AN ORDINANCE relating to the Central Waterfront Improvement Program and the LID Improvements identified herein; establishing Local Improvement District No. 6751 (“Waterfront LID”) and ordering the carrying out of the proposed LID Improvements, as a component of the Seattle Central Waterfront Improvement Program in accordance with Resolution 31812; providing that payment for the LID Improvements be made in part by special assessments upon the property in the Waterfront LID, payable by the mode of “payment by bonds”; creating a local improvement fund; authorizing the issuance of local improvement bonds; and providing for interfund loans and for the issuance and sale of short-term financing instruments, and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts, all by a two-thirds vote of the City Council at a regular meeting.
Agenda items three, four and five. Constable 119447 relating to the Central Waterfront Improvement Program and the land improvements identified herein establishing local improvement district number 6751 and ordering and carrying out of the proposed improvements as a component of the Seattle Central Waterfront Improvement Program in accordance with Resolution 31812, the committee recommends the bill Pass Council Bill 119448 relating to the funding operations and management for essential waterfront improvements. Identifying philanthropic funding for construction and operations and maintenance and safety and security of public spaces. On the central waterfront, the Kitty Bear recommends the bill Pass Council Bill 119449 related to the protest waiver agreement between and among the city, the Waterfront Park Conservancy and certain property owners affected by the proposed Waterfront Local Improvement District. The committee recommends the bill passed. Thank you very much. Because remember whereas let me say a few words before we introduced the Bass legislation. As we all know now, there has been an appearance of fairness doctrine challenged to seven of the nine council members. You do have at least one document in front of this, sort of gives you some ideas on how to respond to this. And I think we've been briefed by central staff on how to respond to it. If necessary, I can bring central staff back to the briefing table if necessary, and we can suspend the rules for further clarification. If not, what I am planning on doing is going down the dais, starting with Councilmember Johnson. Since Councilmember Herbold was not alleged to violate the doctrine and have each council member then say on the record their position regarding the appearance of fairness challenge. And again, if you have any questions, I can suspend the rules and we can have that if not. JOHNSON How would you like to respond to the Preparedness of Fairness Challenge? Thank you. Council President There are two issues in the memo related to myself. The first of which is a series of briefings that council members entered into as part of the deformation ordinance. This was a set of briefings I received by city staff related to the Office of the Waterfronts around the revision of the total local improvement district amount. The commitments from the private philanthropy, as well as the framework on the operations and maintenance and other elements related to the proposed legislation. The Office of the Waterfront Manager was giving me technical information that I felt was necessary in order to make an informed decision. I was not stating an opinion of of fact one way or another, either in support or in opposition to the formation of the local improvement district, but rather giving me a, to use your phrase from earlier, a just the facts, man, kind of an approach. In addition, I disclosed that earlier on this year in a private communication from a personal friend, that personal friend sent me a note in the mail here to my council offices, and that note expressed condolences about some issues that have been happening in my life. And in the middle of that note happened to also mention this friend's desire to see the lady not move forward. They are a ratepayer in downtown and they do not want to see the idea assessment pass. I never engage in a follow on communication with that individual, but passively receive the information based on advice from our council . They believe that it was important for me to disclose that passive receipt of that information, which I've done so as well based on these two issues. I don't believe that I should be conflicted out of these deliberations in this vote today, but wanted to cure these matters, as was advised by both legal counsel and our central staff earlier today. Thank you. Councilman Johnson, so am I hearing you state that you believe there's been no violation of the appearance, the Fairness Doctrine or in the alternative and or I should say that you believe you are not biased or prejudiced. Is that what I'm hearing you saying, sir? Yes, sir. I believe I fall into the former category as opposed to the latter. Okay, very good. Councilmember Bagshaw, thank you. I would like to build on what Councilmember Johnson just said. I have a unique experience because I am in District seven. I am within the local improvement district as proposed. My condominium is, as I've said, at ground zero at first in spring. This has been known. I have done my best to disclose it at every meeting that we've had. I also have been advised by our. Explored and by Wayne Barnett prior to June 1st of this year, I was not able to participate in the meetings, nor could I vote. But as effective the 1st of June, our council will 119254 changed our rules, allowing those of us who are elected by districts, particularly if we had a financial interest to disclose that financial interest. But to make sure that if I were to be taxed, it would be in the same proportion or percentage as everybody else within the the designated area. And that is then the case of my husband and my participation in this going forward. Like Councilmember Johnson, I have been briefed by our city staff. At no time have I talked to proponents or opponents, and any emails that I have received have been subject to public disclosure and turned over. For those reasons. I do not believe that I am prejudiced on this. I will be taxed like others should this pass, and I do not have any bias or prejudice or preconceived notions coming forward on this. Thank you. Councilmember Councilmember Johnson. I mean, sorry. Councilmember O'Brien. Thank you. Council President Herrell similar to the first point that Councilmember Johnson made, I, I did take meetings with city staff. Councilmember Johnson adequately described the content of those meetings. And I disagree with the challenge because I believe that I am not biased because of those meetings. I was gathering information and asking questions. Thank you. Councilmember Sawant I did not personally have meetings of this nature. My staff had them, but that information was not communicated to me. To the extent that it would. Violate the appearance of fairness doctrine. Thank you very much, Councilmember, staunch councilmember mosquito. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I disagree that I don't have the right to vote in there, so I very much want to explain the conversations that I had out of an abundance of caution. I recognize that this is a quasi judicial matter, and as such, I have only had conversations relating to the operation and maintenance legislation , which again is one piece of the legislation that we will be discussing today. I've had conversations related to aspects of my support for the oommon oh and m legislation to include language around inclusive representation across the city on the board, the role that Labor should have, the ability to have child care subsidies for those who are serving on the board. None of that relates to anything related to the assessments or any of the quasi judicial aspects. Again, I want to be really clear. This is a conversation I've had with members of the community because I am a labor advocate. I am not bought by corporations, and I will continue to make sure that those voices have a role in sitting on all of our boards and commissions as a principle of myself, as a council member, and I believe shared by many of the other councils up here. So there has not been a direct conversation about the lid assessment legislation or any other aspect that has been quasi judicial, but out of an abundance of caution. I wanted to share that with you, to be transparent. Thank you. Catherine Mesquita, Customer Scout. I was just taking notes. Mental notes, I should say, not physical notes. We are sort of in the A and B. Options on how we're dealing with this. And did you say that you just believe you're not biased or prejudiced because of the contact? A I want to state on the record that I do not believe there has been a violation of the requirements that we don't hear. Appearance of fairness doctrine. Thank you. Thank you. She made me restate that for the record. No, I think we're fine. Okay. We're out of the find councilmember words. Thank you. Council President. I disagree with the challenge. And as chair of the waterfront, I can confirm that this council member myself, I believe that there has been no violation of the appearance of Fairness Doctrine because I've not had any quasi judicial or substantive conversations regarding the assessment with any of the property owner community or the Office of the Waterfront and or the Executive. I've spoken to no proponents or opponents. All discussions have been on the record in accordance with the Open Meeting Act. I've had meetings with city staff regarding, as Councilmember Johnson said, just the facts. And as you know, I've been shepherding and this legislation in my committee for three years and I can honestly and fairly state on the record there has been no violation of the appearance of fairness doctrine. Thank you very much. So what I've heard from six of the seven council members that were challenged, that they disagreed with the challenge and they stated their their reasoning and their basis for disagreeing with the challenge. And for that basis, I'm concluding that we can proceed with a vote. But as Council member, whereas describes the base legislation, I would encourage members of the central staff to signal to me that I've missed something up and I can pivot in a minute. So unless we are proceeding, unless we are comfortable proceeding. Councilman Waters, please introduce the legislation as it has been read into the record in a short time is correct. Councilmember Walsh, you have the floor. Thank you, Inger. In regards to item number three, council, bill 119447 formation of ordinance number 6751. What I'll do is I'll read, talk about all three of them and I'm assuming we'll come back and vote. This is the first of three bills that complete the proposed waterfront legislative package. This ordinance creates the waterfront lead. That's the local improvement district. The city has proposed at least 6751 lids are local improvement districts, which is where the where that number comes from. Lids are commonly used, commonly used for funding a funding tool governed by the state law by which property owners pay to help fund the cost of public improvements that directly benefit their property. The waterfront is Seattle's gem. If passed, the city will not only not only be able to see the waterfront park, but also fully enjoy what the waters of the Salish Sea have to offer to our city. This ordinance allows the waterfront to serve all of Seattle and will include 20 acres of public space and an elevated pathway that reconnects the Pike Place Market in downtown to the waterfront. This ordinance creates the account in the city treasury to manage the waterfront led funds. This ordinance also allows the use of bonds for financing. The Committee on Civic Development, Public Assets and Native Communities made a unanimous recommendation on January 4th that City Council pass this Council bill. I'll move to item number four now. Council Bill 119448 Operations and Maintenance. This ordinance lays out stipulations of the agreement totaling $712 million. Office of the Waterfront provided a helpful chart that explains which stakeholder is responsible for which amount of the $712 million pie. It also includes a two year pilot agreement in preparation for a long term agreement with Friends of the Waterfront to operate and manage this public space. The committee recommended unanimously that City Council pass this Council bill. Item number five Council Bill 119449 Protest Waiver Agreement. This public private partnership provides a protest waiver agreement allowing a 30 day protest period upon potential adoption and mayor's and the mayor's signature of these items also followed by with a 30 day appeals period. I apologize. For that. This creates the waterfront. Conserve can never say that word. Waterfront Conservancy a Washington a for a Washington not for profit. It's a corporation for the property owners rights to enforce obligations while also protecting legal representation for this group similar to the functions of Friends of the Waterfront for the city. This is another example of the public of this public private partnership serving a complex, yet thorough and balanced agreement for all parties to move forward in a waterfront for all. I want to thank central staff and the Office of the Waterfront for thoroughly briefing members of my committee and step committee together and separately with Council for a thorough examination of each ordinance and how it impacts our city and its people. I've been working on this legislation's. Since I got elected three years ago. I understand, as Councilman Bagshaw has been working on this for 15 years, the Committee on Civic Development, Public Assets and the American Communities made a unanimous recommendation on January 24th that the City Council pass this Council bill and City Council passed all three bills. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman, where's Councilmember Bagshaw? Thank you. Councilmember Wise, let's just start off by saying thank you to you and your team for both your legal and procedural sense. I know that it has been a lot on your shoulders as you have also taken many other things that have to do with our civic projects this year. But you've done a super job and I want to say thanks. I also want to recognize the people who are in the audience. I mean, I could just go left to right and the front, starting with council central staff. Thank you for that, Dori and Angie. Appreciate it. Marshall and Joshua, my goodness, what you have done, the number of meetings that you have attended this year, I think there's people hiding back behind it. Heidi, thank you. Heidi Hughes and Jessica murphy for the work that you've done and not just the seawall, but activating the waterfront. I am truly grateful for what you have done, what I have been seeing and I know Maggie Walker, I don't think she's back there, but appreciate what she has done around philanthropy and the waterfront community, bringing them together. And then the Wayback Machine. And this really does go back 15 years when I first started working with Allied Arts and shared Waterfront for All. David You were taught me the phrases like We prefer green over gray and the idea that we really were making this for all ages and abilities and looking for a revenue package that came together. I know that there we have heard comments this morning or this afternoon. A number of my neighbors have let it be known. And of course, all those are subject to public disclosure and have been turned over that they're unhappy with having to pay additional taxes, that their property values are going up and they think that is enough. I understand. I know how people feel. Yet I will say that the vision for what these 20 blocks are going to be like both impressive, acknowledging these natural resources that we have. The once this viaduct comes down, first of all, we know how much quieter it is the last three weeks. But building this waterfront for all is something that, frankly, I'm going to look back on and think my time on this council and as working with Allied Arts on that as one of the highlights of my career. And I do want to acknowledge many of the architects that did this for free in 2004 when we first did our design charts. And I'm just, you know, just picking out a few Alan Hart and Matt Roae and Leslie Bain and Stephanie Bower with her amazing illustration Pen and John Fight. These folks were dedicating their time, their energy for free to show us what this could look like. And once I saw those illustrations, I knew that this was something that people would want to have, that words don't convey what the the illustrations did and that vision. And I want to recognize people like Bob Donegan and Bob Davidson down on the waterfront. I mean, they have worked tirelessly, and I know that it's been hard as we've moved the seawall and we've moved the roadway and we brought Alaskan way from one place over to another, and now they're going to go through another year of having the viaduct come down. But that said, it's going to be astonishing for businesses, for the aquarium and connecting the aquarium to Pike Place Market and all the way up to Melrose, I can just envision what our city is going to look like when people can walk and be separated and have that green space that we want. And I do want to acknowledge that we taxpayers who live down there aren't the only ones who are paying for this. The state put billions of dollars in the city has put in millions and millions, hundreds of millions of dollars. The port is also involved. The county has stepped up and this local improvement district is a piece. And I know that $160 million is a significant piece. And to those of us who will be living down there and the businesses who are there, we're going to have a front row seat on this regional asset. So I think connecting the waterfront to the pipeline corridor, to Queen Anne, to Pioneer Square, to West Edge, and creating those green public spaces and improving the habitat along the waterfront, it's well worth paying for. We're also separating and making it a safe place for pedestrians. I know many of you have heard me talk a lot about age friendly Seattle, about making our city someplace safe for all ages and abilities. This is an exciting opportunity for us to do just exactly that. I do want to do one word of warning. I can tell you that we will probably hear from developers who would be very interested. And taking some of the remaining blocks down there and going higher than 170 feet that it is zoned for. I'm going to argue strenuously that in order for us to keep a waterfront for all, we cannot allow ourselves to get sucked into building buildings that are hundreds of feet higher than what is zoned, even for the best of all causes. I have been fighting assiduously to keep this from looking like what? Miami Beach. We truly need. To have the stepped downs, which we have been talking about for the last two decades to actually happen. So with that said, I believe that this is fair. It's reasonable. Those of us who are paying the tax are going to be getting more. And I look forward to paying my share. And I want to thank all of you who have been part of this vision to make this happen. So saying now I'll be running. Yes. Council President Casper and Back Shore. I'm sorry, I forgot. Oh, I know. I forgot to say something, but I think Cosmo Johnson has had it before me. Councilmember Johnson. Thanks. I just briefly want to expand on some of Councilmember backsides talking points in the late 1940s when we first started construction on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. It's baffling to me that we would have chosen to build a highway on our waterfronts instead of connecting people to that waterfronts. And it's a wonderful thing to think that, you know, 75 years later, we might actually finally have the chance to have that waterfront be a place where people can congregate, where people can share, where people can talk to one another, as opposed to be a place where cars can drive quickly through and past. And while I know many mourn the loss of the view on the top of the viaduct while you're traveling in your single occupancy vehicle at 55 miles an hour and trying to make sure that you are keeping an eye on the road while also keeping an eye on The View. I myself will be glad that so many more people will be able to enjoy that outside. And I think Councilor and back side, you would agree when I say that this won't just be original acid, it will be a national and international asset as we finally turn over our waterfront back to the people, as opposed to a place that is very loud and for cars. So I'm excited for that to really begin in earnest and look forward to several years from now when we finally completed this. What a vision we will finally be able to accomplish and what an asset this will really be for all of us. Thank you, Councilman Johnson, because some words you like clarify something. Yes, I would. Thank you, council president. I just wanted to say and I apologize for not sharing this in my notes. I just realized I. Anyway, so we know that this is a $712 million project. And I think it's important to note that, yes, there is a local improvement district for 160 million, but the state is putting in 193 million, the city is putting in 249 million. And the philanthropy group Friends of the Waterfront will be raising 110 million. And so I think we're doing something phenomenal in this city that we haven't always been able to do, and that is to grow 20 acres of new and improved public space. And again, getting back to like we did with Seattle Center in the Space Needle, this is a gem. This is an icon. It will reconnect us with the Salish Sea originally how it was to be. And with that I'll be voting yes and I hope my colleagues join me. Thank you. Customer Councilmember Words for that clarification. Okay. Councilmember McKenna. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank Councilmember Wise and her team for being incredibly inclusive of our conversations as of late. I understand that I'm the newest member to this discussion, but I want to thank you for all of your work and especially and again for working with us as we thought of a few additional ads to lift up the voices of workers on the board and ensure that our city was represented in full at the table that we're creating. I also want to thank the Friends of the Waterfront and the labor members of the Martin Luther King County Labor Council who have been working with the waterfront folks to make sure that union jobs are created and that we're not just talking about union jobs as we create the new facility, but that as we clean the facility and maintain it, we also have good living wage jobs. Really excited about that language that has been included. I also want to thank my staff, Michael Maddox. This is an opportunity for me to thank him on land use, housing, energy issues, etc. But this is a great example of where he was able to quickly, quickly work with the council to make sure that those are values around labor and inclusivity were part of the solution. I think as we think about this new entity being a public property, we want to make sure that we keep our eye on long term costs. And having those jobs be in-house is a really great example of how we can make sure that they're good living wage jobs and we're keeping an eye on cost. Often we think about outsourcing as a way to save money, but in the end, we end up underpaying workers and costing ourselves in the long term term. So here's a really. Great example of where from the beginning our partners were interested in the strong labor business community dynamic, and we ensure that this project was reflective of those values. I also want to thank folks for all of your participation on the upcoming board. We know that it's not a very exciting thing that we're asking you to sit on, but the 19 members who will be sitting there if you do have child care needs, we've now included language to try to figure out pathways forward so that potentially child care could be compensated. We know from other boards and commissions that often child care costs are one of the main reasons that we don't see a lot of participation, especially from communities that are underrepresented in public policymaking. So really excited to have that voice there as well. And I just really look forward to seeing this vision that you've been working on for 15 years. Councilmember Bagshaw play out, having been able to play on the vacated viaduct and having this is my commute to work along the waterfront when I bike, I just can only imagine how great it will be. So working together, I'm sure that we will create a huge amount of accountability to fulfill that vision that you started 15 years ago and excited to be voting yes with you all. Thank you. Councilmember Skater Okay. I think that concludes our remarks. And if that we will take each bill separately. So please call the roll on the passage of bill 119447. Herbold i Johnson. I was Mr. O'Brien. Suzanne by President Harrell. I eight in favor and. Unopposed bill passed and chair of Senate please read the roll on the on constable 119448. Purple. JOHNSON Whereas I. O'BRIEN So what Peter hi president Harrell I eight in favor and. Unopposed the bill passed and chair saying please call the roll on the passage of bill 119449. Herbal Johnson Forest must get I. O'BRIEN All right so what makes your president narrow by. Eight in favor and. Unopposed bill passes and show sign it very good a lot of body of work. Operations it please read agenda items six through eight.