add to the conversation as I

1:52:10as I listen to Miss Robert Vanderpool's

1:52:12question. Sorry, I'm council member

1:52:13Vanderpool. I can't get it out this

1:52:15evening, but council member Vanderpool's

1:52:16question. Um I I've talked to Stacy and

1:52:20Margot [clears throat] a fair amount

1:52:21about this. And I see this toolkit as a

1:52:24partnership between the community, the

1:52:27council, and staff. And just like when

1:52:30we did one community plan, it wasn't a a

1:52:33staffled process to form that. We came

1:52:35and formed that with the council. So, we

1:52:37planned a a concept and an idea for how

1:52:40we would engage the community around a

1:52:41very important topic and the council

1:52:44blessed and approved a process of

1:52:47community engagement with a specific

1:52:48tool we hadn't used before. And I think

1:52:50what we're saying here is there's more

1:52:52opportunities to do that kind of work

1:52:53with different types of tools than

1:52:55necessarily running them through a

1:52:57committee. So to your example, kind of

1:52:59the guarantee is I see it as this is the

1:53:02council's

1:53:03advisory process and it's yours to lead.

1:53:06And so if we're if staff is working on a

1:53:09priority of the council and you want a

1:53:11very specific type of engagement, I

1:53:12think the council can help work with

1:53:14staff to direct a certain tool and a

1:53:16certain way to do that and we'll work

1:53:17with you and alongside you to do that.

1:53:19And then there's bound to be things that

1:53:21come up that we haven't thought of yet

1:53:22in terms of how we use this community

1:53:24toolbox and how we use the engagement

1:53:27that I think we can work together on to

1:53:28figure out how we shape this as it moves

1:53:30forward. So I know that's somewhat short

1:53:33of an absolute guarantee, but I think

1:53:35the guarantee that I see is that you are

1:53:37the owners of this process. We're

1:53:39proposing some different tools in a

1:53:40toolbox and to work alongside you to

1:53:42figure out what tools appropriate in in

1:53:44each of those things. Does that help

1:53:48>> a little? Uh I do have more questions,

1:53:50but I'll I'll wait till we go further

1:53:52through and yeah.

1:53:54>> Well, we're almost to the end where I

1:53:57was ready for questions. So,

1:53:58[clears throat]

1:53:58um you're right. It was like two slides

1:54:00ahead, I think. So, next steps uh for

1:54:04the process improvements to recruitment

1:54:06and work plans. Um updates to the

1:54:08Olympia Municipal Code for term limits

1:54:10and appointment dates to align with the

1:54:11new recruitment schedule. updates to the

1:54:13advisory body guide book, communication

1:54:16with the community members about these

1:54:17updates, including information on the

1:54:19website, revisions to onboarding

1:54:21materials to be consistent for all new

1:54:23members, and administrative updates to

1:54:25the community livability and public

1:54:27safety committee interview and selection

1:54:29process. Uh, next steps for the

1:54:31restructure, should council approve the

1:54:33resolution, uh, would be for staff to

1:54:35bring forward updates to the Olympia

1:54:37Municipal Code for the sections related

1:54:39to these four advisory bodies.

1:54:42Um, I'd be happy to take any additional

1:54:44questions that council might have. And

1:54:45also, if there's community members with

1:54:47questions, I would invite them to please

1:54:48reach out to me. Um, my email address is

1:54:51m Mesci.mpia.wa.

1:54:56us.

1:54:59>> All right. Thank you very much, Margot.

1:55:01Um, I just want to uh first of all um

1:55:06thank our community livability and

1:55:09public safety committee for um going

1:55:12through such a robust process to get us

1:55:14to this point. We also had a study

1:55:15session on this and my understanding is

1:55:17that there hasn't been much change um on

1:55:20this process since we've had that last

1:55:22discussion uh in a study session. Uh our

1:55:26chair council member Madron um of the

1:55:29community livability and public safety

1:55:31committee is excused tonight. But of

1:55:34course, I want to extend my gratitude to

1:55:36her um to the rest of the Eclipse

1:55:38committee and then also um to staff uh

1:55:42and to our advisory bodies who were all

1:55:46uh part of this process. And I also want

1:55:48to give a shout out to the mayor prom um

1:55:50who I know uh just a couple years now

1:55:55has been talking about the the um the

1:55:58need to look at our advisory body

1:56:00process and and do uh potential some

1:56:03potential restructuring. And we're here

1:56:05now. Oh, she's letting me know it's been

1:56:08five years exactly, [laughter]

1:56:10but we're here now. Um so I just want to

1:56:13thank you for um your foresight on on

1:56:16that uh and observation on that. Um and

1:56:20so uh with that um I appreciate the

1:56:23presentation. Uh I am supportive of of

1:56:26this approach but um I will turn it over

1:56:28to the rest of council for additional

1:56:30questions and comments.

1:56:34Council member Vanderpool,

1:56:36>> I guess pick up where I was before. I uh

1:56:40you know I I think I well Emily asked

1:56:42the question um is there a reason why

1:56:44we're we're in front of us is a

1:56:47resolution authorizing the sun setting

1:56:49rather than the sun setting and the tool

1:56:52box the tools.

1:56:54>> Yeah. I think that um my understanding

1:56:57of how this process and steps work so if

1:57:00I'm wrong I got two people who know more

1:57:03than I do. These are councilapp

1:57:05appointed advisory bodies. the toolkit

1:57:08doesn't necessarily mean that the tool

1:57:10needs council appointment. Um, and so I

1:57:13think that that's where part of this

1:57:15resolution for these suns setting of

1:57:16advisory bodies and not the addition of

1:57:18the toolkit is that the toolkit doesn't

1:57:20necessarily have to have council

1:57:22appointment for participation and may or

1:57:24may not necessarily need to be written

1:57:26into the Olympia Municipal Code. So, I

1:57:28think that this resolution allows us to

1:57:30then make those changes if it's passed,

1:57:33make those changes to the code where

1:57:35these advisory bodies live.

1:57:38Is that okay? Did I do

1:57:39>> Yes, Margot nailed it. So, it's it's

1:57:41really specific to the resolution is

1:57:44about the sun setting of the committees

1:57:46and so that's your ordinance change that

1:57:47alters that. However, what I what I will

1:57:51say is um a friendly amendment to to the

1:57:54motion to to add in that you're going to

1:57:56move forward with the community toolbox

1:57:58as a tool. We've kind of proposed that

1:58:01if I I think that's totally fine. I

1:58:02think the Eclipse can speak to that if

1:58:04they'd like to, but I don't I don't see

1:58:06a problem with adding that to the

1:58:07motion. It's just the official action is

1:58:09a very specific one.

1:58:13>> I think I would be more supportive of

1:58:15that. Um, mostly because I it's the

1:58:18guaranteeing of systems, right? I get I

1:58:21get nervous when we create something

1:58:24like like these tools and they're

1:58:25successful and then 10 years down the

1:58:27road we're like, "Oh, it's not in the

1:58:28code. We don't have to follow it, right?

1:58:30We don't have to engage with the

1:58:32community because it's not written in

1:58:34the code." And so that's kind of my um I

1:58:39get I get I get nervous about uh um not

1:58:42having a some level of guarantee

1:58:44considering there are issues that have

1:58:46existed in BPAC and now they're going to

1:58:48roll into planning commission

1:58:51and I I'm it's still not entirely clear

1:58:54to me um

1:58:57uh how we ensure that there is some

1:59:01level of community involvement

1:59:03empowerment that doesn't exist now

1:59:05around transportation.

1:59:07So,

1:59:11>> all right. Thank you very much. Uh,

1:59:13additional comments, uh, Mayor Prom W

1:59:16followed by Council Member Gilman.

1:59:22>> Uh, my comments for uh, my comments are

1:59:25for Council Member Vanderpool

1:59:28again with another agenda item where

1:59:30I've heard a lovely presentation and I

1:59:32have no comments on it. uh just

1:59:34gratitude. Um and I think you're doing a

1:59:37lovely job uh responding to these uh

1:59:40different inquiries. Um but but my

1:59:43comments are for Council Member

1:59:44Vanderpool,

1:59:49you know, I'm ever the optimist, but

1:59:51there's not a guarantee. I mean, we we

1:59:54make policies and there's not uh and and

1:59:57also people break policies. There's

1:59:59codes and people break codes. Um, and

2:00:02uh, I think it's really the, and I don't

2:00:04mean that to be dismissive. I just think

2:00:06that that's the reality of it. And I

2:00:09hear how much you care and I really

2:00:12appreciate how much you care about it. I

2:00:15think that it's, uh, about moving

2:00:17forward past tonight. Um, I guess,

2:00:20however it shakes out, but past tonight.

2:00:22And, um, and continuing to be

2:00:26persistent. And I know you're good at

2:00:27that, right? that being persistent and

2:00:30and talking about, hey, how are we

2:00:31utilizing this toolbox? What are what

2:00:33are those things that uh that say, oh,

2:00:36you know, we should use this tool versus

2:00:37another tool. Um continuing to follow

2:00:40up, continuing to adjust and ask

2:00:42questions. I do hope that the uh moving

2:00:45forward now with the uh alignment of

2:00:49advisory body um work plans with the

2:00:54council work plan can help uh give that

2:00:56extra extra check and elevate the

2:00:59importance of of the work of the

2:01:01advisory bodies and so I I hope that

2:01:03that to be some assurance but um I yeah

2:01:06I think it's the the people behind it

2:01:08and so we do our I don't mean to get all

2:01:11you

2:01:13uh out there. But uh yeah, I think it's

2:01:15really just the people. We set it up for

2:01:17the best thing we can. Um I wonder if

2:01:19doing the motion and adding that part

2:01:23about the toolbox if that would suffice

2:01:26um I don't believe that it does. I hear

2:01:29you on uh you know if it's not in code

2:01:32um then uh it it could get missed,

2:01:36right? Even if there's no it it could it

2:01:39could just not happen. And so my

2:01:41understanding is even if we do the

2:01:42motion and and add that I think it was

2:01:44called a a friendly amendment um and

2:01:46adding the toolbox I don't think that

2:01:48we'll put it in code and so is that I

2:01:52don't want to just appease you. I want

2:01:54to get at the root of of what your uh of

2:01:56what your concern is. Um yeah, but I I

2:02:01think that that we we absolutely are

2:02:03trying to move forward and and learn

2:02:05which uh learn from all of the different

2:02:09ways that we've engaged community so

2:02:11that we we have this healthy toolbox

2:02:13here and the intention is to use it. Um

2:02:18so yeah, so I I care about you. I I care

2:02:22about the things that you value and I

2:02:23just ask would that would that help

2:02:31So, I mean, I I guess to kind of help

2:02:35explain where I'm coming from, I guess

2:02:37would be the best place to start from is

2:02:40um

2:02:42I get I am I'm concerned about

2:02:46the toolbox sounds wonderful and I appre

2:02:50and I appreciate the work that's gone

2:02:51into that and I appreciate the the

2:02:53thought process of ensuring that uh we

2:02:56essentially disappearing committees to

2:02:58deal with certain issues, right? Um I

2:03:00think that that's a a a um a great idea

2:03:04especially around things like the

2:03:06transportation master plan. My concern

2:03:09is I it is not if it's not in code and

2:03:12it's not clear. Um

2:03:16I my concern is that uh the reason why

2:03:19we have committees is so that there is

2:03:22always going to be something that the

2:03:25community can interact with to a certain

2:03:27degree. And over the years, BPAC has

2:03:29become less used around

2:03:34uh participation in and in and policy,

2:03:36right? Over time, it's become uh

2:03:39essentially just a sounding board,

2:03:41right? And with that merging

2:03:44uh with uh planning commission, I'm

2:03:47nervous that if there isn't isn't some

2:03:50sort of guaranteer on that side of it um

2:03:54that it won't be uh uh effectively um

2:03:59there's not an effective change to that

2:04:01issue, right? that issue is just kind of

2:04:03pushed into the planning commission

2:04:04because planning commission is used to

2:04:06being able to be involved in a process

2:04:08and if if if uh transportation is rolled

2:04:12in there and transportation has

2:04:14essentially been rolled back over time

2:04:16to a sounding board the planning

2:04:18commission is it will will be uh quite

2:04:20frustrated by that change. I would be

2:04:22quite frustrated by that ch by not

2:04:24having um a level of interactivity on

2:04:27projects around uh involvement in um uh

2:04:33looking at what what the work plan with

2:04:35staff and working with us on that and so

2:04:37on so forth. But when it comes to the

2:04:39toolbox in particular, my concern is uh

2:04:43again who triggers it, who decides and

2:04:47when it begins. Um it doesn't it seems

2:04:50like it's it seems like it's

2:04:53us. Yes. But um

2:04:58the thing about it being in a committee

2:05:00like the plan it'd be like if the

2:05:02planning commission got dissolved and

2:05:04the planning and all of the decisions

2:05:06that the planning committee does for its

2:05:08work plan had to come to the council.

2:05:12Right. Yeah. There's a level of

2:05:13interactivity that just wouldn't be

2:05:15there with the community if it had to

2:05:18come to us every single time. My concern

2:05:20is that there doesn't seem to be a

2:05:21trigger other than council. There isn't

2:05:24a community-led

2:05:26uh trigger that could help bring forward

2:05:30a project to us because it's a two-way

2:05:33street because the advisory board

2:05:34members get on there and they want to

2:05:37give feedback to us, right? they want to

2:05:40be involved in the community and that

2:05:41doesn't exist now in a lot of ways under

2:05:43BPAC. Does this toolkit allow them to

2:05:46come to does allow members of the

2:05:47community to come to us and engage on

2:05:50that level and be involved? And I

2:05:52sometimes feel that this isn't answering

2:05:54that question.

2:06:00Okay, I hear all that and uh so plan so

2:06:06a couple of things. um

2:06:09planning commission since we're talking

2:06:11you know about uh bicycle pedestrian

2:06:13advisory right now um but planning

2:06:16commission

2:06:19the idea is and I and I've heard this

2:06:21from from you before on all your um

2:06:23different different things about

2:06:24transportation and urbanism is that it

2:06:27it should be looked at when we're

2:06:29looking at planning we should always be

2:06:30also thinking about bicycle pedestrian

2:06:34and so I see it as less of a

2:06:40less of a dissolving truly and more of a

2:06:43desiloing and more of like a true merger

2:06:46coming together. And when we go out and

2:06:48we're looking for future planning

2:06:50commissioners, we're going to be looking

2:06:51at that that uh value for uh bicycle

2:06:55pedestrian as well and all of the

2:06:56different ways that people get around.

2:06:59Would it uh be helpful for the uh for us

2:07:05to broaden um you know at add some

2:07:09language to planning? Are these other

2:07:11commissions that are sort of absorbing

2:07:13it?

2:07:14These ones that are dissolving is that

2:07:16helpful

2:07:23perhaps? Um

2:07:26I guess language around the fact that to

2:07:29to get to the guaranteeing of it um I

2:07:32think language around work plans,

2:07:36capital projects, things like that that

2:07:38I know the planning commission would be

2:07:39interested in being involved in that

2:07:42that the current BPAC is not involved in

2:07:44at all. They will give fe they'll tell

2:07:47staff what about this staff may decide

2:07:50if they want to put that in there, but

2:07:52they may not. Right. Because it's often

2:07:54I mean when I was on BPAC there were

2:07:56times where we gave feedback to staff

2:07:58and it went nowhere.

2:08:00>> Yeah. I remember and

2:08:02>> and I think that the planning commission

2:08:04if it's going to roll into the planning

2:08:06commission there needs to be some sort

2:08:07of trigger.

2:08:08>> Yeah. And I I believe I want to hear

2:08:12from other folks. So just wrap us up

2:08:13here um on this one. But uh

2:08:18and I remember when you were on I

2:08:20remember before you were on BPAC and

2:08:22then I remember when you were on BPAC

2:08:24and somebody was trying to start some

2:08:25things that weren't necessarily within

2:08:28the realm. Um and and now that person's

2:08:32on council

2:08:34where he continues to start some things

2:08:36and envision. So I uh so I digress, but

2:08:40yourself, another council member came

2:08:43from BPAC. I think you and then other

2:08:45council members that didn't come from

2:08:46BPAC do care about uh multimodal

2:08:51transportation.

2:08:52So yeah, I I I feel really encouraged

2:08:55that the toolkit is um and the agendas

2:08:58that the adi things that or uh not

2:09:00agendas but the um work plans that the

2:09:02advisory bodies will be working on it

2:09:05does need to be it does you know need to

2:09:08be looked at by council and you're a

2:09:11part of council and we have other eyes

2:09:13that are part of council that care about

2:09:15this. There's so much in our city

2:09:17planning is we're moving towards

2:09:20multimodal and I and uh that is

2:09:24encouraging to me and I and I hope it is

2:09:26for you as well. You'll be a part of it

2:09:28doesn't end tonight. You'll be a part of

2:09:30shaping and looking at and ensuring

2:09:34so for what it's worth um I do think

2:09:37that there is a path forward for uh if

2:09:40this does get approved tonight to um

2:09:42it's not over yet. We'll staff council,

2:09:46we still care about how how it shapes up

2:09:49and making sure that there is a

2:09:51successful transition which you'll be a

2:09:53part of.

2:09:57>> Uh, all right. Thank you, Mayor Prom.

2:09:59Um, I would like to entertain a motion

2:10:02in a second and then we can continue

2:10:04with our discussion. I just want to make

2:10:05sure we have that on the floor. Um

2:10:09before we proceed,

2:10:12>> I would move to approve the resolution

2:10:15authorizing the sun setting of three

2:10:17advisory boards and a restructure of the

2:10:19social justice and equity commission.

2:10:21>> Second.

2:10:23All right, we have a motion and a

2:10:25second. Council member Gilman.

2:10:26>> Thank you. May I speak on the motion?

2:10:29All right, there we go. Um, first I I

2:10:32hear a couple of gems in the exchange

2:10:35that that you just had and if you'll

2:10:38indulge me for just a minute, I'm going

2:10:39to give my my my path to getting to

2:10:42supporting this first. That um

2:10:46when advisory committees were at their

2:10:48peak, city council was 100% engaged in

2:10:53city business. We didn't have a hearing

2:10:56examiner at that time and city council

2:10:59also took more difficult planning

2:11:01decisions directly and so we were we

2:11:03were hands-on kneedeep and each council

2:11:06member was leaison to one or two of

2:11:09those advisory committees and attended

2:11:11those meetings so that we had a a

2:11:13continuous relationship and then we also

2:11:16had a system of referrals formal

2:11:18referrals to advisory committees um for

2:11:22them to dig deeper and and come back to

2:11:25us. And I think that the rise of

2:11:29regional government, the number of

2:11:31intergovernmental

2:11:33uh boards and commissions and bodies

2:11:35that we serve on now has shifted us to

2:11:39not being um as in the in the weeds on

2:11:44the operation of each department in the

2:11:46city. And um

2:11:49and so that that has shifted how

2:11:53directly we're engaged with these

2:11:54advisory boards. Um how much input we

2:11:57received from them and they devolved

2:12:00into

2:12:01uh great focus groups for several staff

2:12:04teams. And there's there's a value in

2:12:07that, but it it hasn't been satisfying

2:12:09for many of the folks serving on those

2:12:11committees. and it it hasn't been

2:12:14providing us the kind of uh community

2:12:17input from people who dig in deep and

2:12:20and you know check in on these topics

2:12:22every month for years. Um, so I'm really

2:12:26open. I was very impressed with the

2:12:28presentation and I was lucky enough to

2:12:30to be on clips as we began this work and

2:12:32and to see the the the proposal is is

2:12:36really encouraging to me because I I do

2:12:39believe it's possible to evolve um

2:12:42evolve the ways that we seek community

2:12:44input and the ways that we shape

2:12:46proposals. Um, I I think the guarantee

2:12:50for me doesn't come from uh a code

2:12:53language, doesn't come from modifying

2:12:54this resolution. It comes from budget

2:12:56and it comes from staffing.

2:12:59And so what I don't see in here and what

2:13:01I haven't heard is um well we took our

2:13:06lead facilitator of these really tough

2:13:08things that we promoted

2:13:10and we reduced a position in that office

2:13:14of awesome improvement or whatever that

2:13:17that team was called. Um so are we going

2:13:21to provide um sort of consulting staff

2:13:25who can help people in different

2:13:27departments facilitate these more um

2:13:31higher level engagements

2:13:33and and um Margot also spoke to um by

2:13:37taking resources that are being used

2:13:39currently to facilitate three of these

2:13:42bodies. It would be more resources to

2:13:45create engagement, workg groups, task

2:13:47forces, that sort of thing. So, how does

2:13:50that where does that show up? How does

2:13:53that show up in the budget? How does

2:13:55that show up in FTEEs allocated? Um

2:13:58because that's what that's where the

2:14:00guarantee and my confidence that we're

2:14:02going to do more engagement like the one

2:14:07community, the reimagining public

2:14:08safety, the building of the social

2:14:10justice and equity commission because I

2:14:12I I believe that's very impactful, but I

2:14:14also know it was very intensive and

2:14:16required a lot of expertise. So,

2:14:20>> city manager Bernie,

2:14:22>> thank you. I'll I'll start here. So, one

2:14:24is um although we no longer have an

2:14:28office performance and innovation and a

2:14:29staff member there, that individual that

2:14:32originally was in that position is now

2:14:34one of your assistant city managers and

2:14:36Stacy Ray in particular has a whole

2:14:39toolbox and expertise around how to

2:14:42she's in fact uh reimagining one

2:14:44community. The things we talk about are

2:14:46Stacy Ray le projects and so we have

2:14:49someone that can help advise

2:14:51departments. Um Stacy, this does not

2:14:53mean that Stacy has to take all these

2:14:55on, but what she can do is she can she

2:14:57can coach, she can mentor. Um I look at

2:15:01um some of the some of the work that's

2:15:03being done in some of the departments

2:15:04right now is following some of those

2:15:05same models. I see in I see department

2:15:07directors talking with Stacy. We just

2:15:10brought another assistant city manager

2:15:11on board who has some similar

2:15:13background. And so what what I'm saying

2:15:15is I think what we need is we need

2:15:17coaches and mentors and then we need to

2:15:18train our staff how to do this work um

2:15:22out in the community and I think that

2:15:23we're all going to be better for it. Uh

2:15:25and our and then we have a comm's team

2:15:27that Stacey and uh is still developing

2:15:30as well with different tools and

2:15:31toolboxes. So I think we have the

2:15:33resources in house to be able to help

2:15:35our staff manage any piece of this

2:15:38community toolbox um when it comes up.

2:15:42>> That's great. And I would just I I say

2:15:44yes, that's absolutely true. And I'm

2:15:46also going to replay this recording when

2:15:49we're in a land use or a finance

2:15:51committee and we're heard that there's

2:15:52not capacity to engage in a broad public

2:15:55process. So, [laughter]

2:15:58so because I I know there's also

2:15:59limitations on it. And I I'll just close

2:16:01by saying I when I when I became

2:16:05involved in this city, I understood that

2:16:06the path was to be on a border

2:16:08commission, ideally the planning

2:16:10commission, that that was the path

2:16:11towards serving in local office. And in

2:16:14my network of people I regularly engage

2:16:17with, I realized there's five former

2:16:20chairs of the BPAC along with myself. So

2:16:24Larry Levine, Jim Iikner, Jim Lazar,

2:16:26Anne Fritzell, and Robert are um all all

2:16:31former bicycle pedestrian advisory

2:16:33committee chairs who have been important

2:16:36voices in my understanding and

2:16:38advocating for um u a good a good system

2:16:42of transportation. And my my last thing

2:16:45that I would ask is that

2:16:48transportation

2:16:50um maintain this the the BPAC has been

2:16:53the one transportation sort of related

2:16:56advisory group and not just narrowly

2:16:58about multimmodal transition and so I I

2:17:02hope that the land use and environment

2:17:04committee work plan will include more um

2:17:08touches with the the transportation

2:17:11planning side and and I um and I hope

2:17:16that we'll be able to work into the

2:17:17planning commission's work plan as well

2:17:19more touches with the transportation

2:17:22planning team. Um and um with that, I'm

2:17:25in support of the motion. Thank you.

2:17:28>> All right. Thank you, Council Member

2:17:30Gilman. Additional questions or

2:17:31comments? City Manager Bernie.

2:17:35>> Yeah, thank you. I just uh appreciate

2:17:37the dialogue here. So, I just met with

2:17:39with uh public works director Mark

2:17:42Russell and and transportation director

2:17:43Sophie Simpson today. And one of the

2:17:44things we talked about is how we're

2:17:46going to shape the work plan, how this

2:17:47looks like going to LAN use because

2:17:49we're having that conversation about

2:17:50bringing transportation work plan

2:17:51forward to LAN use so they have another

2:17:53touch and then they're already planning

2:17:56um how we're going to engage with the

2:17:58planning commission around

2:17:59transportation. So, we we had an early

2:18:01meeting with them. Uh we have another

2:18:03meeting planned shortly and then more

2:18:05meetings planned after the first of the

2:18:06year. And so it's my way of saying I

2:18:08don't know that we have it all figured

2:18:10out at this moment in time, but there's

2:18:12certainly we're hearing the desire of

2:18:14where this wants to go, where you want

2:18:16to go with this. We're hearing the need

2:18:17for continued input, and we're going to

2:18:19work with both the land use committee

2:18:21and with planning commission to further

2:18:22shape what this looks like moving

2:18:24forward.

2:18:28>> Thanks, Jay. And it would make sense

2:18:29that we would take formal action before

2:18:32you begin all that work. So yeah.

2:18:35[snorts] All right. Yes. Uh, Council

2:18:37Member Baron,

2:18:38>> just a few comments on this. I think the

2:18:41advisory system, advisory committee

2:18:44system needs reform and so this is

2:18:47reform. So this is a healthy discussion.

2:18:50Um, I agree that, you know, there's kind

2:18:55of a disconnect between a lot of these

2:18:57advisory committees and the work that we

2:19:00do on this council. I um started going

2:19:03to the parks and wreck advisory

2:19:04committee in the and the metropolitan

2:19:06parks district because I have a key

2:19:07interest in parks and I I'll tell you

2:19:10when I first showed up it was like what

2:19:11are you doing here you know and I I was

2:19:15welcomed but uh it was you know it took

2:19:20some of them getting used to seeing me

2:19:22in order to kind of move move this

2:19:24forward. Um, I I think we should adopt

2:19:29these recommendations as as made. I'm

2:19:31open to other suggestions and amendments

2:19:34later on, you know, as we see these

2:19:37unfold. Um, but uh I think reform is

2:19:41needed. reform is uh sometimes awkward

2:19:45and to change the way you're doing

2:19:47things, but that um uh we can we can

2:19:51build a better advisory system that uh

2:19:55makes the members of these committees

2:19:57feel more uh valued and um and plugged

2:20:02in and and and contributing at a higher

2:20:04level. Um and that would be it. Thank

2:20:07you.

2:20:10Thank you, Council Member Barrett.

2:20:13Additional comments.

2:20:16All right. Seeing none. Um well, I think

2:20:19it was uh pretty clear that um community

2:20:22engagement is obviously important to

2:20:23this council and so I do appreciate the

2:20:26discussion uh and council member

2:20:27Vanderpool uh the points that you've

2:20:29raised and um we have that commitment

2:20:31from the city manager that we'll

2:20:33continue to unpack this and then work

2:20:34towards how we can evolve um and also

2:20:38improve uh with our community engagement

2:20:40processes um in this regard. So, uh, and

2:20:44thank you, Margot, for tonight's

2:20:45presentation. It was great. Thank you.

2:20:48Um, all right. So, we have a motion and

2:20:50a second on the floor. All those in

2:20:52favor of the motion signify by saying,

2:20:54"I."

2:20:55>> I.

2:20:59>> Thank you.

2:21:00>> Thank you, Marggo.

2:21:03So, uh, we're going to move on to our

2:21:05final business item for tonight, item 6C

2:21:08on our agenda, and it is the 2027 budget

2:21:11update. Uh, and we have our finance

2:21:14director, Mike Githens, presenting

2:21:16tonight. Hi, Mike.

2:21:17>> Thank you, Mayor, Mayor Prom, and

2:21:19council members. For the record, Mike

2:21:21Githan's finance director, and I'm here

2:21:23with city manager Bernie, and we're

2:21:25going to present an update on the 2027

2:21:28budget. We made this similar

2:21:30presentation last night to finance

2:21:33committee received some comments and

2:21:35direction from them that we'll share

2:21:37with you tonight and asked for further

2:21:39direction. So let me get started with

2:21:42the presentation.

2:21:44Um we've been working diligently as you

2:21:46know on the 2027 budget really since

2:21:50June um updating you updating finance

2:21:54committee and moving this through the

2:21:56process. It's a herculean effort that

2:21:59involves departments and all of us um to

2:22:02come up with the forecast and

2:22:05calculations where we're at.

2:22:10Am I do I do the slide?

2:22:12>> Okay.

2:22:13Where is it? Is this it? Okay.

2:22:19>> Thank you. Was waiting and needed to

2:22:22help myself. So, let me talk to you a

2:22:24little bit about what we'll be covering

2:22:26tonight. the 2026 year-end estimate and

2:22:29balance and how we got there. We have as

2:22:32the years progressed really a more solid

2:22:35picture of that. Our current balancing

2:22:37position and how we got there,

2:22:39prioritization of the budget

2:22:41enhancements. Um the city manager will

2:22:43take you through that and then what's

2:22:45next review of the calendar and give you

2:22:47a chance for questions. So let me take

2:22:50us to the 2026 estimated year-end fund

2:22:53balance. So, as a review for you and our

2:22:56community, the way we calculate this is

2:22:59to take the 2027 preliminary um expense

2:23:03budget, which is that 135 million

2:23:06figure. Our minimum reserve is 10% of

2:23:09that. That brings us to the 13 thou 13

2:23:13million 567,252.

2:23:18Right now, we're estimating that we're

2:23:20$3.5 million above that.

2:23:24This is a good solid number where we're

2:23:26at right now. We're looking at an

2:23:28increase in revenues. We're looking at

2:23:31forecasting our expenditures out. I'm

2:23:34confident in this number in a couple of

2:23:36ways. Our revenue base, we have more

2:23:39data on as well. We've budgeted for our

2:23:43year-end expenditures. That amount that

2:23:46we anticipate that might be carried

2:23:48forward in here. So, this is a good

2:23:51number. And by carry forward, I mean um

2:23:54we're going to get some invoices in

2:23:55February that are related to 2026. We've

2:23:59taken an amount to account for that. As

2:24:02a reminder, our target when we developed

2:24:05the 2026 budget a year ago was to um hit

2:24:10that $2.5 million mark above the reserve

2:24:14and attempt to grow that. And we've had

2:24:17a number of factors happen that have led

2:24:19to this incre estimated fund balance

2:24:22above reserve. I hope that when we

2:24:24analyze where we ended up, we're

2:24:26slightly above that again because of our

2:24:28conservative nature to approaching this

2:24:31calculation. So that's really positive

2:24:34news for where we're at right now today.

2:24:38So, let me take us through just some of

2:24:40the um real concepts and steps that we

2:24:44took to arrive at the balancing position

2:24:47and then I'll hand it over to the city

2:24:48manager. So, we have budgeted for salary

2:24:52savings within the budget. In the past,

2:24:54and we did that in the 2026 budget, in

2:24:57the past, we've just let vacancies that

2:25:00happen, those amounts just kind of sink

2:25:04to the um end fund balance. This

2:25:07deliberate real budgeting for this

2:25:10allows us not to make cutbacks when we

2:25:13have to budget for a position for the

2:25:14full year. So these types of things

2:25:16occur when someone vacates a position

2:25:19when uh employees are on leave without

2:25:21pay and it creates this salary savings.

2:25:24So we're budgeting for that to

2:25:26capitalize on it and make sure it's

2:25:27accounted for. We um eliminated a

2:25:30duplicate position that was loaded into

2:25:32the initial budget. So that assisted us

2:25:36in getting here. We reduced some fleet

2:25:38expenses by delaying some vehicle

2:25:41replacements. And as we talked about

2:25:42this with finance committee last night,

2:25:45this isn't putting undue stress on our

2:25:48fleet. This is really departments taking

2:25:51a look at their vehicles, the

2:25:53replacement schedule where we have some

2:25:54low miles that we can really extend as

2:25:58we budget for our vehicle replacements.

2:26:01We put a certain and equipment. We put a

2:26:03certain life on those. As you know,

2:26:06costs have gotten much higher in the

2:26:08last five to six years. So, that

2:26:11replacement amount has had to be

2:26:13greater. So, we're really trying to

2:26:14structure this where we need to make

2:26:16vehicle replacements and equipment

2:26:18replacements. We are, but we were able

2:26:20to delay some. And this was not just the

2:26:22general fund, but across all of our

2:26:24funds, we looked at it. Yes, we are

2:26:26buying some vehicles and equipment next

2:26:29year, but where we can, we're extending

2:26:30the life to be good stewards. Our

2:26:33liability insurance was able to reduce

2:26:35based on our Washington city's insurance

2:26:38association estimate. One of the fire

2:26:41trucks that we have on order, we were

2:26:43able to um move that final payment into

2:26:462028 when we expect delivery of those

2:26:48two trucks. Uh we reduced the amount of

2:26:52the fund 006 the development fee fund

2:26:55contribution due to some anticipated fee

2:26:58increases that were presented to you

2:27:00recently. Our basic life support um

2:27:03revenue was able to be increased because

2:27:06of the amount that we received this

2:27:08year. So we were able to compare that

2:27:10and have a good idea then because this

2:27:12is a newer program where we could really

2:27:14set that revenue for 2027.

2:27:17our risk management fund had a a balance

2:27:21that could be adjusted and and help our

2:27:23balancing position. And then last, as

2:27:26we've talked about during your

2:27:28legislative update, that initial sales

2:27:30tax revenue forecast, and we've talked

2:27:32about it at great length in the

2:27:34presentations I've made to you this year

2:27:36in preparation for the budget, has been

2:27:38able to be increased. and we've

2:27:40continued to analyze that with the data

2:27:43that we have, which is the actual sales

2:27:45tax that we're receiving month over

2:27:47month, and we're confident in what we've

2:27:49been able to forecast. All of those

2:27:51factors then led us to arrive at the

2:27:54balancing position we're at. With that,

2:27:57I'll turn it over to city manager

2:27:58Bernie.

2:28:05Thank you, Mike. So, last time we were

2:28:08here, we reviewed um with council that

2:28:10our budget gap was uh $3.8 million. So,

2:28:12I'm going to walk you through the

2:28:14adjustments that we've made to get us

2:28:16into a positive position. As I talked

2:28:18with finance team last week, they

2:28:21discovered there may be some additional

2:28:22work left to incorporate all the benefit

2:28:24charges which may lead to additional gap

2:28:27we might need to work through. They are

2:28:29scoping that out along with the other

2:28:30final adjustments and then we'll be back

2:28:32on November 10th with our final

2:28:33balancing position and then we can

2:28:35finalize any enhancements or council

2:28:36adjustments. So there may be a little

2:28:38bit more more of a gap we've got to work

2:28:40through. So I apologize there may be may

2:28:42be some still late adjustments that

2:28:43we're going to need to make to the

2:28:44budget, but we remain in a good position

2:28:47and and look to finish up our 2027

2:28:49budget work together. Um as we get to

2:28:51November 10th, I think we'll be in a

2:28:53place to show you how we can be b

2:28:54continue to be balanced and even talk

2:28:56about some enhancements. So with that,

2:28:57let me let me show you where we are as

2:28:59of this evening. So we were waiting for

2:29:03the county to finish their rate study

2:29:04for the our cost of court services. And

2:29:06so since we didn't know the budget

2:29:08team's always conservative, so they had

2:29:10a number plugged in the budget that was

2:29:11a million dollars more than the actual

2:29:13number that we got from the county. So

2:29:14we just got that number two weeks ago

2:29:16since the last time we met with you. And

2:29:18so we know we can recognize a million

2:29:20dollars in savings from uh what we had

2:29:22put in the baseline budget for uh county

2:29:25court services. So, that is some great

2:29:27news. Um, we had a I think I mentioned

2:29:31this, we had a $2 million uh salary

2:29:34reserve that we always carry at the

2:29:35beginning of budget as we work through

2:29:37how we're going to implement um the

2:29:39labor contracts, as we work through the

2:29:42workers comp um fund balance. We've

2:29:44looked at all those things and we can

2:29:46take a million5 of that 2 million and we

2:29:48can apply it to uh our balancing

2:29:50position. So, uh we feel we feel great

2:29:52about that. The other half a million

2:29:54dollars is going to go towards some

2:29:56legacy workers comp claims that we need

2:29:58to fund and we've got an approach and a

2:30:00plan to do that working with the HR

2:30:01team. So, I want to thank HR Director

2:30:03Manny for his work on that to help us

2:30:06get to a place where we can um handle

2:30:08those claims within with about a half a

2:30:10million dollar budget. So, we feel good

2:30:11there.

2:30:13As you know, parks has an 11%

2:30:15contribution in the general fund and

2:30:16they stick to that. And so when they're

2:30:18over that, um they they need to make

2:30:21reductions to stay within the 11%. I've

2:30:23been working with our parks director to

2:30:25uh make a $400,000 reduction so they're

2:30:28within their 11% contribution of the

2:30:30general fund and u we'll go through that

2:30:32with you further on November 10th when

2:30:34we're here to kind of give you the

2:30:35details. But I'll just tell you there's

2:30:37nothing there that I'm overly concerned

2:30:39about. There's no you're not going to

2:30:41experience any loss of service. Um there

2:30:44are adjustments that um that I feel

2:30:46confident in Savannah does to keep us on

2:30:48the right path and and within the

2:30:49expectations of the community around our

2:30:51parks system. Um and then a big one is

2:30:56we continue to really Mike's team

2:30:57continues to really look at our sales

2:30:59tax forecast and uh they unpacked that

2:31:03further and felt comfortable in adding

2:31:05another $1.7 million of new revenue.

2:31:08Now, I'm going to point out this year is

2:31:11a particularly great year for us because

2:31:13we see that it's up. We have good

2:31:15history for it and we're kind of

2:31:17resetting our baseline um with this new

2:31:20tax revenue. We're not going to see

2:31:22similar growth in our sales tax as we

2:31:24get into 2028. So, we get to we get to

2:31:26receive this kind of new increase in

2:31:28sales tax this year and we get to take

2:31:30advantage of it in terms of balancing

2:31:31our budget, but we're not going to see a

2:31:34$3 million increase in sales tax likely

2:31:36um as we look at it right now as we get

2:31:38into 2028 and 2029. So, that just

2:31:41signals ahead tougher budget times

2:31:43ahead. That's what that signals and I

2:31:45just want to put that out there. But for

2:31:47now, um, as they, as Mike's team really

2:31:50digs into both sales tax and BNO tax in

2:31:53particular, we're feeling we're feeling

2:31:55really good about kind of where we are

2:31:56to add some additional revenue, um, here

2:31:58now.

2:32:00And then there's some smaller

2:32:01adjustments. Um, we get our property tax

2:32:04numbers late. Um, we got them. We always

2:32:08get some new construction number. Um,

2:32:11it's $100,000. So that's what we plugged

2:32:13in here. We were hoping for some refund

2:32:16levies that were give us a larger

2:32:18number. We didn't get those. So that the

2:32:20only adjust the only adjustment we can

2:32:21make here is $100,000 for new

2:32:22construction. And then um we're still

2:32:25calculating all of our medical benefits,

2:32:27but um there is we know from getting the

2:32:29numbers from AWC there is a small

2:32:31savings uh in some portions of our

2:32:33workforce that we can take advantage of.

2:32:35Now it's approximately $75,000.

2:32:37And this one is one that I'll leave for

2:32:39maybe a question. We had a good

2:32:41conversation at finance committee last

2:32:42night. Mike mentioned, so we bought two

2:32:45new fire apparatus and we've been making

2:32:48payments and we've got some lump sum

2:32:50payments that are due. We can push one

2:32:51of the payments off to 2028. One of them

2:32:54we're going to need to make in 2027.

2:32:57It's a one-time payment for a one-time

2:32:59use with with a truck. And so since our

2:33:02year end is up, we're up to 3.5. My

2:33:06recommendation is you take a million

2:33:07dollars of your of that year-end dollars

2:33:09and you apply it towards the fire

2:33:11trucks. You're using one-time money for

2:33:13one-time needs. It still keeps your fund

2:33:16balance above reserve at that 2.5

2:33:18number. I know you want to grow it.

2:33:20Mike, I think, is in my ear telling me

2:33:22he still thinks there's room to grow

2:33:24that a little bit more as we as we

2:33:25forecast out the end of 2026. So, you

2:33:28might see that come up a little bit. But

2:33:30to me, it's it's kind of how we've done

2:33:32this in the past. Um, we need to come up

2:33:34with a a longer term better strategy for

2:33:36how we replace fire apparatus. And I

2:33:38talked to the finance committee about

2:33:39that. And I think that's work we need to

2:33:41start to do with the council and the

2:33:42finance committee because we're going to

2:33:43need three more trucks in the future,

2:33:45right? So, we need to kind of kind of

2:33:47get on a different path for how we fund

2:33:48those. But for now, uh my recommendation

2:33:51is you use some one-time money and you

2:33:53make that onetime payment. Um and so if

2:33:56you did all of those things, that would

2:33:58as of tonight leave you in a positive

2:34:00balancing position up to the to the

2:34:02positive of about $1.9 million. As I

2:34:06mentioned, there's some more work to do.

2:34:08and I'll be back because there may be

2:34:10some more gap. So, you don't necessarily

2:34:12have to make this year-end decision

2:34:14tonight. If I come back on the 10th,

2:34:16it's possible I bring you better news.

2:34:19Um, and maybe we can continue to have

2:34:21that conversation about what's the right

2:34:22amount of year end that you might want

2:34:23to use or not use. Um, but I pitch it

2:34:26tonight because it puts you in a very

2:34:27positive um situation as we move forward

2:34:30and then we can continue to revisit it.

2:34:31So,

2:34:33I'm going to pause there and see if you

2:34:35have any questions about about about

2:34:37where we are right now, but um I think

2:34:39we're in a good spot. We've got some

2:34:41more work to do. We'll back on the 10th,

2:34:43but um this is where we are as of this

2:34:45evening.

2:34:47And I don't know if the members of the

2:34:48finance committee want to weigh in on

2:34:50any of the conversation we had around

2:34:51year end or any any of the adjustments

2:34:53that are here, but I'd welcome any

2:34:54input.

2:34:56>> All right. Thank you, Jay. Um, I'll turn

2:34:59it over to our chair of finance, uh,

2:35:01Council Member Gilman.

2:35:03>> Well, I, you know, I I've been, um,

2:35:07praising this year's process and I I

2:35:09think the the, um, that even in in tough

2:35:14times and with inflation that all of us

2:35:16are facing, um, you know, that costs for

2:35:19the city are going up. Similarly, it's

2:35:21it's good news that we can continue the

2:35:24current services and and we can balance

2:35:27our budget. But I I also want to

2:35:30underscore what Jay was just saying that

2:35:32we can't do this indefinitely. We have

2:35:35used our new tools to really fine-tune

2:35:37our estimates. And so we squeezed out

2:35:40some we're going to we're going to

2:35:42assume some vacancies during next year.

2:35:44We're going to assume some better

2:35:46performance from investments, right?

2:35:47Yeah. Those kinds of things. But that's

2:35:50not available year after year after

2:35:52year. So, um I I think the one thing we

2:35:56can do about that inflation and those

2:35:58challenges is to vote. Um because as

2:36:02Council Member Vanderpool who's had a

2:36:04lot of ideas, he says it matters who's

2:36:05in office. So, um and then Yeah. And I

2:36:09and I I just want to say that the the

2:36:12this mix of um actions that we're we're

2:36:16proposing taking some of them are to

2:36:19take a little additional risk that there

2:36:20might be an expense like um carrying a

2:36:23vehicle a little longer than maybe what

2:36:25the the table says, but the mechanic

2:36:27looks at it says it's all right. So we

2:36:29we take on a little bit more risk. As I

2:36:32mentioned a moment ago, we've done more

2:36:34accurate analysis and and tighter

2:36:37budgeting. So, we squeeze some there and

2:36:40then there there are some reductions and

2:36:42some deferred work, but um I I just

2:36:45think on balance we're able to continue

2:36:48our reserves and continue our current

2:36:51level of service and that is a minor

2:36:54miracle in this economy right now. So,

2:36:57I'm I'm really pleased with the work.

2:37:03Thank you, Council Member Gilman. Any

2:37:06additional questions or comments for the

2:37:08city manager at this point?

2:37:11All right, seeing none.

2:37:14>> Okay, I'm going to move us into talking

2:37:16about Oh, I I should mention this, too.

2:37:19So, and maybe when we come back and do

2:37:20this again, we'll we'll move this slide

2:37:22in front of the other one. So, this just

2:37:23a few other things we that that Mike and

2:37:25I want to make sure that you knew we had

2:37:26accounted for in the baseline. So, um,

2:37:29we have a need for some fire apparatus,

2:37:31some some upgrades to some of the

2:37:33existing equipment, um, that the chief

2:37:35pointed out to us that can't wait. So,

2:37:37we've accounted for that in the baseline

2:37:38budget. Um, training costs in the police

2:37:41department are up across the board as

2:37:43they look at academy costs and training

2:37:45costs to to adhere to state mandates,

2:37:48and the chief brought those to my

2:37:49attention, and they're part of the

2:37:50baseline. I don't have them as

2:37:52enhancements because they're out of our

2:37:53control, right? They're not something we

2:37:55can just say, well, we're not going to

2:37:56train or we're going to pay the old

2:37:57prices, right? So, they're so they're in

2:37:59the budget in the baseline. I see a

2:38:01question from council member Vanderpool.

2:38:04might be a novice question, but I I I'm

2:38:06curious about uh with Lacy finishing its

2:38:11uh police academy, does that help reduce

2:38:14some of that overhead or I'm just

2:38:18curious because there's one, you know,

2:38:20they put quite a bit of change into that

2:38:22facility and it's finished, I believe.

2:38:25>> I think it's a maybe for now, but I'll

2:38:27let the chief get into some detail.

2:38:30>> Good evening, council members. Mayor

2:38:32Payne, it would be lovely if Lacy was

2:38:34able to host a regional academy and

2:38:36they're working with the legislature as

2:38:38they have the opportunity to try to

2:38:39bring a regional academy to Lacy, but it

2:38:42would require that level of approval and

2:38:45so they do offer a number of training

2:38:47courses that are offered to to Olympia

2:38:50Police Department and we can pay to

2:38:51attend those classes. It will result in

2:38:54some savings because we don't have to

2:38:55send folks say over to Spokane. So there

2:38:58is savings there. But the academy costs

2:39:01before tax, interestingly, they charge

2:39:03tax $7,500 per person that we put

2:39:07through. And that's a quarter of the

2:39:08cost of academy. So I do appreciate that

2:39:10they're paying three quarters, but

2:39:12that's where you see those expenses

2:39:13really driving up.

2:39:19Does that help?

2:39:20>> Thank you. And then um long line

2:39:22striping uh is is something that we have

2:39:25to do. So, think as you're driving on

2:39:26the roadway, think about the the long

2:39:28lines that run on either side of the

2:39:29road. So, for years, we used to contract

2:39:31with the county. We've we've taken that

2:39:33that work kind of inhouse. Um, and we're

2:39:36due. U I did talk to to public works

2:39:38director. This is something he feels

2:39:40like we could push out if we needed to,

2:39:42but um I didn't I didn't want to take

2:39:45that recommendation. I think when it

2:39:46comes to the safety and things like

2:39:48that, we should always lean towards how

2:39:49do we fund it now? So, we left it in. Um

2:39:52and he he he feels good about that. And

2:39:55then, [clears throat] as you know, we've

2:39:56dedicated a lot of resources to the

2:39:59jungle. One of those pieces is um

2:40:01quarterly cleans to keep that area

2:40:03clean. And so, we kind of re-evaluated

2:40:05kind of the homeless response budget and

2:40:07all the pieces and have added additional

2:40:09$300,000 into the baseline budget to

2:40:11just make sure we can maintain quarterly

2:40:13cleans of the jungle and provide other

2:40:16resources the homeless response team

2:40:18needs as we're working to move people

2:40:19into other programs and other forms of

2:40:22housing. So it doesn't go as far as it

2:40:24needs to go, but it gives us a little

2:40:26more flexibility and and allows the

2:40:27homeless response team to be a bit more

2:40:29nimble in their approach to how they're

2:40:31working with with the jungle. So we've

2:40:32added that in the baseline. So I just

2:40:35wanted to point out there's a few things

2:40:36that are already in.

2:40:39And then I want to talk about uh

2:40:41enhancements. And [clears throat] what I

2:40:42want to do tonight is I had this

2:40:44conversation with finance committee last

2:40:45night is

2:40:47again I don't know how much room we're

2:40:50going to have to add anything but I

2:40:51wanted to at least start a conversation

2:40:53with the council around priorities and I

2:40:56put some thought just thinking about all

2:40:58the conversations I've had with all of

2:40:59you and the department directors at what

2:41:02might the first level of priorities and

2:41:04the second level of priorities look like

2:41:06so that way if there's money available u

2:41:09I can get some sense from all of you

2:41:10tonight if you agree with kind of the

2:41:12priorities that are here and if you want

2:41:14to reshuffle them, we can do that and

2:41:15then I'll know that so that when I come

2:41:17back um the finance team and I and the

2:41:20department directors can work your

2:41:21recommendations around priorities into

2:41:23the mix um if we're able to add some

2:41:25some enhancements. So the first category

2:41:29is we have a few that are revenue

2:41:31supported. So a good example is um a

2:41:35car's position. We have a grant that uh

2:41:38can pay for a majority of that. So, if

2:41:40we turn down the rest of the $46,000,

2:41:44we're actually turning away grant money

2:41:45and which doesn't make sense to me to to

2:41:48turn away grant money when we have it

2:41:49and for a small contribution to to

2:41:51offset it. The other is um we have a an

2:41:56engineering position that we've been

2:41:58wanting to add in transportation and and

2:41:59in public works, which I know has been a

2:42:01big conversation for all of you. We've

2:42:03kind of found a way to implement that

2:42:04through the drinking water um utility.

2:42:08The drinking water also needs support

2:42:10for for capital projects. So they can

2:42:13take on an employee. That employee will

2:42:15charge the projects. So they'll charge

2:42:16to drinking water projects. They'll also

2:42:18charge the transportation projects when

2:42:20they assist the transportation team. And

2:42:22then any overhead that they need to

2:42:24support that position is absorbed by the

2:42:25drinking water utility. So it's a really

2:42:27great approach the public works team

2:42:28came up with to get two needs met at

2:42:31once for some additional capacity for

2:42:32drinking water projects and for

2:42:34transportation capacity as well. And so

2:42:36that one's a high priority because it's

2:42:38revenue neutral. It doesn't cost the

2:42:39general fund anything to implement. So,

2:42:42um, I want to review that with you.

2:42:44We've been talking last week, we talked

2:42:46about event planning and some need for

2:42:48some modest increases. So, there is a

2:42:51request in right now for some potential

2:42:54ELTAC money. And why is that why is that

2:42:55linked back to events? So, there um,

2:42:59ELTAC has always partially supported

2:43:01some admin costs um, to run that

2:43:03program. It's just a it's just a small

2:43:05kind of 0.25 FTE. We asked for a larger

2:43:09share of ELTAC this year with the with

2:43:11the idea um I'll say the other piece of

2:43:13that is right now Ameilia who you all

2:43:16know supports inspire and she supports

2:43:19ELTAC and it's hard for her to start

2:43:22ELTAC earlier than I think ELTAC would

2:43:25want to start because she's finishing up

2:43:26Inspire contract. So the idea is if we

2:43:28could bring on another FTE that could

2:43:31fully support LTAC and then also take on

2:43:34the event planning pieces of it, there

2:43:36could be a benefit here. Now I say that

2:43:40I know how close they are with some of

2:43:42these and I know that the ELTAC related

2:43:46funding may not get fully funded or may

2:43:48not get funded at all. So I just I don't

2:43:50know yet. Right. So, if it gets any

2:43:52amount of funding, it can offset an

2:43:54event planning position that could do

2:43:56double duty with ELTAC. Either way,

2:43:58ELTAC's going to need some support,

2:44:00right? And we know events need some

2:44:02support. So, um depending on where that

2:44:05comes in, it's anywhere from from

2:44:07$37,000 to maybe up to up to $60,000 to

2:44:11create a position that can support

2:44:13events and support eltac.

2:44:16The other is um I also kind of talked

2:44:19about some transportation seasonals. Um

2:44:22as you heard from the team last week, a

2:44:24big portion of overtime is related to

2:44:26putting events on the weekends and

2:44:28transportation sees a lot of it with all

2:44:30the traffic control they set up. So the

2:44:31thought process here is if we could

2:44:33bring a couple seasonals on board that

2:44:35can work the summer months. So, it's

2:44:37kind of a defined window kind of a May

2:44:39to September that will relieve some of

2:44:42the transportation staff from not just

2:44:44working overtime, but give them some

2:44:45work life balance um in the process. So,

2:44:48again, there's more work to do on this

2:44:50one. I'm going to know more about where

2:44:51ELTAC lands on a recommendation here

2:44:54before I come back on November 10th. So,

2:44:56this one might look different when it

2:44:58comes back, but I just highlight for

2:45:00tonight, maybe it has some offsetting

2:45:02revenues. Um Tim reminded me today

2:45:04there's actually other offsetting

2:45:06revenues for this position too. The

2:45:07development fee fund picks up a portion

2:45:09of this which is which is what makes it

2:45:11affordable. Uh Inspire picks up a piece

2:45:13of this and so Elac's just a piece of it

2:45:16and whatever wherever Eltac lands

2:45:19whatever it is we'll balance this out

2:45:21and if it doesn't get any there are

2:45:22still some other offsetting revenues

2:45:24that help keep a position to be added

2:45:26pretty low. So it's my way of saying

2:45:28stay tuned. There's more to come on this

2:45:31one once I know more about uh where

2:45:33ELTAC lands and then we'll come back

2:45:35with I'll come back on the 10th with a

2:45:36different proposal. So those three all

2:45:39have some way to partially offset or pay

2:45:42for them which is why I landed them in

2:45:43kind of a first tier priority. It's

2:45:45tough to turn money away if we get it

2:45:47and to not kind of finish it up and it's

2:45:49a smaller investment of about a little

2:45:51over 130 and maybe as high as $160,000

2:45:54to implement these three. So, I'm going

2:45:57to pause here before I get to the next

2:45:58batch to see what questions you might

2:46:00have about any of these and why I put

2:46:02them here.

2:46:07>> Any comments from council?

2:46:11>> Okay,

2:46:12>> not seeing any.

2:46:14>> The second tier, and these will all look

2:46:16familiar to you because you've seen them

2:46:17before. And these are in priority order.

2:46:21Um they're rather than one through five,

2:46:22they're they're numbered one through

2:46:23five in priority order. One is I've

2:46:26talked [clears throat] about this

2:46:27before. So, as part of a budget cut we

2:46:30made last year, and uh I appreciate the

2:46:33the finance committee asking me to spend

2:46:35a little more time on this one tonight

2:46:36to define it a little bit better. So, we

2:46:39have in transportation, we have a

2:46:40transportation workg group that does the

2:46:43typical transportation maintenance

2:46:45activities around street repair,

2:46:47sidewalk repair, and then we have a

2:46:50separate signs and signals group. And

2:46:52that group does exactly what that says.

2:46:54if there's if they maintain all the

2:46:56signals throughout the city and all the

2:46:57signage. So, when we were looking for

2:47:00budget cuts last year, we had a vacancy

2:47:02in the signs and signals ops supervisor

2:47:05position. And Mark and his team said,

2:47:08"What if we just combine signs and

2:47:10signals and transportation under one ops

2:47:12supervisor and see if we can make that

2:47:14work?" And so, we did do that. And then

2:47:18I made a commitment, and so did Mark,

2:47:19that we'd pay attention to this. Um

2:47:21Sarah Green is the OP supervisor for

2:47:23transportation signs and signals to see

2:47:25if this was sustainable. And the short

2:47:28answer is it's not. We're asking a lot

2:47:31of Sarah to take on two workg groups.

2:47:33We're asking a lot of those work groups

2:47:35as Sarah's trying to balance her time

2:47:37between two to get work plans planned

2:47:38out to get the teams where they need to

2:47:40go. And it's overwhelming for not just

2:47:44Sarah but for the teams. We need to fix

2:47:46it. And I need to fix it. And I need

2:47:49your help in fixing it. So we need to

2:47:51restore a supervisor op supervisor back

2:47:54in signs and signals. One of the ideas

2:47:56that we have is you could for the first

2:48:00year we could use real estate excise tax

2:48:02to pay for that position. We have a lot

2:48:04of flexibility with REIT funds when it

2:48:06comes to transportation. I'll just

2:48:07highlight it does kick the can down the

2:48:10road. You can fund it with REIT for

2:48:122027,

2:48:13but you'll have to you'll you may not

2:48:15want to continue to use REIT funding

2:48:17long term. We might be able to do that

2:48:18for a couple years, but at some point in

2:48:19time, the general fund I may have to

2:48:20pick this position back up. I heard some

2:48:22support in the finance committee to use

2:48:24REIT in year one and then re-evaluate

2:48:26this in year two because it allows you

2:48:27to move this one forward without a

2:48:29without a budget hit. But we can talk

2:48:30about that. And then the others, um, we

2:48:34have a prosecuting attorney on the list.

2:48:36Uh that one is a related to case load

2:48:39and b I think one of the things you

2:48:41heard when the county was here and our

2:48:43prosecutor was here and we talked about

2:48:44how we continue to move forward jail

2:48:46alternatives and recreate our community

2:48:47court. You heard our prosecutors say

2:48:50we're so overwhelmed with case counts.

2:48:52It's really hard to then pivot to start

2:48:54to work with the county on different

2:48:55jail alternatives. I know this is a high

2:48:58priority for this council as we move to

2:48:59the county to start to work on expanding

2:49:02their jail alternatives. They're open to

2:49:04doing that. U I just had a me meeting

2:49:06recently with with Judge Meyer and court

2:49:09administrator Frankie Peters to talk

2:49:10about this and um we'll need capacity

2:49:14here. So it does two things. I think our

2:49:17prosecutor's office is overwhelmed with

2:49:18case counts and it helps us maybe move a

2:49:21little quicker on standing up some

2:49:23alternatives. So that's why this one's

2:49:24here.

2:49:26Um and then I know that there's interest

2:49:29in uh there's council had a lot of

2:49:30conversation in both downtown strategy

2:49:332.0 [clears throat] know and the Plum

2:49:34Street corridor. So, there's $150,000

2:49:37here and as I explained it to finance

2:49:40committee, we have capacity within the

2:49:42work plan to do one of these, not both

2:49:43of these. It's going to be difficult to

2:49:45take on a downtown strategy and take on

2:49:47Plum Street Corridor within

2:49:48[clears throat] Tim's group and within

2:49:50public works. So, there's $150,000 that

2:49:53we've laid out that can help do one or

2:49:55the other. Either do Plum Street

2:49:56Corridor. I heard um from the finance

2:49:59committee last night. it seemed that

2:50:00there was um they were leaning more

2:50:02towards Plum Street corridor as the

2:50:04priority to take advantage of the fact

2:50:05there's a lot of development happening

2:50:06in short order. Uh it doesn't make the

2:50:09downtown strategy any less important.

2:50:11It's just seizing on the moment. The

2:50:13other suggestion they made which may

2:50:15help get this funded is is to consider

2:50:18that the u this is one-time money for a

2:50:20one-time study using economic

2:50:22development reserves to pay for this

2:50:24$150,000 study as a way to as again as a

2:50:28way to cover it. um not out of the

2:50:29general fund. So, I'll just throw that

2:50:31out there because we had that

2:50:32conversation. Um they they've listed

2:50:34that as a possible approach we could

2:50:36take.

2:50:38Uh human resources, we've as we've done

2:50:40our priority based budgeting work, you

2:50:42also did some work as a council and one

2:50:43of your retreats, we brought a

2:50:45consultant in to look at how is all of

2:50:47our internal service providers

2:50:49structured to handle the workload of a

2:50:51growing workforce. And one of the things

2:50:52that we learned is our HR hiring has not

2:50:56kept pace with the size of our

2:50:58workforce. And really, um, if you ask

2:51:01Manny, and you can because he's here,

2:51:03um, he'll tell you he really needs two

2:51:05FTEEs. And I said, Manny, I'll do the

2:51:09best I can to try to get us one this

2:51:10year, and then we can work on one

2:51:11another year. Right. But the need is

2:51:14two. So, there's one here. And then in

2:51:17your packet, and Dr. Graph is here

2:51:19because I um council Vanderpool asked

2:51:21some questions last night and asked if

2:51:22she could be here to speak to it. Um she

2:51:25gave me a range of 100,000 to 500,000 of

2:51:27additional climate funding because one

2:51:29of the things you asked me as balancing

2:51:31last year, can you and Dr. Braph work on

2:51:34more climate funding um within the

2:51:36general fund. So there's a range of

2:51:38options that are there from 100,000 to

2:51:40500,000. Just knowing where we are at

2:51:42the budget, I plugged in the lower

2:51:43number. I know that's that's difficult,

2:51:46but I think we we have to start with it

2:51:48somewhere and then see where we can go.

2:51:50We've got some other ideas. We we've

2:51:51tossed around with the finance team

2:51:52about how we might look at things like

2:51:54municipal utility tax in the future to

2:51:56maybe offset a portion of climate

2:51:58funding. Um there may be some other

2:52:00ideas we'll talk with the finance

2:52:01committee and the council about next

2:52:02year. And it's only down the list, not

2:52:06because I don't think it's important.

2:52:07It's just everything else above it. I've

2:52:10heard lots of conversation with the

2:52:11council about those things, too. and we

2:52:13got to start somewhere. So, this is my

2:52:15first shot at a priority order. There

2:52:18may be um I the total of all of them is

2:52:20$788,000.

2:52:23Uh there may be strategies we can do to

2:52:25bring that number down. For example, we

2:52:26may be able like for example, we could

2:52:27bring a prosecutor in mid year. We could

2:52:29bring an HR position in mid year and

2:52:32save some salary by bringing instead of

2:52:34bringing them in January 1. So, there's

2:52:36some things we could do to bring costs

2:52:37down. I won't really know until I'm back

2:52:39on the 10th and I have a fuller picture

2:52:41of where things are. Um,

2:52:44I know that Mike has the position in the

2:52:46finance team and the tax team that

2:52:49they've reevaluated. It's been frozen.

2:52:51Um, and they they may not need it and

2:52:53Mike has talked to me about offering

2:52:55that up. Um, it's funded in the budget

2:52:57right now and we able to use that

2:52:59position for one of these instead. So,

2:53:01we want to kick that around a little bit

2:53:03more. So, as I come back on the 10th, I

2:53:05might have some more options. But my

2:53:07check-in with you tonight is do I have

2:53:09these in the right priority order? Um,

2:53:13and if not, how might you order them?

2:53:15Just so I can have a sense of where you

2:53:17all are. Um, and then that'll help me

2:53:19kind of figure out what I bring forward.

2:53:20And then before I turn it for questions,

2:53:22I got a little something new that I

2:53:25didn't talk to finance committee about,

2:53:26but I've been talking with Chief Flowers

2:53:28about that we're exploring that I that I

2:53:31may bring back for some conversation on

2:53:32November 10th is the finance team have

2:53:36been working with the fire chief on how

2:53:37do we bring overtime down in the fire

2:53:40department. Last year, you remember we

2:53:42added one firefighter uh on on a shift

2:53:45that balanced out our four our four

2:53:47platoon that actually reduced overtime.

2:53:50Now, our overtime is is tough to manage

2:53:53in the fire department because of a lot

2:53:55of things, sick leave and um and

2:53:58response to things that happen in the

2:54:00fire department, emergencies, they're

2:54:02always overbudget, right? So, when I

2:54:04talk about bringing it down, it's not

2:54:05saying, "Oh, hey, we have a we have a

2:54:07$200,000 overtime budget." It's closer.

2:54:10It's it's it's over well well over that,

2:54:12right? So, it's about how do we manage

2:54:13it long term? So, they've got some

2:54:15things they've pitched to me that I

2:54:17think have some merit um that can help

2:54:19us bring cost down over the long term in

2:54:21the fire department. And so, I'm going

2:54:23to bring that back on the 10th when I've

2:54:24had a little more chance to go through

2:54:26it with them and then um we can present

2:54:28it to you there. But, I think it's a way

2:54:30to bring cost down and be revenue

2:54:31neutral at this point in time and and

2:54:33help our budget. So, I'm going to stop

2:54:36and see what questions you have here

2:54:37around priority or just any questions

2:54:39about what's on the what's on the

2:54:40screen.

2:54:43>> All right. Thanks, Jay. Any questions

2:54:45from Deas?

2:54:47Council member Vanderpool.

2:54:49>> Just some thoughts just to continue on

2:54:52for and thank you Jay for adding all the

2:54:54updates from yesterday and um deja vu

2:54:58looking at it twice in the same room two

2:55:01days in a row. It's kind of bizarre

2:55:03feeling.

2:55:04Uh I I mentioned this also is like um I

2:55:08think that the um

2:55:11uh uh um

2:55:14all I have to say is I appreciate the

2:55:16order of going through it and I'm glad

2:55:17you mentioned all those points, but I'm

2:55:19also going to say that when it comes

2:55:21down to the downtown strategy in the

2:55:23Plum Street corridor, um I'm glad you

2:55:25mentioned that there's the potential for

2:55:27using economic development money. I also

2:55:29think that the downtown strategy is uh

2:55:33in in my mind is more of a uh not just

2:55:37uh zoning and street design but more

2:55:41also the how our businesses are doing

2:55:44downtown and vacancy doing a more

2:55:46comprehensive planning for the downtown.

2:55:49I just kind of want to lay that out for

2:55:51the rest of the council that Plum Street

2:55:53is also part of that and but Plum

2:55:55Street's also coming in in two different

2:55:57ways, right? So, you're going to have

2:55:58these projects happening at different

2:56:00speeds on Plum Street, and then they'll

2:56:03have we'll have to have a conversation

2:56:04about the rest of Plum Street along that

2:56:06way. How how do you how do you deal with

2:56:08uh having a McDonald's near uh

2:56:11potentially a new convent near the

2:56:13convention center and other things like

2:56:14that, right? Like how how do we change

2:56:17the zoning in there and all that? But I

2:56:19do think that the full downtown

2:56:20strategy, although it it is not right in

2:56:24front of us right now, is very important

2:56:26because we continue to have small

2:56:27businesses downtown that struggle from

2:56:29high costs of um commercial spaces and

2:56:33and and and other struggles that they go

2:56:35through. And it would become more clear

2:56:37with a very comprehensive look, right?

2:56:39Because when we did the vacancy study,

2:56:41it wasn't as comprehensive as I expected

2:56:44it to be. Um, and then, um, when it

2:56:48comes to the additional climate funding,

2:56:51I, uh, Dr. Raph, thank you for coming

2:56:53out tonight and and and going through

2:56:55all this with us, but I I'm

2:56:58I don't know if you want to speak to

2:57:00what the hundred,000 would do, but I

2:57:02also think that inevitably as a council,

2:57:06uh, we do need to

2:57:08think about the long-term funding around

2:57:11our climate programming.

2:57:13Yeah,

2:57:16>> absolutely. Happy to share. Uh for the

2:57:18record, Pamela Braph, director of

2:57:19climate programs. Um so, as uh the city

2:57:23manager mentioned, we pulled together a

2:57:25couple of different packages at various

2:57:26levels between 100 and $500,000. So,

2:57:30$100,000 it's really focused on helping

2:57:33to sustain some of the programs that

2:57:35we've already implemented and really

2:57:36withstand the um I'd say the

2:57:39fluctuations in grant funding so we can

2:57:41try and keep things keep things moving

2:57:43even when grant funding comes and goes.

2:57:45And so we're proposing helping to

2:57:48support two specific programs. One is

2:57:50Energize Olympia Energize Thirstston,

2:57:52our heat pump program. really helping to

2:57:55support those subsidized grant-f funded

2:57:57installations as well as the ongoing

2:58:00self-funded instant rebate program for

2:58:02all community members. So, just for

2:58:05context, you know, at $100,000, it it

2:58:08doesn't do much, but it helps keeps

2:58:10thing keeps things going. We're looking

2:58:12at probably supporting around four to

2:58:14five heat pumps um on an annual basis.

2:58:17So, it helps to kind of chip away at

2:58:19weight list participants, that sort of

2:58:21thing. But we would still be really

2:58:23fully dependent on external grant

2:58:24funding to continue the program at the

2:58:27scale that the community has become

2:58:28accustomed to. We would also be able to

2:58:31put some additional funding into our

2:58:32extreme extreme heat and smoke

2:58:34preparedness work which we've started

2:58:36really for the first time this year

2:58:38focusing on providing um portable heat

2:58:41pumps to uh lowincome renters who are um

2:58:46older adults and and largely homebound.

2:58:48And so those are lowerc cost units. they

2:58:51really only provide cooling and a small

2:58:53amount of small amount of heating as

2:58:56well as air purifiers to really help

2:58:57people to be able to um be safe in their

2:59:01homes when we do have extreme heat and

2:59:02smoke events. And so those are the two

2:59:04programs that this funding would help to

2:59:06support.

2:59:10>> Thank you. Uh it sounds like in my mind

2:59:13I'm hearing that these this this is to

2:59:14ensure that we're continuing to do

2:59:16things that we've already said we were

2:59:17going to do.

2:59:19>> Yeah.

2:59:23That's helpful. Thank you, Dr. Bra.

2:59:26>> And I'll add one of the things on the

2:59:27ledge agenda you saw is is Dr. Braph and

2:59:30I are are going to be meeting with Rep.

2:59:32Dolio, I think, and commerce soon to

2:59:35talk about CCA funding and this and how

2:59:37it flows down. Um, it's it's a lot of

2:59:40work to apply for grants over and over

2:59:41again and whether or not we could get

2:59:43some dedicated funding for certain

2:59:45programs and try to work that a bit and

2:59:47that might also help here too. But

2:59:49again, that that also is still

2:59:51short-term, not long-term. And I know

2:59:53your interest is more longer term

2:59:54funding. So, u we'll see where we can

2:59:56get to this year. And then regardless,

2:59:59uh I know this is a council priority for

3:00:01us to continue to work on over the long

3:00:02term.

3:00:06>> Uh Council Member Green.

3:00:09>> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Um, I will uh

3:00:11keep on the deja vu chain uh [laughter]

3:00:14since we did just talk about this last

3:00:15night, but I just want to put my two

3:00:17cents in around the the downtown

3:00:19strategies Plum Street corridor thing. I

3:00:20mean, they're both uh like fully

3:00:22supportive of of both either, whatever

3:00:25that is. Um, for me, Plum Street

3:00:27continues to to rise as the bigger

3:00:29priority only because um development is

3:00:32going to be happening. And so, I think

3:00:34that's going to do a couple of things.

3:00:36And one is that uh folks are going to be

3:00:39uh you know aside from the two projects

3:00:41the two big projects that are going

3:00:43forward other folks I think are going to

3:00:45be very interested in what's possible on

3:00:47that corridor uh potentially looking at

3:00:49at other uh newer projects. And I think

3:00:52the more we kind of have our uh ducks in

3:00:54a row around what that corridor needs to

3:00:56look like, the more uh that's going to

3:00:58um ease or hopefully encourage folks to

3:01:01do some some development along there

3:01:02that aligns with what we'd like to see

3:01:04from that corridor. Um and I think in

3:01:08the long term that will uh what is

3:01:09happening there will uh be part of the

3:01:12downtown strategies and I know the

3:01:14downtown strategies is bigger. Downtown

3:01:15is much much bigger than Plum Street.

3:01:17Um, but for me, the the time sensitivity

3:01:19of recognizing the other things that are

3:01:21going to be happening on Plum Street,

3:01:23uh, uh, it behooves us to just, uh, kind

3:01:26of jump on that and and move that

3:01:28forward.

3:01:31>> Thank you, Council Member Green. Mayor

3:01:33Prom.

3:01:37>> Uh, yeah, I I really agree with that. uh

3:01:40for number three for prioritizing Plum

3:01:43Street knowing that we just have enough

3:01:45for one project. Uh there's also so many

3:01:49ways that we have prioritized downtown

3:01:52uh over the years and we still have

3:01:53those systems in place and those

3:01:55partnerships in place and um so uh Plum

3:02:00Street corridor study seems really

3:02:02timely. I mean it is um it's exciting

3:02:07everything that uh is in the cog to

3:02:09happen there um both development and

3:02:12then just otherwise uh of taking up uh

3:02:16vacant street fronts that you know have

3:02:18been there for a while and it's when we

3:02:20think about our vision of of Olympia and

3:02:23how it's evolved over time uh that area

3:02:27needs to evolve too and and it hasn't at

3:02:30the same rate that downtown has so um I

3:02:32think That is you said that was a

3:02:34recommend recommendation from the

3:02:35finance committee.

3:02:36>> It seemed to be where they were head

3:02:37where they were heading. I I can't

3:02:38remember if it was unanimous across the

3:02:40board. We had a good conversation about

3:02:41it. I think there was some mixed maybe

3:02:44I'll speak and if I got it wrong that

3:02:45you guys please jump in but I think

3:02:47there was a request I think there was

3:02:48some acknowledgement that plum streets

3:02:50kind of first in order but is there any

3:02:53way to even towards the end of the year

3:02:55even kind of start even at least even a

3:02:57scoping process around a downtown

3:02:58strategy so we could hit the ground

3:03:00running in 2028 with something and I

3:03:03haven't had a chance to talk to Tim or

3:03:04Jennica about that I will but I'm I'm

3:03:07trying to kind of hold to what they're

3:03:09telling me in terms of capacity Right.

3:03:11So, a lot of it may determine if it

3:03:13where we get with Plum Street corridor

3:03:15and if we get further along sooner in

3:03:17the year than maybe we thought we would,

3:03:18that might open up some capacity to

3:03:20start some preliminary work and we can

3:03:22talk about that later, but I I think

3:03:23that's what I heard in the finance

3:03:25committee.

3:03:29>> Thanks. That's helpful. And uh just I

3:03:31won't name all of them, but just want to

3:03:32reiterate the for for downtown

3:03:35strategies. Um

3:03:38it it would be great to do that. And

3:03:40also we have uh built and sustained a

3:03:44great relationship with the Olympia

3:03:46downtown alliance. Um we are frequently

3:03:49connecting with them when we uh as we

3:03:53keep on moving on what to do with

3:03:54artisian commons that is also in

3:03:56downtown. A lot of these big things that

3:03:58we're doing is very focused on the

3:04:00downtown. Um so I'll be interested to

3:04:03hear what staff say about if it's

3:04:05feasible or not. And um

3:04:09I mean a I think we're going to have a

3:04:12pretty healthy list of things to do next

3:04:13year, I guess.

3:04:15>> Yep.

3:04:16>> Yeah. And um and then I hear uh Council

3:04:18Member Vanderpool, you were talking

3:04:20about uh the how broad uh the downtown

3:04:24strategies is and thinking about

3:04:26businesses and such. Um and I think

3:04:28about the the other ways that we're

3:04:30doing that. Um, one of those by uh, uh,

3:04:35Ollie, the Ooly Strong

3:04:39project. Uh, that being that being a key

3:04:41one. Um, also uh, parking uh, and or

3:04:46PBIA. So, you know, so on and so forth.

3:04:50But yeah, I [clears throat] I love that

3:04:53you're have our downtown businesses on

3:04:54the mind.

3:04:57>> Me, too.

3:05:00Council member Barry.

3:05:03>> Thank you. I I just want to add my voice

3:05:06to the

3:05:08uh prioritization of Plum Street over

3:05:11the downtown. I I certainly

3:05:15would love to see uh things go in both

3:05:18both directions. I think we have a once

3:05:19in a-lifetime opportunity to really

3:05:23change the face of our city at its

3:05:26primary entrance point.

3:05:29And this is a an extremely important

3:05:33rare opportunity that um that we

3:05:36shouldn't overlook.

3:05:38And it's not just that changing the face

3:05:41of the city coming in on Plum Street,

3:05:43but with a courthouse going there.

3:05:47If anyone will just take a moment to go

3:05:49around any courthouse in the state of

3:05:51Washington, you will see that a

3:05:53community results around those

3:05:56courouses. and that is law offices

3:06:00and legal services

3:06:02and all of the services around the

3:06:05courts. And those are upscale jobs by by

3:06:09and large that we have the opportunity

3:06:12to bring into that neighborhood if we're

3:06:16smart.

3:06:18and um and it would open up

3:06:21opportunities to redevelop the top of

3:06:24the hill also where the where the

3:06:27courthouse is. So there's just all kinds

3:06:29of visionary opportunities for the city

3:06:32if we play our cards right. If we don't,

3:06:36you know, um it will be business as

3:06:39usual. So I I do think this is a

3:06:41critical important

3:06:43um

3:06:45important decisions. I don't want to see

3:06:47LZ fair just take hold there and um

3:06:52because we have an opportunity to do

3:06:55something magical in our city and um

3:06:59leave a legacy for uh for generations to

3:07:02come in that neighborhood.

3:07:08>> Thank you. Additional comments.

3:07:12>> All right. Um

3:07:14thank you Jay. I um I I feel like I want

3:07:18to respect the recommendation here in

3:07:22front of us in terms of prioritization

3:07:24because you know honestly I don't

3:07:27necessarily know all the ins and outs

3:07:29and the dayto-day that goes into this

3:07:31and so I'm I'm putting a lot of trust on

3:07:34what I see in front of me. Um I do, um I

3:07:39am questioning a little bit one and two

3:07:41if that's the right order, but you know

3:07:44again I

3:07:46you know I'm respecting what you know uh

3:07:49in terms of the day-to-day operations.

3:07:52Um

3:07:54I also agree that the Plum Street

3:07:56corridor study should be prioritized

3:07:59uh simply because of the fact that um

3:08:02mostly around uh traffic impacts to the

3:08:04area and also the walkability of the

3:08:07area um as development is happening in

3:08:09that space and so I think we need to be

3:08:12prepared uh and be ready for that. Um

3:08:16however you know that I feel strongly

3:08:18about you know downtown strategy 2.0

3:08:21know um and the need for an emphasis on

3:08:25the cleanliness and beautifification of

3:08:27downtown within that strategy um which

3:08:30is work that I think also is important

3:08:32and needs to happen. And so I um

3:08:37if there is a way, let's find it to uh

3:08:41to start that work sooner than later. Um

3:08:44but I do think um just because of what's

3:08:46currently underway, the corridor study

3:08:49should come first. Um

3:08:52yeah and just in terms of uh all the

3:08:55others I I uh I know specifically for HR

3:08:59and climate um you were very generous in

3:09:02the previous years in terms of um you

3:09:05know the things that you've already uh

3:09:08you know essentially have

3:09:12put been waiting for us to take off the

3:09:14shelf. Um and so for me uh yeah I I am

3:09:19supportive of this uh prioritization. Um

3:09:22yeah so um yeah and that's it for me.

3:09:27As we finish this up can I test a couple

3:09:29things? So I floated this idea of using

3:09:33some rate dollars at least for the first

3:09:34year to offset the OP supervisor

3:09:36position. How does that sit support for

3:09:39that? Not support for that.

3:09:43So using real estate excise tax to pay

3:09:46the the full cost of the signs and

3:09:48signals op supervisor in year one. So

3:09:51it'll it will fully cover the cost in

3:09:532027. We'll have to readress it in 2028.

3:09:56But there's an opportunity here to use

3:09:58some rate dollars. And I heard some

3:10:00support in finance committee, but I

3:10:02wanted to test it with the council so

3:10:03that I know where you all are and so I

3:10:05won't bring it back if you don't support

3:10:06it.

3:10:07>> Thank you for that because I actually

3:10:08had a comment and a question around

3:10:11that. Um, so I know we have a number of

3:10:14positions that are either grant-f funded

3:10:18or um, there isn't a dedicated revenue

3:10:21source for. So I'm not a huge fan of

3:10:24doing that with people's jobs. Um, so I

3:10:28guess what is what would be the plan in

3:10:32terms of like, okay, we're doing this

3:10:34one time, but are are we if we agree to

3:10:37that, are we going to have some sort of

3:10:40picture of how we're going to proceed in

3:10:42the years after before we make that

3:10:43decision?

3:10:44>> Yeah. I mean, so the the plan would be

3:10:46that you have an opportunity one time to

3:10:49offset it for one year, but that full

3:10:51cost will have to be addressed in the

3:10:532028 budget, right? So that's kind of

3:10:56what I'm saying and that we're

3:10:57committing to the position. We're

3:10:59committing to adding it back in. So we

3:11:00can do it one of two ways. Um we can

3:11:03commit to bring it back in and we could

3:11:04general fund fund it right now. And so

3:11:06we we find a way to absorb it within the

3:11:08budget this year or we could take

3:11:11advantage of some one-time monies for

3:11:12one time in 2027 to offset that cost

3:11:16which may help you with your total

3:11:18balancing position. And maybe you want

3:11:19to wait on this decision till you know

3:11:21your final picture. Um but that's really

3:11:23all it does. It just helps you for one

3:11:25year, but we're committing to the long

3:11:27term, keeping that position.

3:11:35Um,

3:11:38okay. I, um,

3:11:43given the context with which you're

3:11:46making this recommendation,

3:11:48um,

3:11:50I I can get behind supporting it. I just

3:11:53for me I just want to

3:11:57I I feel like I I want to know that

3:11:59there's more of a clearer path and that

3:12:01you see a way um besides just we'll take

3:12:05it up in 2028 or you know I yeah I just

3:12:11what however well you can paint that

3:12:14picture for us I think the better.

3:12:16>> Yeah, I'll work that a little bit.

3:12:17>> Yeah. Okay.

3:12:20Um

3:12:22Council member Gilman followed by

3:12:24Council Member Vanderbilt.

3:12:25>> I just wanted to ask for a little bit of

3:12:26clarification. Could you describe why

3:12:29the real estate excise tax is considered

3:12:32one time and what would be the competing

3:12:35uh uses that we might um use that money

3:12:38for?

3:12:38>> Yeah. So um we do use a lot for

3:12:41transportation to offset transportation

3:12:42projects. Usually almost all of it used

3:12:44to go to transportation. A couple years

3:12:46ago, I think it's a couple the

3:12:48legislature opened up that REIT could be

3:12:51used for other purposes other than just

3:12:53capital. And so I'm only proposing it

3:12:57here because it's still keeping it

3:12:59within the transportation line of

3:13:01funding. I wouldn't be proposing it, for

3:13:03example, for a prosecutor or some other

3:13:05positions, although technically we may

3:13:07be able to, but I think leaving it

3:13:09within transportation makes sense. And

3:13:12we and again, if it if not spent here,

3:13:14it goes into capital projects, other

3:13:16other things. As I talked to Mark and

3:13:18his team, it's not going to delay any

3:13:20project or hold anything up. It's it's a

3:13:22small amount of money in the overall

3:13:23context of our transportation bucket of

3:13:25funding, but it wouldn't be sustainable

3:13:27to to use this amount of money every

3:13:29year forever more. Right now, maybe next

3:13:32year we could use it again potentially,

3:13:34but at some point in time, we're going

3:13:35to have to absorb it into the general

3:13:37fund. And so really the question is do

3:13:39we absorb it in now so that we don't

3:13:40kick the can down the road or do we take

3:13:42advantage of an opportunity that's in

3:13:43front of us? That's really the the the

3:13:45decision point. And if if I may follow

3:13:48up, so my understanding is that in the

3:13:51bigger budget deliberations and

3:13:53consulting your division directors um

3:13:57that there was an opportunity to apply

3:13:59these funds this year because they're

3:14:01not necessary to move one of our capital

3:14:04facility projects forward. there was an

3:14:06opportunity to spend this money a

3:14:08different way for this year to meet

3:14:09another need within the transportation

3:14:11department.

3:14:12>> Correct. That's a that's a great way to

3:14:13look at it. Thank you for clarifying.

3:14:18>> All right. Thank you, Council Member

3:14:19Gilman. Council member Vander

3:14:21>> kind of got a a point that I was going

3:14:23to have about like if we're not spending

3:14:25it on this, what is it being spent on

3:14:27which you answered, but I'm curious

3:14:29about uh if we go forward with that, how

3:14:32much money would we have left in the

3:14:34retail exercise? How much is in there?

3:14:36>> I can I can follow up with you on that.

3:14:38I don't know.

3:14:38>> Okay.

3:14:39>> If

3:14:41>> over a million I'm hearing we can get

3:14:43you a firm number when I come back.

3:14:44>> Okay. And then I guess like how long if

3:14:46if we take it out of there, how long

3:14:47does it take to refill that amount that

3:14:49we're taking out?

3:14:50>> It's kind of a follow-up question to

3:14:52that. Yep, we could do that.

3:14:54>> Okay. Thank you.

3:14:58I'll bring this one back. And then the

3:15:00last one because the night's getting

3:15:01late, I know, is um I also heard from

3:15:03the finance committee um the possibility

3:15:06of using economic [clears throat]

3:15:07development reserves to pay the one-time

3:15:09cost of the the Plum Street corridor

3:15:11study. you have about a million and a

3:15:12half in that fund and you put $100,000 a

3:15:16year in it every year. So that's that's

3:15:18something you did last year. So this

3:15:20year is the first year we did that. So

3:15:21there is a fund balance there you could

3:15:23draw from um to give you another way to

3:15:25try to use one-time money for a onetime

3:15:27expense.

3:15:30>> Yes, [clears throat] Council Member

3:15:31Gman. So, my recollection of the

3:15:34conversation was that there was a

3:15:36suggestion that the $150,000 it's

3:15:39already planned for community planning

3:15:42to take on the the planning work. Could

3:15:45we also use some of the economic

3:15:48development reserves to fund um Genica's

3:15:53the economic development side of the

3:15:55project so that we could possibly have

3:15:58the the planning oriented work on Plum

3:16:00Street running while we're beginning the

3:16:03economic development side of the

3:16:04downtown strategy. That's that's what I

3:16:06thought I heard rather than u rather

3:16:09than replacing the 150 from the general

3:16:11fund with the economic development

3:16:13reserve. Um, is that is that what you

3:16:16were getting at?

3:16:17>> Yeah, that's accurate. I just

3:16:18>> Thank you.

3:16:19>> Yeah.

3:16:20>> Yeah. I mean,

3:16:22when the downtown strategy work is able

3:16:24to start, I think that's logical, right?

3:16:26Uh,

3:16:28but I I don't know we're going to get to

3:16:30it next year. So, I'm kind of hedging

3:16:33that, but I guess for a funding source,

3:16:35if we're able to get to it next year, we

3:16:37could that's the place we could go to

3:16:39start the work because, you know, the

3:16:40budget's adopted at that point in time.

3:16:42But if you're looking for funding to get

3:16:43something started, we could definitely

3:16:44go there.

3:16:46Okay,

3:16:48that helps me for tonight. I'm going to

3:16:50I'm going to finish you up real quick.

3:16:53Um, what are we waiting for? So, we're

3:16:55still waiting on our labor and

3:16:56industries numbers. Um, we're in at the

3:16:59highest amount that they could raise our

3:17:01rates. We're hoping they come in lower.

3:17:03There's potentially some savings here

3:17:05for final balancing. Um, we waiting for

3:17:08our property insurance final numbers.

3:17:10that's going to have an impact one way

3:17:11or the other. Knowing that our liability

3:17:13went down, I feel pretty positive about

3:17:15our property, where our property

3:17:16insurance comes in. We'll wait for that.

3:17:18We've got the final um benefits

3:17:20calculations we're working through as I

3:17:22mentioned. And then there's some other

3:17:24kind of final balancing pieces as we

3:17:26kind of get down the home stretch here

3:17:27between now and November 10th. As the

3:17:29finance team checks and double checks

3:17:31numbers, checks and double checks

3:17:33assumptions. I've asked um Mike and his

3:17:36team to also test our conservative

3:17:40approach in some of our funds and make

3:17:42sure we're not being overly conservative

3:17:43and that we have the right mix and so

3:17:45there may be some opportunities for some

3:17:46final adjustments. Um and so we'll bring

3:17:49all that back on the 10th and then and

3:17:51then I'm hoping that what we can leave

3:17:53on the 10th is a pretty good path

3:17:54forward to making final decisions.

3:17:59And then your calendar um your public

3:18:02hearings are kind of what's up next. So

3:18:04next week, uh, you have a batch of them.

3:18:06The operating budget and the CFP come

3:18:07forward for their first their first

3:18:09public hearings. Again, I mentioned that

3:18:12we'll be back on the 10th. You also

3:18:13have, um, your first public hearing on

3:18:15Adville, which is your property tax. And

3:18:18then you can see from there, we're

3:18:20heading towards final budget balancing

3:18:21on November 24th. So the 10th will be a

3:18:24key a key night to kind of make some

3:18:26final decisions because you're two weeks

3:18:27away from final balancing at that point.

3:18:29So, I think our goal, my goal with all

3:18:31of you would be to leave the 10th with

3:18:33pretty clear direction on balancing so

3:18:35that we can kind of go down the home

3:18:36stretch and finish this up. Make sense?

3:18:40Any final questions?

3:18:44>> Yes, Council Member Barrett.

3:18:46>> Thank you. This is kind of a

3:18:49a very tight question. I guess it's

3:18:51about liability claims. Um

3:18:56I I assume in la later presentations

3:18:58we'll see something about what that is.

3:19:01The state of Washington, you know, their

3:19:03claims have exploded and um it it just

3:19:07kind of begs me to wonder what is going

3:19:09on in the city and what impact these

3:19:12claims have had uh on our city budget

3:19:17and uh is it negligible? Does our

3:19:20insurance rates are going up? Are they

3:19:23really going up or are they not going up

3:19:25that much? I I just wanted to to know

3:19:27where we're at.

3:19:28>> I can give you a sense. So, this is the

3:19:30first year they're actually going down.

3:19:32So, Mike mentioned it in an earlier

3:19:34slide. Our rates are going down about

3:19:36$300,000 this year. That was a total

3:19:39surprise to us. The prior three years,

3:19:42they've gone up sub substantially. Um,

3:19:48yeah, about 35% a year, 24% the year

3:19:51before. So, we're talking, you know,

3:19:54about a million bucks or so, $800,000 to

3:19:56a million dollars. They've gone up over

3:19:57the last couple years and that caught us

3:19:59off guard, too. Um, our one of our

3:20:02delegates, uh, Don is our alternate

3:20:04delegate, and she just went to a WCIA

3:20:06board meeting, and they talked about the

3:20:08rising cost of tort claims. And so, it's

3:20:10not just hitting the state, it's hitting

3:20:12municipalities as well. We've had some

3:20:14significant trip and fall claims, but

3:20:17compared to the group that we're sitting

3:20:19in, so it's a little complicated and I

3:20:21think this might be a good future study

3:20:23session to kind of walk you through how

3:20:24our liability insurance works, but we're

3:20:26we're kind of banded with other cities

3:20:29of like size and like services. And so

3:20:31so goes the group, so goes our rates.

3:20:34And our group is doing pretty well right

3:20:35now. So our rates are coming down. Other

3:20:37cities are still seeing increases in

3:20:39their in their liability claims. So this

3:20:42year's a good year, but we've had some

3:20:44pretty significant increases in our

3:20:45liability, which has dri driven our

3:20:47budget and and I can bring you some more

3:20:48information on what that's looked like

3:20:49over the past couple years. Just to give

3:20:51you more specifics.

3:20:52>> Yeah, I'd like to know. I I'd just like

3:20:53to know kind of what those numbers look

3:20:56like at some point.

3:20:59>> I'll bring you kind of the last three to

3:21:01four years so that you can all see that.

3:21:03>> Perfect.

3:21:06>> Thank you.

3:21:08>> Thank you. some additional comments.

3:21:10Council member Vanderpool.

3:21:12>> So, um I guess I'm going to kind of

3:21:14close with this. Although although

3:21:16climate is only at the is at the bottom

3:21:18of the second tier, I do want to say

3:21:21that uh as we were looking at that, I

3:21:24mean I I I'm often reminded that uh uh

3:21:29because it's so it's newer compared to

3:21:32parks and fire departments and other

3:21:33things as a city. I do think that we do

3:21:36need to have that clear path to to to

3:21:40use some use a phrase that the mayor

3:21:41used earlier is a clear path for

3:21:43funding, dedicated funding for for and

3:21:46that was brought up last year because

3:21:49like it is um attached to every chapter

3:21:52in our comprehensive plan on purpose,

3:21:55right? Because what they do involves all

3:21:57of different aspects of what we do as a

3:21:59city. And um I'm glad we have a team

3:22:02because not all cities have teams. But

3:22:04like I'm I'm duly aware that mitigation

3:22:08and city rise response all these things

3:22:10are going to require a lot of money into

3:22:11the future for different aspects of it.

3:22:14But I I just think that we do eventually

3:22:17have to come think of a uh uh clear

3:22:20funding locally because um clearing it

3:22:23up on the climate commitment act side is

3:22:25is very important so you don't have to

3:22:28keep reapplying as you were saying. But

3:22:30I do think that locally we have to

3:22:32figure out how to dedicate that funding.

3:22:33So, it's not just uh uh asking please

3:22:37give us second page tier like it has to

3:22:40there has to be some sort of year in

3:22:43year out for it.

3:22:45>> Yeah. I'll just say we have an amazing

3:22:47climate team that's doing really great

3:22:51work. In fact, um uh I would say

3:22:54groundbreaking in some in some extents.

3:22:56In fact, um regional leaders in the work

3:22:58that they do. So, I'm going to go so far

3:23:00as to say that. uh and they can develop

3:23:04a lot of amazing programs that help us

3:23:05get at the climate wedge and help us

3:23:07lower our emissions, but if we don't

3:23:09have the funding to implement them, it's

3:23:11pretty tough, right? So, um and we the

3:23:14community needs resources. So, the

3:23:15city's done a lot with our operations,

3:23:18but that only takes you so far. The next

3:23:20level of really getting at this is to

3:23:21get into the community and to get into

3:23:22the bigger pieces. And so, and even

3:23:25$100,000, it just scratches the surface

3:23:27of what that looks like, but it's it's

3:23:28something that gets us started. And I

3:23:30know that's where your interest is. And

3:23:31then the building electrification

3:23:33conversation is still a longer term

3:23:34conversation we still have to have uh

3:23:37because that is where the the the big

3:23:39reductions are. But community programs

3:23:41are and getting the community engaged in

3:23:43this work is super important. And it'd

3:23:45be great for the climate team to have

3:23:47certainty year-over-year that those

3:23:48programs are going to be there and

3:23:50available to the community. And so

3:23:51that's really that's really where we

3:23:53are. As hard as this all is, that's what

3:23:55I'll say.

3:24:00All right. Thank you, Jay.

3:24:03Any additional comments? All right.

3:24:06Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you,

3:24:08Mike.

3:24:09>> Thank you.

3:24:09>> Um and we look forward to seeing you

3:24:12back on November 10th. Um so, that

3:24:15concludes our business items for

3:24:17tonight. We have next uh council and

3:24:20city manager reports on our agenda. But

3:24:22given that we are three and a half hours

3:24:25into our business meeting and we still

3:24:27have a closed and executive sessions to

3:24:29have, I'm just going to ask, is there

3:24:31anything that anybody is just burning to

3:24:33share right now uh that they must share?

3:24:36Yes. Uh, mayor prom.

3:24:41>> Uh, just going back to our uh business

3:24:43item for uh the uh transition of the

3:24:48advisory bodies. Just wanted to let

3:24:50folks know um that we are going to be

3:24:53getting a fourth quarter like a quote

3:24:55unquote fourth quarter report. So in

3:24:57December you will hear from advisory

3:25:00bodies uh current advis advisory bodies

3:25:03on what they would like to work on. So

3:25:05then the idea is so then as we're

3:25:08aligning our work plans, you'll hear

3:25:10from them in December and then we can go

3:25:13into uh you know into the new year and

3:25:17into the council retreat where we

3:25:19assemble our work plan for council with

3:25:21that in mind. So

3:25:25that's all.

3:25:27>> Thank you. Any questions or comments for

3:25:29the mayor pro town?

3:25:32All right, seeing none. Um, yes, Council

3:25:35Member Green.

3:25:36>> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. I just have one

3:25:38uh time-sensitive item I wanted to share

3:25:39from Joint Animal Services. Uh, and I

3:25:42would uh ask the city manager that

3:25:43perhaps our communications team can help

3:25:45share this, but on November 2nd, uh,

3:25:47Joint Animal Services is offering a free

3:25:50vaccine and microchip clinic. So, I know

3:25:52that's a big deal. It's a question that

3:25:53comes up a lot. So, for folks, uh, if

3:25:55you can go to joint animal services

3:25:57website, great. But I would hope we can

3:25:58help get that information out.

3:26:01>> We'll do it.

3:26:04Thank you. All right. Questions or

3:26:06comments for Council Member Green?

3:26:09Seeing none,

3:26:11um, any additional reports from council?

3:26:14City Manager Bernie, do you have a

3:26:16report?

3:26:17>> Nothing to report.

3:26:18>> All right. Well, at this time, we are

3:26:21going to uh recess for 5 minutes and

3:26:24then we're going to reconvene in room

3:26:26423

3:26:28uh for up to 60 minutes for a close

3:26:31session. uh pursuant to labor

3:26:33negotiations.

3:26:35That closed session will be followed by

3:26:38an executive session also in room 423

3:26:41for up to 60 minutes. Uh and following

3:26:46both the close and executive sessions,

3:26:48the council will be adjourned for

3:26:50tonight.