2026-10-06 - City Council Business Meeting

00:37[clears throat]

00:40I'm calling this meeting to order. This

00:42is a regular meeting of the Redmond City

00:44Council held on Tuesday, October 6,

00:462026, commencing at 7:00 p.m. I will

00:49call roll starting with Council

00:51President Stewart

00:52>> here.

00:52>> Council Vice President Noea Kamina

00:54>> here.

00:54>> Council member Foresight

00:55>> here.

00:56>> Council member Critzer

00:57>> here. Council member Parcy

00:59>> here.

00:59>> Council member Propria

01:01>> here.

01:01>> And council member Sony

01:02>> here.

01:03>> The first item on the agenda is special

01:06orders of the day with a presentation

01:08from Alicia Ruiz from Habitat for

01:11Humanity.

01:12Please take it away.

01:32There we go. Thank you, Mayor Bernie,

01:33Council President Stewart, and members

01:35of the council. My name is Alicia Ruiz.

01:37I am the new advocacy and policy manager

01:39for Habitat for Humanity, Seattle, King,

01:42and Kittitas counties. And although I'm

01:45new to the east side and I'm new to

01:46Habitat and new to affordable housing,

01:48I'm not new to land use. I represented

01:50this Seattle. I represented master

01:52builders in Seattle for nearly 5 years.

01:56So

01:57today I want to take you um

02:01through these slides and and um

02:04communicate to you three things. one,

02:06what Habitat Humanity does in our

02:09community, what we're currently doing on

02:11the ground, and how uh this will work

02:13for Redmond.

02:23Okay,

02:30there we go. Okay. So, keep in mind as I

02:32go through our model that we are a land

02:34trust model and that our homes um are

02:37financed through three buckets. One is

02:40um public funding, two is um the home

02:43buyer's mortgage and three are um money

02:46from our donors.

02:49So, the first part of our model is is um

02:51applicants apply. um you can um qualify

02:56to be a Habitat homeowner um if you earn

02:58up to 80% of AMI. There's no me there's

03:02no u minimum credit score. We look for a

03:04positive um consistent good credit

03:06history and you must live or work in the

03:08county. Um once builders or sorry once

03:11home buyers um are accepted, they agree

03:15to partner with us. They take um finance

03:18education classes and willingness to

03:20partner meaning that they um

03:23they put in their own sweat equity

03:26either working on their home or one of

03:28the community homes or um perhaps even

03:32work some hours volunteer in our uh one

03:35of our Habitat stores. So [sighs] then

03:38the buy the the best part comes uh

03:41buying the home. It's about a 1% down

03:44for down payment and mortgage payments

03:46are usually set around 30% of the home

03:49buyer's income so as not to uh cost

03:52burden

03:54the applicant. Um again, Habitat works

03:56out of a land trust model and we take

03:59the cost of the land out of the price so

04:01that it um stays affordable for any

04:04future buyer. Now, if you take away one

04:07thing from my presentation tonight, it

04:09is to remember that investment in

04:11Habitat for Humanity is a one-time

04:13subsidy that ensures permanent

04:15affordability. Um, affordable rental

04:19projects, you know, often need annual

04:22funding and subsidy. But, um, with a

04:25Habitat home, you subsidize in the very

04:27beginning and it is it will continue to

04:30be affordable for generations to come.

04:38Shoot.

04:41There we go. So, this year is our 40th

04:44year anniversary. So, 40 years of impact

04:46uh within the region. Seattle is or the

04:49habitat affiliat

04:56was founded in 1986 with our first build

04:59was on the east side here in Isiqua.

05:01We've served 2,000 plus families and uh

05:05you may have yourselves uh volunteered

05:08on a Habitat project um with one of our

05:11corporate sponsors or with community

05:13volunteer days and we welcome over um

05:162500 volunteers every year. We also have

05:19four Habitat stores around the area. The

05:22one on the east side is in Belleview.

05:24And those funds then are given back into

05:27um the Habitat mission.

05:36Whoops.

05:40Sorry about that.

05:45Okay. So, I'm going to show you two of

05:47our projects. Um, one current project is

05:53Liberty Commons, which is in the south

05:55side of Seattle. Um, it was for a week

05:58or so um, built as the largest homeowner

06:01build in or largest habitat build in the

06:04world. Um, we've since lost that title

06:06to another another city, but um, it was

06:09a it's a 40 or sorry 58 unit condo

06:13complex just steps away from um, light

06:16rail. Um it was a uh nearly $30 million

06:20development budget and homes um are

06:23ready to move in this fall. Actually, it

06:25was recently dedicated.

06:28Um you can see here that it ranges from

06:30studio sizes to two bedrooms. Um

06:32starting price anywhere from the 160s up

06:35to the 280 $285,000

06:38range. And this um this monthly amount

06:41includes your mortgage, your taxes, your

06:43insurance, and your HOA fees. Now, what

06:46this means to Redmond is this shows that

06:49Habitat can build dense, right? We build

06:52um as many units as we can in the way in

06:56what zoning allows in each city. And so,

06:59this is a great example of the dense

07:02development that we can provide near

07:04transit.

07:07Next is Orchard Gardens. This is

07:10currently underway, just broke ground.

07:12This is in Belleview. Um, these are

07:14family homes on the east side. I often

07:16talk to um many council members and

07:18mayors across the region and they all

07:20say, "We need we need familysiz

07:22housing." So, these are 25 permanently

07:25affordable three-bedroom, two bath homes

07:28in South Belleview. You see the picture

07:30down on the um lower right hand corner.

07:34It's a really unique um spot. It is

07:37situated, it will be situated on a

07:40community orchard and a community

07:41garden.

07:43And these preliminary projections show

07:46that these will be listed at in the

07:48360,000s.

07:50This is important in comparison to

07:52Redmond's recent median sale home price

07:54of 1.45 million. So there's definitely a

07:58huge gap there and Habitat can provide

08:02um affordable options to local families.

08:07This is also a unique project because it

08:09is being built on faith land. There's um

08:12several jurisdictions in the region that

08:14have passed legislation that will allow

08:17to build on home base home faith sorry

08:20faith-based lands um that organizations

08:23have um and that aren't using say a

08:27parking lot or um a large parcel that

08:30they're not using. So we can come in and

08:32build on on that. And so this is in

08:34partnership with Holy Cross Lutheran

08:36Church and um and one of the biggest

08:39investments by the city of Belleview of

08:42more than 70 37 million along with um

08:46arch uh the funding from the arch trust

08:49fund.

08:52Now, as you are well aware, uh Redmond

08:56is a um majority rental city um as as

09:00many um large cities are, but um

09:05currently 56.8% of Redmond households

09:09are renters. The median monthly gross

09:12rent here in Redmond is a little over

09:15$2,400.

09:18Now, how can Habitat where does Habitat

09:21fit in? Well, who qualifies for a

09:23Habitat home? If you look at the numbers

09:25there on the right, um this is the area

09:28median income set by um these are King

09:31County numbers. Um one person um can

09:35their income can be up to 80% of that,

09:38which is 81,700

09:40all the way up to a fourperson household

09:42is 116,650.

09:46So this means your um baristas, your um

09:52your

09:54municipal um support employees, your um

09:57administrative office assistants. This

09:59is workforce housing.

10:05Now, this shows you um the need versus

10:07the production.

10:09Here in Redmond, you have a target of

10:11200 or sorry, 20,000 homes. Um, right

10:15now, that's projected need of about 700

10:18a year. And what's been built since 2020

10:22is averaging 85 homes a year. So

10:25although Redmond's done a great job at

10:29um starting starting things off to reach

10:32that goal, there is some um opportunity

10:35to increase production.

10:39One thing to also keep in mind is that

10:41the median uh Redmond home costs nearly

10:4412 times what a family of four earning

10:4780% of AMI um currently earns at the 160

10:52$116,650

10:58again. So, to wrap up, how Redmond can

11:01help. First, I know tonight you're going

11:03to start discussing your budget. Um, and

11:06that is obviously to increase

11:09um increase funds and dedication in your

11:11budget to affordable housing and

11:14affordable home ownership. Um, also to

11:17increase your um the amount of funds you

11:20give to the Arch Housing Trust Fund is

11:23also crucially important. And um another

11:28tool we can use is to set aside dollars

11:30specifically for for home ownership use

11:33in Redmond. Um another way to partner

11:36with us is surplus land. We're working

11:38with a lot of cities in the region um on

11:41surplus land that they may have. Um it's

11:43an opportunity for cities that may not

11:46have the extra money in their budget um

11:48to be able to

11:51provide a you know a big cost to any uh

11:56development is of course the land. So

11:58working with us to do that um is very

12:01helpful. Also, um, as I mentioned

12:04before, the legislation for faith, um,

12:08land has also helped in other cities

12:12and increased density bonuses. Um, the

12:15more you allow us to build, the higher

12:17and denser we can build. So any um,

12:19height unit F bonuses are extremely

12:23helpful. And finally, cutting those

12:25costs and delays. Um this also extends

12:28to our partners in the market rate

12:30housing in that um time is money and any

12:33delay actually will increase any cost of

12:36a project. So those are all things that

12:39we hope to um discuss with you in the

12:41future. Um any additional questions that

12:44may have come up feel free to reach out

12:46to me. I will be following up with all

12:47of you. And Habitat is really looking to

12:51expand its presence on the east side.

12:53So, uh, we are currently working closely

12:56with Kirkland and Belleview and we hope

12:58to establish those relationships here in

13:00Redmond. Thank you very much.

13:03>> Thank you so much, Alicia. Um, are there

13:05any questions for her this evening,

13:06Council President?

13:08>> Yeah, thank you so much, Mr. Ree. It was

13:09really helpful to uh meet Habitat

13:12tonight um as a potential development

13:14partner, you know, here in our city. We

13:16really appreciate the the time that you

13:18took to to share specifically the

13:20examples around the denser housing types

13:22that we may not uh traditionally think

13:24of when it comes to habitat homes that

13:27we've traditionally known. Um I'm

13:29imagine that there are a few of us and

13:31even members of the public tonight who

13:33saw some of the information about how

13:35folks might qualify for home ownership

13:38through a Habitat program. What's the

13:40best place for folks to uh find a point

13:43of entry if that is something that

13:45they're interested in considering for

13:46themselves?

13:47>> Great question. Anybody can visit

13:49byhabitat.com

13:51and that's buyhabitat.com.

13:54That'll give you all the information on

13:56um qualifications and current uh units

13:59that are currently available for sale

14:01and for upcoming um projects. Another

14:04thing that I sorry I forgot to mention

14:06but is important for community members

14:08to know is that and this helps preserve

14:11existing housing. So folks can um apply

14:15to have say a plumbing issue fixed or a

14:19roof repaired and we have um dedicated

14:22program to that as well. This also um

14:25serves our senior citizens in the

14:27community. So if you have constituents

14:29that may be interested in that, please

14:31send them our way as well.

14:33>> Thank you. Any other questions for our

14:34guest tonight?

14:36>> Well, thank you again. Uh, so appreciate

14:38the presentation. Look forward to

14:39hopefully partnering with Habitat in the

14:41future.

14:41>> Thank you.

14:44>> The next item on the agenda Oh, uh,

14:47could you unshare your screen? That

14:49would be fantastic. Thank you.

14:53The next item on the agenda is a

14:55presentation for the delivery of the

14:57mayor's preliminary 2027 2028 bianial

15:01budget. Um, thank you all for being here

15:04this evening. I'm really excited to um

15:07present the city of Redmond's

15:08preliminary 2728

15:11bianial budget.

15:13Before I begin my overview,

15:16I want to thank the Redmond community

15:17members who provided us with invaluable

15:19feedback. All community input, whether

15:21through community focus groups,

15:23community- based organization engagement

15:25sessions, council conversations, or our

15:27budget questionnaire, provided insight

15:29that the director's team and I used to

15:31balance this budget. I'd like to

15:32recognize our staff and council for all

15:35of the preliminary work we have done

15:36together, including our commitment to

15:38clean water, more afford affordable

15:40housing units, and alternative crisis

15:43care to ensure this budget provides our

15:45community with the solutions and

15:46resources they need. I also want to

15:49express my appreciation to the budget

15:51offer writers and coordinators, to our

15:53staff, our deputy directors, and our

15:55finance department, which has done

15:57incredible work this year to ensure that

15:58this budget reflects the Redmond of

16:00today and of the future. Redmond is a

16:03community with a tradition of welcoming

16:05people from all over the world and

16:07embracing a culture of compassion,

16:09stewardship, and innovation. This year,

16:12Redmond welcomed the world. And through

16:14our many World Cup events, I got a

16:16chance to see and hear how Redmond's

16:18vision plays out in people's lives. From

16:20our walkable streets to beautiful parks

16:22to convenient transit choices, they all

16:24combined to make Redmond a vibrant city

16:26in our region. As Redmond continues to

16:29transition from a suburb to a city, my

16:31goal is for Redmond to remain an

16:33inclusive and connected community that

16:35people can call home. This new budget

16:37ensures that Redmond builds on our

16:39shared commitment to a thriving

16:41community.

16:42Our budget is in great shape with a 5%

16:47increase from the last bianium totaling

16:4914 $1.4 billion. This budget supports

16:53the maintenance of city infrastructure,

16:56sustains current staff levels, and

16:58enhances public safety. It is comprised

17:01of a variety of revenue sources, all of

17:03which support the work that we do. Plus,

17:05we are fortunate to be able to add a

17:07variety of service enhancements that our

17:10community asked for. Having the city in

17:13this strong financial position,

17:14continuing to provide for our community

17:16without making cuts to in services or

17:18staff, is a credit to everyone who

17:21worked so diligently on our budgets past

17:23and present. Let's take a look at the

17:26outreach staff did with our community to

17:28inform our budget.

17:30Through robust engagement with our

17:32community and regional partners, we have

17:34heard that they value a vibrant home

17:36where businesses are healthy, the

17:38environment is protected, and families

17:40are kept safe. Our community values

17:42innovation, open and green spaces,

17:44public events that celebrate a diversity

17:46of cultures and connections with one

17:48another. This new budget advances these

17:51goals and continues to support the daily

17:53operations that maintain Redmond's

17:54unique energy and vitality. And now

17:57we'll take a look at our 2027 to 2028

18:00budget by the numbers.

18:03The preliminary 2728 budget highlights

18:06include $6 million in housing and human

18:09services funding to address community

18:11needs, including a housing navigator,

18:13affordable housing investments, and

18:15severe weather services. Adding three

18:17police officers to support more

18:19operational capacity and 1 million in

18:21funding for emergency preparedness, fire

18:23rescue equipment, and operational

18:25readiness.

18:27250 million in funding to redevelop the

18:29maintenance and operations center. 35

18:32million for rebuilding the teen center

18:33to ensure the community's vision is

18:35fully reflected in the new building. 20

18:38million to rebuild fire station 11. 1.3

18:42million towards environmental

18:43sustainability and climate resilience

18:45work. 1.4 million in funding for the Red

18:48Link program, a safe route to school

18:49action plan, and a transportation

18:51network wayfinding plan. and 52.3

18:55million for a new city department that

18:57will focus on getting perm and enhancing

18:59our customer customer service standards.

19:02And now I'm excited to share a brief

19:03overview of the four city priorities.

19:08The criteria of the directors and I used

19:10to develop the proposed budget upholds

19:12the values of the city's four budget

19:14prop priorities confirmed annually since

19:172020 which include a healthy and

19:19sustainable environment that supports an

19:21active community. A safe and resilient

19:23community where all people feel safe. A

19:26strategic and responsive community that

19:28is welcoming, serviceoriented and

19:30fiscally responsible. and a wellplanned

19:32and supported community that is vibrant

19:34and connected and that provides a sense

19:36of place.

19:38The first priority in alphabetical order

19:40is healthy and sustainable. We value a

19:43healthy and sustainable environment that

19:45supports an active community. The

19:47outcomes for this priority are

19:49environmental preservation responsibly

19:51balanced with growth, climate action

19:53goals achieved through green practices

19:55and policies, sustainable and resilient

19:57utility infrastructure that supports a

19:59healthy environment. Delivering

20:01inclusive, sustainable experiences that

20:03foster belonging, promote well-being and

20:06build trust through responsive service

20:08and community connection, and improving

20:10community health, safety, and emergency

20:12readiness. Some budget highlights for

20:14this priority include drinking water

20:17quality, adding two more maintenance

20:19technicians in the water operations

20:21division, park programs and maintenance

20:23restoration, hiring an urban forestry

20:26program administrator to implement

20:28citywide tree canopy and green space

20:30goals, and climate change and

20:32resilience, evaluating the city's code

20:34for high energy and water intensive land

20:36use types and baseline funding to

20:38support e-mobility programming.

20:42The second priority is safe and

20:44resilient. We value a safe and resilient

20:46community where all people feel safe.

20:48The outcomes for this priority are

20:50community risk reduction and safe built

20:53environments. Coordinated emergency

20:55responses that protect life, property,

20:57and responder safety, conducting

21:00investigations that reduce future risk,

21:02support accountability, and provide

21:04appropriate resolutions. And community

21:06resilience and recovery following

21:08emergencies and hazardous events. Budget

21:10highlights for this priority include

21:12pedestrian and bike infrastructure

21:14investments, investing in the work of

21:16our police, fire, and public works

21:18departments by supporting street

21:19repairs, installing flashing beacon

21:21crosswalks, and replacing outdated

21:23equipment. Safety investments,

21:26purchasing essential equipment and

21:27supplies for the fire department's

21:28wildland deployment program, replacing

21:31existing post lifts with mobile lifts

21:33for aid cars, emergency preparedness and

21:36recovering. funding a comprehensive

21:38assessment of the city's emergency

21:40operations center.

21:42The next priority, strategic and

21:44responsive. We value a strategic and

21:46responsive community that is welcoming,

21:48serviceoriented, and fiscally

21:50responsible. The outcomes for this

21:52priority are being a fiscally

21:53responsible organization, a welcoming,

21:56innovative, and continuous learning

21:57culture, being a trusted and responsive

21:59government, and a welcoming, inclusive,

22:02engaged community. Budget highlights for

22:05this priority include our ready program

22:07investments, hiring a community outreach

22:09coordinator for collaboration with

22:11community- based organizations,

22:13including a Redmond 101 program, along

22:15with funding for a thorough review of

22:18city code to ensure inclusive language.

22:20FTEEs for compliance support provide

22:23that support for business licensing and

22:25public record requests to meet

22:27compliance requirements and equitable

22:29access to services funding for

22:31community- based organization engagement

22:33to reach residents across many

22:35backgrounds.

22:37The final priority is vibrant and

22:39connected. We value a wellplanned and

22:41supported community that is vibrant and

22:43connected and that that provides a sense

22:45of place. The outcomes for this priority

22:48are a transportation system that

22:50supports reliable multimodal movement of

22:53people and goods. City services and

22:55programs that promote community building

22:57and well-being to help everyone thrive.

23:00City services and future growth

23:01facilitated by highquality public

23:03infrastructure and facilities and a

23:05thriving economy that supports job

23:07creation, innovation, and

23:08entrepreneurship, sustainability, and

23:11goods and services desired by the

23:12community. Budget highlights for this

23:14priority include affordable housing,

23:17creating pre-approved plans for ADUs and

23:19middle housing for use by community

23:21members, city building investments,

23:23investments in the teen center, the

23:25maintenance and operations center, fire

23:27station or fire headquarters and station

23:2911 to rebuild and replace outdated

23:31systems, improve building

23:33sustainability, and provide safe and

23:35secure places for the community to

23:37recreate and city staff to work. and

23:39pavement improvements, creating a new

23:41asphalt crew to support pavement

23:43preservation and improvements.

23:46This new budget prioritizes delivering

23:48highquality services to the community,

23:50assisting our most vulnerable

23:52populations, maintaining the city's

23:54investment in infrastructure, and

23:56envisioning the future needs of a

23:58growing, vital, and sustainable

23:59community. I'd like to invite the

24:01community to continue sharing their

24:03thoughts and questions on the budget

24:05through one of the upcoming budget

24:06hearings on October 20th and November

24:092nd or later in this meeting tonight.

24:12The complete balance preliminary budget

24:14is now available on our website at

24:16redmond.gov/budget.

24:19I look forward to discussing the policy

24:21decisions related to this preliminary

24:23budget with council in the budget

24:24deliberations starting on October 22nd.

24:28And with that, all the council members,

24:30not only do they have access online, but

24:32they also got very large printed budget

24:35books that they get the chance to look

24:36through. And I really am excited about

24:38this budget. I feel grateful to our

24:40community for the support. And I know a

24:43lot of communities aren't in the aren't

24:46in the shape we are in financially. So,

24:48I'm very appreciative that we are where

24:49we are this year. So, with that, uh,

24:52thank you council. Thank you staff

24:53again. Um, and I look forward to

24:55deliberations starting later in October.

24:58Thank you.

25:01The next item on the agenda is items

25:03from the audience. I have the sign-in

25:04sheet for members of the public to speak

25:06tonight. When I read your name, you will

25:07come up to the podium and have three

25:09minutes to address the council. Council

25:10members generally will not respond to

25:12comments or questions directly at the

25:14meeting. Members of the public are

25:15welcome to email the council any time at

25:17mayorsman.gov.

25:20The views stated by members of the

25:21public do not represent the opinion of

25:23the city of Redmond. And as a reminder,

25:24RCW29B45010

25:28prohibits any public comment during the

25:29council meeting in support or opposition

25:31of ballot propositions, measures, or

25:33candidates. All comments must pertain to

25:36the city of Redmond business as

25:37indicated in the sign-in sheet except on

25:39the subject of the public hearing. There

25:42are seven people signed up to speak

25:44tonight and there has been written

25:46comment distributed to the council and

25:50one person has signed up to speak

25:51remotely. So, I usually call up the

25:53first four people so you know when

25:54you're going next. So, I'll start with

25:56Aaron Hamilton, then Wolf Adriatico,

25:59then Ryan McKinster, then David Morton.

26:09When talking about the co-responder

26:11program, it's easy for people on the

26:13outside to picture just the initial call

26:15for service. Mary just arrives on scene

26:18spend spending a few minutes talking

26:20with somebody in crisis and then moving

26:22on to the next call. But this is not how

26:24this work actually happens. The most

26:27important part of the MHP's job is often

26:29the work that happens after the sirens

26:31are gone. People experiencing mental

26:33health crisis are frequently dealing

26:35with trauma, isolation, severe

26:37depression, anxiety, self harm, suicidal

26:39thoughts, or suicide. Building enough

26:42trust for that person to accept help

26:44does not happen instantly. It takes

26:46time, patience, consistency, and

26:48follow-through. An MHP must assess the

26:51risk, help develop safety plans,

26:53identify resources, coordinate services,

26:56and connect the individual to treatment.

26:58Then comes the ongoing work, follow-up

27:00contacts, checking progress, helping

27:02navigate barriers, and making sure the

27:04person does not simply fall back into

27:06crisis and return to the broken mental

27:08health system. Their goal is not just

27:11res resolving one call. The goal is

27:13preventing the next one. The work is

27:16intensive. It requires meaningful

27:18relationships and ongoing case

27:20management. Mary has had an overflowing

27:24case load since she started and has been

27:27working beyond normal hours just to keep

27:29up with the community needs. When one

27:32MHP is responsible for an entire city,

27:34it's and its growing demand, we risk

27:37reaching the point where people wait

27:38longer for engagement, followup becomes

27:41becomes more difficult and opportunities

27:44for early intervention are lost. The

27:46second MHP position is not an expansion

27:49for expansion's sake. It is capacity and

27:52is sustainability. It is ensuring that

27:55the investment the city has already made

27:57in behavioral health response can

27:58continue to deliver results. The funding

28:01and position have been approved for what

28:03feels like forever. It's time to move

28:06forward with the recruitment so Redmond

28:08can continue providing the level of care

28:10the community deserves. The [snorts]

28:12city also needs to make sure we're

28:14recruiting the right candidate. Hiring

28:17an unlicensed candidate would always

28:19require Mary's presence, negating the

28:22capacity gain. any capacity gains. On a

28:25personal level, I I am worried about

28:28Mary's mental health and well-being. She

28:31has made such a positive impact for our

28:34community, and I want to ensure she gets

28:36the support she needs from the city. The

28:39last thing we want is our only MHP to

28:43get burnt out. Thank you.

28:47>> Next is Wolf Adriatico, then Ryan

28:49McKinster, then David Wharton, then Todd

28:51Levit.

29:01Hello.

29:02Discussion of the teen center project

29:04during the September 22nd committee was

29:06difficult to listen through for me.

29:08Again, council makes simple requests for

29:10things like a rough timeline that the

29:12parks director deflects. Again, kicking

29:14the can down the road now to post

29:16validation. And yet, I have a strong

29:18feeling that council will approve

29:20tonight's consent item number 4,

29:22AM26146.

29:23Despite these missteps, the admittance

29:26that teens have only been informed of

29:27the engagement sessions via Peach Jar, a

29:30website. I understand

29:33I understand that council is rather

29:35techsavvy and that Redmond is very

29:36techoriented, but this outreach again

29:38does not live up to the city's promise

29:39to involve as many teens as possible,

29:41and it raises an obligatory gesture. I

29:44will be attending the session this 8th

29:46and hope that at the very least the

29:48sessions that you are putting on are

29:52done better than last time. Um I find

29:56that the explanation for the square

29:59footage and the $35 million figure

30:02raised up from 9 million to 12 million

30:06during the stakeholder group um

30:09inadequate. I think that the excuse that

30:15the 9 million figure was for a like forl

30:19like rebuild

30:22um is telling that the

30:28it is telling that the

30:32parks department

30:34has intentionally or just incompetently

30:38misled the council as well as the public

30:40and stakeholders into the point that

30:44we're at now with the council not being

30:47able to input on whether or not they

30:50want a like forlike uh reconstruction as

30:54council members mentioned on the

30:57committee of the whole and [snorts]

31:00stakeholders being led to believe that a

31:02renovation

31:04and rebuild would be only a couple

31:06million dollars apart where in reality

31:10The parks department always intended for

31:12a rebuild for a rebuild to cost tens of

31:16millions of dollars more because they

31:18did not

31:21actually

31:23they were not actually shooting for a

31:25like for like. Um

31:28yeah, thank you.

31:31>> Next is Ryan McKinster, then David

31:33Morton, then Todd Levit, then Jonathan

31:36Kurt.

31:39Good evening, Mayor Bernie, Council

31:41President Stewart, and Council Members.

31:43Uh, for the record, Ryan McKinster. I'm

31:45with the Master Builders of King and

31:47Snomish County. I'm an advocacy manager

31:48for King County. Um, I'm here today to

31:51support the creation of the one uh

31:55permitting and development department.

31:58uh as you consider the budget before you

32:01coming up in the next few weeks, we

32:02really would support uh fully uh funding

32:05this reorganization and the

32:07reorganization of itself. A year ago

32:10when the council started uh this

32:12discussion uh we showed up, not me, I

32:14hadn't been with the association yet. Uh

32:16and let the city know that two

32:17recommendations really mattered to us

32:19and to an efficient program. Uh one is a

32:23leader with authority over the whole

32:24department and the process. um that

32:27department would also hold all uh value

32:30and review uh every else everything else

32:32in the report that you received a few

32:33weeks ago uh kind of depends on those

32:36two things feel the cost of current

32:37structure every day uh a delay and I

32:40think most of you know but you may not

32:43uh the beginning of a process you uh

32:46take money out to build whether you're

32:48building a house a single house or a

32:50development that money is very expensive

32:52as you go through the process you re uh

32:55you re-evaluate those loans loans with

32:56your with with your mortgage or your

32:58loaning partners and it gets cheaper.

33:00But everyday delay at the front end of

33:03the project adds substantial cost and

33:05substantial risk. We are walking into

33:07headwinds right now with everything that

33:09I'm sure you're all aware of with our

33:10economy, with the cost of living, with

33:12tariffs, especially with the price of

33:14lumber that will be changing drastically

33:16uh with some of the tariffs on uh Canada

33:18that are coming before us. Uh we have

33:20not recognized those yet, but we will.

33:22When we get to this point, every dollar,

33:25every day matters.

33:27One decision maker, one department, one

33:29set of procedures fixes the cause of

33:31these symptoms. Is it the panacea that

33:34we all would hope it would be? I don't

33:35believe so. But like I said, every

33:38dollar matters. And right now, uh,

33:42according to the Department of Commerce,

33:43it takes about 200 days on average to

33:45get a permit through to build a home or

33:47a development.

33:48um that's longer than it probably should

33:50be and what the the statute requires.

33:52However, the department has already

33:54taken efforts to substantially reduce

33:56this. There a pilot program for

33:58concurrent review which has dropped that

34:00by 50 days. This is just an extension of

34:03that process. Your department is doing

34:04good and they are asking for this change

34:06and we support it. Thank you.

34:11>> Next is David Morton, then Todd Levit,

34:13then Jonathan Ker, then John Hansen.

34:19>> [clears throat]

34:19>> Good evening, council members and mayor.

34:21I'm David Morton. Thank you for adopting

34:24on August 3rd the ground rules for

34:26budget deliberations. They bring

34:29structure and transparency to hard work.

34:31I want to raise a timing problem in

34:33them, though, and it's not about money

34:35and funding. Council members hear oral

34:38testimony live and I appreciate that.

34:41But rule 7A3 says community comments,

34:45whether from the public hearings, the

34:47budget email address, or other channels,

34:50will be provided to council following

34:52the October 22nd and 27th review

34:55meetings. Rules five and six make those

34:58the nights that council reviews service

35:01enhancements, proposes new ones, and

35:04pulls on each one. Rule 7 A4 then says

35:08changes are tenatively finalized October

35:1129th. Put those together. The written

35:14record reaches council only after the

35:17polling and the November 2nd hearing

35:20falls after the October 29th

35:23finalization date. The only backup is a

35:26November 5th meeting if council needs

35:28one. The October 13th committee me memo

35:32adds to the concern. It describes a

35:35complete what we heard summary published

35:38October 6th before the October 20th and

35:41November 2nd hearings. Whatever it

35:43contains, it cannot reflect te testimony

35:47not yet given. I'm not suggesting bad

35:50faith. staff ran an extensive engagement

35:53effort and the focus group report is

35:55candid that its findings cannot be

35:58projected onto the whole community. That

36:01cander is exactly why live testimony

36:04matters when a key input is an open

36:07online questionnaire with about 400

36:09responses. Hearings and written comments

36:12are how residents tell council what a

36:15ranked list of services leaves out. So,

36:18I ask three things. First, deliver

36:21hearing testimony and written comments

36:23to council within a few days of receipt

36:26before each review meeting, starting

36:28with everything received ahead of

36:30October 22nd. Second, post online the

36:34public comment matrix that staff are

36:37already compiling updated after every

36:40hearing and every batch of emails so

36:43residents can see what was said and how

36:45it was handled. Third, use November 5th

36:49to finalize changes. So, council has

36:52read the november 2nd testimony first.

36:55Residents are being invited to

36:57participate and many give up an evening

36:59to do it. Please make sure that

37:02participation can still change a

37:04decision. Thank you.

37:08>> Next is Todd Levit, then Jonathan Kurt,

37:10then John Hansen.

37:18Yeah, good evening, uh, Mayor Bernie,

37:20Council Member Stewart, and fellow

37:21council members. My name is Todd Levit.

37:23I am with Murray Franklin Homes. We have

37:26built a lot of homes in Redmond over the

37:28past 40 years, and we have every

37:30intention to continue to build our homes

37:32in Redmond over [snorts] the next 40

37:34years. I'm here to support the single

37:37development services department the

37:38council reviewed on September 8th and

37:41will continue to review next week on the

37:4213th and to ask you to fund it in the

37:45budget. I certainly would need a lot

37:48more than a threeminute aotment here to

37:50share our not so great experiences when

37:52we run into issues that involve two

37:54separate departments between development

37:56review engineering and public works. All

37:59I know is there is a tremendous

38:01opportunity to get everyone rowing in

38:03the same boat in the same direction with

38:06one single development services

38:09department. One department with one

38:11accountable director means one answer,

38:14one timeline and one place to go when

38:17something stalls. You know, we

38:19constantly state as an industry that we

38:21ask for two main things from our

38:23jurisdictions. Consistency and

38:25predictability.

38:27That consistency and predictability is a

38:30key driver in assessing jurisdictional

38:32risk when investing into a city. And I

38:36can tell you that we at Murray Franklin

38:37Homes have made decisions to not invest

38:40into other cities when those two

38:42important components are not in place.

38:44There's a real opportunity to continue

38:47that consistency and predictability

38:48within the city of Redmond. So, please

38:50fund the department in this budget,

38:52confirm the directive this fall, and

38:54hold it to publish timelines. Thank you

38:56very much.

38:59>> Next is Jonathan Kurt and John Hansen.

39:12>> Good evening, Mayor and Council.

39:15I grew up here in the area and got into

39:19land development and building of homes.

39:22And over the last 15 years, I got very

39:26involved in building smaller medium-siz

39:29homes in Seattle. And recently

39:34have pivoted back over to Redmond and

39:37Belleview.

39:39And we have currently been working on

39:41projects within Redmond where we have

39:45taken some existing subdivisions and

39:48switched it over to middle housing where

39:50on one lot we do one large 3,800T home,

39:54but we recently switched it to build

39:57more of a 2,000 ft home or a little bit

40:00more than that on one lot. and working

40:04with the departments within Redmond has

40:07been very challenging but also very much

40:11open and willing to work together and

40:14the mayor has been involved in a number

40:15of these meetings and the directors and

40:17the different departments have been very

40:19involved but we have a lot to do and go.

40:23We talk about the city

40:26switching from suburb to more of a city

40:29and a lot of that is just trying to fit

40:32an affordable or an attainable home onto

40:35a smaller lot cuz most larger lots are

40:38gone and so we have to get creative to

40:41get the utilities and transportation to

40:43work and having the departments

40:45separated makes it really difficult.

40:48Luckily,

40:50uh the the managers and a lot of the

40:52line workers have been willing to meet

40:54with us to go over these issues to try

40:55and make it work. But when you run into

40:58issues where we need a solution

40:59resolved, it gets elevated but doesn't

41:03necessarily get resolved, especially for

41:05the next projects coming down the line.

41:08And we really are struggling right now

41:10with making projects pencil just because

41:14land prices are still high, costs are

41:16still very high, and we have to somehow

41:19fit smaller homes onto smaller lots. And

41:22with departments not underneath each

41:25other working together in uniform and

41:28not having one person that can drive it,

41:30it gets confusing and it doesn't flow

41:33very well. And so I'm here to advocate

41:35for making the department have more

41:39tools to make it easier for us because

41:41we're in a very creative new process of

41:44figuring out how to do smaller

41:45medium-siz homes on less land. And we're

41:49really excited to work with the

41:51departments with some of the new

41:53elements. And we have big headwinds.

41:56It's just really tough taking old

41:58suburban code and try and put that on a

42:01smaller lot and make it work with

42:04smaller homes. Just as an example, if

42:07you have one lot and you're only allowed

42:10one driveway into that lot for three or

42:13four homes.

42:13>> And in conclusion,

42:15>> it's really difficult to do that. So,

42:17thank you.

42:21Uh, next is John Hansen and then we'll

42:23go to our online commenter.

42:32Hello. Good evening. I'm John Hansen

42:34from a company called Maidenbower Group.

42:36We're a residential builder based in

42:37Redmond. We're on Willows Road. Um uh so

42:40uh uh thank you Melissa for the advice

42:43you gave us on Willows Road. Also, thank

42:45you to the city of Redmond for the new

42:47water line you're giving us at the

42:48moment. Um uh and uh um we're here to

42:52support the single planning department.

42:54Um and we were glad to hear that Jason

42:57is uh um picked to lead it. Um Jason and

43:01us, we first met. Uh Jason took it upon

43:04himself to stop by our Willows house

43:06office uh to red tag us while we were uh

43:09remodeling it and that's how we met. Um

43:11and and we became friends ever since. Um

43:14so uh real estate at the moment stinks.

43:16Um interest rates are high. If you want

43:19to know about construction costs, uh

43:21just look at the diesel price, right?

43:22That's they follow each other. Um and

43:25our buyer pool has evaporated. Um right

43:28now, um if you put a nice home in

43:31Redmond up for rent, you'll get 20

43:34applications. You'll get six

43:35walkthroughs on the first day. Three of

43:38those walkthroughs will have

43:39compensation in the region of half a

43:41million dollars a year. These are very

43:43wellqualified people, but they're

43:45renting. they don't want to buy because

43:47they don't know if they're going to be

43:48here a year from now. So, we don't have

43:50much of a buyer pool. So, our sales

43:52prices are currently below replacement

43:54cost right now. That can't last forever,

43:55but that's where we are. Um, so it also

43:58means we can't get investors interested

44:00in investing in real estate projects,

44:02which means we can't build more homes.

44:04Um, uh, um, now and we're in difficult

44:08times. We saw difficult times in the

44:10banking crisis. Um, many of you are not

44:13old enough to remember the common

44:14household names, Bucken, Bernstead,

44:17Sentex, uh, Cam West, and you didn't see

44:20them come out of the downturn. Um, we

44:23already know this time two companies

44:24that have shut their doors locally. Um,

44:26and I'm sure we'll have more that, uh,

44:28follow. Now, there is a light and it is

44:31about this planning department and the

44:33consolidation. um because we are um us

44:36and our peers are all looking in

44:38Belleview for middle housing projects

44:39because we believe we have a buyer pool

44:41for middle housing and in Belleview we

44:43can do it and how that looks on a matrix

44:46when we draw it up on a whiteboard you

44:48look at the city of Kirkland elected

44:50officials are against middle housing

44:53staff is in favor code or let's call it

44:56process is good in Kirkland Redmond

45:00elected officials are in favor staff are

45:02in favor process is poor. Um, and if you

45:06want to take Belleview, elected

45:08officials are in favor, staff are in

45:09favor, code is good, process is good.

45:12Um, so I assume that um, I don't know

45:15how cities work on a daily basis, but I

45:17hope you benchmark against other cities

45:19and it would be great if you talk to the

45:21Belleview about how did they get what

45:23they're doing to work and let's do some

45:24of that here and you're going to find

45:26the consolidated process. Um, and the

45:28other city to look at is Rally, North

45:30Carolina. They're a couple of years

45:32ahead of you in middle housing. I think

45:33they adopted code in 2024.

45:36>> I think in conclusion, your terms up.

45:38>> Okay. And and they're having some

45:39success today. Thank you for hearing me

45:41out.

45:44>> Thank you. Um and we have one person

45:47signed up to speak remotely.

45:58>> Hi. If you record your name and reason

46:00for calling, I'll see if this person is

46:02available.

46:04>> Paul Quinn.

46:11>> Thanks. Please stay on the line.

46:15[laughter]

46:19>> Hello,

46:21>> Mr. Quinn. You have three minutes to

46:23address the council.

46:25>> Very good. Good evening, mayor and

46:27council members. My name is Paul Quinn.

46:28I live in Seamish. I'm a person who

46:30cares about fairness and how red and

46:32solid waste customers are charged for

46:34disposal. Right now, we charge residents

46:36and businesses for disposal based on the

46:38size of the container being picked up.

46:40The effect of this message is to say we

46:43don't really care how much you put in or

46:44divert from the landfill. This approach

46:47is unfair as it charges all people based

46:49on the size of the container rather than

46:51what's in the container. And we know

46:53this is wrong as our water, gas,

46:55electricity charges are based on what we

46:57use rather than on the size of the wires

46:59and pipes connecting us to service. I've

47:01emailed you handouts. Handout one shows

47:04a graphic of the trend of the diversion

47:06rate for Redmond updated through June

47:082026. The diversion rate continues to

47:11worsen even though your 2030 goal is

47:1470%. And the graphic of increasing

47:17monthly cost for garb disposal for your

47:19single family residents is also there.

47:22Last year, King County told us disposal

47:24charges will likely double uh for using

47:27the landfill. What's worsening the trend

47:30is that this city doesn't allow

47:31residents of their businesses to reduce

47:33their costs for disposal by properly

47:35diverting materials for recycling and

47:37compost. In fact, the effect is that

47:39costs are increased for folks who work

47:41hard sorting recyclables and composting

47:43food scraps by charging them the same as

47:46others who are indifferent. And this is

47:48unfair and it can should be changed by

47:51weighing the refues that each customer

47:53creates. To begin this change, I

47:55recommend a pilot program called Smart

47:57Disposal. And no, Smart Disposal is an

48:00innovative initiative. It's not a

48:02company. Handout number three outlines

48:04how smart disposal works in some detail.

48:06Smart Disposal weighs each container

48:08picked up by the hauler at each single

48:10family home. This system uses postcards

48:13mailed to each resident and it provides

48:15data specific to the resident, a

48:17personal report including a landfill

48:19diversion rate per pickup and how their

48:21use of the utility compares to others in

48:23the community. I provided handout number

48:25four to show an example postcard that's

48:28sent to residents. The system helps us

48:30move from a toss and forget mindset

48:32towards making better choices that

48:33affects our landfill. We all know that

48:36feedback through measurement works

48:37because water, electricity, and gas are

48:39all metered, and they help us moderate

48:41our use. Smart disposal provides the

48:43meters our disposal utility needs. The

48:46city's current initiatives don't provide

48:48sufficient impact to reverse Redmond's

48:50downward diversion trends and achieve

48:52our stated 2030 diversion goals. We need

48:55this count to provide the urgency and

48:57leadership to drive smart disposal

48:58forward. Metering and reporting to

49:00residents. What we dispose of at the

49:02curb provides fairness to help us abate

49:04the increasing cost of disposal. This

49:07council should support fair pricing of

49:08our disposal utility. You are a

49:11remarkable city council. Please act

49:13remarkably. Thank you.

49:18>> Items from the audience is now closed.

49:20Our next item of business is the consent

49:22agenda. Is there a motion to approve the

49:23consent agenda? [music]

49:26>> So moved.

49:27>> Is there a second?

49:28>> Second.

49:28>> It's been moved and seconded. Are there

49:30any items to be pulled?

49:32>> Item number four.

49:39>> Item number four has been pulled. Are

49:41there any other other items to be

49:42pulled?

49:45Seeing none, this is a voice vote. All

49:48those in favor say I. I. I.

49:52>> Any opposed? Motion carries 70. Uh item

49:56number four. Is there anyone who would

49:58like to move item number four?

50:00So moved.

50:01>> Is there a second?

50:02>> Second.

50:02>> It's been moved and seconded. Um,

50:05Council Member Parcy, would you like to

50:06speak to this item?

50:08>> Sure. Um, so for this specific

50:11consultant, um, they were originally

50:14chosen when we conducted our application

50:17for the state and uh, the cost of that

50:21application was less than $50,000. So,

50:24the item didn't come to the council.

50:26What I'm really interested in learning

50:28tonight is um as we go to further

50:31collaborate with this consultant and

50:33work with them, I want to make sure that

50:35um I understand the process in which

50:38we've selected this applicant and if we

50:41have conducted through kind of um uh

50:44careful interviews, if we've considered

50:45other candidates so we can make sure

50:47that we have um we show the public that

50:50we've um picked the best candidate for

50:53this um really important u

50:56Thank you for the comment question. I'm

50:59going to bring up director Hamilton to

51:01answer your question.

51:05Good evening. Uh thank you for that

51:06question, council member. So um you are

51:09correct. The original contract for this

51:11consultant was to get us through the PRC

51:14application committee at the state. That

51:16being said, prior to uh contracting with

51:19this team, um we solicited for bids from

51:24three separate design build consultants.

51:26Um I'm sorry, owner's representative

51:28consultants. It's important to note that

51:30this is a really specialized type of

51:32consulting with just a handful of

51:34consultants in the Seattle area. So um

51:37as a point of reference for the we went

51:39through an RFP process for this same set

51:42of services and through an RFP process

51:46received just four proposals. We

51:48shortlisted it to three interviewed

51:50those three shortlisted it to one for

51:53the um teen center in the interest of

51:56time uh and speed which has been a

51:59request of council. uh as opposed to

52:02doing an RFP, we were able to pull off

52:04three consultants from the state roster,

52:07which is an allowable form of

52:08contracting. We pulled three off, two

52:11who had been interviewed previously for

52:12the MOC, and then a third um which was

52:17Turner Townsen and Hiri. Um and those uh

52:21three went through an interview process

52:23with uh myself, but the project team as

52:26well from public works. Uh we then asked

52:28them for statements of qualifications to

52:30understand how much they understood of

52:32the project that we were doing, the

52:34sensitivity, the need for uh an

52:37expedited delivery and their knowledge

52:40of the progressive design build process.

52:43Through that we selected this firm um

52:45which is the progressive design build

52:47consulting firm. They are um extremely

52:53um knowledgeable in this field. uh one

52:56of the consultants, Robin is one of the

52:58real like founders and groundbreakers

53:00around the progressive design build

53:02process in general. Uh and so the goal

53:05as we did that process was to get

53:08through the PRC application. And the

53:09reason we didn't go for a larger

53:11contract is because we were not sure if

53:13we were going to be approved. But the

53:15hope was that after that point, if that

53:19application had been approved and we

53:21were happy with their services, which we

53:23were, uh, that we would be able to

53:24extend that contract and bring it back

53:26to council. So that's where we are today

53:28is that the full contract through

53:30validation at this point is in front of

53:32you so that we can continue the work

53:33with PDBC

53:37>> and any more any follow with that or

53:39that answers your question.

53:40>> Thank you so much. That's very helpful.

53:42I'm really glad that we could share this

53:44out publicly uh to show our due

53:46diligence in selecting the best

53:48candidate. Um I would love to have a

53:51follow-up question on this to make sure

53:53um I understand if this candidate has

53:56had experience specifically with

53:59building community buildings or um um

54:02teen centers specifically that would be

54:05really helpful. And also my second

54:07question is um I'm very interested in

54:10knowing what are the timelines for

54:12upcoming council decisions to be made

54:14with a teen center. So if you could um

54:16expand on that a little bit that would

54:18be really helpful to know what are

54:19exactly the next council um decision

54:22points.

54:23>> Absolutely. So um this consulting firm

54:26has extensive experience with projects

54:29in schools, libraries, and community

54:31centers. Um, I'm not sure if they have a

54:35specific teen center. I know I have

54:37staff, Eric and Shaylee are online.

54:39Shaylee, do you know if they have

54:41specific teen center experience?

54:45>> Um, they do not, but neither did any of

54:47the other teams that applied like um

54:50these are all similar type of centers.

54:52So there is teen is a part of a lot of

54:54the community centers that do get built

54:56or like schools for example. So those

54:58were some of the the type of um projects

55:00we were looking at and looking for.

55:03>> Thank you, Shaylee. Uh and so yes, they

55:06had extensive experience in schools,

55:08libraries, and community centers. So

55:09they have um actively done many of those

55:11projects from a city council um decision

55:15point. The next decision point that you

55:17will have is when we bring a contract to

55:19you for the design build team. So as a

55:21reminder, this is our owner

55:22representative. The owner's

55:23representative helps owners like

55:26ourselves through progressive design

55:28build processes. When you are an agency

55:31that does not have extensive um

55:33experience in alternative delivery

55:35methods, so not just a design bid build,

55:38um it is important to have an owner's

55:40representative who is well familiar with

55:42the exper with the process, the

55:44contracting, the legal pieces. And so

55:46that's what this team provides for us.

55:48So they are being a really heavy support

55:50for us as we go through the procurement

55:51for the design build team. So the next

55:54decision point will be when we bring

55:55that design build contract to you. The

55:57goal is to bring the first phase of

55:59that. I'm really hoping before the end

56:01of the year that will take that first

56:04portion of that contract will take us

56:05through validation only. If council

56:08would prefer to see a larger contract

56:11from them, that contract will not be

56:13ready to come to council until early

56:14next year at the earliest because we'll

56:16need to do some significant contract

56:18negotiations. It's pretty common in

56:20this, it's very common in this

56:22particular delivery method to bring

56:24contracts in phases um because uh they

56:28are such large projects that we can

56:30contract a phase at a time and ensure

56:32that we understand what the next phase

56:34of the project is going to take before

56:35we scope it out as opposed to scoping

56:37out the effort for the whole project

56:39when things could very well change. So

56:42that would be the next decision point.

56:44>> Thank you, Council Member Foresight.

56:46>> Thank you. uh very much appreciate the

56:48background on um the whole process going

56:52a little more deeper into how they were

56:54selected um because I think that

56:56provides a lot of clarity that I was I

56:58was lacking and I appreciate the council

56:59member for bringing this up as well cuz

57:02you know looking at a a bid that's just

57:04under the amount that council has

57:06approval over it doesn't feel

57:08comfortable when then we're going to a

57:10bigger contract amount. So appreciate

57:12the due diligence, appreciate the

57:14question from my colleague and I will be

57:15voting yes. Thank you, Council Member

57:18Critzer.

57:19>> And thank you. Um so two of the things

57:22that that the council articulated last

57:24year when we were making the decision

57:26about the the direction that we wanted

57:28to take on the teen center building, one

57:30was uh around expedience of this project

57:33and making sure that we could hopefully

57:35rebuild the the teen center um uh you

57:38know with um maintaining really its

57:41legacy and the music space um but as as

57:44quickly as possible um which uh which I

57:48I do want to call out that right now on

57:50the timeline. Uh it it it has um a

57:53longer timeline than we might have

57:55hoped, but uh hopefully um through this

57:58process, we'll see that shrink down. Can

58:00you speak to how the progressive design

58:03build approach may help us with that

58:05experienc?

58:06>> Yes, that's a great question. So, the

58:08progressive design build delivery method

58:10was selected for this project because of

58:12its ability to concurrently run

58:14processes. So for example, right now we

58:17have our owner's representative working

58:19with us on both procurement as well as

58:21initial community engagement. In more

58:23traditional delivery methods, we see

58:25things happen 1 2 3 4. In a progressive

58:29design build, we may see A through C

58:32happening and D through G happening kind

58:34of concurrently or at least overlapping.

58:37And so it allows us for overlapping some

58:39of the phases. The other piece that it

58:41allows for us to do is things like early

58:43contracting, early works proc um

58:46processes and early procurement

58:48particularly for long lead items. So if

58:50you were would recall on the senior and

58:53community center, we ended up having

58:55about a six-month delay at the end of

58:57the project because of electrical switch

58:59gear. The progressive design build

59:01process allows us to see that coming and

59:05um come to council and say we would like

59:07to do a contract to do some long lead

59:09[clears throat] items and get those

59:10things procured earlier so that we

59:12aren't waiting for electrical switch

59:14gear to um finish out our project. The

59:17last thing that it allows us to do is

59:19have the most information upfront in

59:22validation as possible. allows us to

59:24have our geotechnical work done,

59:26community engagement work, really robust

59:28communication with city staff, with

59:31leadership, and go through that process

59:33and come out at the end of it with a

59:35very well-formed scope, schedule, and

59:37budget. And so I understand that this

59:40process feels a little um less concrete

59:45than you would feel in a design bid

59:47build, but that also provides us both

59:49expediency as well as flexibility as we

59:52do particularly our community engagement

59:54on this project. It's a high priority

59:57centering teen voices, understanding

59:59what we want for the future,

1:00:01understanding how we balance out those

1:00:03priorities. Um, if we were to not do the

1:00:07progressive design build process, we

1:00:09would have likely needed to do a 6

1:00:11to9month master planning process first

1:00:14before we were able to get a design

1:00:16build on. We would have procured that

1:00:18first and then procured a design builder

1:00:20to hand that off to to build. So, this

1:00:22allows us to put that work in one scope

1:00:26with one project team as opposed to

1:00:28losing time to procuring multiple teams

1:00:30throughout the life of a project.

1:00:32>> Thank you. And if the mayor will allow,

1:00:34could I ask one follow-up question?

1:00:36Great. Um the So you mentioned uh one of

1:00:40the other things that I think is a

1:00:42priority for council is making sure that

1:00:43we're centering teen voices in this

1:00:45process. And I know you mentioned

1:00:47briefly, I believe, uh during our our

1:00:49committee meeting that you believe that

1:00:51this um this particular contractor would

1:00:54bring some some some skills in being

1:00:56able to especially help to facilitate um

1:00:59and you kind of mentioned tonight that

1:01:00this understanding the sensitivities of

1:01:02what it looks like to do really that

1:01:05community engagement from beginning to

1:01:06end. Yeah.

1:01:07>> Um wallkeeping on on timelines. So, can

1:01:10you speak to what it is that that you

1:01:11feel what makes you feel confident in

1:01:13that that aspect? So, our current

1:01:16owner's representative is only helping

1:01:17us with this first set of community

1:01:20engagement. That being said, um they

1:01:22have ran community engagement for other

1:01:25projects that they have been the owner's

1:01:26representative for. So, we selected this

1:01:30owner's representative over the other

1:01:32two firms because they were the only one

1:01:34that heard us say, it would be great if

1:01:37we could not lose time during

1:01:39procurement, if we can start to get some

1:01:41work done. and they came back and said,

1:01:43"Well, we could do initial engagement

1:01:44while we're procuring your design build

1:01:46team." And so they understood the

1:01:48importance of engaging the community and

1:01:50trying to like trying to bring them

1:01:52along. The design build team has not yet

1:01:55been selected, but all three that are

1:01:57currently shortlisted have strong robust

1:02:00experience with um engagement processes

1:02:04with the community, particularly in teen

1:02:06spaces, whether it's schools, libraries,

1:02:08community centers, or teen centers in

1:02:11particular. And so um that team, the

1:02:13design build team, that is a requirement

1:02:15for them to have on their um on their

1:02:18team when we select them. The three that

1:02:21are shortlisted have very robust teams

1:02:23around that. So our owner's

1:02:24representative will not continue doing

1:02:27community engagement. They're helping us

1:02:28with this. They've done a lot of review

1:02:31of what we've already done and then

1:02:33they'll do this portion of the dreaming

1:02:35with the community. They'll help kind of

1:02:37synthesize all of that information to

1:02:40then hand to the design build team so

1:02:41that they can then build additional

1:02:43community engagement off of that and

1:02:45then they'll be able to hold that going

1:02:46forward. The benefit of the owner's

1:02:48representative helping us with this

1:02:50first phase is that they're going to be

1:02:52able to also represent our interests

1:02:54with the design build team as we're

1:02:55building out engagement with them

1:02:57because they've been in communication

1:02:59with the community even if it's only

1:03:01over the course of a few sessions. And

1:03:02so we feel like that is also going to be

1:03:04a real strength that they continue to

1:03:06bring to our team.

1:03:08>> Just see if um Council President,

1:03:12>> thank you Director Hamilton and my

1:03:14colleagues for the thoughtful questions

1:03:16um and the ongoing conversation. I want

1:03:18to acknowledge um one of the questions

1:03:20we keep coming back to. we a kind of a

1:03:23category of questions are in fact

1:03:25because this is only our second project

1:03:28uh using this alternative delivery

1:03:30method and we're not that much further

1:03:33ahead with the other project. Um this in

1:03:36fact is such a new delivery method. So I

1:03:38want to ask first um I know that cities

1:03:42who are also using this method for the

1:03:45first time have established uh like

1:03:47there's uh some neighboring cities where

1:03:49there's a little cohort of public works

1:03:51directors who are uh leaning on one

1:03:54another as their cities learn how to use

1:03:56this delivery method. Um are our teams

1:03:59or are you or the teams involved in any

1:04:01of those at the moment? Yes, they are.

1:04:03Um it's mainly the staff in the project

1:04:05management and public works side. So, we

1:04:07do have project managers who are

1:04:09participating in that. Um, I know for

1:04:11sure that Amy Kim is participating and I

1:04:14do also believe that Shaye um is

1:04:16participating in that group. It's a

1:04:18group of East Side um project delivery

1:04:21experts who are learning together as

1:04:23they go um and leaning on each other for

1:04:25professional support. Wonderful. And

1:04:27then um also the the question we kind of

1:04:30keep returning to it around the

1:04:31council's role and the the milestones

1:04:34along the way in our committee meeting.

1:04:36um this came up and I think several of

1:04:38us had discussed the need for a visual

1:04:41that we could come back to again and

1:04:42again as a home base. I just wanted to

1:04:44acknowledge that you did send us one um

1:04:47last Thursday and I'll say for my part

1:04:49um I I took a look and I immediately

1:04:52noticed some opportunities to strengthen

1:04:54communication. Um it sounds like the

1:04:57council's going to revisit that on

1:04:58October 27th in our committee meeting.

1:05:01So, um I I do want to encourage my

1:05:03colleagues uh to take a look at that um

1:05:06and and be in touch with staff. If there

1:05:09are opportunity in the next couple days

1:05:11for folks to share their thoughts with

1:05:13you, Director Hamilton, I imagine that

1:05:15that would be helpful um prior to the

1:05:17packet being prepared for for the

1:05:19committee meeting and our next time when

1:05:21we're going to look at that together.

1:05:23Yes, that would be very helpful. that um

1:05:26visual is also meant as at a very high

1:05:29level from a decision point status only,

1:05:32not so much necessarily as every touch

1:05:35of communication. And so um definitely

1:05:38would like to hear feedback or um what

1:05:40would be helpful information for us to

1:05:42bring forward in that committee meeting.

1:05:44Um but also want to assure council that

1:05:47we are committed to coming back at every

1:05:49committee every month um at the parks

1:05:51and environmental sustainability

1:05:53committee. It's a standing item for us

1:05:55to continue to update council but also

1:05:56receive feedback on this project so we

1:05:58can ensure that we're aligned through

1:06:00validation.

1:06:04>> Uh yes, Council Member Parcy.

1:06:06>> I just have two quick um items um at the

1:06:09very end and this is going to be all of

1:06:11my questions for tonight. Uh I really

1:06:13appreciate the questions from my

1:06:14colleagues and the trust that we've

1:06:15built um with um moving forward with

1:06:18this project. One of the um items that I

1:06:21heard from the community is um that I

1:06:23want to make sure that we address is how

1:06:26do we plan to facilitate the sessions

1:06:28more effectively this time? If there's

1:06:30any learnings and things that we're

1:06:31going to do differently this time, I

1:06:33would love to hear it. And then the

1:06:35second part is um when we when is the

1:06:38council going to make the decision for

1:06:40if we're going to build a like for like

1:06:43versus a um an expanded building? Um, I

1:06:47reviewed the document that you shared on

1:06:49Thursday, but I don't think that quite

1:06:52helped me answer that question. So, if

1:06:54you could answer that question for when

1:06:56the council would be able to kind of

1:06:58make that decision, that would be really

1:06:59helpful. Thank you.

1:07:01>> Um, yes, I can answer that first

1:07:04question. Uh, you asked about our

1:07:05learnings from around session

1:07:07facilitation. So, one of the things that

1:07:09we heard most um clearly is one teens

1:07:12wanted spaces where it was only teens.

1:07:14Um, and then the other piece was they

1:07:16didn't want to sit and look at a

1:07:18PowerPoint. Super fair. I don't always

1:07:20want to sit and look at a PowerPoint

1:07:21either. So, um, the two sessions that we

1:07:24ran last week with teens were come and

1:07:26go. Food was provided. Um, staff was

1:07:30there mainly as observers. There was not

1:07:31a presentation, but there were

1:07:33self-guided stations. There was staff

1:07:35present to help um, answer any

1:07:37questions, listen to any feedback. Um,

1:07:40uh, because one of the requests was that

1:07:42we come to where they are. The other was

1:07:44done at the Redmond Community Center at

1:07:46Marymore Village on a normal Ryack night

1:07:49so that we could capitalize on them

1:07:51being where they are in their space. Um,

1:07:53both were, I think, really wellreceived

1:07:56and we've received a lot of creative

1:07:58input. um which was really I would say

1:08:01refreshing and exciting to see and I

1:08:03think is reflective of what um we've

1:08:05been hearing both from the community and

1:08:06council that the hope is uh what it will

1:08:09look like into the next phase will be

1:08:10highly dependent on who the design

1:08:12builder that is selected each of the

1:08:14three that we have interviewed and we're

1:08:16waiting for their final um RFP submitts

1:08:19are all very different and have

1:08:20presented different options around

1:08:22community engagement um and our team is

1:08:25committed to having that as one of the

1:08:27highest priorities ities. The selection

1:08:29team includes program staff from the

1:08:32team that works with our teens out at

1:08:34Redmond Community Center at Morymore

1:08:36Village um and is providing a lot of

1:08:38really helpful insight as to what would

1:08:40be most effective in that space. from a

1:08:42community from a city council um

1:08:45decision standpoint around if the

1:08:47preference is an ASIS or an expanded

1:08:50facility. The direction that was

1:08:52received from city council at the end of

1:08:53last year was to rebuild in an expedited

1:08:56fashion centering teen voice. As part of

1:08:59centering teen voice, our understanding

1:09:04from many of our conversations that we

1:09:05had last year was that the preservation

1:09:08of the legacy of the old firehouse was

1:09:10of the utmost importance. But we also

1:09:12heard continual feedback that it was

1:09:14important to plan for the future and to

1:09:16reach teens that we had not reached in

1:09:18the past. Our previous building was not

1:09:20of a size that would allow us to

1:09:22incorporate those two elements as well.

1:09:25If the der desire of city council is for

1:09:28us to through validation also explore a

1:09:30like forlike facility, we can do that

1:09:33when the design builder is on board. I

1:09:36will share an early reflection from the

1:09:39input that we've received from teens

1:09:41just last week is they they are looking

1:09:45for active spaces, creative spaces,

1:09:48outdoor recreation spaces, more space.

1:09:51And so what I would say is from where we

1:09:55sit and the robust work that we have

1:09:58done throughout the community, not just

1:10:00in the last two years, but in the last

1:10:0110 years, um, as the city continues to

1:10:05grow, it is it is our understanding that

1:10:09the community is going to need more

1:10:11space. If council would prefer us to

1:10:13look at both options, we are absolutely

1:10:15able to do so. That is not a direction

1:10:17that we had previously understood it.

1:10:20Through last year's conversations,

1:10:23um the direction seemed as though there

1:10:25was an understanding that growth was

1:10:27needed for our teen programs which would

1:10:30require more space

1:10:33and therefore a larger budget if

1:10:35>> Thank you. Thank you. Any other

1:10:37questions on this item? Thank you so

1:10:39much, director. Appreciate it. Um so

1:10:41it's item number four, approval of the

1:10:43consultant services agreement supplement

1:10:44one.

1:10:46It's been moved and seconded. All those

1:10:48in favor say I. I.

1:10:50>> I.

1:10:51>> Any opposed? And motion carries 70.

1:10:54Thank you council for those great

1:10:56questions.

1:10:58Our next item of business is a public

1:10:59hearing on the 2027 2028 bianual budget,

1:11:02property tax levy, and other revenue

1:11:04sources.

1:11:10The public hearing is now open. I have

1:11:12the sign-in sheet for members of the

1:11:13public to speak in person tonight. When

1:11:15I call your name, you will come up to

1:11:16the podium and have three minutes to

1:11:18address the council on the subject of

1:11:19the public hearing. We have three people

1:11:22signed up to speak in person tonight.

1:11:24And no one has signed up to speak

1:11:25remotely. Um so I'll do this like I do

1:11:28um items from the audience. I'll call

1:11:29your names in order so you know who

1:11:30you're coming up uh after. Uh Sierra

1:11:33Madden, then Hank Meyers, then David

1:11:35Martin.

1:11:41>> Good evening, mayor and council members.

1:11:43My name is Kira Madden. I'm the external

1:11:45engagement coordinator for Plymouth

1:11:46Housing. Plymouth provides permanent

1:11:48supportive housing to nearly 1500 people

1:11:51who have successfully put homelessness

1:11:52behind them. Across our 18 buildings in

1:11:55King County, we've been providing homes,

1:11:57healing, and hope since 1980. We are

1:11:59proud to announce that our 19th

1:12:01building, our Redmond building, is on

1:12:03track to open early next year and will

1:12:05be called Sammonberg Apartments.

1:12:08Thank you again for your action and

1:12:09leadership in making this building a

1:12:11reality. Samberg Apartments will become

1:12:13home to 100 Redmond residents who rely

1:12:16on us for wraparound stability services,

1:12:18including case management, support for

1:12:20chronic conditions, and most

1:12:22importantly, permanent housing they can

1:12:24afford. Housing and homelessness

1:12:26continue to be amongst the most urgent

1:12:28and pressing needs in our region. Nearly

1:12:31a third of Redmond households are

1:12:32housing cost burden, meaning they're

1:12:34spending more than a third of their

1:12:35income on their housing. Plymouth can

1:12:38often be found tableabling in community

1:12:39in Redmond and we are hearing more and

1:12:42more from the people who are in

1:12:43immediate need for housing.

1:12:45We know from our work that rising cost

1:12:47of living, job loss, and limited

1:12:50affordable housing options can and are

1:12:52currently pushing people into

1:12:54homelessness. And while there's

1:12:55certainly good work being done in

1:12:57Redmond uh both by local organizations

1:12:59and the city's own initiatives, we also

1:13:02know that we are collectively not moving

1:13:03fast enough. need and instability is

1:13:06growing and we are not scaling capacity

1:13:07fast enough. So tonight, we urge you to

1:13:10center housing and homelessness as core

1:13:12priorities of the upcoming bienial

1:13:13budget. Specifically, we ask that you

1:13:16increase human services funding and

1:13:17housing investments to support current

1:13:19and future permanent supportive housing

1:13:21sites. At Plymouth, we've longed to

1:13:23believe that safe, stable housing is the

1:13:26first and most critical step to

1:13:27addressing other challenges. As you

1:13:30consider your budget, we ask that you

1:13:31first consider where will people lay

1:13:33their heads tonight. For how many for

1:13:36the many other real and serious issues

1:13:37affecting community health, how many can

1:13:40be seriously addressed without a safe,

1:13:42stable place to call home. Thank you for

1:13:44your important work and for hosting this

1:13:46public hearing tonight again that we ask

1:13:47you increase human services funding and

1:13:50housing investments to support future

1:13:52and current permanent supportive housing

1:13:53sites. We must invest in system capacity

1:13:56to respond to the need we see every day.

1:13:59Thank you.

1:14:01Next is Hank Myers, then David Morton.

1:14:31Good evening. I will address budget

1:14:33issues tonight. I brought you my budget

1:14:36priorities previously, but we'll mention

1:14:38them again later. There are three

1:14:41budgeting practices that are being

1:14:43missed by this administration and

1:14:45council. The first is when you adopt a

1:14:48budget, it is more than a spending plan.

1:14:51It is a mission statement. State overall

1:14:54what you hope to accomplish

1:14:57and if you have particular emphasis on a

1:14:59new something, state it in specifics.

1:15:03The second two practices are used by

1:15:05some but not all of your department

1:15:07heads. First, assign who is responsible

1:15:10for completing the task by name or

1:15:13department position. Second, when the

1:15:16task is to be completed. Department

1:15:19heads are important part of this

1:15:20practice, but you cannot just say,

1:15:23"Here's the money. Take care of it when

1:15:25you can." Unless you set a deadline, it

1:15:28won't be accomplished to your

1:15:29satisfaction. Now, the priorities. First

1:15:32and foremost, our pavement quality index

1:15:34is the lowest on the east side. In plain

1:15:37English, our streets are terrible. I

1:15:40raised this point with Mayor Marion in

1:15:43his last term as it declined from the

1:15:45low 80s to to near the standard of 70.

1:15:49His response was he was leaving office

1:15:52and we were still above the minimum. An

1:15:54answer worthy of Alfred E. Newman. What

1:15:57me worry? Since Mayor Bernie and this

1:16:00council have taken over, pavement

1:16:02condition continues to climb well below

1:16:05the 70 minimum. The worst part of it is

1:16:08neither Mayor Bernie nor any council

1:16:10member seems to be concerned at all. In

1:16:13her addresses and interviews, she has

1:16:15never mentions pavement condition as a

1:16:18challenge to be overcome. You expressed

1:16:21your concerns by saying who is

1:16:23responsible and by setting a deadline.

1:16:26At least I expect this budget will

1:16:28restore our pavement condition to the

1:16:30minimum of 70 within two years.

1:16:34We are fortunate to have such

1:16:36outstanding public safety heads. If they

1:16:38weren't that you would not have such

1:16:40great service using technology systems

1:16:43they have tried. Many residents don't

1:16:46understand the technology or simply

1:16:48oppose it. But when you have the lowest

1:16:50number of sworn officers per resident in

1:16:53King County, what do you expect? Add

1:16:56staffing to both police and fire

1:16:58departments. reduce the reliance on

1:17:02mandatory overtime. It is not only

1:17:04expensive, but it is a mistreatment of

1:17:07employees. Stop this now and properly

1:17:11fund the services affecting all

1:17:13residents and employees of Redmond

1:17:16businesses.

1:17:18Thank you.

1:17:20>> Next is David Morton.

1:17:29Good evening, council members and mayor.

1:17:31I'm David Morton. I have three funding

1:17:33requests for the budget. As of 7:15

1:17:37p.m., I had not seen the pre preliminary

1:17:40budget or its proposed tax and fee

1:17:42increases, so I can't comment on

1:17:44specific rates. I'll offer three

1:17:47principles, then three funding requests.

1:17:50First, tie every increase to a named

1:17:52outcome. If a levy or fee rises,

1:17:55residents should see which budget offers

1:17:57that it pays for. Second, show household

1:18:00impact. The focus groups and the

1:18:03community-based organization session

1:18:05both named affordability as a top

1:18:07concern. So, please show what each

1:18:11increase costs a typical household,

1:18:13especially the utility rates. Third,

1:18:16post a plain language summary of every

1:18:19proposed tax and fee change with

1:18:21household impact before the October 20

1:18:23and November 2 hearings so the public

1:18:27can respond to actual numbers. Now, my

1:18:30funding requests, each tied to

1:18:32questionnaire results. One, fund soil

1:18:36and groundwater PAS testing at the Evans

1:18:39Creek relocation site and the 2013

1:18:42Allwood Recycling Fire site. Evans Creek

1:18:45construction is expected to start in

1:18:472027 and once ground is disturbed, a

1:18:51clean baseline may be harder and

1:18:53costlier to establish. In the

1:18:55questionnaire, safe drinking water was

1:18:58the most selected service of any

1:19:01category chosen by 88% of respondents.

1:19:05Two, fund a city arborist to

1:19:07independently verify qualified tree

1:19:09professional reports under the new tree

1:19:12regulations. Tree canopy expansion was

1:19:15cho chosen by 43% of respondents and

1:19:18several wrote about tree loss. Three

1:19:22support the environmental sustainability

1:19:24program. Of the 395 who answered that

1:19:27question, 47% were satisfied with

1:19:30environmental and sustainability

1:19:32programs and only 11% were dissatisfied.

1:19:36That's worth protecting when revenue

1:19:38gets tight. Please fund it at least at

1:19:41its current level. Ground rule 5C

1:19:44requires a funding source for any new

1:19:47enhancement. The city's project page

1:19:50says Evans Creek relocation is funded

1:19:52through the storm water utility. So I

1:19:55ask staff to check whether baseline PAS

1:19:58testing can be added to that project and

1:20:01whether general fund surplus can carry

1:20:04the arborist. If the preliminary budget

1:20:07proposes new fees, please say whether

1:20:09any of these funding requests can be

1:20:12funded by them. I ask a council member

1:20:15to sponsor each of these requests as a

1:20:18new proposal on October 22nd or 27th so

1:20:22that council can pull on them. Thank

1:20:24you.

1:20:29>> No one has signed up to speak remotely.

1:20:32The public hearing is now closed. Our

1:20:34next item of business is a staff report

1:20:36on the 2025 annual report and tourism

1:20:38strategic plan progress report. Saraphy

1:20:40Allen, co-inter director of planning and

1:20:42community development, will introduce

1:20:44this item.

1:20:58All right. Good evening, city council.

1:21:00Um I am excited uh tonight that you will

1:21:03receive a focus presentation on one of

1:21:05the key industries in Redmond. Um at the

1:21:08September 22nd for uh financial forecast

1:21:11presentation, it was illustrated how

1:21:13important uh retail sales tax especially

1:21:16in accommodations and food service

1:21:18services is to support our budget. And

1:21:21so we um are proud of the work that has

1:21:23been accomplished in the last two years

1:21:25since the city of Redmond first created

1:21:27its tourism strategic plan. and we look

1:21:30forward to continued alignment and

1:21:31strategic investment made in um

1:21:34Redmond's regional destination uh area

1:21:36especially now that we've been kind of

1:21:38connected to the larger region by light

1:21:40rail and as a reminder you'll hear more

1:21:43about how we leverage and debuted

1:21:46Redmond as a regional destination

1:21:47through our World Cup programming which

1:21:49is coming on the October 20th uh

1:21:52presentation. We'll also have a report

1:21:54on the economic development strategic

1:21:56plan which will include our kind of

1:21:57other clusters uh also on October 20th.

1:22:00So uh tonight um Jackie Leler, our

1:22:03tourism program administrator will share

1:22:05information about the city's tourism

1:22:07programming including our 2025 annual

1:22:10report and it will be followed by an

1:22:12update on where we are at uh in the two

1:22:15years of uh since the adoption of the

1:22:17tourism strategic plan. So with that I

1:22:19will turn it over to Jackie.

1:22:24Thank you.

1:22:28I [snorts] want to first uh level set

1:22:30with talking about the tourism industry

1:22:32for our state and then we'll go into

1:22:34Redmond specifically. So in Washington

1:22:37state, tourism is the fourth largest

1:22:40industry, which is great. It generates

1:22:42nearly $ 24 billion annually and

1:22:46contributes $3.3 billion in local and

1:22:50state taxes.

1:22:52I'll talk about the different funding

1:22:53sources and what we've seen come into

1:22:55funds for Redmond here in the next

1:22:58slides. Our Redmond visitor is typically

1:23:01a weekday corporate business traveler

1:23:04and so you know we have many great

1:23:06businesses here and they do bring people

1:23:08who travel for their organizations. So

1:23:11that's a large part of our business

1:23:13travel. What that leaves is a challenge

1:23:15filling weekend hotel stays. The summers

1:23:19are uh higher occupancy thanks to our

1:23:22summer sports and recreation travel. A

1:23:24big part of that summer travel is uh

1:23:27some of the biggest tournaments on this

1:23:29side of the Mississippi at 60 acres. We

1:23:31actually have uh hundreds of thousands

1:23:34of people come all summer long for those

1:23:36tournaments and we host some national

1:23:38tournaments. So 60 acres is quite

1:23:41utilized and helps fill all our hotel

1:23:42rooms and short-term rentals. Family

1:23:45travel is a part of that sports and

1:23:47recreation travel in addition to simple

1:23:50tra family travel. Um once again a lot

1:23:53of that does happen in the nicer season

1:23:56here. And so we'll talk more about the

1:23:58opportunities of feeling filling the

1:24:00slower season for our hotels and uh what

1:24:02months those specifically are.

1:24:08Here is a look. The graph is the at the

1:24:11revenues that come in for tourism. The

1:24:13graph you're seeing here is the lodging

1:24:16tax funds.

1:24:18So what you see is in 2020 we had a

1:24:22pandemic and that hit our hotel and

1:24:24travel industry very hard. Thankfully

1:24:27Redmond has had a pretty robust reserve

1:24:30lodging tax fund. So anytime we didn't

1:24:32spend our revenues, it went into this

1:24:34bucket called the reserve fund and that

1:24:36was over a million dollars and we had to

1:24:38draw down on that quite a bit in CO and

1:24:41it actually sustained us for a few years

1:24:43before we could recover. Um so we're

1:24:46fortunate that we had that fund. We

1:24:48protect that fund to a limit because we

1:24:50don't know if that could happen again.

1:24:52Maybe hopefully not a pandemic but some

1:24:54other factor that could drive hotel and

1:24:56travel stays down. Uh some other

1:24:59interesting points about our funding is

1:25:02three years ago the Belleview Redmond

1:25:04Tourism Promotion Area known as the

1:25:07BRTPA we call it TPA for short was

1:25:10created.

1:25:12That is through an interlocal agreement

1:25:14with the city of Redmond and the city of

1:25:16Belleview and two zones were created.

1:25:19There's the Redmond zone. So all funds

1:25:21that come into hotels at $2.50 50 a

1:25:24night going to the Redmond zone for

1:25:27Belleview. $2.50 going to the Belleview

1:25:30zone. So, nobody's taking anybody's

1:25:32money. We have our own zone. That was

1:25:33something that was negotiated. And uh

1:25:36what happens in our situation because we

1:25:39do not have a destination management or

1:25:42marketing organization. That's known as

1:25:43a DMO, a visit Bellev, a visit Seattle,

1:25:47a visit Isiqua. Redmond does not have

1:25:49one of those entities. So what the city

1:25:52of Belleview has to do in our situation

1:25:54is they create annual contracts with an

1:25:56organization to manage the TPA funds. In

1:26:012025, there was $850,000

1:26:04that came into that fund. So together we

1:26:06have $1.5 million in funding for

1:26:09tourism. They are run somewhat

1:26:11separately. So the city of Belleview

1:26:14contracts annually. right now that

1:26:16contract uh for managing that money and

1:26:18the budget for the TPA who has the final

1:26:21say with this excuse me the uh Belleview

1:26:25city council has the final approval but

1:26:27the committee the TPA committee

1:26:28functions a lot like the ELTAC where

1:26:30they make recommendations

1:26:32one Redmond currently handles that

1:26:34contract. So in your memo I have

1:26:36attached the 2025

1:26:39TPA annual report so you can see some of

1:26:41the work that they did. So they create

1:26:43an annual report for us and for the city

1:26:45of Bellev and so you'll see that as an

1:26:47attachment. I'll be talking about

1:26:49tourism as a whole. And then what we

1:26:50oversee here at the city and what you

1:26:53have um approvals over are the lodging

1:26:55tax. So I just want to differentiate the

1:26:57two funds coming in

1:26:59in the budget that came out today. There

1:27:02is a one-time budget enhancement to

1:27:04support the creation of an independent

1:27:07organization that the city can partner

1:27:08with in tourism efforts similar to a

1:27:11visit Belle. So, it would be a DMO that

1:27:13we're looking at setting up. Uh, Redmond

1:27:16is unique in our size and our funding to

1:27:18not have a situation like that. And if

1:27:20you've had a moment to look at the

1:27:22tourism strategic plan, many of our peer

1:27:24cities do have a DMO. So, we've just

1:27:26grown pretty quickly. And then we have

1:27:28this other funding source. So, now we're

1:27:30getting into a place where we need to

1:27:31look at the feasibility of that

1:27:32situation. You will hear more about that

1:27:35in future meetings.

1:27:38I do want to personally thank Council

1:27:40Member Critzer, who is the chair of the

1:27:42ELTAC. I also need to thank interim

1:27:45deputy uh planning deputy director

1:27:47Philly Marsh and interim planning

1:27:50director Sarapi Allen. This is the first

1:27:53year that you will see a collaborative

1:27:55budget with the TPA. So, in three years,

1:27:58we have never done a collaborative

1:27:59budget with that uh committee. And

1:28:02thanks to the help of all the members

1:28:04that I mentioned who went to a TPA

1:28:06meeting and presented opportunities to

1:28:08collaborate, we were able to get to a

1:28:10point where the TPA and the ELTAC have

1:28:13recommended to their councils, you and

1:28:15city of Belleview, a collaborative

1:28:16budget. So, thank you for that

1:28:23economic impact. These numbers you're

1:28:25seeing are from Placer, which is a geo

1:28:28fencing technology we have here at the

1:28:30city. There are many other numbers we

1:28:31also look at. So there's various data

1:28:33points. Based on this data, Redmond had

1:28:36roughly the same number of visitors

1:28:38coming to the community each month in

1:28:412025.

1:28:42But those visitors took fewer trips and

1:28:45generated fewer overnights.

1:28:48At the same time, the visitors who did

1:28:50come spent substantially more money. So

1:28:53the although the visit nights were down

1:28:56and the total trips were down, our

1:28:58monthly visitors were stable uh a.7

1:29:02increase but I would call that stable

1:29:04and the total visitor spend was up 19%.

1:29:06Uh so this again is 2025 this is not

1:29:09this year. So another interesting point

1:29:12about the data that we're able to pull

1:29:14is that 3.2 average duration days is

1:29:19what we're seeing in most of the

1:29:21overnight trips. So that's not including

1:29:22day trips. That's pulling day trips out.

1:29:24But when someone's coming as an

1:29:26overnight trip, it's around 3.2 days.

1:29:29Placer doesn't pull in uh international

1:29:31data. So we do look at some other

1:29:33sources for that. So we're looking at

1:29:34domestic data here, but it's a good

1:29:36benchmarking for us.

1:29:43Okay, you heard about grants today for

1:29:462027. So this is an annual program that

1:29:49we have here at the city. Unlike

1:29:52community grants, these grants per the

1:29:54state requirement do gen they should

1:29:56generate paid overnight stays that

1:29:58return investment into the lodging tax

1:30:01and create an economic impact for our

1:30:03community. The grant dollars are from

1:30:05the 1% lodging tax. So this is again

1:30:08we're talking about the lodging tax. and

1:30:10the city approves you approve annual

1:30:14grants for events and programs held

1:30:16locally that draw visitors from outside

1:30:18the city. The RCW specifically speaks to

1:30:21targeting 50 or more miles away because

1:30:24they assume you're going to generate

1:30:26some overnight stays. So that's where

1:30:27that 50 or more num 50 or more miles

1:30:30sort of comes out.

1:30:36Experience Redmond is our tourism brand.

1:30:38I don't know if everyone's familiar. I

1:30:40hope you are. Um, this brand was

1:30:42established in 2005, so nearly 20 years

1:30:45ago. Through being in existence for 20

1:30:48years, we have been able to build quite

1:30:51an audience. Uh, I hope you've

1:30:53subscribed to the e newsletter and

1:30:55anyone in the public, I hope you have as

1:30:57well. What you'll find in the newsletter

1:30:59with this um, experience Redmond brand

1:31:01is all of the the events and promotions

1:31:05and activities happening in Redmond. We

1:31:07try to capture as many as we can. So, we

1:31:08have a scrape that goes out and pulls.

1:31:10We're trying to use that technology.

1:31:12Part of our permitting process that the

1:31:14parks department has helped put in place

1:31:16is that uh event producers need to

1:31:18submit their events. If it's a public

1:31:20event, if it's private, we don't ask for

1:31:21it to be uh promoted. Of course, we do

1:31:24miss some. So, we're trying to figure

1:31:25out how we can capture every event

1:31:27happening in Redmond. I know the council

1:31:29has brought that up before. Um and that

1:31:31is important to us as well. So, we're

1:31:32always looking at ways to improve that

1:31:34and hopefully technology can continue to

1:31:36improve that opportunity as well.

1:31:40So, what you'll see here is our website

1:31:42users are almost 200,000 a year. Uh we

1:31:45are we continue to be around that

1:31:47amount. So, we haven't seen any

1:31:48substantial declines there. We're always

1:31:50watching this. We brought on a tourism

1:31:53specific PR agency in 2025 through a

1:31:56bidding process. Green Ribbino, excuse

1:32:00me, Green Ribbino based out of Seattle

1:32:02won that bidding process in 2025. They

1:32:06uh estimate that through influencer

1:32:08campaigns, media pitches, media visits,

1:32:12various different uh media that they're

1:32:14able to solicit for Redmond brought in

1:32:18143 million impressions.

1:32:21The e-news subscribers are around 5,500

1:32:24which is up 12% from the previous year.

1:32:27We always will have unsubscribes. People

1:32:29move away. They're they become

1:32:30uninterested or whatever reason, but we

1:32:32like to see our subscribers going up.

1:32:34So, we hope to always gain more

1:32:36subscribers than we're losing.

1:32:39Some um the website and monthly

1:32:42newsletter for Experience Redmond

1:32:44highlights our local businesses and

1:32:45events, fun itineraries in Redmond, and

1:32:48we also look at surrounding areas like

1:32:50Woodenville and what you can do in

1:32:51Belleview. We're really targeting with

1:32:54the opening of the uh light row going to

1:32:57Seattle for a sporting event and coming

1:32:59back to Redmond. So, we're we're we're

1:33:02starting to launch this sort of base

1:33:03camp thought of like come here for your

1:33:05sports base camp, go to Seattle and come

1:33:07back to Redmond. So, those are some

1:33:09initiatives you'll continue to hear

1:33:10about. Some of the examples of monthly

1:33:13themes that the Experience Redmond brand

1:33:15does are arts and entertainment,

1:33:17cultural celebrations, pups and pets,

1:33:21welcoming and inclusive, and many more

1:33:23monthly events. So, if you're not a

1:33:25member of that e-news, you should become

1:33:27one.

1:33:29[snorts]

1:33:30All right. So, now that we've sort of

1:33:32taken a look back at 2025, I want to

1:33:35move us into the strategic plan and

1:33:37where we're at two years into

1:33:39implementation of this plan.

1:33:42The tourism strategic plan was adopted

1:33:44in 2024 by the city council. It's a

1:33:48comprehensive five-year roadmap that

1:33:50outlines a clear path forward for

1:33:52Redmond. The plan leverages our unique

1:33:55assets and opportunities to mean

1:33:57meaningfully grow the visitor economy

1:34:00and ensure long-term benefit benefits

1:34:02for our community.

1:34:05The vision that is outlined within this

1:34:07plan is the following. A vibrant

1:34:11community where every person is

1:34:12welcomed. Our diversity, active

1:34:15lifestyle, access to nature, and culture

1:34:18of innovation offers experiences that

1:34:21inspire exploration, foster enthusiasm,

1:34:25and leave a lasting impact on all who

1:34:27visit.

1:34:29This process was about a year-long

1:34:31process to come up with this document.

1:34:33So, it was about 23 that we are working

1:34:36on it. some of 22 we were talking about

1:34:38what the RFP might look like. What came

1:34:41out of a year of stakeholder engagement,

1:34:44different drafting, different reviews

1:34:46was four different goals. Within these

1:34:49goals, there are 64 initiatives that

1:34:52were outlined by uh basically all the

1:34:54stakeholders bringing forward important

1:34:56priorities. Those four goals are one

1:34:59enhancing the visitor experience, two

1:35:02building a collaborative building

1:35:04collaborative partnerships plural,

1:35:07developing support for the tourism

1:35:09industry and then four building

1:35:12destination awareness.

1:35:19As I mentioned, there are 64 initiatives

1:35:22outlined within the tourism strategic

1:35:24plan. That's a lot.

1:35:27And uh what we've found after we have

1:35:31taken a look at all 64 initiatives

1:35:34is that we are 41% complete. We are 56%

1:35:39in progress and 3% not started. So

1:35:41that's two initiatives we haven't been

1:35:43able to start. And what we also did was

1:35:46we went out to all our partners over the

1:35:48past few months and we said what have

1:35:50you done in these areas and what do we

1:35:51know that we've done? So, you'll see an

1:35:53attachment to your memo where we put all

1:35:56of that in a document of what the city's

1:35:58done, what all of our tourism partners

1:36:00have done. Um, and you'll see within

1:36:03that multi-page document, each of the

1:36:06different actions that have been taken

1:36:08under these initiatives. I'm sure we

1:36:10missed some, but these were the ones

1:36:11we're able to grab and pull in there for

1:36:12you just to give you some concrete

1:36:14examples of what's been done.

1:36:22There have been um many successes.

1:36:26There's also many opportunities.

1:36:28But with these successes, I think what's

1:36:31important to point out is the cross

1:36:34department collaboration.

1:36:36And I have to first mention parks and

1:36:38recreation. So I don't see Lorine here,

1:36:41but their excuse me, director Hamilton,

1:36:44their um department has been really a

1:36:47big a big partner in tourism. So they're

1:36:51what they're doing is they're permitting

1:36:52large events. They are the ones that are

1:36:55maintaining and helping along with other

1:36:56departments the parks and trails and the

1:36:59access to parks and trails which is a

1:37:01number one reason many people enjoy

1:37:03Redmond. So the outdoors is constantly

1:37:06uh brought up as something that people

1:37:08love about Redmond and I'm sure many of

1:37:10you do as well. The recreation

1:37:12programming they put on is is topnotch

1:37:15and their community events are great.

1:37:16They bring a lot of people to Redmond.

1:37:18So, it's not just the parks department

1:37:21though, the transportation team with our

1:37:23red link pilot program, also uh the

1:37:26mayor and council support and bringing

1:37:27light rail here um TIS and helping with

1:37:31bringing data, data, resources to the

1:37:34city staff so that we can make better

1:37:35informed decisions and the list could go

1:37:37on. There is this is a team sport. So,

1:37:39uh that's what Chris always says or

1:37:41World Cup. [laughter] I stole that from

1:37:43Chris, but it really is. This is a team

1:37:45sport. We're all in this together. And

1:37:47um I think it's important to acknowledge

1:37:50that there's a lot of partners that have

1:37:51made these successes possible. So we're

1:37:54very proud that we're able to start

1:37:55almost all of the 64 initiatives. We on

1:37:58boarded a tourism public relations

1:38:00agency as mentioned in 20125 with those

1:38:04143 million media impressions. Uh the PR

1:38:06agency has estimated almost 700,000

1:38:09views. The Red Link shuttle launched in

1:38:12March of 2026.

1:38:14And an interesting point about Redlink

1:38:16is monthly I send the hotelers data on

1:38:19who's coming and going from hotels on

1:38:21Red Link. So our transportation team has

1:38:23done a really good job of trying to

1:38:25capture that data and it's around 15%

1:38:28which is much higher than some of our

1:38:29peer cities. So we're very excited to

1:38:31see that. I'm hoping we can continue to

1:38:33maintain that number. It's not abnormal

1:38:35to slightly go down a bit as the

1:38:37community finds out, but I would like to

1:38:39um keep hotel visitors going and using

1:38:41Red Link. It's a great asset for our

1:38:44visitors.

1:38:46The light rail connection, as we've

1:38:48mentioned, is obviously a big success

1:38:50for our region and our city. We were

1:38:54able to secure the Elite Club National

1:38:56League, ECNL's annual youth soccer

1:38:59tournament, attracting more than 80,000

1:39:01attendees. So, this tournament used to

1:39:02come every few years to 60 acres. They

1:39:05changed to every other year and now they

1:39:06are coming to Redmond every year because

1:39:08they love our city and our um well King

1:39:12County's venue but they stay in our

1:39:13hotels so um we're happy to have them.

1:39:16[clears throat] Strengthening

1:39:17partnerships with the Seattle Sports

1:39:19Commission and Mary Park to support

1:39:21future sporting events and attract

1:39:24visitors from Seattle to Redmond.

1:39:27[snorts] piloting a new citywide street

1:39:29banner program to support placemaking,

1:39:31enhance the visitor experience, and

1:39:33showcase Redmond's community

1:39:35[clears throat]

1:39:36identity.

1:39:38And these last two bullet points were

1:39:39really made possible by the World Cup

1:39:42planning staff and teams who uh they

1:39:46really went into bringing all of these

1:39:48relationships in place and giving us a

1:39:50reason to build on, you know, the Mary

1:39:52Park and the Seattle Sports Commission

1:39:54relationships we had. and they've really

1:39:56built trust over this year. So, we've

1:39:58have some pretty lasting relationships

1:39:59due to that legacy. Hotel occupancy was

1:40:03down during the World Cup. It did lag

1:40:05slightly year-over-year. However, the

1:40:08average daily rates to stay in a hotel

1:40:10were up and so they do consider it a

1:40:13success because they were bringing more

1:40:14dollars per head in the door of people

1:40:16who were staying at that time. I'm also

1:40:19interested to see since some of our big

1:40:21tournaments moved outside of the World

1:40:23Cup window what the long-term trend

1:40:25looks like. So, I'm really interested to

1:40:27see how the occupancy plays out over the

1:40:30next couple well really in August in uh

1:40:34late July. Visitor spending in Redmond

1:40:37from travelers coming from more than 50

1:40:39miles away during the the World Cup was

1:40:42up 1.1%.

1:40:44So, that's those visitors that are

1:40:45coming outside of 50 miles. Local and

1:40:48visitor spending was up 2.3%. So when we

1:40:51consider the locals and we put in the

1:40:53visitors, it's 2.3% increase.

1:40:56Advertising campaigns are very

1:40:57successful as well. And again, you will

1:41:00hear more about the World Cup uh

1:41:02programming and outcomes at your October

1:41:0420th city council meeting.

1:41:09Strategic [snorts]

1:41:09opportunities. So there's always

1:41:11opportunities to be better. And there's

1:41:14a few different areas we look at. I've

1:41:16listed some of these opportunities.

1:41:17There's many more, of course, but here

1:41:19are the ones we wanted to um bring to

1:41:21your attention. One is we hope to

1:41:23increase the average length of stay

1:41:25beyond one night for I think it was 53%

1:41:28of the people staying overnight

1:41:29domestically are only staying one night.

1:41:31Often times we have heard from our

1:41:34hotels that is business travel. And so

1:41:36what we call that in the industry of

1:41:38trying to keep them longer to do some

1:41:40leisure activities is bleisure travel.

1:41:42So extending that business to leisure,

1:41:45it's pretty catchy, but leisure.

1:41:49We want to increase visitor spending,

1:41:51which supports the local economy and our

1:41:53small businesses. So our small

1:41:55businesses are one of our biggest

1:41:57partners in tourism. And so um we always

1:42:00want to try to help them. We can do that

1:42:03by encouraging the visitors to stay

1:42:05longer again, explore more of Redmond,

1:42:07and support local businesses.

1:42:10We want to grow weekend and shoulder

1:42:12season occupancy through sports events

1:42:14and leisure travel. So when I talk about

1:42:16shoulder season, it's the slower season

1:42:18in tourism. And that is typically

1:42:20October through April with the worst

1:42:22months being November through February.

1:42:26So we're always looking at winter

1:42:27programming. What can we do to bring

1:42:29people here in the winter? Uh we a part

1:42:31of the sports base camp is having people

1:42:33go to the Seahawks in some of those

1:42:35slower months stay here. uh as well as

1:42:38the Sounders do also play at some of

1:42:40those times. There's many sports in

1:42:42Seattle during the slower seasons. So,

1:42:44anything we can do to draw people to

1:42:45Redmond, uh even if we connect them to

1:42:48Seattle, that's okay. We want them to

1:42:49come stay in Redmond.

1:42:52We want to expand destination sales

1:42:56efforts to recruit overnight generating

1:42:58meetings, groups, and tournaments. Most

1:43:00of you know we don't have a huge indoor

1:43:02facility. Uh we do we do hope that when

1:43:05Belleview has large events, which this

1:43:07is true, people will stay in Redmond as

1:43:10well. So they are a good partner of ours

1:43:12and especially when their hotels are at

1:43:14occupancy or too expensive, people will

1:43:17also look to Redmond.

1:43:19We want to continue to improve visitor

1:43:21mobility through transportation

1:43:23connections such as Red Link and Light

1:43:24Rail. We want to leverage Redmond's

1:43:27unique assets, including Mrymore Park,

1:43:29outdoor recreation, the World Cup

1:43:31legacy, gaming and innovation, and the

1:43:33space industry to strengthen our

1:43:35destination appeal.

1:43:38And we want to strengthen Redmond's

1:43:39reputation as a welcoming and inclusive

1:43:41destination by promoting accessible

1:43:45experiences, supporting diverse visitors

1:43:47and businesses, and incorporating

1:43:49inclusive practices into our tourism

1:43:52planning and marketing. In addition, as

1:43:55I mentioned, we are exploring the

1:43:56feasibility of establishing a dedicated

1:43:59destination management organization

1:44:01known as a DMO here in Redmond to

1:44:04provide a central point of coordination

1:44:06and accountability for tourism.

1:44:11Outlined on this slide are a few of our

1:44:13current metrics that we monitor on a

1:44:15regular basis for benchmarking. What we

1:44:18strive to achieve with our programming

1:44:20is more heads and beds, another catchy

1:44:23term, uh through a return on the

1:44:25investment with tourism tax dollars. We

1:44:28want to increase the shoulder season

1:44:31events as well as increase uh it get to

1:44:34longer stays and we have a lot of

1:44:36business travelers in Redmond as we

1:44:37mentioned which can be a volatile market

1:44:40based on other uh various economic

1:44:42factors. So we do want to have a variety

1:44:44of reasons that people come here.

1:44:48>> [snorts]

1:44:49>> Uh, one thing we recently worked on with

1:44:52that sports base camp is a fun video

1:44:54with the Sounders promoting uh, staying

1:44:56in Redmond and going to different games

1:44:57as well as the Seahawks. So, you should

1:44:59see that coming out soon. What you see

1:45:02on this slide is we look at the average

1:45:04length of stay as we've mentioned uh,

1:45:06quite a few times. Visit nights, visitor

1:45:09spending, and then occupancy when we can

1:45:11grab weekend versus week night. We like

1:45:13we like to look at that as well since uh

1:45:15again we have a shoulder season but we

1:45:17also have worse weekends than week

1:45:20nights and much of the year for the

1:45:21hotels. These are different graphs that

1:45:24we use and present to the hotel earers

1:45:25and different committees. So I just

1:45:27pulled some of this so you can see what

1:45:29we're presenting and benchmarking on a

1:45:30regular basis.

1:45:33And that concludes my presentation. I

1:45:35hope it was informational and I'm open

1:45:37for questions.

1:45:38>> Thank you Miss Lawler. Very much

1:45:40appreciated. Are there any questions for

1:45:42our team? Yes, Council Member Foresight

1:45:44and then Council Vice President Noea

1:45:45Camina.

1:45:46>> Thank you. Uh thank you for the

1:45:48presentation. It was uh definitely

1:45:50interesting and spurred on some

1:45:51questions that I have that I'm sure are

1:45:54in the budget, but since you're here,

1:45:56[clears throat] um maybe you can give us

1:45:58a tiny preview. Um we when we first set

1:46:00up the Red Link pilot program, we were

1:46:02very interested in the tourism

1:46:04potentially connecting to Woodenville

1:46:06with wine country. Is that conversation

1:46:09continuing? Can you just give us a

1:46:11highlight, a preview, and then also

1:46:13expansion into other neighborhoods as

1:46:15we've been hearing from lots of

1:46:17community members?

1:46:19>> Yep, I'll jump in on that question. So,

1:46:22um, interim planning director Sarah

1:46:23Allen. Uh, so I wanted to share first

1:46:26that the as part of the, um, joint

1:46:28budgeting process with the TPA and the

1:46:30Eltech dollars that the TPA actually

1:46:32dedicated $70,000 as a part of their

1:46:34budget towards Red Link for next year.

1:46:36So the and I want to say too that the

1:46:38Belle Belleview hotel years were very um

1:46:41supportive because of Bellhop and seeing

1:46:42the impact it's had for them and it has

1:46:45um been really useful for them to be

1:46:46able to sh um share that background. So

1:46:49um one yes uh we're continuing to engage

1:46:52them. Uh as far as the Woodenville

1:46:54question um our staff have met with uh

1:46:57representatives in um Woodenville and

1:46:59it's something we'd like to explore

1:47:01because it is so much further outside of

1:47:03our scope. it would be a much larger

1:47:06investment and that's something that

1:47:07we've asked uh if Woodenville would be

1:47:10open to helping to contribute that. So

1:47:12our hotel years are interested in that.

1:47:14They are interested. I think the ball is

1:47:16now in their court to think about what

1:47:18could be that opportunity. So um that's

1:47:20the answer to that question and I think

1:47:22lastly you will see in the budget um a

1:47:26uh funding proposal for keeping red link

1:47:29on ongoing. Our grant does go till the

1:47:32uh end of June um from the state. So uh

1:47:35the way the funding is represented in

1:47:37the budget is for the last six months of

1:47:4020 27 and um into 2028.

1:47:43>> Thank you. That explains some murmurings

1:47:45I heard from the Woodenville side. So

1:47:47appreciate [laughter] that that heads up

1:47:49on that. And then my uh last question is

1:47:52around we had brought on a lot of

1:47:54amazing staff during World Cup um and

1:47:57I'm hoping that we were able to keep

1:47:59that staffing. Has there been a

1:48:00transition plan? Is that in part of this

1:48:02process in the budget? Yep. So, I will

1:48:05also highlight in the budget process

1:48:06that we have um a a district uh organiz

1:48:10uh organization position that you'll see

1:48:12in the mayor's proposed budget and that

1:48:14is envisioned um to take a lot of the um

1:48:18uh momentum we had during World Cup and

1:48:21transition that into other action items

1:48:24that we have in our tourism and economic

1:48:26development plan which includes some of

1:48:28that more instead of kind of focused on

1:48:30one event, more of the district um

1:48:32community placemaking and continuing

1:48:34events and again that kind of momentum

1:48:36but more in the um focused on different

1:48:38uh districts. So um and I think in the

1:48:41council too I'll give a quick you'll

1:48:42have it with the economic development

1:48:44strategic plan but in the last budget

1:48:45you funded a um a study for us looking

1:48:48at doing business improvement areas and

1:48:50that exactly ties in with this position

1:48:53and um recommendations that will come

1:48:55out of that report.

1:48:57>> Great. Thank you council vice president.

1:49:01>> Thank you. Thank you for um all of the

1:49:04information. I was I was sitting here

1:49:05taking quite a few notes. Um one of the

1:49:08questions that I had was on uh early in

1:49:10the presentation you had mentioned that

1:49:12um visitor spending was up 19% more per

1:49:17trip. And my question I know that we've

1:49:19got not only just regular inflation but

1:49:22we've got a bit of localized inflation

1:49:25here that hits Redmond a little bit

1:49:27differently. Um

1:49:29the 19% do we know how much that is is

1:49:32because industry costs have also go gone

1:49:35up. We've seen an increase in um hotel

1:49:38rates have have gone up considerably. So

1:49:41were some of that taken into

1:49:44consideration or is that a true 19%

1:49:47increase spend?

1:49:49>> It's a part of the inflation as well. So

1:49:51great question. I think it's about 15

1:49:53million in increase from the previous

1:49:55year's report. Um but yes, that that is

1:49:59part of it.

1:49:59>> Yeah, I I know that the data can get

1:50:01really tricky. I just want to make sure

1:50:02of what what we're looking at. And then

1:50:04my second question was on um I know uh

1:50:08heads and beds, as you put it, is is

1:50:10always a good thing, especially when it

1:50:13comes to our hotelers. Um, I know that

1:50:16through Experience Redmond, uh, we do

1:50:19have a local, uh, promotion where,

1:50:24uh, if you're doing a station or if

1:50:26you've got visitors in from out of town,

1:50:28there's typically, um, a a nominal

1:50:31discount. Has there been conversations

1:50:33again because we are predominantly

1:50:36renters and folks coming in from from

1:50:39around the country and abroad as well.

1:50:41Um when their friends and family come to

1:50:44visit, there's often not a lot of space

1:50:46in a 600 ft apartment. So is there

1:50:50conversations to expand that program or

1:50:52offer deeper discounts?

1:50:54>> I would say the hotelers are always open

1:50:56to doing promotions in the shoulder

1:50:58season. So what Experienced Redmond does

1:51:00is they reach out. Bullseye is our

1:51:02contractor for that brand. They reach

1:51:04out often. We meet with the hotelers

1:51:06every other month and we continue to ask

1:51:08them to think. This is a specific one we

1:51:10can bring up to them though. Um but they

1:51:12continue to ask them what promotions

1:51:13they're doing and how can we help get

1:51:15that out in front of their visitors.

1:51:17They they do a lot of pet promotions.

1:51:19They do a lot of free, you know, dinner

1:51:21dining credits. Um but yeah, that's one

1:51:24we could specifically bring up as well.

1:51:26Wonderful. Thank you.

1:51:28I I that's a great idea. I talked to

1:51:30someone in the Stera Park area and she

1:51:32talked about how when their family comes

1:51:34in that they book the hotels that are

1:51:35right there for for them and how great

1:51:37it is. Um other questions from council

1:51:40council member Sony.

1:51:44>> Thank you so much. I'm really always um

1:51:47in favor of tourism increasing tourism

1:51:49because that's what always help us with

1:51:51our economic development. uh earlier in

1:51:54our uh committee of whole I asked this

1:51:56question specifically that for the 2027

1:52:0027 2028 I see the reductions in the

1:52:04budget because uh and as I heard it from

1:52:06you that the the anticipated number of

1:52:11rooms were not booked during the soccer

1:52:13right you know because this year we were

1:52:15expecting that there will be more

1:52:16tourism more people coming in and more

1:52:18rooms will be booked uh while this has

1:52:20not happened but yet their spending was

1:52:23was big enough to help us uh you know

1:52:26not to have not to have a big dip. Um

1:52:28but I want to understand some of these

1:52:31things. It's like you know I I know that

1:52:34during during the during the low season

1:52:38uh the hotelers are always always

1:52:40struggling. However, what I am also

1:52:43observing these dates is like you know

1:52:44nowadays like you know the holiday

1:52:46parties are also trying to keep lot of

1:52:48these places booked. Is there something

1:52:50that we should start looking at to help

1:52:52us to help our hotelers to start looking

1:52:55into booking uh their hotels and

1:52:58increasing the heads and beds during

1:53:00this low season because that's what has

1:53:02been my observations like you know uh

1:53:05after talking to different hotels. So

1:53:07that was one of the things and then

1:53:08second thing is like is there a way for

1:53:11us to get an report it's like in terms

1:53:13of the different event centers the the

1:53:17the events places that we have in

1:53:20Redmond what which place like you know

1:53:23in terms of like you know which is

1:53:24getting very popular what is like you

1:53:26know there so something that kind of an

1:53:27input or a report will help us to

1:53:31understand it's like you know if there

1:53:32are some places which are not being

1:53:34getting booked they we can start working

1:53:36and prom uh doing some promotions or

1:53:39some activities bringing some activities

1:53:41that can help us increase the tourism

1:53:43total like you know all over the city.

1:53:47>> Thank you. Thanks also for your support

1:53:49of the tourism industry. I appreciate

1:53:50it. Uh I there's a few pieces there I'll

1:53:53pull out. Let me know if I miss

1:53:54anything. Let me know if I miss

1:53:56anything. The way the council can help I

1:53:58think you had mentioned or we as Redmond

1:54:01can help. Um again like you mentioned

1:54:04the holiday parties weddings are a big

1:54:06one for our hotelers

1:54:08families coming in for birthday parties

1:54:11or large you know event family events

1:54:13these are all areas they're looking at

1:54:15what we have talked about is in the

1:54:18future if we do have a DMO like how can

1:54:20we generate sales so we don't have a

1:54:22sales generation

1:54:24um department for Redmond. A lot of

1:54:26times you do have that when you have a

1:54:28large convention center though too and

1:54:30so that's an area that keeps getting

1:54:32brought up as an opportunity is the

1:54:34sales piece. Each hotel has their own

1:54:36sales department most of them and so

1:54:38they are going after this holiday and

1:54:40wedding you know these different um

1:54:41pieces of business and the shoulder

1:54:43season is when it's most important. So

1:54:46thank you for continuing to try to help

1:54:47the hotels the reports on the hotel

1:54:50specific data. So this is an area where

1:54:52they are pretty proprietary about their

1:54:54specific data. What we do report out is

1:54:57the occupancy. So uh at the TPA meeting,

1:55:00this is a one Redmond contractual

1:55:02obligation is to present out on the

1:55:05quarterly occupancy. So each month how

1:55:07what are the hotel occupancies, what are

1:55:09the ADRs, but it's a it's a um it's a

1:55:13full metric for all the hotels. So, I

1:55:15think you specifically brought up each

1:55:17hotel and which one's hurting, but what

1:55:19we do get, we don't have the specific

1:55:21hotel and which one's hurting that we

1:55:22report out on, but we do get the overall

1:55:24look at the occupancy. Some will reach

1:55:26out to us. So, Over Lake has reached out

1:55:28to us before and said, "Hey, we're

1:55:30really struggling." So, then we work

1:55:31with Experience Redmond and the brand

1:55:33and try to see what we can do to help

1:55:34generate business. Um, and then also

1:55:37city staff will start to book stuff at

1:55:39some of our hotels, too. So, that's also

1:55:41been very helpful. Employee events are a

1:55:44big one. uh for our hotels. So, anytime

1:55:46employees um want to do a large event,

1:55:49the hotels love to have those.

1:55:51Microsoft's intern program is a big one

1:55:53that used to be pretty beneficial to our

1:55:55hotels. And so, also the the travel, so

1:55:58when there's intern programs, when

1:55:59they're having different large amounts

1:56:01of employees come, these are all areas

1:56:03that we can help promote our hotels. I

1:56:05don't know if I hit all your questions,

1:56:07though.

1:56:08>> The mayor meetings with

1:56:09>> Oh, yes. I forgot to mention. Sorry, the

1:56:13mayor. Thank you for meeting with each

1:56:15of our hotels. So the mayor sat down

1:56:17with all of our hotels in the spring and

1:56:20in the summer and talk to them about

1:56:21this exact issue. So what has been

1:56:24hurting them? What has been helping

1:56:26them? And then we'll also be doing an

1:56:28anonymous survey to the hotels in case

1:56:30they don't want their name attached or

1:56:31they don't want to say something to us

1:56:33specifically as staff. We are going to

1:56:35be conducting an anonymous survey. Uh I

1:56:38send it out tomorrow actually to our

1:56:39hotelers and their staff asking for

1:56:41feedback. So, exactly what you're

1:56:43talking about. How can we help them

1:56:44better? Thank you for that. I can't

1:56:46believe I forgot that. Um, and what can

1:56:48we do in the future to help promote

1:56:50them?

1:56:52>> Thank you. I have council president and

1:56:54then council member Kitser and then

1:56:57council member and I'll get to the other

1:56:59two. They'll start there.

1:57:01>> Uh, thank you so much. This is a really

1:57:03helpful look at um the progress that

1:57:07we've made since we adopted this plan.

1:57:09uh it's really helpful and I look

1:57:11forward to seeing kind of parts two and

1:57:13three of course I think the World Cup

1:57:14information is going to be really

1:57:15helpful and then looking at 2026 numbers

1:57:18again I think there's a lot of interest

1:57:19given the investments that were made in

1:57:22this bienium knowing that World Cup was

1:57:25something that we were going to treat

1:57:26kind of as the launch pad for uh the

1:57:29first couple years of the strategic

1:57:30plan. I I also want to just acknowledge

1:57:34um my encouragement of move forward

1:57:37swiftly with the DMO. When we built the

1:57:40uh strategic plan for tourism, it was

1:57:43really clear that this was a

1:57:45transformational piece of the puzzle. I

1:57:48think earlier tonight and through the

1:57:49conversation here, we've been discussing

1:57:51a couple of the tensions um that uh

1:57:54currently exist and just are kind of

1:57:57perpetual in the ELAC. Now, the

1:58:00committee did wonderful job with the

1:58:01recommendations they were able to

1:58:02provide this time um and every year, but

1:58:05a couple of the tensions that were

1:58:07called out um in our earlier discussion

1:58:09tonight included really making sure that

1:58:11we are able to get those events that are

1:58:13bringing visitors. And if the DMO when

1:58:17the DMO is set up and succeeds and is

1:58:19doing uh its part, I I think that some

1:58:22of those tensions we may see start to be

1:58:24alleviated just by the sheer number of

1:58:27competition for great events that we are

1:58:29looking to host in Redmond. So, um I

1:58:31think that nothing is more important

1:58:32than that next step for that DMO and I

1:58:35just want to offer my full support for

1:58:36that. Thank you, Council Member Critzer.

1:58:40>> Thank you. Well, I I will also just echo

1:58:43my colleague uh over there um and say

1:58:46I'm excited about the opportunity for us

1:58:48to support developing this DMO and

1:58:50actually it was great being able to go

1:58:52to the the TPA meeting um as well as in

1:58:55discussion with the Eltech and and to

1:58:57see uh how excited actually the hotelers

1:58:59and and just in general um folks in both

1:59:02of those committees were around the idea

1:59:04of of us developing a DMO. So I think

1:59:07that is going to be something that that

1:59:08we have the opportunity to lead on in

1:59:10the upcoming time. Um I in terms of uh

1:59:14the the previous discussion around um

1:59:16some of our rates of visitation. I know

1:59:18one thing that that was discussed um in

1:59:21the Eltech meeting was also some of some

1:59:24of the forces that are a bit beyond our

1:59:26control around um actual tourism uh

1:59:29especially international tourism to the

1:59:31US and tourism to Washington um even

1:59:34from our neighbors in Canada but also uh

1:59:36more broadly some of the international

1:59:38travel and international business travel

1:59:41um that and so when we look at 2025 uh

1:59:44we and then 2026 that's also uh

1:59:47connected there. Um, so I think but and

1:59:50so that's not uh unique to Redmond. Um,

1:59:53and I imagine that actually some of the

1:59:55efforts that we've been doing around

1:59:56tourism

1:59:58uh actually have bolstered the fact I'm

2:00:00I'm curious to see kind of what the

2:00:02general trends are uh around um around

2:00:06uh especially international visitors

2:00:08versus how much we were able to get. Um

2:00:11because uh if we get a certain amount of

2:00:13visitors, I think part of what we think

2:00:14about is when people come to this

2:00:16general region, do they choose Redmond

2:00:18to stay in? Um and that feels like to me

2:00:21that that's also within the scope of our

2:00:23control. And I see our staff managing to

2:00:26that, I see our programs working towards

2:00:28that, which I think is exciting. And the

2:00:30more that we have kind of the

2:00:31opportunity to to say if you're going to

2:00:33be here in the Puet Sound, Redmond's the

2:00:36great place to be. Um I think uh that's

2:00:39that should be continue to be our north

2:00:41star, but it'd be great in future

2:00:42reports to be able to look at any sort

2:00:44of comparable rates of neighboring

2:00:46jurisdiction or the region. Um so that

2:00:48way we can kind of put um our rates in

2:00:50context

2:00:53and thank you for your work.

2:00:56I just uh wanted to add here uh that

2:00:58this is the fantastic report and it

2:01:01shows the progress we've made in the two

2:01:02years and that we absolutely and we and

2:01:04have in this next budget with both the

2:01:06funding sources from the TPA and the

2:01:08Eltech more of that data and analytics

2:01:11so that that what you got to see tonight

2:01:12we didn't have before and so now we know

2:01:14our invest investments are showing and

2:01:16we'll be able to provide more of that as

2:01:17we continue to build up the program.

2:01:20Great.

2:01:20>> Thank you. Um council member Parker did

2:01:22you have a question?

2:01:29Yes. Uh so I've got a a couple of

2:01:31questions. Uh number one is about um the

2:01:35slide when it talks about total visitor

2:01:37spend uh being 92 million. I'm guessing

2:01:40that is just the spend on the hotels cuz

2:01:43the report that that's total.

2:01:45>> Thank you for clarifying. That would be

2:01:47on rental cars, hotel spins at the

2:01:50hotel, restaurant, shopping. So, they

2:01:53can track um through their credit card

2:01:55companies. They can't tell you who the

2:01:58person is. Um they can track where they

2:02:00that they came from more than 50 miles

2:02:02and what they're how much they're

2:02:04spending. So, it would be more than the

2:02:06hotel.

2:02:07>> Okay. But is this only for folks in

2:02:09hotel? Because I'm I'm looking at the uh

2:02:11the other attachment uh attachment C and

2:02:14it says that uh overnight visitors

2:02:17contributed an estimated 213 million uh

2:02:21using the 188 per person spending

2:02:23benchmark applied to a little bit over a

2:02:26million guests. So what what is the

2:02:28difference between those two numbers

2:02:30there? And then I was also wondering if

2:02:32you could uh give a a relative breakdown

2:02:34on the non- hotel spending what what

2:02:36folks tend to spend on the most.

2:02:38>> I cannot give you a breakdown. I don't

2:02:40have it. And the report you're talking

2:02:41about I believe is the one Redmond

2:02:43annual report. So one Redmond pulls

2:02:45their data that includes international

2:02:47data through datafy. Our data is through

2:02:50placer only domestic. And I couldn't

2:02:53tell you exactly what one Redmond's data

2:02:55in their annual report is unless they

2:02:57listed it. I only know what ours is. Um,

2:03:00and ours is from Placer and does include

2:03:02hotel and other spins from that visitor

2:03:06during their stay. But I do know that

2:03:08one Redmond typically uses datafy data.

2:03:12I don't know if they specified in their

2:03:13annual report, but we could also follow

2:03:16up with one Redmond if you have a

2:03:17specific question.

2:03:18>> I I think it was datafy. That's what

2:03:20Okay, that's what it says. I I was just

2:03:22wondering about um about that that

2:03:24discrepancy.

2:03:26>> I would have to look at it, but I can

2:03:27certainly get back to you.

2:03:28>> Okay. that that would be great and thank

2:03:30you for the report. I I learned a lot.

2:03:34>> Are there any other questions this

2:03:36evening on this? Well, thank you again.

2:03:39Uh very robust report. Really appreciate

2:03:42um love seeing what we're getting done

2:03:44after we did all the planning. So, thank

2:03:46you so much for all of this.

2:03:48>> Thank you.

2:03:49>> Thank you.

2:03:51>> Our next item is OMBbud's report. For

2:03:53the month of September, we have council

2:03:55member Sony. And then for the month of

2:03:57October, we have council vice president

2:03:59Noea Kamina. Let's start with council

2:04:00member Sony.

2:04:02>> Thank you so much. Um for the month of

2:04:04September, there were a couple of

2:04:06emails. One of the email was regarding

2:04:08to bring up a concern for bird safety

2:04:11and developing strong bird safe building

2:04:13standards for our city. Uh there was

2:04:16another email where uh like you know

2:04:18sharing the perspective and for

2:04:20outlining support for the proposed

2:04:22development services department. There

2:04:24was another email from one of the

2:04:25resident who's requesting improvements

2:04:27to northeast Union Hill Road from

2:04:29Aventale Road uh SR520 to 208th Avenue

2:04:33Northeast citing that it has a poor

2:04:36pavement condition and rough driving

2:04:38surface and uh so the resident has

2:04:40requested city to include funded

2:04:42substant substantive rehabilitation with

2:04:44a specific completion date uh in the

2:04:47pavement strategic plan. Uh so that was

2:04:50these were the only three emails that

2:04:52were for September.

2:04:54>> Thank you and council vice president.

2:04:58>> Thank you. And it has been relatively

2:05:01quiet as well as far as uh October. I

2:05:04hope that I'm not jinxing myself just

2:05:06there. Um [laughter]

2:05:08we did hear from community leader from

2:05:10uh global social business partners uh

2:05:14inviting council to the world story cafe

2:05:17and digital museum a celebration of

2:05:18greater good change leaders. I did let

2:05:20them know that uh council members will

2:05:23be responding as they are able to

2:05:24attend. Um

2:05:28and rolling into uh personal ombbuds met

2:05:32with community members regarding tenant

2:05:34protections over the last couple of

2:05:35weeks. um a little bit longer report out

2:05:38as uh as it was the fifth Tuesday and we

2:05:42didn't have a meeting. Um met with

2:05:45community members regarding tenant

2:05:46protections. Also met with community

2:05:48members to discuss um battery storage uh

2:05:52possibilities as well as safety as

2:05:55events.

2:05:57>> Thank you. Um yeah and any other ombbuds

2:06:00items? Council member foresight.

2:06:02>> Thank you. I attended the Plymouth

2:06:04housing lunchon um where I actually ran

2:06:08into Carol Heland. So that was lovely to

2:06:11see her still supporting that work and

2:06:13at that event uh attended the downtown

2:06:16art walk. Uh had conversations around

2:06:19the Bell Red Bike Lanes both from

2:06:22Redmond community members and Belleview

2:06:24community members. Uh conversations

2:06:26around recology versus waste management

2:06:28and still explaining to folks why we

2:06:30made that change. conversations around

2:06:32the ADA curb cuts on 140th and the

2:06:35timeline. And we had an update on that a

2:06:37little bit tonight. And then it was

2:06:39brought to my attention that um not sure

2:06:41which weekend, but over a weekend some

2:06:44of the school zone lights were flashing

2:06:47and folks were concerned about um

2:06:49potential uh in infractions and tickets.

2:06:53So, thank you. Any other ombbuds items?

2:06:57Council member, I'll go Critzer then

2:06:59Sony.

2:07:01>> Thank you. Um I've had a lot of

2:07:03different conversations with community

2:07:05members. Um uh been discussing different

2:07:08housing issues. Um one community member

2:07:11raised an issue around legal assistance.

2:07:13Someone was dealing with related to both

2:07:15behavioral health and housing. Um also

2:07:18heard some concerns from the Redmond

2:07:20Toddler Group um around uh losses of

2:07:23funding for parent education programs.

2:07:26um also uh have have had some uh

2:07:30discussions with some local businesses

2:07:32around uh sustainability and some things

2:07:34to support especially downtown

2:07:36businesses and we've received some

2:07:38feedback uh via email about that. Um and

2:07:42um uh and then I'll also note today I

2:07:44got to join uh Mayor Bernie to uh to cut

2:07:48the ribbon on a new uh electric uh

2:07:52vehicle charger um that's in the

2:07:54Marrymore area um right near right near

2:07:57Marrymore Park um and a bunch of the

2:07:59businesses near there. And that was uh

2:08:01through PSSE's upandgo program. So

2:08:03really cool. Um go check it out. It's a

2:08:05new new on street charger that folks can

2:08:08use. Um, and great to be there with our

2:08:10sustainability staff. Um, I also was

2:08:13able to join Move Redmond's walk and

2:08:15talk uh at Mary Moore um this last week.

2:08:18Um, and I'm excited to be participating

2:08:20in the week without driving um and uh um

2:08:25spending some time getting around in

2:08:26different modes of transportation. Um

2:08:28but I'd say the Merrymore walk and talk

2:08:30uh Mayor Bernie was there as well as um

2:08:32several of our city staff and some folks

2:08:34from King County and Sound Transit. It

2:08:36was a really great uh kind of

2:08:37conversation and walk through that

2:08:39neighborhood and hearing from residents

2:08:41and people who use that area about the

2:08:44ways they could see it become even safer

2:08:47um for us to be able to get around uh or

2:08:50easier for folks. And then also things

2:08:51that people really like. Um you know, we

2:08:53have a lot of new infrastructure there

2:08:55and it was really cool to be able to

2:08:56hear about that. um for example talked

2:08:59with with parents who uh drop their kids

2:09:01off um uh to a daycare there and are

2:09:04able to use our new bike trails to get

2:09:05there from another part of Redmond. So

2:09:07that's that's really cool, right? So um

2:09:09I think that that was great to hear. And

2:09:11then um I'll also note uh have got a

2:09:16concern from a resident um in the area

2:09:18around the now 100 second 172nd Street

2:09:23roundabout area um about some concerns

2:09:26about the roundabout that I'll be

2:09:28passing along. Um also got some

2:09:30questions about uh ban on gas powered

2:09:33leaf blowers or or consideration around

2:09:36that. Um and then uh last thing I'll

2:09:38note is that um I was able to join uh

2:09:41council member Sony and the mayor um and

2:09:44one Redmond uh along to have a

2:09:46conversation with our um develop with

2:09:49some of our uh development community u

2:09:53uh members uh to be able to share a

2:09:55little bit more about some of the

2:09:57current um climate for um trying to

2:10:00actually build buildings in some of our

2:10:02um key transit oriented areas. um and

2:10:05hearing about some of the challenges

2:10:07especially around access to capital um

2:10:09and uh happy to share a little bit more.

2:10:12Also heard some reflections from them

2:10:14about the importance of um of what we're

2:10:17considering with the reorganization and

2:10:20the creation of the development services

2:10:23focused um alignments. um but also some

2:10:27feedback around um the multif family tax

2:10:29exemption um and uh and some other kinds

2:10:32of uh tools that we might consider and

2:10:35some things they see in the region. So

2:10:37um uh certainly I think some of the

2:10:39comments we heard tonight uh uh from

2:10:42developers uh who came to to um comment

2:10:46were reflective on this in particular

2:10:48around the challenges around lending due

2:10:50to some of the macroeconomic forces. So,

2:10:53um, anyway, we'll we'll have more

2:10:54conversation on that, but I did want to

2:10:55just update the council as a thoughtful,

2:10:58uh, conversation and and I think they

2:11:00were going to pass along some of the

2:11:01presentation to the rest of the council.

2:11:03Um, we'll forward that along. Um, I

2:11:05don't know if council member Sony wanted

2:11:06to also add that in add.

2:11:09>> Um, I will just as a note before I go to

2:11:12council member Sony. Um, the charging,

2:11:14it's a pole charger in Marymore Village

2:11:17area. It's near Posttock. It's on the

2:11:19street. So, you actually will see

2:11:21markings on the ground, but you have to

2:11:23look up the pole to see the charger. Um,

2:11:26and there is an app and when you log

2:11:29into it, the charger actually drops down

2:11:31from the poles for you to be able to

2:11:33charge your car. It's pretty fantastic.

2:11:35Um, and we're one of, I think, the 10th

2:11:37city in the region to get it through

2:11:38PSC. So, um, look for it, but you got to

2:11:41look up a little bit. Council member

2:11:43Sony,

2:11:45>> thank you. I just wanted to add um uh

2:11:48you know from my meetings with the

2:11:49different constituents and the events uh

2:11:51definitely to uh you know for the one

2:11:54Redmond development developers meeting

2:11:57uh they they have suggested that they

2:11:59are going to even suggest some

2:12:00solutions. So they are going to we are

2:12:02looking forward for that presentation to

2:12:04come from them. Apart from that uh I

2:12:07attended Redmond downtown art walk with

2:12:09council president Stewart, council

2:12:11member Kitzer Forzite and council vice

2:12:14president and Kamina. We were there. I

2:12:16know like other council members must

2:12:17have joined. It was a nice bright sunny

2:12:19day and was so good to see everybody

2:12:21coming there and uh there was a big art

2:12:23presentation that like you know

2:12:25everybody just colored and then we had

2:12:27it in our last uh uh study session. Then

2:12:31I did attended a youthled hopebridgeidge

2:12:33Asian culture night at the Redmond High

2:12:35School. There were different teenagers

2:12:37who were there and we were we we had a

2:12:39good discussion about the teen centers.

2:12:41I was actually encouraging them that

2:12:42they should just come forward to start

2:12:44sharing the feedback and attending these

2:12:47meetings where they are able to provide

2:12:50voice to us while we are working on some

2:12:52of these things. Um apart from that I

2:12:55also met a constituent who's running a

2:12:57nonprofit for seniors dealing with

2:12:59dementia and al elmeiser and then they

2:13:02are looking to bring that program in

2:13:04Redmond and uh this is running currently

2:13:07in the different cities and different

2:13:08places looking out for uh bringing the

2:13:12program in Redmond for our seniors as

2:13:14well. That's a good program. So

2:13:16definitely looking forward to learn

2:13:17something more from him. Then I met

2:13:20couple of constituents. There has been

2:13:22big discussions on the mental health and

2:13:24the challenges uh the actual

2:13:26constituents face when they are dealing

2:13:28with this and in lack of the crisis

2:13:30situation. So and just uh having some

2:13:33discussions with them so that we can

2:13:35find out what could be the what could be

2:13:38some sol suggestions and then definitely

2:13:40roping in our chief in this. Thank you.

2:13:44>> Thank you. Other ombbuds items. I know

2:13:46council president. Oh, do you want to go

2:13:50council vice president first?

2:13:51>> I've already gone.

2:13:52>> Oh, okay. Council president. We had a

2:13:54week with no business meetings and lots

2:13:56of activity. So, I'm really I just want

2:13:59to acknowledge I'm really enjoying

2:14:00everyone's updates tonight. Um, and uh

2:14:03thank you uh just gratitude for the

2:14:05engagement um of our entire our entire

2:14:08team here. Um, first I'll acknowledge uh

2:14:11that council received the resignation of

2:14:13chair Susan Weston from the planning

2:14:15commission. I want to thank uh her for

2:14:17her service as well as the the staff and

2:14:20remaining commission leadership who are

2:14:22working on uh the transition plan and

2:14:24stability for the commission moving

2:14:26forward. Um, I also want to notice for

2:14:30or acknowledge for the for the council

2:14:31and the listening public, I noticed in

2:14:34the internal staff email last week,

2:14:36there was an announcement that changes

2:14:38would be coming to how uh members of the

2:14:40public can submit comments ahead of

2:14:42business meetings um and request to

2:14:44speak remotely at our council meetings.

2:14:47So, um I want to let the council know

2:14:50that I was able to check in briefly with

2:14:52the the staff on this. It does look like

2:14:55um in order to to expedite some

2:14:57processes internally uh we're moving to

2:14:59like a web form rather than email

2:15:02version of of uh that system but lots

2:15:06more communication to the public is

2:15:08planned starting next week. So wanted to

2:15:10make sure the council was aware. Um I

2:15:13had several visitors to my office hours

2:15:15including uh one visitor who came uh

2:15:17just to share enthusiasm about a capital

2:15:19project that is slated for the CIP. So,

2:15:22I love that East Lake Samish Parkway and

2:15:25187th Avenue Northeast. Uh, phase 1 is

2:15:28scheduled. Um, and if if the council has

2:15:31any updates to how it's currently

2:15:32presented in the CIP, I will circle back

2:15:34with that neighbor. Um, but for the most

2:15:35part, they just wanted to share their

2:15:37gratitude. uh continued a few other

2:15:39conversations um related to other

2:15:41capital projects and I was also able to

2:15:44work with uh director Hamilton on two

2:15:47issues that were reported to me at the

2:15:49council's last conversation at

2:15:51Spiritbrook Park. One was regarding

2:15:53access to changing tables in public

2:15:55restrooms and another was how credit

2:15:58card fees are processed when a

2:16:00recreation program needs to be cancelled

2:16:02by the city. And um the director was

2:16:05able to resolve both of those. So, I do

2:16:07appreciate her quick problem solving on

2:16:09uh both of those issues and was able to

2:16:11report back to those residents um that

2:16:13those were addressed or are in process

2:16:15of being addressed. Uh I too along with

2:16:18my colleagues, it is it is uh lunchon

2:16:21season and event season for many of our

2:16:23community- based organizations. So, I

2:16:26really enjoyed being at the um Plymouth

2:16:28lunchon and able to hear just more of

2:16:31the stories about the impact of housing

2:16:34um that is going to be provided at the

2:16:36Sammonberg Apartments. I wanted to flag

2:16:38for the council that you should have

2:16:40received an invitation from Sarah Sarah

2:16:42Dickmire uh to um participate in a

2:16:46couple of tour opportunities in

2:16:47December. So, please do respond to her

2:16:49directly for those. also attended the um

2:16:53kindering reception with the council

2:16:54vice president and heard a compelling

2:16:57conversation all night long regarding

2:17:00the need for the state legislature in

2:17:02particular. But um but all of us to

2:17:04continue in investing in services um for

2:17:08families who have kiddos um and young

2:17:11people with uh disabilities and the

2:17:14services that they need like we have at

2:17:16Kindering here at the Together Center in

2:17:17Redmond. I also participated in the

2:17:20nourishing network retreat and just want

2:17:22to recognize that incredible impact that

2:17:24that group of helpers is having in

2:17:26making the lives of neighbors with

2:17:28housing instability, homelessness and

2:17:30food insecurity um just a little bit

2:17:33easier. A tremendous group. I think

2:17:35there were 85 participants at this

2:17:37particular um net workshop. So clearly a

2:17:40group that is growing in impact um along

2:17:42the way. So, uh, finally, I had an

2:17:45opportunity to, uh, catch one of the

2:17:47updates regarding WASH DOT's Cascadia

2:17:51highspeed rail and I-5 program. Here's

2:17:54what I'm always looking for. I'm always

2:17:56looking for the answer as to when we'll

2:17:58have the alternatives for uh, possible

2:18:01routes for a highspeed rail between

2:18:03Vancouver and Portland. Um, we will, it

2:18:07sounds like from the update, we will

2:18:09have a bit more information on that

2:18:11coming in 2028. The big question, of

2:18:14course, is as highspeed rail eventually,

2:18:16maybe in my lifetime, passes through

2:18:18King County, which side of Lake

2:18:20Washington, might it pass on? So, 2028,

2:18:23stay tuned. Thank you.

2:18:24>> Thank you, Council Vice President.

2:18:27>> Thank you. Um, well, Council President,

2:18:28I don't know about highspeed rail, but

2:18:31um, I did attend East Rail Partners

2:18:33annual event where we got to hear more

2:18:35the good work of the continuous 42-mile

2:18:38um, uh, project that has been underway

2:18:40for some time connecting communities

2:18:43throughout uh, throughout East King

2:18:45County. Um, so I forgot to mention that.

2:18:49Um, I also attended with Mayor Bernie

2:18:51Lifewire and I I know that she's going

2:18:54to be doing a report out on that. But I

2:18:56also wanted to bring note that um, happy

2:18:58Filipino Heritage Month to our Filipino

2:19:00community. Um, it's also breast cancer

2:19:02awareness month. There's a lot going on

2:19:04right now. Um, last week of course was

2:19:06week without driving where uh, I'm

2:19:09sorry, this week, no, last week, right?

2:19:11>> It's part both weeks.

2:19:12>> It's still

2:19:13>> it it still goes on. it goes on in the

2:19:15park more than a week.

2:19:17>> More than a week. So, you've got plenty

2:19:18of opportunity to experience um a a

2:19:21number of ways and and I uh this

2:19:23particular week, a week without driving

2:19:25is is interesting for me because through

2:19:29lived experience, there would be times

2:19:31where as a working single mom, I wanted

2:19:33to take transit. However, with the added

2:19:36time that it would put on, I didn't have

2:19:39that that time bank that was allowed.

2:19:41And then of course we've got

2:19:43marginalized communities where they

2:19:45don't have reliable transportation and

2:19:47transit is their only reliable

2:19:48transportation. So it reminds me um and

2:19:52actually a conversation that mayor and I

2:19:54had recently is that you never really

2:19:56know what's going on behind in in

2:19:59people's homes. You really don't know

2:20:01their individual experience. Um so the

2:20:04importance of really having

2:20:06conversations and not making

2:20:08generalities. Um, so I thought last week

2:20:12was, but we're continuing on this week.

2:20:14This week is fire prevention awareness

2:20:16week. And I bring this up because

2:20:18Redmond has uh quite a few unintentional

2:20:21fires. So go on to any of the websites

2:20:24and it's going to show you some really

2:20:26great uh fire prevention tips. And this

2:20:29year's theme is charge into fire safety.

2:20:32And they're talking about um charging

2:20:34habits for lithium ion powered devices

2:20:36such as the things that we all have,

2:20:38right? our phones, our tablets, our

2:20:40laptops, ebikes, scooters, power tools.

2:20:43Um so, you know, tap in um plug in, pun

2:20:47intended, there are plugin and see how

2:20:49you can you can um observe that and and

2:20:52do some prevention stuff. And next week

2:20:54is going to be indigenous people's day

2:20:56where we're going to honor pres um

2:20:59perseverance, contributions, and

2:21:00sovereignty of indigenous peoples while

2:21:03also providing opportunities for

2:21:04learning and community connection. So,

2:21:06wherever you may be, whichever lands

2:21:08that you may be sitting on, um take a

2:21:10minute to to see who was there before

2:21:12you. That's it. Thank you. Um are there

2:21:15any other ombbuds items for tonight? I

2:21:18don't see any. I do want to mention um

2:21:20council vice president did indeed join

2:21:22me with Lifewire's gala on Saturday

2:21:25because Lifewire named Redmond their

2:21:28municipal partner of the year, which was

2:21:30a great honor. Um, and we thank Lifewire

2:21:33for all of their work in helping

2:21:35community members dealing with domestic

2:21:37violence. And we are um, though dealing

2:21:40with sad situations, but happy that the

2:21:42city of Redmond can be such a great

2:21:44partner to help people in that kind of

2:21:46crisis to ensure that they find safe

2:21:48places to land and the support systems

2:21:50around them. So, want to thank Lifewire

2:21:52for all of their work. Um, all right.

2:21:54Next, we have committee reports. Are

2:21:56there any committee reports?

2:21:59Council member Foresight. Thank you. Uh

2:22:01earlier tonight, we had our planning and

2:22:03public works committee. We reviewed the

2:22:06ordinances for update. Uh we got a

2:22:08briefing on the tourism Eltac funding.

2:22:12Uh looked at planning commission rules.

2:22:14Remember to get those questions in for

2:22:16staff if you have them and looked at

2:22:18impact fees and the downtown adaptive

2:22:21signal projects and CIP programming. But

2:22:25just a reminder to council members to

2:22:27get those questions in by the deadlines

2:22:28we discussed.

2:22:30Thank you. Any other committee reports?

2:22:32Council member Parkria.

2:22:36>> Uh earlier today we had a meeting of the

2:22:38tenant protection subcommittee along

2:22:40with staff and uh we tried to flesh out

2:22:44more fully uh designs uh budget designs

2:22:47uh some of which are reflected in um the

2:22:50budget that we got here today. Um but

2:22:52we're going to talk about our meeting

2:22:54with staff at council talk time next

2:22:56week.

2:22:57>> Thank you. Council member Critzer,

2:23:02>> thank you and appreciate um Council

2:23:05Park's leadership uh within the tenant

2:23:07protection subcommittee and look forward

2:23:08to that update uh that we'll give uh

2:23:10further next week. Um I was able to

2:23:13attend the one Redmond board meeting. Um

2:23:15and uh I'll just say that board has been

2:23:19having a lot of discussions about um

2:23:21making sure that we're focusing um this

2:23:24the work of one Redmond strategically to

2:23:26drive the most the highest impact

2:23:28outcomes um in the upcoming time and I

2:23:31think that'll get tied into the budget.

2:23:33There was also some discussion at that

2:23:34meeting about um really focusing um on

2:23:38what the city contract is and making

2:23:41sure that um what one Redmond uh is

2:23:44doing for the city that it's it's and I

2:23:46I noted in particular that we tie it to

2:23:49um important deliverables for our city

2:23:52that that aligns with with our own

2:23:53economic development plans and I think

2:23:55there was some good agreement on that

2:23:56and there was some discussion around

2:23:58kind of the the future of of engagement

2:24:00around uh the TPA as well. So, um we'll

2:24:03see more on that as well, but um I think

2:24:06good discussion there. Um and the board

2:24:09uh formally um uh um approved um Angela

2:24:13Rosman to become the new president of

2:24:16the One Redmond board. Um uh previously

2:24:19we had actually taken a vote on it um

2:24:21and uh but she had not stepped yet into

2:24:24the role. Steve Yun uh who I want to

2:24:26thank very much for his service as

2:24:28president of the board um continued to

2:24:30serve for for several more months beyond

2:24:33uh his initial term um and has continued

2:24:36to lead there. But uh now we'll see

2:24:37Angela Rosman going forward and Steve

2:24:40Yun will be the the immediate past

2:24:42president and we'll we'll be looking at

2:24:44at elections um for the vice president

2:24:46going forward. Um so uh stay tuned on

2:24:49that. Um and then I'll also note we had

2:24:51a meeting of the riot 8 salmon recovery

2:24:53council approved our budget for the

2:24:55upcoming year. Not or notable for us um

2:24:59we uh we added a budget in terms of the

2:25:01cost share of jurisdictions um that uh

2:25:04was just mostly a CPIW um increase uh

2:25:08for Redmond. That's a net of about

2:25:10$2,000 increase I think in terms of the

2:25:13amount that we get back. Uh it will be

2:25:15uh it's significant um for us all to

2:25:17pitch in and be able to do this good

2:25:19work. Um I'll note for everyone out

2:25:21there, it's salmon season. So Google it

2:25:24ses

2:25:25n and you can find some cool information

2:25:28about where to see salmon around the

2:25:30with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Um

2:25:32and they came and presented for the a

2:25:35good uh bulk of our meeting. Um and this

2:25:38was a meeting in person um about kind of

2:25:40the history of the trib's work in the

2:25:42riot 8 uh area and then also some of the

2:25:45details of their work on predatory fish

2:25:47species in Lake Washington, some of

2:25:49their research and some of the things

2:25:51that we can all do together. Um we had

2:25:54so much to discuss that they're actually

2:25:56going to come back to our next meeting

2:25:57to do even more presentation and

2:25:59discussion. Um so that was really

2:26:01exciting and we actually ended the

2:26:02meeting. It was at the Friends of the

2:26:04Isqua Salmon Hatchery. So, we got a tour

2:26:06from them of the hatchery which was

2:26:07really cool. So, um anyway, uh exciting

2:26:10news on the salmon front.

2:26:12>> Thank you, Council Member Sony.

2:26:15>> On September 22nd, we had pars parks and

2:26:18environment sustainability um uh

2:26:20committee. Uh there were two items that

2:26:23were accepted uh today. They were on the

2:26:25consent agenda. Acceptance of extension

2:26:27of the veteran seniors and human

2:26:29services levi grant for 2027 in the

2:26:32amount of 99,225.

2:26:34The second one was approval for the

2:26:36consult um services agreement supplement

2:26:39with progressive design bill consulting

2:26:41LLC in the amount of $268,000

2:26:44for the teen center project. There was a

2:26:46report on environment sustainability

2:26:48action plan for the for September 2026.

2:26:51There was discussions on the park impact

2:26:53fee schedule update. Then uh director

2:26:56Hamilton also pro provided the teen

2:26:58center project update and then there was

2:27:00also a budget process update from the

2:27:02preparations of budget deliberations and

2:27:04community engagement summary. Apart from

2:27:06this I also attended arch uh elected

2:27:09official meeting. Uh this was the fourth

2:27:12meeting. Uh it happens every one once a

2:27:15quarter and we discussed about arch

2:27:17legislative priorities. The Arch is

2:27:20focused on creating more affordable

2:27:21housing um in in the region and plans to

2:27:24support the development of over 80,000

2:27:27of additional affordable homes by 2044.

2:27:31The uh its 2027 legislative priorities

2:27:34emphasize increasing funding for

2:27:36affordable housing, protecting existing

2:27:38affordable housing, and giving local

2:27:40governments more tools to address

2:27:42housing needs. The three main priorities

2:27:44are increase state and local funding for

2:27:47affordable housing including local

2:27:50revenue options and state housing

2:27:52programs. The second one is ensure local

2:27:54governments that can use tools such as

2:27:56an inclusionary zoning and um

2:27:58multifamily tax exemptions to create

2:28:00more affordable homes. And the third one

2:28:02was to reduce barriers to regional

2:28:04cooperation and help communities build

2:28:06affordable housing faster. Overall, ARCH

2:28:09wants stronger funding, flexible local

2:28:11policies and better coordination between

2:28:13state and local governments to expand

2:28:16affordable housing. There was a

2:28:18discussion on ARCH funding for the 2026

2:28:21and Belleview council member Bharava

2:28:23gave a presentation on the Wilburn uh

2:28:25community in Belleview. Uh ACE has ACE

2:28:29is like you know arch elected officials

2:28:31uh committee that has been established.

2:28:33So this was the first year that we

2:28:35completed and there was a reflection

2:28:37discussion as to you know what should be

2:28:39for the next year and um apart from this

2:28:44arch actually did arranged a housing

2:28:46tour with the elected officials and the

2:28:48staff members and it was really good to

2:28:50go on that tour along with uh you know

2:28:53all all other elected officials and even

2:28:55our interim director Saraphi was there

2:28:58with us. Thank you for joining. We

2:29:00visited um East East East Link in

2:29:02Redmond and they were like you know so

2:29:04Amazon actually had sponsored the bus

2:29:06for this tour so we could go to the

2:29:08different uh different uh units and

2:29:10different properties to see and uh

2:29:13overall it was very good and there is

2:29:15one more that's coming up in case

2:29:16anybody still wants to have a tour for

2:29:19this please uh definitely look for those

2:29:21dates. Thank you.

2:29:22>> Thank you. Other committee reports

2:29:26council vice president.

2:29:28>> Thank you. Um, I attended the Cascade

2:29:30Water Alliance board meeting um for

2:29:33mayor while she was traveling. Uh, was

2:29:35able to to join remotely, but having

2:29:38somebody in in in the room was great. Um

2:29:43there's a lot of things that are

2:29:45business as normal as uh you know

2:29:48adopting the the budget uh making some

2:29:50amendments to some codes, keeping things

2:29:53underway for the responsibilities that

2:29:55Cascade already has. And then for some

2:29:58new things that we were discussing um

2:30:01with the the the new pipeline coming

2:30:03through um is uh staff presented on what

2:30:08the land acquisition strategy is going

2:30:10to look like. So, as a board, we were

2:30:12able to take a a deeper dive into that

2:30:14and start formulating questions. Um, and

2:30:17as Council Member Kitzer alluded to, uh,

2:30:20on Saturday, I did get to spend some

2:30:22time with our neighbors, um, downstream

2:30:25at upstream at the hatchery and got to

2:30:29for the second year in a row co-announce

2:30:31the um, Isakiqua salmon days as a show

2:30:34of the importance of regional

2:30:36collaboration. Um, because it's up to us

2:30:38here in Redmond to keep clean waterways

2:30:40to make sure that those fish make it all

2:30:43the way back to the hatchery.

2:30:45It's all about water.

2:30:47>> All about water. [laughter]

2:30:49>> Council President, [gasps]

2:30:50>> thank you. I attended the Puttown

2:30:53Regional Council Executive Board

2:30:54meeting. Um, in this particular meeting,

2:30:57we had a uh productive conversation with

2:31:01the new president of the University of

2:31:03Washington regarding the strategic

2:31:05planning process that he has overseen

2:31:07and um where the university will be

2:31:10focused in the next several years. We

2:31:13also spent a significant amount of time

2:31:14with our federal lobbyists, which is the

2:31:16same firm that we have here in the city

2:31:18of Redmond. Um, they took more time than

2:31:22normal with their update in order to lay

2:31:24out some possible timelines for major

2:31:26bodies of work that may be accomplished

2:31:28by Congress in the lame duck or maybe

2:31:31will be pushed off uh to the new

2:31:33Congress. This includes things we care

2:31:35about like the surface transportation

2:31:37reauthorization package. Um and we also

2:31:41had a discussion about the rule making

2:31:43that is currently going on uh for the

2:31:44next census and the council has had seen

2:31:47some emails regarding that. The next

2:31:49congress is set to have at least 99 new

2:31:52members. So nearly a quarter of congress

2:31:55uh will be new in the next year and um

2:31:58there will be work to do to to educate

2:32:00all of those new members of Congress

2:32:02about the important work going on in

2:32:03local government. I also attended the

2:32:06one Redmond government affairs committee

2:32:07meeting. There was I wanted to let the

2:32:10council know that there were significant

2:32:12questions and feedback and ongoing

2:32:14conversation related to the fire impact

2:32:17fees that council will be studying again

2:32:19next week in our study session. I

2:32:22personally have one more follow-up

2:32:23conversation scheduled with a member of

2:32:25that committee. So on the thread,

2:32:27hopefully the listening public has heard

2:32:29today. Yes, the council is in deep

2:32:31conversation with our development

2:32:32community as we um uh continue forward

2:32:36on our our commitment to build more

2:32:38housing faster and more affordably here

2:32:40in the city of Redmond. Um I think that

2:32:43the council should expect to see receive

2:32:45more input in the coming week regarding

2:32:47uh fire impact fees as we get closer to

2:32:49that conversation.

2:32:51Um, I have an update from the King

2:32:54County Growth Management Planning

2:32:55Council where I chair the Sound Cities

2:32:57Association caucus. Uh, at this meeting

2:33:00we took action to adopt new countywide

2:33:03centers including Marymore Village and

2:33:04the Southeast Redmond Industrial Center.

2:33:07So, uh, congratulations to the staff who

2:33:09work so diligently on that. Redmond's

2:33:12new centers, like many of the others

2:33:13that were approved, are slated for

2:33:155-year progress reports in just a few

2:33:17years. This is expected to be less

2:33:20formal than a fullscale monitoring

2:33:22effort, but the recommendation is to

2:33:25keep an eye on the performance of these

2:33:26centers, especially given the smaller

2:33:29geographic size of of these ones. So

2:33:32again, we want to be making sure that

2:33:34our centers are performing um and set up

2:33:37for success um uh in a way that is

2:33:40conducive to that overall program. But

2:33:43again, similar notes were given to other

2:33:45newly adopted centers, whether it be

2:33:47size or shape or the like. So, Redmond

2:33:50is not alone in that. And then, uh,

2:33:53finally, Mayor Bernie is tapping her

2:33:54fingers at the one more committee

2:33:56meeting. I attended the AWC legislative

2:33:59priorities committee meeting where we

2:34:01continued to get ready for the upcoming

2:34:02session including um talking about how

2:34:05we might build a story bank of cities

2:34:07doing their part to build more housing

2:34:09um including uh inclusionary zoning

2:34:12which as um we'll discuss more next week

2:34:15with our state legislative agenda

2:34:16discussion. We know that inclusionary

2:34:18zoning is is likely to come under some

2:34:20headwinds um and is an important tool

2:34:23here in the city of Redmond. So, quick

2:34:25reminder to the council that next week

2:34:26in our uh study session, we'll have a

2:34:28discussion about regional boards and

2:34:30committees. So, um if I can be helpful

2:34:33as a more senior uh council member in

2:34:36helping navigate kind of like what that

2:34:38experience is and what interests may be,

2:34:39please do give me a call um between now

2:34:41and next week. Thanks. And the tapping

2:34:43was not due to impatience. It was due

2:34:46like thinking about all that you were

2:34:47saying. I apologize.

2:34:49Um I Those are all great reports. Um, I

2:34:52just wanted to, it's been a little bit

2:34:53since I've been here, so I want to share

2:34:55a little bit. I was able to, um, go to

2:34:57climate week in New York City and join

2:34:59climate mayors there. But in that, um, I

2:35:01was able to be on a panel for the

2:35:03electric innovation forum, um, around

2:35:06the work that we're doing about heat

2:35:07pump replacement and many of our lower

2:35:09incomes. Um, and we also won a um,

2:35:13honorable mention award, um, through the

2:35:16electric innovation award. So, that was

2:35:17pretty exciting. Um and um and this is

2:35:21why council member um Noeva council vice

2:35:23president was covering me for Cascade

2:35:25because I was on my way to the airport.

2:35:26So thank you for being there in person

2:35:28for Cascade. Um and then I attended the

2:35:30association Washington city's board of

2:35:32directors meeting where we did adopt the

2:35:35state legislative agenda which council

2:35:38president had worked on and I just

2:35:39wanted to share that because it's really

2:35:41important that Redmond stay um engaged

2:35:44regionally because we can have a great

2:35:46impact for our community by all the work

2:35:48that we do. So thank you for your work

2:35:49on that. I know you put a lot of effort

2:35:51in that. Um, and then I was able to

2:35:53attend the Conference of Mayors

2:35:54Leadership meeting in San Diego where we

2:35:56talked a lot about um, making sure

2:35:59people have access to voting, that

2:36:01voting is safe, um, as well as some

2:36:03other topics, but but voting and

2:36:04elections was top of mind in the work

2:36:06that we're doing nationally to make sure

2:36:08that people have access. Um, and then

2:36:11the following or last week, um, a few

2:36:14exciting things happened. Um it was

2:36:16space week and I was able to introduce a

2:36:18panel down in um federal way for space

2:36:21week and we're hopeful that next year

2:36:24we'll have space week in Redmond. So

2:36:26that would be fantastic. Um I also was

2:36:29named to the governor's um council space

2:36:32council. Um we'll be meeting four four

2:36:35times next year to discuss economic

2:36:37development in the space industry which

2:36:40Redmond has a large presence in. So, I'm

2:36:42very um honored to be named to that. And

2:36:46um I helped open the Pinehurst station

2:36:49over in North Seattle. So, I was telling

2:36:51everyone while we're opening that you

2:36:53can come to Redmond and come visit us

2:36:54because when they get on the train going

2:36:56south, it does say Redmond on the

2:36:58two-line. Um and then another really

2:37:01exciting thing happened last week was

2:37:03that um the University of Washington

2:37:06opened a campus in Redmond at Microsoft.

2:37:09Um, it is the global innovation

2:37:11exchange. They had it open before in

2:37:13Belleview and they had it, it was on

2:37:15pause for a while. They were still doing

2:37:17the program in Seattle, but Microsoft

2:37:20and um, and the UDub have created the

2:37:24campus in Redmond now. And I'm so

2:37:25excited because I can finally say that

2:37:27Redmond has a research university within

2:37:29the city. Um, it's an amazing uh,

2:37:32amazing place. Look forward to seeing

2:37:33more and um, they have like spaces for

2:37:37um, collaboration and it's it's pretty

2:37:38exciting. So, it's been a lot. There's a

2:37:40lot of things that have been happening.

2:37:42I so appreciate council members also

2:37:44getting out to all kinds of different

2:37:46events and happenings as well. It's

2:37:48really a busy time of year as everyone

2:37:49knows. Um, but thank you all for all

2:37:51that work. Um, it's very exciting. It's

2:37:53we're in a very exciting time. Um, any

2:37:56more committee reports? All right. Uh,

2:37:59that concludes our business items for

2:38:00this meeting. And if there's no

2:38:01objection, we are adjourned.