AN ORDINANCE relating to the Green New Deal for Seattle; establishing the Green New Deal Oversight Board; providing compensation for those who incur a financial hardship by their participation on the Board; requesting that the Office of Sustainability and Environment create an interdepartmental team to advance the Green New Deal for Seattle; amending Section 3.14.970 of the Seattle Municipal Code; and adding a new Section 3.14.979 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
Oppose the bill passed and show Senate. Okay. We amended our agenda to address formally former agenda item number 33. So let's take it now. Agenda from the report of the Sustainable Transportation Agenda, Item 33 Accountable 119604 relating to the Green New Deal for Seattle establishing a Green New Deal Oversight Board. The committee recommends the bill passes amended. Councilmember O'Brien. Thank you very much and thank you for moving this up on the agenda. We have a number of amendments to work through and appreciate having a little more time in case we needed some flexibility to get the language exactly right. So really briefly, the the legislation would establish a Green New Deal oversight board. We heard in public comment from a lot of folks who feel strongly that this board is designed and should be designed. And I agree to be a place to represent folks most impacted by climate change to date and make sure that their voices are centered and uplifted as we design policies consistent with the Green New Deal resolution that we passed last month. This has been an amazing body of work and there's a lot of work going forward for us to hopefully see that board by the end of this year. And then, of course, all the work that will follow out of that that needs to happen across the whole city. But the members of this board will be making really important decisions and recommendations to us on how to proceed to address the Green New Deal, which is how do we simultaneously solve the climate crisis and the economic crisis that has impacted our frontline communities, communities of color, low income communities, immigrant refugee communities for too long, for generations in our city. And recognizing that if we simply address the climate crisis without addressing the economic crisis, we will inevitably be back right here where we are in the same spot. This is an opportunity also to re as we reshift our economy, to be a fossil fuel economy, to make sure it shifts in a way that is much more equitable and gives more opportunity. People throughout our community. We have a number of amendments and so Council President, my proposal would be to work through them in order. Amendment number one is mine. Amendment number two, as Councilmember Herbold and Amendment three. Councilman Pacheco. That's fine. Let's do it. Right. And I believe that as we get into it, we may need to suspend the rules because some of these, at least some language was provided afternoon, but the First Amendment was provided in a timely manner. So I'd go ahead and move Amendment One, which would make some some adjustments to how this board would play out. I'll touch on the the main aspects. One is remove language that requires the manager, the mayor, to notify the board of changes to city policies related to the Green New Deal. Two It would remove references to climate action plans and instead of focus efforts of the board on the proposed inter-departmental team in implementing climate actions. Three It would specify what would be included in the board, what should be included in the board's workplan. Four It would reduce the frequency of reporting requirements and meetings between the inter-departmental team and board from four times a year to two times a year, and finally would correct a number of typographical errors. Sort a second on that. Thank you. Okay. We have in front of us amendment number one. I'm sorry. Casper and Brant, can you point out the four you're moving it from four times a year to two times a year? A reduction of meetings, is it correct? What's the thought behind. The what we heard from the department was quarterly meetings of the departmental team would be significantly time consuming to the department. There's also a question is to, you know, if this board is meeting once a month, how much new information they would have, how much of the capacity they have? What I've told the folks from the community who've been working on this who would like to see they'd like to have access to a lot of information, that there are other ways that we can get that. For instance, instead of the whole inter-departmental team, if they're really interested in transportation policy, would work hard to make sure we get the transportation experts to report to them. Any questions on amendment number one from the dais? Okay, let's vote on amendment number one. All those in favor of amendment. Amendment number one, say I. I opposed the ayes have it. So I'm going to suspend the rules to take amendment number two, which is from Councilmember Herbold, unless there's some objection. So the rules are suspended and we'll look at Councilmember Herbold proposal. Councilmember Herbold. Thank you. I'd like to move amendment number two. I think this amendment does three separate things. The first is to in addition to authorizing the Green New Deal. Oversight Board to provide recommendations on. What the priority budget actions are. It also clarifies that we want this entity to prioritize the policy actions that are contained in the Green New Deal resolution. The second item in this amendment adds two more Labor representatives to a total of four. There are about 90 different building and construction, trades. Council unions and several of them at least. Four, if not more. Actually work. On on. Projects that would be. Impacted by the implementation of the recommendations found in the Green New Deal legislation. I also think it's really important to have Labor at the table as part of the necessary collaboration to try to get us to where we need to be on the on on the front end. And so that we can strengthen that blue green collaboration that we need to get us to the finish line. Then thirdly, the amendment requests that the Office of Sustainability in the Environment analyzes the impacts of the potential actions that are identified in the Green New Deal resolution and and how much each of those actions will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sources identified in the 2016 Seattle Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory. And then from that analysis, estimate measurable progress that each action would provide towards making Seattle free of climate pollutants by 2030. The goal of the amendment is to make sure that you have the information as members of the oversight board, to ensure that the decisions about which items to emphasize and prioritize are grounded in data, and that we as policymakers have a clear sense of where the potential actions fit in the overall goal. This version that before us now is a little bit updated from the versions shared earlier this morning with additions suggested by the Office of Sustainability and the Environment to note that the request is to the extent possible with the budget and staff resources that they have available. And it is specifically for actions that require council approval, which is definitely in line with my intent. Very good. Thanks for clarifying that. And so can I just ask, is that amendment to version three. That is amendment to version. Three, and. I'll second that if it hasn't been seconded yet. It's been second twice. That's okay. So we have. Proper. Version. Amendment number two, which has been moved in second. And any further comments just on amendment number two? Councilmember O'Brien. Councilmember Herbold, I really appreciate you bringing this forward. I think the points you made about the the impacts of the Green New Deal and will be significant across workers and the ability to have four representatives of labor, which represents a diverse group of workers, is a great addition, and I appreciate their thoughtfulness. I also appreciate the other changes you made her, too. Thanks for your comment. Okay. Any other comments? Okay. We're going to take the amendment only. So all those in favor of amendment number two, as stated by councilman or herbal, please say I opposed. The ayes have it. Okay. I believe amendment number three will be proposed by Councilmember Pacheco, but I believe I don't have to suspend the rule, so I believe . I don't. Well, I'm going to suspend them anyway, just in case I'm. So I'll tell you, our our confidential whisper here is that some of the contents on Council on Amendment number three are somewhat contained amendment number two. But I will defer to Councilmember Pacheco as to whether I need to suspend the rules. And he still would like to propose an amendment number three. I don't think we do, because I actually I accept the councilmember hurdled the First Amendment that she provided this morning, which was the priority city actions. So we've already accepted it. So I don't think we need to suspend the rules because this is the same amendment that I spoke of this morning. Okay. And the concept of philanthropy in high tech is that. It. I did also, actually, you know what? I do need to spend the rules because I did make an amendment, take a friendly amendment from councilmember mosquito. Regarding councilmember mosquitoes off as a bonafide collective bargaining agreement for the business. So. Okay. So do we. I'm sorry. I really. I would say yes. So do we have a document that describes this concept? Do I have a document? If not, I may have to consider it out of order. Go ahead. I'd recommend that we be considered for this amendment to. Take the time to do that. So so let me let's just be open and transparent in this discussion. So if we are to consider any additions to the board as already amended, it's been suggested that we would then do that within Councilmember Herbold amendments. But we have to do that. On the fly, as they say so. And Councilmember Pacheco, you know, I've been doing this for a while. You know, everything's nothing's really etched in stone. If you really want to push it. We could have some conversation, see if there's an appetite. If not, I think we've amended it consistent with Councilman Herbold proposal. So I'll defer to you on this issue. Sure. I would like to have a discussion on my proposed amendment. If you have the floor, sir. So first, let me just acknowledge that I'm I'm glad as a city we're having a conversation about what we can do to make a more sustainable future. And the Green New Deal isn't just on a local level what we're doing as a result of federal inaction for multiple decades. And so I just want to first acknowledge that because it's that's where the intent of my amendment comes from. The amendment that I am proposing is to align the Workforce Development Representative to be connected to the Career Connect Washington Initiative, which is an initiative that was passed this past legislative session. So that as a state goes, which was an initiative launched by Governor Jay Inslee, the city aligns with the priorities and as well it takes leverages the expertize of the state so that we can maximize our investments with regards to workforce training. Additionally, wanted to outline who the four representatives within Labor are going to be. As we've seen over the last couple of weeks, the four industries that are going to be most impacted by the decisions that this council makes as well as the city continues to move forward with with regards to construction, energy, transportation and building trades, wanting to make sure that we were explicit with regards to their their involvement in the in the conversation. And then lastly, I wanted to outline the three additional seats that I had mentioned this morning, one representative for a philanthropic organization that funds programs and services in the Seattle area. We are very fortunate to have the sixth largest community based foundation in the world's largest philanthropic organization in our region. A number of organizations, the Bullet Foundation, the Satyr Bird Foundation, who focus on a lot of environmental causes. And so acknowledging that as as a city, while we often want to pilot programs, we unfortunately sometimes don't have all the resources to be able to pilot and fund pilots that can most impact and benefit communities in need. And so we wanted to provide an opportunity for them to be representative as well and representative of a technology based company here in Seattle. I have this was not too contrary to what I think some people want to be identified as Amazon. But I have been a big, strong proponent of scooters, the e-bike programs, companies that have operated here in Seattle, because it's allowed me to get out of a car and wanted to ensure that as we consider those conversations and as these new technologies continue to be developed, that we embrace the innovation and acknowledge the trade offs that are a result of it. In my district, the students at the University of Washington have a laboratory called Commotion, which tries to leverage the innovations that students are trying to take and take it to market. But understanding how that continued innovation keeps driving that conversation forward. And then lastly, a representative of green business operate in Seattle, and I was very fortunate to have a conversation with between offices with Councilman Muscat, his office. And it's the language that I mentioned this morning. And I'll just reiterate for the public, which is a business that preserves or enhances environmental health, as well as the economic and social well-being of people and communities. Prioritizing communities most negatively impacted by climate change provides living wages and career pathways to its employees and whose employees are covered by a bonafide collective bargaining agreement. And so ensuring that the company that we, the green business that we include in this conversation is doing well and doing just by its workers , as well as helping us embrace the new technologies and again, the new industries that are going to be created as a result of the green economy. So just to clarify the concept, is it. Philanthropic and. Philanthropic. Hi tech. Tech. A green business. Three three additional had additional seat for labor and a defined the better defined workforce development position. Now just thinking aloud before we do a pro and con, I'll just sort of take from the chair's perspective, trying to manage the legislative process a little bit is it's it's a little difficult to do it because I don't think I have the concepts in writing or embedded in the legislation. And it's a dangerous precedent to try to wordsmith anything at this point in time and even to have a quote unquote committee discussion. So I'm not comfortable with with legislating the amendment. However, Councilmember O'Brien just passed me something. What is this? If I think. We do have it. So we do have it in writing. So. Okay. I stand corrected there. Oh, so we do have it in writing. So does everyone. I have it in writing, yes. Okay. So, I mean. I think the I think the only confusion is we all have it in writing, but it includes the stuff that we just voted. On in my amendment. Oh. Oh, okay. So it's so somewhat muted because of the. It doesn't include. Not all. Of it includes two of the three. Elements. It includes two of the three elements. So it includes the green business and the tech. And the philanthropic. That's from Brian, if. I can. Lay it on the. So I believe Councilmember Pacheco has proposed and we have before us adding one Labor position and then the philanthropic position and then the tech positions for a total of four. But we already added two labor positions that are Councilmember Herbold. So I believe that one position that Councilmember Chico spoke to would be moot in. It's just the three additional positions that you're asking for. Is that accurate? Correct. Okay. And so. But the other part of it, which echoes. Amendment amendment are. Still in play. Well, everything's and we're having a second yet, but. Yeah. Okay, so I apologize. I'm not doing a good job here. So the Councilwoman Pacheco, will you describe to me the. Board seats that are not in play that you're trying to put in play, even though we passed Councilmember Herbert's amendment. And I may ask the clerk or councilman or Brian to do that. Sure. So the three additional seats would be for philanthropy for a Seattle based tech company, as well as for a green business. Okay. So those three are not embedded in Councilmember Herbert's amendment, correct? That's correct. They're not in the underlying legislation at the moment that's been amended already. Okay. So in order to see if there's any appetite for that and I'm keenly aware we did hear some public testimony, some community testimony expressing concerns and objection to some of this. I'm not ignoring that. I will ask any councilmembers if they'd like to express an opinion on Councilmember Pacheco's proposal of the three positions philanthropic, high tech and a green business. I saw some hands, councilmember. I'll go mesquite and then Councilmember Swan. Thank you very much, Mr. President. And I want to thank Councilmember Pacheco for checking in with our office. And just I wasn't actually planning to speak to this, but just because our office was mentioned twice, I do want to offer a little bit of clarification. I appreciate the author's intent to try to bring this forward, but I am supportive of Councilmember Herbert's amendment. I think in our conversation between offices, the discussion was if we were going to include this, there should be some clarification around what green businesses we're talking about, including making sure that as we do in every situation, we want to lift up high road employers who respect the collective bargaining process and engage with communities, especially communities on the front line here. So I appreciate the engagement in our office. I just wanted to provide that clarification, though. If we were going to have this, we wanted to make sure that there was the collective bargaining respect included there . At this point, since Councilmember Herbold has her amendment, I am supportive of that one. And so just wanted to offer that clarification for council colleagues. And unfortunately, I'm not supportive of this, but do appreciate the inclusion of additional labor voices that both Councilmember Pacheco and Councilmember Herbold had in common and will be supporting the bill with that amendment that's already been included. Thank you. Councilmember said it comes from issue one. Thank you. President Harrell. Again, just because this amendment amendment contained two components and one of those was about labor. And we have already unanimously voted on Councilmember Hobo's amendment of adding two additional Labor representatives. And I think that was an important amendment because it is essential for the labor movement to play a leading role in the movement for a Green New Deal and for a sustainable future. Because without workers we will not be able to win that. But the rest of this amendment, let's be clear, focuses on adding big business representatives, including representatives from corporations like Amazon. Big corporations do not need more power in society. They already run the economy. And actually and this is this is the most important point here. This is about the Green New Deal. If the corporations that would end up having a seat at the table through this, if this amendment passed, they not only already run the economy, they are actually responsible for the structures of our society that generate the overwhelming majority of climate change in different forms, whether it's carbon emissions, fracking or you name it. And so to me, that's akin to, you know, the White House appointing coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to head the Environmental Protection Agency. We cannot we cannot have the fox guarding the hen house. And I think the same point applied to philanthropy. Philanthropy is just a thinly veiled disguise for big corporations to weigh in on social issues. And therefore, for all those reasons, I will be voting no on the amendment to put representatives of big business and neoliberalism onto the Green New Deal Oversight Board. Thank you, Councilmember. So one thing. As Baron Pacheco. Well, I appreciate councilmember silence. You know, passion. You know, I want to clarify. Tech business is not an oil business and a green business is not a natural gas company. So I want I'm I want to clarify and make sure that my position or the organizations that I have identified are not being presented the way that you are describing. Secondly, with regards to philanthropy, I outlined a number of organizations that I think do good work. And for example, as I referenced, the bullet center was funded by the The Bullet Foundation. And it's the Bullet Foundation that the bullet center, I should say, that has led to a lot of innovation with regards to new products come in operationally online with regards to either local land use code changes or weatherization of commercial development. And so I want to be clear about the organizations that you're referencing. None of them have anything to do with the natural gas or oil companies that you have referenced. PACHECO I'll chime in. And would you like to go before me? I would defer to you. Council president, whatever. I'm never going to order. Whatever order you would care to call. I'll stick with my usual precedent of trying to go toward the last council member. GONZALEZ Yes. Well, thank you. So in considering or just having the discussion, because I don't think that this amendment has actually received a second it or and I don't think it's been moved either. So I think we're just having a discussion here on this. Right. I am sort of setting setting aside which bodies are actually going to fill these seats. I think I think I get I begin to get a little concerned when we get oversight commissions that get to this proposed size of 22 people. It was already large at 17. We then expanded it in a moment's notice to 19. And now the proposal is to go to 22 individuals of the positions that are being proposed by Councilmember Pacheco. Position 20 would be appointed by the City Council. That's the philanthropic position. Position 21 would be appointed by the oversight board itself. That's the representative of the technology company. And then the last proposed position is position 22, which would be the green business operating in Seattle, would be appointed by the council. So I'm I'm just a little concerned about the the size of the Oversight Committee as as expanded to 22. I also do share concerns that the at least two of the three new positions being proposed by Councilmember Pacheco. I'm having a hard time seeing the nexus between the philanthropic organization and the technology based company to the underlying work that is being proposed to be accomplished in the Green New Deal. Although I think that Councilman Pacheco has orally described his intent behind the tech company addition. I notice that there is not any language in this particular ordinance that clarifies that it needs to be a technology company that is working on and is committed to climate adaptation and resilience, prioritizing frontline communities who stand to lose the most if we don't get serious about climate change. All right. You know, I think, you know, I might be able to be persuaded to go for the green business model. But unfortunately, this is all presented as a package and I'm not able to support this amendment as is structured for those reasons. Thank you. Councilmember Gonzalez. Customers want you want to make another point. Just to clarify that the the the majority of ordinary people understand at this point. I mean, if we were here 20, 30 years ago, the question might be different. But at this point, I think the majority of us are very clear that the idea of while there may be businesses, especially smaller businesses, that are genuinely in good faith, participating in the community effort towards a Green New Deal, and I know that there are many small businesses supported strongly. That is not the same as promoting the idea of green business because by now most of us are very clear. The idea of green business or green corporations is just a thinly veiled sort of way of for corporations to go out the discussion and and the actual efforts around the Green New Deal. And I would also just say, going from a year ago, maybe you didn't intend this, but I don't think it is a it is a good thing to. Woman that you appreciate our passion. Thank you. So I think it's patronizing. So and Brian may make a another point on the amendment itself. I was actually prepared to support it. And I'll tell you why. And I hear the community saying that I think, first and foremost, we should have communities that are either traditionally underrepresented or those most disparately impacted at the table for this very. Which should be a powerful oversight board. I get that. What I do like about your proposal is bringing I don't assume that those sitting on this board are coming without positive intent. I assume that whether it's intellectual capital resources, personal commitments, that they would come to the Green Deal Oversight Board for the right reasons not to watered down its power, not but to assist those on the board. And I like having resources and intellectual capital at the table to come up with great ideas on what's out there. I don't. And while I supported the labor positions, when we get down to the nitty gritty, there could be opposition from Labor on some of the efforts we're doing and that's a good thing. You're going to get that rich, diverse discussion to come up with a good idea and product. So I liked where you were heading with this. I don't even know what high tech company, a green business or philanthropic organization we have in mind. But that doesn't offend me when I look at what we're trying to achieve in the bigger picture. And I also believe that even I believe that people should meet their own needs. And by that I mean that the great representatives we will have on the Green Deal Oversight Board will be able to advocate for themselves strongly and passionately, and no one's going to steamroll them over. And these additional members would help. Again, with the the research and the resources that can make for a richer product down the road. So I was prepared to support it probably might be the only one. I don't know. But but but that's where I was going to stand. And Councilmember O'Brien, you are and. Q So you have the floor, sir. I'm just going to say that I will not support the amendment, but for the reasons that other colleagues who were not supportive articulated. Okay. Would anyone else like to opine, which is just an amendment and it's not the base legislation? Any other comments from listen, we get everybody to get everyone nowheres. They're going to vote. Yes, you can. Councilmember Gonzales, parliamentarian question. Yes. It hasn't been moved in second. And so I was going to go through that. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I thought you were I don't have a lot of I. Started getting. Nervous. No, I'm not going to call for a vote yet, so I'm going to just make sure everyone express their opinion first. Okay. So, Councilmember Pacheco, you you've gotten some feedback from many your colleagues. You haven't made a formal amendment. Would you like to withdraw an amendment or. I'm sorry. We don't have a formal amendment. That is the point that we don't have a formal amendment. So I'm going to see if he would like to make one or if he just like. And I could read the writing on the wall. Okay, so I don't hear a formal amendment so we don't have a vote, but we do have two passed amendments. And so with that, are there any discussion on the two past amendment or the base legislation that has been amended twice anymore? Closing pass. Why don't someone make some closing remarks and take us put us in a good mood? I will just say eternally grateful for the work that the community members have done on this. As you can see, this is not easy work and this is the easiest of the hard work that is left to do. And I look forward with working with you all. Let's say let's start tomorrow and maybe we can get some action on legislation about home heating oil and talk about natural gas hookups. There's a lot of work to do, but I'm really excited to get this board up and running a.S.A.P. Okay. Thank you, Casper and Brian. That's right. That's a that's a good mood. Okay. So please call the role on the passage of the amended bill. Herbold. I was macheda. Oh, prime. Hi. Pacheco I. Want I thank John. Gonzalez president. Harry. I. Nine in favor not opposed. The bill passes. The bill passes and the bill, as amended, is not quite ready to sign. So I'll make an announcement once the bill is. The bill, as amended, is presented for signature. But it's it's it's warm and almost baked and we'll have it ready by the end of this meeting. So let's move to the next agenda item. Please read it into the record. Every part of the City Council Agenda Item five, Resolution 31907 in support of Youth led September 20th, 2018 Global Climate Strike urging Seattle Public Schools to support its students rights to assemble and participate in the global climate strike and affirming the city employees may request unpaid leave for a day of conscience on September 20th, 2019.