AN ORDINANCE relating to Legislative Department staff; increasing the number of Legislative Assistant positions; amending Ordinance 118851; and amending the Legislative Assistant Compensation Plan Administrative Guidelines.
Bill passes and Cher was cited as an item number two. Please please read the report. Agenda item to cancel bill 118664 relating to legislate department staff increase in the number of legislative assistant positions and many audience 118851 and amended the legislative assisted compensation plan administrative guidelines. Thank you very much so. This bill amends a 1997 ordinance 118851 that was put in place that really capped the number of employees full time FTE positions for council member to three. And given the fact that we have shifted to a district set up and there or at least a higher level of expectation for I think constituent services and a present in the community. This 1997 cap, it will be lifted, at least it is suggestion in this ordinance. And I think all of you are aware of this. And again, it's more administrative in nature, but we'll list that cap on FTE for each council member there. Any questions or comments from any of my colleagues? Councilmember Burgess. Thank you. I think as I've talked with most of you, if not all of you, actually over the last several weeks, I will be opposing this change in the municipal code. Back when the voters of Seattle authorized shifting to a hybrid system where seven members are elected by district and two members elected at large, we asked the city auditor to look at other cities similar to Seattle to see how they handled their hybrid council system. And we did that in collaboration with the initiatives, sponsors and various city departments. We looked at Austin, Boston, Denver, Jacksonville, Oakland and San Francisco. None of these cities have more than three staff members for their council members, and none of these cities provide money for in district offices. I certainly understand my colleagues desire to have an increased level of service to constituents, but I question whether an additional staff member is needed to do that work. My other concern comes from my role as budget chair. This decision is not made in a financial vacuum. There are costs associated with this. The fiscal note attached to this piece of legislation does not include this number, but we will soon, in my committee be asked to act on legislation that authorizes these expenses. And on an annualized basis, we're talking about a half a million dollars. Is this the highest and best use of these funds? And I'm not at all confident that our constituents would answer that question with a yes. So I will be voting against this legislation, with all due respect to my colleagues who hold a different view. Thank you, Councilman Burgess. Are there any other comments from any of my colleagues? Councilmember Herbold. Oh, thank you. So thank you. Little Herbold And then Councilman Wirth. Sorry about that. I just want. To speak to this issue from my unique position as a staff. Member who last year took on the work of the At-Large council members. And I can now, as a council member. Really see. How under the district systems, the. One might think that there would be a reduced workload. But the fact of the matter is, is that the expectations. For constituent responses in particular has greatly increased. In the past, when a. Constituent would write to a. Council member about an issue that was not. In that particular council members committee bailiwick, the council member could refer that constituent inquiry on to the council member who was the chair of that committee. We can't do that now. So I my staff are now expected to be experts in parks. Issues when those parks issues are related. To. District one. A lot of work in transportation, as you might imagine, as. It relates to West Seattle. And South Park. Transportation issues. So we're really doing. Sort of triage to get. The public. Good answers on many, many more issues than we. Previously have. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Herbold, Councilmember Suarez, thank you. As you expected, I would have something to say. Thank you. Councilmember Herbold and Burgess, I want to fast forward to 2000. I'm sorry. Go back into time in 2013. This is a proposed charter amendment and it passed 65 to 35%. And there's a reason why over 45,000 people helped put this on the ballot. And why did they do that? Because they believe that the people that should represent you should live with you and should be responsible for you. And those are the people that should elect you because you are representing them as well as all of Seattle. That was the purpose and goal and I am familiar. Thank you, Councilmember Burgess, with the Austin Report. And I did read it. It was dated April 2014. But I'd like to point out that Seattle has well over 630,000 people, people with issues and needs. And now we're in districts we can no longer afford to ignore our communities and critical issues and still expect to get elected. And I think it's fair to point out that in 1975 and 1995, in 2003, it failed when we tried to pass the district system, and it finally passed on the fourth time. Why? Because the people of Seattle felt that they wanted representation, fair share of resources regarding parks, community centers, libraries, public safety, human services, pedestrian improvements and road maintenance. So you needed someone to advocate for the specific needs of your community, but you honor the greater good of the people of Seattle. And I'd like to also thank the people that are elected at large. That would be our mayor, Councilmember Gonzalez, and of major councilmember. For Burgess, they ensure regional and citywide voice. They educate us and I, for one, rely on them and their hard work and insight for the issues that they bring to my committee and helping me be a better councilwoman. I also want to point out that district representation closely what makes us more closely engage with our neighbors, our community, and that we learn to share that knowledge with fellow council members and our communities. I've learned from other council members. I've learned more about their districts. I work more efficiently and collectively with other council members. I can represent and honor the city and the people as a whole in this great city deserves no less. Now, before, I just want to add just a few odds. Being a new councilperson, I should add that 47 of the 50th largest cities in the United States already elect council members in geographic districts. And I think it's important to note that Seattle is a big city with big city problems, and we've also had major successes. The district system works. We just came up on our first 100 days less than two weeks ago. And I can say as a new councilwoman, these are some of the issues that I've been struggling with in dealing with and reading about and learning about and working in relying on my fellow council members. Homelessness. Affordable Housing. Street Vacations. Safe Injection Sites. Education. The Housing Levy. Hala MOU. Seattle Public Safety 83. Of course our transit spine. Mental health, food banks, the consent decree that we're operating under cannabis sale, regulation and licensing, wage theft, labor trafficking, sex trafficking, implementing the race and social justice initiative. Family Pay Leave, gender pay, equity, labor and business issues. Climate issues both local and regional. Those are just 20 issues that we've been dealing with for well over a hundred days. And you cannot tell me that three people can do all of that. You simply can't. And that isn't counting the committee that we're assigned to. So as a woman, as a mother, as a person that has lived in my district in the North End for 30 years, 25 years in my district where I raised my children, where I bought my home, where I rented my house. I didn't live in the North End because I was a Republican or a Democrat. I lived in the North End because I had good schools, had infrastructure and had transit, and I felt that it was time to have the North End represented. And that's why I decided to run. But more importantly, it's because I believe in this great city and I believe in how progressive we are and I believe how humane we are. Thank you. Thank you, councilmember her. Whereas those words than any of my colleagues else wanted to refute. Councilmember Burgess. Well, I will. Although you have one fan out there and Mr. Finish, I would say that it's very important realize a few things. Number one, if you look back at 2008, the city council members and their staff, we were at 36 employees in 2014. We full time employees in 2014. We're 39 in 2015 and 16, we're at 41. And I say that to look at the numbers, to suggest that many council members, through the use of temporary employees, through the use of work study employees, many, many council members have had three or four, sometimes five employees in their office. And what this change does, it's an administrative change to simply. Codify sort of a practice that has occurred even without this legislation. And I would remind my colleagues that you are not required to hire anyone. You are not required to use your budget. And so this gives the council members a choice, some flexibility. And those that choose not to use it certainly will have that choice. And so I, I applaud Councilmember Burgess for reminding us once again that we are stewards of the public public funds, the public tax based public moneys. But again, I think that while other cities there's some precedential value in what they do, it certainly is not controlling precedent. And that I think that we can continue to be a leader in this country for what we do in terms of delivering constituent services. So, again, this is designed to give us flexibility. And I think my colleagues make those points. And again, I will close debate. Unless anyone else has anything to say. No further comments. Please call the role on the passage of the Bill Bagshaw. Burgess No. Gonzalez, I Herbold Johnson. Suarez O'Brien. All right. So on President Harrell eight in favor one opposed thank you. The bill passes and the chair will assign it next report for the from the Affordable Housing Neighborhoods and Finance Committee.