Input: And I will call to order the March 3rd meeting of the committee, the whole for the King County Council. Welcome, everyone, to the meeting. And as we start today, I'd like to acknowledge that we're on the traditional lands of the Puget Salish peoples, past and present. We think these caretakers of the land who have lived here and continue to live here since time immemorial. I would also like to acknowledge the many urban Indians in King County who have brought their cultural ways of life here and continue to also enrich our community. In light of our public health emergency, the governor has issued an emergency order suspending the section of the Open Public Meetings Act. It requires that we have a public a physical space for the public to watch our meetings. And so we will continue, as is our practice for a year now in having our meetings virtually. I'm currently under the Zoom platform. We have a very full agenda today, including a briefing from director David Lee on the county's COVID 19 response. Interviews with candidates for a vacant judicial seat in the West District of district court here in King County. And legislation related to fireworks in Kim County and hazard pay for grocery workers in King County. It was to both effect in unincorporated King County. Two housekeeping notes as we begin to help us manage the meeting. I'd ask the public and members of staff, executive and council to please keep your videos off until just before you plan to speak. And additionally, if you are connecting to the media meeting, view cell phone and you wish to provide public public comment. I would really encourage you to connect through the Zoom application, if possible, if you're connecting to the meeting without using the Zoom application. We may not be able to unmute you, and we also may experience a time delay. With that. Madam Clerk, would you please call the Royal? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Councilmember Bell, did you hear Councilmember Dombrowski here? Councilmember Dunn. Here. Councilmember Cole was there. Councilmember Lambert. Councilmember up to grow here. Councilmember Vaughn right down here. Council members online. Dear Mr. Chair. Dear Mr. Chair, you have the quorum. Thank you. Next on our agenda is public comment. I know we have a number of people here who provide public comment and items on our agenda today. Having an entirely remote meeting, though, now a year old is still relevant, a relatively new experience for us. So let me make sure that everyone understands the process and the rules for public comment. First, some ground rules. Public comments must be related to items on today's meeting agenda and may not be used for the purposes of assisting or opposing any campaign for any person, any office, or for the promotion or opposition of any ballot proposition . It must not. It also must not include obscene speech. If a speaker fails to abide by these restrictions. They may be ruled out of order and may be required to exit the virtual meeting. One. The process. As members of the public joined the meeting, they were automatically muted. We can see your name or the last three digits of your phone number. Our committee clerk will call the names and numbers for public comment. When you name or the last three digits of your phone number are called, staff will unmute your line. Please also make sure that you are meet your own phone. If you admitted yourself as a courtesy. And again, if you're connecting via zoom out, we would strongly encourage you to. If you're connecting by cell phone, we'd strongly encourage you to try to connect by the zoom out before you begin your testimony. When you've been called on, please begin by maybe simply stating your name and pausing, saying something and pausing so that we can confirm that we can hear you. And then if you begin your testimony by saying and spelling your name so we can have it accurate. For the record, you'll have 2 minutes to speak and then you'll hear a timer go off. When you reach your 2 minutes, you can certainly finish your thought, but if you would wrap up your comments to allow the next person to speak, if you go much past 2 minutes, you may be interrupted or muted. If you're listening on TV or streaming, please turn that volume off during your testimony so we don't have feedback. And if you might, after your testimony, hang up and follow the rest of the meeting through Channel 22 King County Television or Stream online. The link online is at WW W dot King County dot gov backslash counsel and then you click on the ever popular Watch US Live button. I will now begin public comment Madam Clerk and events. You start calling people and I remind people to start by saying their name and pausing to confirm that we can hear you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The first concern to you. Hold on a second. The livestream wasn't working, but it is working now. So if you are a council analyst or an. Executive staff, can you please get off the. Zoom while. Public comment is going on? Thank you, Aaron. Then first person is Ashley GROSS. Please go ahead and meet yourself and proceed. Oh, I'm sorry. I just joined because I couldn't get on the livestream. I don't have public comment. Thank you. The next person is Barbara's iPad. Please unmute yourself and give us your full name and privacy. Hi, this is Barbara Hopkin and that's Dobby in. Thank you. Go ahead. So I am a resident of Lloyd Center. I also am on the board of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council. Have a calling in regard to the proposed fireworks fan. As a resident of White Center, I urge this Council to please move forward with the fireworks ban for the unincorporated areas. White Center being an urban area, it's the fireworks every year are getting louder, stronger and go on more in the days before and after July 4th. It's really out of control. We feel like we're under attack here. I don't leave my house for a week because I'm afraid it might burn down and I have to be here to protect my home and protect my animals. Additionally, the air pollution that follows this and the trash that remains is just not good for this community. We have enough issues here without having to deal with this every year. I urge you, please consider this ban. Move forward with it. I understand that there is groups that profit on this, but we don't this community doesn't benefit from any of the taxes. And so I don't think that is a reason to continue selling fireworks and allowing them to be excluded in our community. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next person is listed as Brent's iPad. Please go ahead. Unmute yourself and give us your full name. Yes, my name is Brant Havlicek. Last name is spelled a reason. Victor l. I. C. E. K. Thank you. Go ahead. Great. My name is Brant Havlicek. I'm the general manager for Western Fireworks. We are a Washington State licensed wholesaler, distributor importer from out of state. I am calling in just to testify that we as a company are opposed to any law changes that prohibit the sale and use of fireworks in unincorporated King County. It was mentioned earlier that nonprofit groups and service clubs will be affected, and yes, they will. They are going to suffer horrendously. I think you'll probably hear from more of those individual groups later today. But in this pandemic, local sports and churches and schools and families and all of our communities, not just Washington, but in our Pacific Northwest, have been affected and are hurting from COVID. I don't think it could be a worse time to look at affecting those nonprofit groups and their ability to fundraise. The other issue I think that's important to to look at is that the problems and complaints are not going to go away. Prohibition is not going to work on fireworks. There are other markets where they have tried to do that, neighboring areas to King County and proximity. And I don't believe that the ability to govern is going to exist. The prohibition, in my opinion, is not going to work. You have neighboring tribal sales within the proximity that you are not going to be able to control. They are their own sovereign land and nation with their own rules and regulations. In addition, you have cities and municipalities close by the do allow for the fireworks sale. So I think the policing is a task that is unsurmountable in the future with this prohibition because we haven't been able to do it at this point. So then you ask what what can be done? I think the death penalty doesn't work. I think that we have to try and educate and that requires time. And I can say that it does exist in other municipalities. We've been involved that as a wholesaler with other industries, and we would be willing to sit down and attempt to work in that manner. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next person is Galaxy S9 Plus and unmute yourself and provide us with your name. Hi. My name is Dave Freberg. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you. And you? Your last name? Freberg is f r u r g. Thank you. I'm just going to build on what Brant had to say. I am a local business owner and my family has run a seasonal operation and actually several locations for TNT fireworks since 1985. And in that time, we've we've supported many charities, including Little League, National Mars Society, Big Brother, Big Sister State, which is the local horse rescue that works with animal shelters in the region. And, you know, in addition, it's important to reiterate that this has created a tremendous amount of business learning opportunities for young teens and adults. And, I mean, this includes everything from sales to marketing, finance, inventory. It much more. And a handful of those kids have gone on to work for many of the largest companies in our region, including Amazon, Nordstrom, to name a few. But in line with what Brant had to say, I completely agree your prohibition is not going to do away with the issues that were brought up. As far as the urban concerns, the louder, the stronger. In fact, if anything, it's going to encourage that more dangerous class of firework to make its way into those those very urban pockets, which you're already seeing with the cities that have banned it in the region. And in fact, I would I would actually propose a compromise one, again, furthering what Brant had to say. As far as educating, regulating, we do it with everything else that requires respect because there's a danger involved. And I'd be more than happy to volunteer to be a part of a committee or whatever the council sees fit. But again, that's going to take time. And the other thing that's an opportunity, I think, is to find a compromise in the class, a firework that is sold legally within the county. And there is a class called Safe and Sane. And I can tell you that as the interest grew last season, because fireworks were a coping friendly activity, that's what everybody wanted. They wanted the fountains. They wanted the things that weren't the louder, the stronger. And, you know, I think they're still fun. It's still something that can be done as a family. So that that would be my my my thoughts. Thank you. The next person is Glenn Wallace. This. Go ahead. Hello, this is Glenn Wallace on the resident of District three. Can you hear me okay? Yes, we can. Thanks much. Sure. My name spelled Julie and a l l ac. So I strongly support a ban on the sale and discharge of fireworks to the public by the public for three reasons. One, this is not just an issue that impacts unincorporated. We are people who live in the cities of King County where fireworks are already banned and they are able to easily buy fireworks right next door in unincorporated and discharge them in the cities. It's very difficult to police that type of valuable police resources driving around looking for offenders. The public sale of fireworks fuels these calls. Second is the fire risk. Climate change is causing hotter summers. One day a few years ago, one summer, every fire engine was busy on a fireworks related call in King County, and someone had a house fire or other urgent need. There would have been no backup. Number three, we have a dog with severe anxiety. And even though the local fireworks users say we should just drug the dog, we get an entire week of fireworks. It's not just one single day. People who are using fireworks are unable to restrict themselves to the appointed day and time window for discharge. To repeat, it is in two days of fireworks we have to endure. It is two weeks of random fireworks, including discharges at 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.. I understand that community groups get revenue from fireworks, and I'm sure groups fundraise from Cigarets at some point in our history as well. Maybe it's time for them to move on to other sources of revenue. I like the concept of self responsibility and I like the idea of having fewer restrictions in unincorporated King County. But in my 23 years of living here, all I've seen are people who are unwilling or unable to follow the simple rules about when and where the public can discharge fireworks. It is time to end it. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is Jason Trout. Let's go ahead and unmute yourself. My name is Jason Trout. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you. I'm a representative of TNT fireworks. I just wanted to kind of reiterate what Mr. Wallace just said. You know, I think it's difficult when we talk about banning something outright. It forces people to other places. I want to remind everyone that, you know, currently the law only allows for the use of fireworks for 14 hours a day , and we can't enforce that as it is. And so, you know, there are many municipalities in and around King County where bans don't work. The mayor of Lacey in July of 2020 came out and said their ban does not work. So what I would like to propose from our company standpoint, we've always put an emphasis on safety and consumer safety. But I think maybe what I would make the pledge more is some education on time to shoot, places to shoot, safety for shooting. I think people sometimes don't take into account their neighbors and picking up trash and things of that. We have been very diligent about presenting Setpieces at the point of sale in King County. I would like to work with whatever committee you guys would like to come up with. We would be happy to redesign whatever they we're putting out at the point of sale to help the community of King County Unincorporated understand, you know, what the proper way to use fireworks are. You know, we'll be happy to go through and do an educational campaign, will partner with the fire department or the police department or whomever on enforcement issues, because obviously this is an enforcement issue. We can't even enforce what's on the books now. And so that's certainly an issue that AT&T would be happy to help the council as well as fire police personnel. Thank you for your time today. Thank you. The next person is Jerry Elrod. Please go ahead and mute yourself. There I was. This is Jerry Elrod. Thank you. My name's Jerry LRAD. My name's Jerry Elrod, and I've been with AT&T fireworks coming up on my 50th year, so I've been in the business quite a while. We've sold consumer fireworks to King County residents through our partnerships with local community groups, charities and school groups for for at least 50 years. Something that goes further than that. Included in that, we sell quite a bit to the Chinese community, which I know the fireworks is important to do. And he's a proud partner with these community groups and charities to help raise much needed funds, some of which were mentioned earlier to support their programs. In a lot of cases, the proceeds from these organizations, from selling fireworks, represent a majority or in some cases of the organization's entire operating budget. A decision by this council to ban the sale of all consumer fireworks could prove devastating to these organizations in particular. At the same time, the concerns and issues raised by residents about the irresponsible and at times use of illegal fireworks need to be addressed by the body. These fireworks are not what we sell. We recognize that there are more needs to be done to educate consumers about the safe and responsible use of consumer fireworks. And as Jason has mentioned and Brad has mentioned, and we wish to be an active partner in that regard, AT&T or it's our firms believe that a majority of King County residents support the legal use of legal consumer fireworks. The resident AT&T partnership is and we do cherish the American tradition of backyard fireworks shows to help celebrate the nation's independence and to help usher in each new year. And it was real evident this past July 4th season. We encourage the council to consider whether a better, more moderated approach may serve the interests and needs of the community. More proactive with these. Or alternative actions that we believe can address many of the concerns being raised by incoming presidents while preserving the right to use and sell certain fireworks for these residents who wish to enjoy them responsibly. From my experience, minister, the is that implemented outright bans struggle with enforcement. Matter of fact, a ban is unenforceable. Many communities to prove that the community concerns you are seeking to address are real. And TNT would like to work with this council and find workable solutions and discuss possible alternatives to an outright ban that can help address these concerns while maintaining the right to purchase and use fireworks legally. Taking an ax to the entire industry would be devastating and not enforceable. Are absolutely against this ban. Thank you. The next person is Judge Virginia Amato. Please go ahead and unmute yourself and proceed. I have nothing to add. Okay. Thank you. The next person is Kirsten Weiss. Please unmute yourself. I don't think I'm signed up to speak. Okay. Thank you. The next person is Danny. Are. You'd like to unmute yourself and provide us with your full name? Yeah, my name is Danny Richards. I have nothing to add. I just want to reiterate that I'm against the ban. I've been familiar with fireworks for years about the great non-profits that sell in the King County community, but the other speakers have been great as far as being against the ban. I just wanted to add my voice to that. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is Keenan Auden, the Colin. Please go ahead and mute yourself. Hello. For the record, my name is Kim Norton McCallion and an O d and I can be a key ally. And I'm a Jordan Ramus PC. We represent Jakes Fireworks, Inc. in nationally renowned retail fireworks and wholesale distributor Jakes respectfully request. The council declined to adopt the proposed ordinance 20 10057, which would ban the retail sale and discharge of firearms first. As other members of the public have noted, this ordinance will eliminate the primary driver of fundraising for local seller groups, including churches and nonprofits. Many of these groups derive as much as 90% of their fundraising from the sale of retail fireworks. And unfortunately, this revenue is not so easily replaced. Second rate line rules are inherently inflexible and rarely achieve the intended goals underlying legislation. In this case, the primary driver of new nuisance and public safety concerns fireworks and eighties bottle rockets that are already illegal. I think the folks in the industry can better speak to this, but trying to adopt a wholesale ban on fireworks will not achieve the goal of eliminating these nuisances which are already being committed by these illegal fireworks. The better avenue here would be to increase the education outreach efforts to protect the public from the impacts these already illegal fireworks. And then finally, as Brant from Western fireworks noted, many of the tribes represent the primary driver of sale of these illegal and illegal retail fireworks. They're outside the control of unincorporated King County. I understand Councilmember McDermott's point that they would need to be that the county would need to sign agreements with these tribes before they can move forward with enforcing the ban on fireworks. But unfortunately, a lot of the tragedy outside of unincorporated Kane County. So the council's goal of intending to protect the public safety and welfare of its constituents may not be achieved by this ban. And again, as a national leader in the fireworks industry, Jakes recognizes the essential role fireworks play in supporting our local communities and American self-expression . Can we request? The Council declined to adopt this proposed ordinance. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next person is Kelsey Knowles. Please go ahead and unmute yourself. Sorry. Not a not. Not a sorry. Not not testifying. Okay. Thank you. The next person is listed as Marcy. Please yourself and provide us with your full name. My name is Marci Beyer. And we are. Thank you. Go ahead. I just wanted to state that I'm against the ban. I am an unincorporated Kane County resident, and I also work with a nonprofit who uses it as a fundraiser every year. And if the safe and sane fireworks are not available, I do think people will go to the Indian reservation and it's not going to stop people from purchasing fireworks, but they will be getting ones that are quite a bit less safe. So I just want to state that I'm opposed to the ban. Thank you. The next person is Marissa. It's a meet yourself and provide us with your full name. My name is Marissa Hancock and it's spelled and they are, I say an S.O.S. K. Thank you. Go ahead. I am a resident of White Center and also a mental health counselor. I've been living in White Center since 2009, and I've been I just first want to thank Representative McDermott for proposing this legislation. I have been waiting for years and years and years. I had no idea what it was like around the 4th of July before I moved in here. But like other residents have said, we're not just talking about a day or two of fireworks. We're talking about, you know, I would say on average, ten days of fireworks that happen at all hours of the day. If anybody hasn't been around on, you know, the 24 hours around the 4th of July itself, it is like a war zone here. You are just constantly hearing loud explosions. The air is is unbreathable, especially in the nighttime hours. It feels like nothing I have ever experienced in my life. And so, like other residents have said, I try to be out of town around that time of year because it is so awful. However, I have I have pets and I have a house that I worry about. So it puts me in a difficult position. Like other residents, I want to say, you know, the main the main issues that I really see as a problem here are, you know, the effect that this has on humans. We're talking about people who, you know, vets who have experienced PTSD getting activated during this time, anyone who has survived trauma. Your nervous system cannot help but be activated while you're hearing bomb like noises go off unexpectedly. Every, you know, for for days and days and days. We're talking about issues for people with respiratory issues. We're talking about issues for I mean, one of the hardest things for me to deal with was when I was a baby and trying to put him down now he would just wake up. And I'm sure there are thousands of people who go through that same situation. Of course, we also have, you know, the animals that live outside birds, you know, who I'm sure have had their habitats destroyed. And we have the air risk and also risk of fire danger during this time. I mean, I think we do know that some of the wildfires last year in other states were caused by fireworks. So I'm curious about why people think this ban is unenforceable when we know we can look around surrounding municipalities and see that they do not have the same kind of fireworks activity that unincorporated King County and White Center have. It just seems ridiculous to think that that you wouldn't be it wouldn't be enforceable. And I just want to say, lastly, this seems like the people that are speaking up in against the ban are a handful of business owners, you know, versus thousands and thousands of residents and animals who suffer every year as a result of this insanity. So, please, I urge you to support the ban. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is listed as McNeil's immediate yourself and provide us with your full name. Hi, this is Erin and Jeff McNeil. E r i n and Jeff M.S. and I are. We're actually here to speak about the hero pay issue. Is this the appropriate time? Yes, go ahead. Absolutely. We are the owner operators of the grocery outlet that is located in Skyway. And we are here to talk about the proposed traffic. Oh, so our business is actually McNeill Family Markets Grocery Outlet is our supplier. And I think that's where the misconception come grocery outlets are independently, locally owned and operated and building. And the name grocery outlet is a parent company that is traded publicly, but we are not. So our our relationship to our employees or our employees, we are not an employee grocery outlet. We run a consignment business. That's how Voroshilov works. And the businesses are small. So right now we pay ourselves between to start, we have to buy weight. Our family markets brand is real market. Between the two. We pay our selves on average $0.26 an hour, more than our average pay for our employees, $4 an hour raised. We can afford to do that. We do that ourselves. It's enough to take us under. Again, I think the misconception is we're this big, huge company and we're not, oh, we have less than 50 employees. We're part of the community. We work in the stores. They're in fact, I'm the farmer. I'm the painter. I'm the picture. Oh, it's not. We generally are in underserved communities, so it would be a hardship that we went away. And I think it'd be really hard on people in that area. Even the rents or the stadiums, it's 40% over additional supermarkets. So anything can be a hardship on a lot of people in those areas because we're not competitive at high, we're just making all of it. So I mean, it is also a food desert. And if that store is that economically impacted by this proposed measure, it's going to create a situation where people will have to go further away than their local neighborhood to try to get groceries. We're not going to be able to operate properly in that condition is whether we should be lumped in with all the big box retailers. Because we're not we're McNeal Mart Family Market. Again, I think the big name everybody's looking at is the publicly traded warehouse really has nothing to do with us other than an agreement that we're going to sell their goods at commission rate. So I hope that helps with the. Understanding of what our business actually is. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is Ray Pettigrew. Please go ahead and unmute yourself. Hi. My name is Ray. Had a group that's ah a y p t t i g r e w. Good morning. Council members and the Assistant Chief and Fire Marshal for King County Fire District two. We provide protection, fire protection and emergency medical services for Bear in Normandy Park in the North High Line area. I also represent the North Highland Fire District, which cover White Center area. Thank you for the opportunity to provide further comment on proposed Ordinance 2020 1-80057 prohibiting the retail sales and personal use of fireworks and establishing a procedure for public displays of fireworks in unincorporated Kane County. I ask that each of you council members support this proposed ordinance as the fire marshal representing two cities and the unincorporated area of North Highline. I get to see the difference between legal areas that have a ban, which is a city variance in an area that does not have a ban, the north highland area. There's a dramatic difference in the level of fireworks between the two jurisdictions. While certainly the ban does not completely eliminate the use of fireworks, it dramatically decreases it. And if we were to have a ban in unincorporated Kane County, so the residents of Berrien could not travel to North Highline and purchase fireworks. That would decrease it even more each year through education and interaction with the public. On the 4th of July, I encounter multiple people who have purchased the fireworks and at least claim that they did not realize that they were illegal in Berrien because right across the street their neighbors are viewing them now in Berrien. It's dramatically fewer fireworks going off when you travel than the North Highline area, especially the evening of July 4th. You literally have to stop and wait for people to move out of out of the middle of the road because they're lighting on off fireworks that they've bought legally from local stations. Certainly, there's people that are using the tribal fireworks, illegal fireworks, but the majority of the fireworks are purchased locally. I appreciate your time on this issue. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is Sara Sharon. Please go ahead. Council Member McDermott and members of the Committee for the Record, my name is Sarah, Chair and executive vice president of U.S. 21, the largest private sector union in Washington state. I want to thank you, Councilmember McDermott, for making time on the agenda for this urgent issue. Thank you to Councilmember Demovsky and the group for your sponsorship of the hazard pay ordinance. You're going to hear from workers, I think, after me. So their stories are the ones I would really listen to. The couple of things I just want to address is obviously the hazard is as high as ever. While cases may be going down, we know that grocery workers are 4 to 5 times more likely to contract COVID. The new variants exist. People are recommending. Public health officials are recommending that people double mask. That isn't happening in grocery stores and for grocery store workers. So the hazard is high. I just want to say about Biden's announcement last night, while that may be welcome news for somebody at some people, it does mean that grocery workers who have been going to work since day one will now be pushed even further back into the vaccination line. So making this making this, you know, very concerning and this ordinance very timely. I did just want to address the amendments. Thank you, Councilmember Balducci and Sallai, for putting those forward. We we are fine with the amendments. I will just say on the amendment around the food desert and grocery outlet, there was an investor call yesterday with the CEO of Grocery Outlet about their independent operators and they were asked about these hazard pay hikes on the West Coast and I'm quoting directly and I will forward this to the council. This is from the CEO. Our strong belief is that this will be something that sunsets as the economy starts to return to something we would sort of call normal. But ultimately, this is similar to what we've seen four or five, six, seven years as some of the West Coast states have increased the hourly wage for most employees on the minimum side, from 7 to 8 up to 13, 14, 15. Most of the operators have digested those. What it means for us is we have to invest in systems and technologies and processes that help save the operators time and make them a little bit more efficient. So we can't. Really do much. About the wage inflation, but we can do a lot more on the back end. So apparently they're not quoting anymore. They're saying as as as grocery outlet, they can help on the back end for some efficiencies. Full year 2020 financials for grocery outlet profit up 86.9% over 2019. Net sales up 22.5% and same store sales up 12.5% as customer shopping behavior change. Slim margins don't always mean slim profit. So I'll just say we support the amendments because we need this to move. Our members need this urgently. But I did just want to note that about grocery outlet. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. The next person is Heidi Cooper, writer with Meet Yourself. Go ahead. Hi. I was just kind of listening and I didn't know we were going to speak today. But I just want to say it's been a family tradition for us. I have four kids and it's nice way to bring the family together. We do the Purple Rain and the, you know, the crazy little stuff that they just like doing in the yard that it's and I understand both sides of it. So I, I feel for both sides at this point, but I, I personally hope it's not bad because it is nice being able to go. The kids get so excited picking out their favorites every year and then waiting for that evening where we get to all come together and blow them off. So everything's been so turned upside down lately. I hate to see another tradition swept under the rug, so good luck. And and like I said, I feel for both sides. So I'm glad I'm not in your shoes where you have to make the decision. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next person on the line has a phone number of area code 206. Last three digits are 774. I've asked you to unmute yourself. Please go ahead and provide us with your full name. Erica 206. Last three digits. 774. If you like to limit yourself, then proceed. I'll move on to area code 206788. Please unmute yourself and identify yourself. If you'd like to provide public comment. Hi. I'm sorry, I. I missed my opportunity for a second. There this is. My name is Stephanie Brown. Stephanie Brown and are you are you referring to your six, 857774? Oh, great. Great. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. Yeah. No, thank you for for having me. I just wanted to say that I've worked at the Roxbury so way for approximately a little over five years. And this past year has been tremendously stressful on a lot of us through this pandemic. I work I happen to work in the floral department. But the the flow of our customers through my department itself has has increased a lot. And we're under a lot of stress. I currently I well, I currently live alone. I had to move out. I was taking I was helping my mother, who's elderly and has some health restrictions. And because of my my place in the workforce, I needed to move out of her home because of my exposure. My anxiety has it has come to a peak and I have been having to see the doctor more often this year. Our. Sanitation in our. Store is not exactly what it should be. We've had to deal with a lot of. You know, customers coming in and. Not having them monitored or. Or having our. Customer. Hello? Hello. I'm sorry. I'm breaking up. Oh, we can hear you just fine. Okay. Now. We don't hear you. Madam Cook, it appears we lost Miss Brown. Perhaps if she comes reconnects, we could allow her to finish her testimony. But it seems like perhaps we should move on at this point in time. Will do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next person is area code 206. Last three digits, 8 to 4. If you like to meet yourself and proceed, that'd be great. Last three digits, 8 to 4. I've asked you to mute yourself. Hello. Yes, we can hear you. Can you please provide us with your full name? Liz Akiba allies the g i b a inc. You go ahead. Thank you. The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council asks you to support proposed Ordinance 2021, Dash 057 and ban fireworks in unincorporated Kane County on July four, 2019. Certainly can be a North Highland man and his dogs were killed by a house fire that was started by rogue fireworks. His wife was left to deal with the loss of her husband, pets and home. Mrs. Kennedy is next door neighbors. A large family was also displaced because their home also caught fire. There have been deaths in the past. Others have been scarred physically and emotionally. This is a public safety issue. Please end this dangerous situation and vote yes to ban the fireworks. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next person is area code 5036. Last three digits, 6 to 3. I've asked you to mute yourself from the word and please. Area code 503 last three digits 623. Hello. I have no comment. I'm just listening. Thank you. Thank you. Then. Next person is area code six. One, two. Last three digits, 117. Like a meet yourself and. Hello. Yes, go ahead. Can you give us. Yes. This is Jeffrey Idol's rule of last name. Age. Oh, yes. Are you ready? Thank you. So. Okay. Yeah. Good morning. Terrible duty and community members. Thank you very much for giving me the platform to voice my Australian support in advancing hazard pay for grocery workers. My name is Super Eagles. You know, I've been working for the QVC on Redmond Wrench for the last few months. I originally moved here from Minneapolis. I'm very grateful that I was lucky enough to find stable employment during the pandemic, while so many others can't. I am happy to be working, but honestly, it is one of the most dangerous things I've had to endure. My coworkers and I are going through one of the deadliest pandemics in our history. Constantly risking exposure to a deadly virus that transmits from person to person with ease. Also, there have been workers at my store who have tested positive for COVID, further highlighting the hazard we face every shift. I take as many precautions as they possibly can to prevent exposing myself and my loved ones to COVID. I live at home with my mother, who already has health complications and is considered high risk, and the thought of contracting and spreading the disease to her frightens me greatly. Working in a grocery store where some customers still refuse to wear masks is very dangerous. And I see this on a daily basis. One or two customers. And like one is enough to spread. Anything, and especially when management refuses to enforce mask mandates, it's also very concerning. Social distancing is also hard to abide by, especially when monitoring the self-checkout area as opposed to a text and because there's already not a lot of room in that area. So if this council acts in the best interests of grocery workers today, it would be a huge sigh of relief for myself and many coworkers. It would tell us that this essential and hazardous nature of our work doesn't continue to get on notice. I urge this Council agreed with the importance that it deserves to pass hazard legislation immediately. I also wanted to show that to makers who are struggling so badly that they've had to sign up for food assistance after working long hours in a hazardous environment and some still can't make ends meet. The fact that those are still up for debate today and not made available and the pandemic started a year ago is appalling. We need relief immediately. Please act now. Thank you. Thank you. The next person is area code seven. One for last three digits 002. Ahead and unmute yourself. I like to speak. Area Code 714002. Thank you for the opportunity. I have nothing to add. Thank you. Mr. Chair, I believe I've called everyone on the line. Thank you, Madam Clerk. To make sure that we didn't miss anybody on the line. And everyone has had the opportunity to offer public comment. In a moment, I'll ask the clerk to unmute everyone, and I'll ask you if anyone is on the line who wishes to offer public testimony and hasn't had the chance to do so. And if at that time you'll see your name, we'll take names and then move through any new list to make sure that we've heard from everybody. I'm just a catch all to make sure that technical issues didn't prevent anybody from testifying. Madam, you, if you will, please ask everyone to unmute their lines. Mr. Chair, I've just asked everyone to unmute. Thank you. Is there anyone on the line in the meeting who would like to offer public testimony and has not had the opportunity to do so? I I'm hearing no. One, we will close public testimony. And Madam Cook, I ask you to re mute all the lines, and I'll be prepared to meet myself. I needed all Mr. Cheer. And I needed myself. That takes us to our briefing from Dwight David, the director of the Office of Performance Strategy and Budget, who will update us on the county's COVID 19 pandemic response. Mr. Jiverly, welcome and good morning. Good morning. Can you hear me clearly? Yes. Great. So for the record, Dwight Dave Lee, the director of the Office of Performance Strategy and Budget, are back for our every other week update on what's going on with COVID response in the county. And this morning, I have six different items to cover with you, and I'm saving the good news for the end, although there might be some other good news in here, too. And so, as usual, I think what I suggest we do is I will do one at a time and then we can pause for questions after that , if there are any. So for the first one, very briefly, as we talked about two weeks ago, the executive is still planning on transmitting the seventh COVID supplemental appropriation ordinance on March 18th. So two weeks from tomorrow. That is, of course, dependent on the federal government having taken action by then, as they say they will have done . So we we're still on course for that, assuming the feds follow through. So that was just a very quick first note to share. Any questions on that one? We like celebrating St Patrick's Day with Green Directory Day. There will be a lot of the federal government comes through. I think we can move on. Okay. Item two. So with reference to that federal action, I believe today the Senate is going to start what they call I love this term, a vote a rama where senators are given the opportunity to offer amendments. I think everyone is probably aware that the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the minimum wage increase that was built into the House passed bill does not comply with what are called the Byrd rules and therefore cannot be taken up under the reconciliation process that the federal government is using for this legislation. So that provision, at a minimum will be different in the Senate bill than the House bill. I believe the current hope, at least of the administration, is that whatever amendments are put on by the Senate will then simply be concurred in by the House to avoid having to go back and forth, maybe do a conference committee. That seems to be about the only way that the legislation would actually be done in about ten days. So that's where we are currently with federal action, and we should certainly know more. The Senate presumably will be done by the end of this week, maybe over the weekend, with whatever actions they're going to take. So that's something I think we should all be tracking to see what they do in D.C.. Let me pause there on the second item. I'm seeing no questions. Okay. So let's move on to item three. And some of the council members have been very interested in providing support to communities, governments and businesses that are near where we have relocated some of our isolation and quarantine and homeless, the intensification facilities. And just to give you a quick update, the Office of Emergency Management OEM has been handling those programs and they have approved funding that has been requested by the Renton Regional Fire Authority and the cities of SeaTac and Issaquah. And those payments are in process so that the governments involved have submitted their invoices and have been paid. We also they also are working with some of the businesses that have submitted claims. They've gone out with a reminder to some who are kind of on a waiting list that that more money still is available. So those are also being handled. One of the things I think you should be thinking about is if the federal money is approved as currently proposed, is this something we should put additional county resources in to continue this this response, recognizing that at least as currently written, each of those cities would get a significant amount of its own money. So there's a question there of which funding source should be used that I think you should be pondering. We have not made a decision on the executive side yet about that. I just want to bring that to your attention, that that might be something that we would want to continue. So let me pause there. Mr. Davey. I can't remember about DC. Right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you just share with the either on or off line what the order of magnitude is for this year's printout? And I will send that to you. I don't have that with me right now. Thank you very much. Mr. Chair. Council members are. Hello. I'm Dwight. Can you repeat what program we're talking about one more time? Yes. So you might recall council member that the council added funding in one of last year's COVID supplementals to provide funding to originally the cities and then later to businesses that are near the locations we have set up for isolation and quarantine are homeless. The intensification facilities, some of those governments identified that they had incremental costs. And so the county agreed that we'd set aside funding to pay for those. And so the cities of Issaquah and SeaTac, plus the Renton Regional Fire Authority, which is the Nelsons, the fire department for Renton, have all submitted requests that have been reviewed and approved. Thank you, Dwight. May I ask a quick question? That's kind of off topic, but maybe tangentially related. There's been a lot in the news about Seattle rejecting FEMA money for hotels, and people have been asking, can King County accept this money instead? Is that something you're aware of? You know, I think Seattle's rejecting it because of filing requirements and having to spend the money before you reimburse those kinds of reasons. What is King County's position? So, Councilmember, we have actively sought FEMA reimbursement for everything that is eligible. We recognize there are those cash flow issues that have been raised, but nonetheless, it seems to us to make sense to get FEMA reimbursement for anything we can, including for the homeless, the tens, vacation facilities, some of which we have actually already submitted. So we are not taking a similar position about FEMA reimbursement. I would note that from a cash flow perspective, because the federal government fronted the $262 million of Cares Act money last spring, we have been in a kind of a positive. And for a long time now, obviously, as we spend that money, some of it is is going away. But we have no control issues, nor do I anticipate we would have them. Just as as council members who have served on the Executive Finance Committee know on any given day the county is managing something on the order of $7 billion of cash, of which something over $3 billion is our own money. The rest is under the management of cash for them. And so from a cash flow perspective, we have the ability to to draw on that as needed. So waiting for FEMA reimbursement is not really an issue for the county. And I think I'd already know the answer to this. But what some constituents have been asking is, you know, Seattle has rejected a pot of money. It's not like that money, pot of money is sitting there for us to accept and correct. No, thank you. No, we have completely separate programs. And if they don't seek reimbursement from FEMA for something they're spending, that money doesn't become available to the county. Thank you. Mr.. JANEWAY My own my own question. I guess it's a point both for you and the executive branch, but also to make sure that my colleagues are aware of future legislation as worked on. I have grave concerns about the precedent we're setting in COVID funding. We are providing some sort of support to accommodation for communities, businesses and those surrounding states that we might have a deal in terms of location center in this case out of COVID funds. Yet. We don't have a habit of doing that in our general budget, in our other programs where neighbors might have concerns or argue there's impact . And so I think there's a a real equity in a message about what kind of services and who we are serving and in promotion of stereotypes. That becomes gravely concerning to me. And in isolation, I could not support. Other colleagues on this topic. And this item from Dwight not necessarily responding to me. Councilmember Caldwell's Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dwight. As we all know, it's sometimes takes quite a while to be reimbursed by have seen that there might be a difference in that the administration. COUNCILMEMBER That's a good question. The one real difference we've seen with the new administration is the policy. We've discussed a couple of times to do 100% reimbursement instead of 75% reimbursement, which we still haven't gotten any official paperwork about, but it seems very likely is going to be the case. I don't believe we've seen any evidence so far of faster payment other than, as you might recall, last year we took advantage of a existing feature that allowed us to do what's called an expedited payment, where we got half of what we typically would expect ultimately to get in a much faster process than normal. So we got that within a few months. We haven't yet received any more funding from FEMA since what we got last fall. So maybe it will be faster, but so far we haven't seen evidence of that. All right. Okay. Well, speaking of FEMA, the federal government is involved in my next two comments. Number four. Number five. So you might recall that one of the things you authorized funding for last year was a significant purchase of personal protective equipment in the fall. As I remember, about $18 million was appropriated. And I think you're all aware that some of what we received that was intended for our first responders turned out to be counterfeit N95 respirators. Fortunately, those were identified before they were put into use and they were all collected up. And now the federal government has seized them, which is a technical action to take them so that they can pursue charges ultimately against whoever provided them. I wanted to make sure you were aware that almost all of those now have been seized by the federal government. I also want to make sure you never paid for that. So the vendor who provided them did not get paid. So we are not out any money or the federal government is out any money. We've also, of course, blocked that vendor in our our procurement system and the Office of Emergency Management and our Finance and Business Operations Division have repurchased the same items subsequently. We have received them yet, but the order has been accepted and fortuitously it actually turned out to be $1,000,000 cheaper than what we had originally spent. So we didn't end up having any shortages of these products and we ended up with ultimately the right kind of thing for less money. So the end of the story is good. But I did want to make sure that you were all aware of that process. Questions. Mr. Daley. All right. And item five, it is very quick. I just want to always give you an update on where we are with FEMA reimbursement. Remember, we actually have three separate reimbursable events covered. Obviously is one of them. The second is the snowstorm and flooding from a year ago. And third is the windstorm we had in January. And there really isn't any change in any of those. We're still in the process of working through those applications. At this point, there is insufficient cost within King County to get these the windstorm in January to qualify. Really only the county itself, the cities of Seattle and Bellevue had significant costs and the total is insufficient to qualify. So unless other jurisdictions identify that they have significant expenses, the windstorm will probably not be a FEMA reimbursable event. And let me pause there before I go to my very last and best topic. Anybody want to delay us from the good news? Hey, no questions. All right. And so the last thing is at least a couple of council members probably are already aware of this. The latest revenue forecast came out on Monday from our Office of Economic and Financial Analysis, or IFA, as we call it. And I did want to give you some highlights, because the forecast is, I think it's fair to say, universally improved from what we had in August, which was the last forecast we were using. And I want to mention four things specifically, all of which are, I think, of significant interest. So first of all, and probably the most important is the sales tax forecast has significantly increased. As I think everybody knows and we've talked about several times, the our economy was hit very differentially by COVID. So some sectors like hotels and restaurants way down. Other sectors like the delivery of things to your home way up. And on balance, we were down last year, but not nearly as much as we were, say, in the first year of the Great Recession. So the good news is when you look at a three year period from 2020, so last year through this biennium, so 2020 and 2022, the sales tax forecast for the general fund is up about $28 million total. For Metro. It's up about $102 million total. And for the minerals and drug dependency fund were mid, it's up about $12 million total. So for all of those funds, there will be the opportunity, as we've talked about before, to potentially restore some of the reductions that we had to make when we adopted that 2122 budget. A second item from that that I thought I would mention is the new health through housing sales tax or the 10% sales tax that the council approved last September is projected to bring in about $53 million in 2021. And I think everyone is aware that there were several cities that, in a sense, opted out. They opted to take the money themselves. And so that's why for the county, the amount we get is less than what a 10th of a cent would normally yield. And so we're projecting about $53 million from health through housing this year. A third thing I would thought I would mention, this is a little less good news, but at least the trend is right. Just to give you a different sense of how severe the COVID impact was on our lodging industry, the incremental sales tax we get, the 2% sales tax we get from lodging industry was worth $36 million in 2019. In 2020, we don't we don't have absolutely the final numbers, but we think we're very close. Instead of 36 million, it was a little less than 10 million. So basically a decline of 75%. The forecast for this year is 15 million. So a gradual recovery. But but nothing like we saw in the past. And then by 2022, the forecast is about 29 million. And then kind of getting back to where we were in 2019, in 2023. So it'll take about four years, according to this forecast, to kind of regain what we lost in the lodging industry. And in the fourth and final thing I would mention, for those of you that have been following the emergency medical services levy, you might recall last fall that the forecast for that levy having been renewed actually went down a lot because the way to that levy was written and had a rate cap. And the forecast suggested we would hit that rate gap and therefore not be able to get the amount of growth that we normally would expect. Now, with this updated forecast and some updated and assessed values years, that is not the case. So each year, prospectively, the EMS levy forecast is now up about seven or $8 million a year. So something close to what was originally expected when the levy was renewed. You might remember that they had some plans of using reserves and so on to get through it. If the revenue had been lower. And it doesn't appear now that that will be necessary. So that's some good news for our emergency medical services programs, which obviously in the pandemic have been critical. So that's the end of the good news on the revenue forecast, and I'm happy to answer questions that folks have. Mr. Lead the sales tax figures, for instance, that you were giving the increases of the general fund of $28 million metro $102 million, mid $12 million. Are those from the August forecast? Yes. Okay. Yes. That that's the basis of the comparison. Thank you, Councilmember Carlos. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Quite on that same point. Do you have the percentage figures? I don't in front of me. Let me while I'm answering questions, let me see if I can do it in my head. They pull up that data the. So compared to the August asked for this year. It's about 8% higher for next year it's about 5 to 6% higher depending on which one of those sales taxes we're talking about. That tax base, as you know, Council Member Caldwell's is a little different because the general fund levy has a different tax rate in the end with very intimate, incorporated areas. And then some of the sales taxes are don't apply to the lodging sector in whole or in part. So there's a little bit of different job growth. But that general fund number I gave you of 8% for this year and five and a half percent for next year compared to what was in the August forecast would give you a good sense. Thank you. I will call in Councilmember Bell Dutchie and ask you to ask any follow up questions. I will step away for just a moment. Be right back as you're asking your question. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, that's really good news. And it's great to hear. You know, the way you spoke about what's going on with the lodging tax was very easy to follow, sort of where we were, where we've been, where we're going. Is there a way to get that same sense of context about the sales tax, generally speaking? And is that an easy thing to do? Sure. I mean, and the way that the forecast is done, it's easy to just look this up. Okay. I could look it up, too. Yeah. Well, you know, since we're talking, it's easy to do this and let's use the sales tax base as what we're going to talk from. So this is all of the taxable sales were in King County. So it gets rid of all the weird distinctions between the Metro tax is a different base than mid tax and so on. So the taxable base in 2019 was about $76 billion. In King County. It went down in 2020 to 70 billion. So, you know, a significant decline. A little over 8%, but nothing like what we saw with lodging because, you know, this is obviously a much more diverse tax base for 2021. The forecast is about 73 billion. So kind of recovering half way. And for 2022, the forecast is 77 billion. So by 2022, we'd actually be ahead of where we were in 2019. So it's just helpful to be able to think in terms of how long is the recovery. So that looks like a two and a half ish year recovery. Yes. Okay. So Monday, for example, than the Great Recession, where it took us many years to get back to where we were. And in some ways mean I mean, in some ways of looking at that numbers, we never got all the way back to where we were anyway. We actually eventually did, even when you allowed for inflation. But if I remember right, it took eight years. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, my colleagues. I think that might conclude our questions. Mr. Dave, again, thank you very much. You're welcome. We're joining us in the briefing. We'll look forward to seeing you at our next council meeting and we'll look forward to federal action and the subsequent transmittal. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning, colleagues. I got so excited talking to Mr. Devery that we neglected to approve the minutes. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of our last meeting? We will prevail. The minutes. Councilmember Bell has moved approval of the minutes. See? No discussion. All those in favor please signify by saying i i. I opposed. Nay, the ayes have it. The minutes were approved. That takes us to item six in today's agenda. This is where we make an appointment to fill a judicial vacancy in the West District of King County District Court. The process governed by King County Code for the appointment in front of us today, the West in the West District members will recall that the county advertised the vacancy last year in accepting applications through January 21st, 2021 . We received two applications from four eligible candidates during the application period. Since there were four applicants, a subcommittee process was used to narrow the finalists to be interviewed by the committee of the whole Council members. Following Caldwell's and I held interviews for all four candidates on February 24th and 26th to narrow the field to three candidates who are with us today. At this point in time, I would entertain a motion to select contender Dylan, Rebecca Robertson and Christian Shotwell as the finalists to be interviewed by the committee consistent with King County Code two 1720. So moved Councilmember Dunn has moved to. We consider Dylan Robertson and Shotwell in today's meeting saying no discussion of those in favor of the motion please signify by saying I am. I. Those opposed nay. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Before we proceed any further, I want to provide members of the attendees with an overview of how the process will work. Members who have received the application materials by email on Monday and those materials were sent around again this morning by email to be close to the top of your inbox. We'll begin to today's proceedings with a brief staff report on the proposed motion from Porter Central Staff. And after the staff report, the committee will interview each candidate one at a time. During the interview, the candidates not being interviewed will be placed in a zoom waiting room so as to not get an advance review of the questions or the other candidates answers. Each once each candidate has been interviewed. If there is interest among council members, the committee may go into executive session to evaluate the qualifications of candidates. We will then rejoin the Zoom meeting and take up the legislation. Are there any questions on how this will work for me, their members or our candidates? Before we get started. See none. Miss Porter. The line is yours for Mr. Presentation. And Mr. Chair. Sam Porter, Council Central Policy Staff. The documents for this item began on page nine of your packet oppose motion 2020 10056 would make an appointment to fill the current judicial vacancy and position five in the West District of King County District Court. Under state law, the King County Council, as the legislative authority is directed to fill district court vacancies by appointment. The King County Code provides a merit selection process for filling such vacancies. District Court is the county's court of limited jurisdiction and has responsibility for traffic infractions, small claims and misdemeanor criminal offenses in counties, unincorporated areas in cities that do not have municipal courts and contract with the court to provide those services and for the adjudication of state offenses, which are violations of state statute in the county, or when the arresting agency is the Washington State Patrol or other state law enforcement agency. Approximately 134,000 cases were filed in the court in 2020. Position five in the West Electoral District was made vacant by the retirement of Judge and Harper. As the chair mentioned, four eligible individuals submitted applications and there was a subcommittee process to determine the finalists last week. The finalists who will be interviewed today current bar association ratings for the final candidates can be seen in a grid on page 15 of your packet, and I will note that in its current form, the motion has a blank space for the name of the person being appointed, and a verbal amendment will be needed to insert the name of their selected appointee. And that concludes my remarks. Thank you. Are there questions of Miss Porter? Very well. I expect each interview to take roughly 20 minutes and ask each candidate to provide opening and closing remarks to be limited to minutes after time and their opening and closing remarks. Members should have received a prepared set of suggested interview questions by email this morning. In accordance with best practice, I will ask members to volunteer to read the prepared interview questions. Before the meeting, we randomly assigned an order of the interviews and we begin with and we will begin with Kristen Shotwell, followed by full gender Dillon and then followed by Rebecca Robertson in all three questions. Now, in a moment, I'll ask the clerk to place Ms.. Dillon and Ms.. Robertson in the zoom waiting room. And as a reminder to members and staff, please note the clerks admit people from the waiting room to avoid the temptation to click on the admit button questions. Seen none, Madam Couric. If you'll make the appropriate. Break out adjustments. You let me know when we're ready. Mr. Chair. Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Hartwell. Well, welcome. To the committee. The Hall. We want to thank you for your interest in serving in District Court and welcome you to our meeting this afternoon. This morning hasn't gone on that long yet, and I invite you to begin with opening remarks and ask you to limit them to 2 minutes. Thank you and good morning to the entire council. I really appreciate this opportunity to be here today to talk with you all. I am a community minded, hard worker and I just want to tell you briefly how I believe I became that way. I grew up on a farm in eastern Washington near Yakima in a small farming community. My grandparents were farmers. They had a sixth and eighth grade education. My parents were farmers, but they had the opportunity to go to college and they both became schoolteachers. So they farmed and they taught school. On the farm I grew up on, which I worked with my twin sister and my parents. I learned very quickly the value of hard work. If we wanted heat inside our home, we had to chop wood and bring it inside. If we wanted food on the table. We had to turn the garden and turn the animals. That really stuck with me about how I grew. Up. Was the kind of community I grew up in, and that's the kind of community that took care of each other. Neighbors helped each other as the neighbors animals got out. You went out and you helped round them up no matter what time of night and no matter how cold it was. But then you also helped your neighbor mend fences so that it didn't happen again. And that's the kind of community I grew up I grew up in, which makes me community oriented. I left the farm at age 18 to play basketball at Yale on scholarship. And you can imagine, I'm sure, that I was a fish out of water there having just left the farm. It took me a while to find my place there, and I eventually did learn to trust in my ability to learn almost anything. But most importantly there I found my calling in public service and. I noticed, I began to notice and I began to really bother me. The wealth disparity I saw between my classmates and the many homeless people in New Haven. And then as I studied sociology and history and kind of became awake, I realized it was part of historical racial injustice. And I see that one time went really fast. So I'll skip to the conclusion. You know, I love the district court. I've had many experiences that were positive as a pro tem, as a lawyer. My wife and I chose to be married there, and I've had many excellent teachers there in terms of the judges and the court staff. And I would be honored to serve on the incoming district court. Thank you. Colleagues to someone want to step up and ask the first question. Council Member Col Wells. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Greetings to you again. Thank you. What do you see is the most critical issue the court is facing and what you believe the role of the district court judge would be in addressing this? Well, you know, we talked about that in the subcommittee. I have thought about it and I thought about it some more, actually, since the last time we talked. You know, one of the critical issues in our society has always been the role of inherent and structural racism in our institutions and in our society and in our courts . The role of the court is is critical in that we have a moment now, I think, where we are all as a society, re-imagining how we want to be and what the court's role is going to be in that. Some really important things are happening now. For example, Court Rule 3.4 has been changed, which really eases the burden of defendants charged with crimes from having to come to court. Every month we'll see childcare and missed work and roundup transportation. And so the court should embrace those changes that move toward equity. The court needs to study its own practices and policies, and before any policy or procedure is adopted, the court needs to ask, you know, is it just is it fair, is it equitable? Does it promote equity? Of course it has to be lawful, but that goes without saying. And then, you know, always there's the budget impact, of course. But we can't we have to start asking our questions, asking ourselves on every policy, every decision, does this promote equity? So that's the role of the court. I can address the role of the judge or or what I personally have done later, if that's a question. But I'll leave it at that right now. But certainly self-examination for the organization as a whole is really important. Thank you. Next question. Thank you. Councilmember Belushi and myself a moment. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome. It's very nice to meet you and to hear from you. I want to say I was very taken by one of the anecdotes in your reference letters that concluded with Kristen. Shotwell knows it all by virtue of knowing the price of tomatoes. I thought that was said a lot in a in a very and very pithy way. This question is, please describe how you have incorporated equity and social justice principles into your work in the justice system and how that work would be furthered if you are appointed to this position. Thank you. So really important question. And I asked myself that for 25 years as a practitioner, I have stood as a social worker and a lawyer side by side clients for 25 years, nearly who face everyday the impacts of structural racism, blatant racism, implicit bias. And so aside from examining that, in every case, as a practitioner filing appropriate motions, asking what you're doing on implicit bias, asking for instructions, you know, the District Court and Superior Court judges made a wonderful video for jurors on implicit bias. Of course we ask that to be we played in an every jury trial the the. And so as a practitioner I've made all of those appropriate motions and talked about that in every case. But this is not as I said it, this is not academic for me. This is really important because it affects my clients and my work. And so I have when DPD formed its Equity Society and Justice Committee, I signed up right away, particularly the community outreach part, because that's something I really enjoy and working on that body. I worked with a group of wonderful people and and kids who've been involved with law enforcement before and who have negative experiences. And we produced a series of videos aimed at kids, teaching kids kids to know their rights when they come into contact with law enforcement and as deeply satisfying and so on. PROJECT Ultimately, the goal is to take that kind of know your rights assembly your presentation into schools codes delayed that a little bit but that's the goal. The other type of work that I do around race equity is that I'm on the legal foundation of Washington's Race Equity Grants Panel, which is work that is really satisfying to me because we that panel meets at least twice a year and reviews grant applications for programs designed all over the state, actually designed to promote access to justice and equity in the courts and justice programs. And so the panel I'm on gets to review all those applications and make funding decisions. And it's satisfying not because I get to figure out how to spend money, but it's it's satisfying because I get to hear all the amazing work being done statewide on that issue. And I've done that, I think, for two or two or three years now. And then additionally, I, I volunteer in the lab and see mock trial judging and the mock trial judge. And I really like to focus my outreach to students in those settings on students who might be interested in public service and make myself available to them. Thank you. Right. Thank you. And colleagues, next question. All right. The next question is. How is it? Maybe I'm getting it off the hook. No, no, no. Okay. In the subcommittee, you were asked to describe what your previous coworkers and would say is your greatest weakness. Yes. Please describe what you believe to be your greatest strength and how it would make you successful if appointed to this position. Okay. Well, I think I think a couple of things. My. I think one of my greatest strengths relevant to this position is my decades experience working with people who have substance abuse and mental health issues. Because I and I guess we can put that all under the rubric of social work training, because as a social worker, I'm trained to think in systems and systems and organizations and then think in terms of how individually how a person interacts with all of the systems in their lives. So I, I can't help but think in terms of a work flow process, operations way to do things the way we do. And I have a really strong sense of the treatment resources in our community. I understand that we don't have treatment on demand. Maybe one day we will. But I understand the barriers that, for example, criminal defendants sentenced to participate in those services. I understand the barriers they may face in accessing those services. And then to take it down sort of on more of a micro level, I think my social work training and my experience as a public defender really are going to enable me as a judge to see clearly the person in front of me and see what it is that we need to do to help that person so that we can reduce recidivism and make us all safer. Those are those are things I've been doing for over 20 years as a lawyer and social worker is trying to interrupt the recidivist cycle. So I think that's a particular strength. Thank you. Colleagues, are there any follow up questions? Then I would invite you to share your closing, if you will. And again, ask you to shoot for 2 minutes. Okay. Thank you. So, you know, each of us is the sum of our choices and our experiences and. I'd like to share with you on experience. I had that stayed with me now for almost 25 years because it's deeply meaningful to me when my first job out of social work, graduate school was as a social worker in a Latino nursing home, and one evening a patient was dying. And one day I called the priest. We customarily use his Spanish, but he wasn't available. So I called the next time I'm down on the list and that priest came very quickly, but he did not speak Spanish. And I showed him to the patient's door. And as I turned to leave, he waved me inside the room and then asked me to interpret last rites. And I froze. I was terrified. I had never done that before. What if I can stay Catholic, etc. but I didn't really have long to contemplate that because the priest grabbed my hand and began speaking and direct and he grabbed the dying man's hand. And so I began interpreting and I spent a little bit of time worrying I wasn't doing this right, etc. Since I've mentioned it pretty quickly , I looked at the man and I saw that his face went. It went from pain and fear to comfort and peace. And I it struck me in that moment, this is not about me. This is about doing it perfectly. It's about showing up in a moment. That's scary and challenging for somebody who needs me to be there and. It's not about me, and that's an experience I have taken with me through the last 24, 25 years in public service. And I guarantee you that if I get on the district court bench, if I should be so lucky that every person in front of me who appears in front of me. I'm going to see them. I'm going to show up and be present. And they're going to know that. I know it's not about me as a judge. Thank you. Thank you very much. No, thank you. I will now ask the clerk to admit Mrs. Shotwell into the waiting room and invite back in. Miss Dylan. Is the shot well in the waiting room now. Yes, Mrs. Thatcher. Thank you. We are ready with the second candidate. Miss Dillon, thank you very much for joining us today. Again, thank you for your interest in serving on the King County District Court in the West District. I want to welcome you to the full committee, the hall today. And I begin by inviting you to share your opening remarks and ask you to shoot for 2 minutes. Thank you so much. Good morning to you and the rest of the council. My name is called Gender Dillon. It is an honor and a privilege to appear before the council this morning. I am the daughter of East Indian immigrants who left India to find work and opportunities to build a better life for themselves. My parents settled in England in the 1960s. My family faced discrimination because of how they looked, what they wore, and how they sounded. In England, my father drove the city bus and my mother was a seamstress and raised three children. My parents dream was to open their own business. They instilled values of hard work, education and giving back to the community. My parents were able to buy their first home with grants from the government. My parents saved and were able to achieve their dream of buying their own business. A small grocery store in Edinburgh, Scotland. Unlike many clients I have represented over the last 17 years as a public defense lawyer and a private defense attorney. My story of coming to the United States is a story of privilege. My uncle sponsored our family through the family lottery system, and in 1990 we received our permanent residence cards. I moved to the United States when I was 17 years old. My parents followed a few years later. I'm the first person in my immediate family to get a college degree and an advanced degree. During college, I gave back to the community that I lived in by volunteering at a domestic violence shelter. I started to understand the power of a new language, the language of the law, and how that how the law could be used to ensure safety for those escaping abusive relationships. When I moved to King County 30 years ago, it was not the multicultural county it is today. Today, King County ranks as one of the wealthiest counties in the country. However, wealth and security are not equally distributed. Today, King County faces problems of homelessness, a looming eviction crisis due to the global pandemic and racial disparities. We see many of these issues playing out in our courts. There is much work to be done, but it is my hope that we continue to reevaluate and reimagine the justice system and use recent development and technology as an access to justice tool. I believe my unique experiences and perspectives are a valuable addition to the King County bench, and it is my hope that the parties who come before me and the community as a whole see in me a reflection of our diverse county. And I hope this leads to people having a greater trust in the legal system. And I am happy to answer your questions. Thank you. And our first question. Pardon me. It's a member of Cowell's. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome. And very good to see you again. Good morning. My question is, what do you see as the most critical issue facing or is there crisis facing? And what do you believe that the role of district court judges is in addressing this most critical issue? Thank you so much and nice to see you again as well. And. I believe there are a number of critical issues that the district court faces at this time. And just to give you some background, I have been sitting as a pro tem judge for the last three years in the King County district court system. I have been invited to sit in each division, and I usually sit for 2 to 3 days a week. And during the pandemic, I have been sitting for weeks at a time in all the different divisions. And I do sit in the West District as well. What I what I have noticed is that COVID 19 obviously has had a tremendous impact on our courts. And the COVID 19 pandemic has caused a tremendous backlog of the cases that are waiting to be tried. It is my understanding from the bench bar meetings with defense counsel, private defense counsel at the prosecutor's office that there are over 2000 unfilled misdemeanor cases in King County District Court that have not been filed. Obviously, that will take a number of years to work through this backlog. Another issue that faces the district court is the lack of alternatives for incarceration. There is no work that is active. There's no work community work crew. As an alternative to pardon me that the judges can use. There's also limited places that court users can do community service and perform their community service hours. Also, the community court has been closed, but it is going to be opening hopefully fairly soon. And the court and the community court has also expanded. I also believe that another issue that the district court faces is the digital divide that folks are struggling with. In my experience as a pro tem judge, the people that I'm seeing who are physically coming to the court are from the Bipoc community and English language learners. Some of those issues the courts have addressed, and in my role as a judge, I've addressed the issue regarding the digital divide by speaking with using interpreters to let people know that they are welcome to use digital platforms and if they have capabilities. I've also spoken to people about alternate, how they can use digital platforms with their substance use treatment providers. We've had a number of substance use treatment providers who have logged on with their clients, and that has been really a terrific. One of the ways that I educate people in non-English speakers about the digital platforms is to ask interpreters if they have the time to and if the court doesn't have the digital platform instructions printed in their native language to go into one of the Zoom breakout rooms and help users understand the instructions on how to log on . And the interpreters are very happy to do this very quickly. In terms of community service, the Court has we have gotten very creative with what community service means. In the past. Community service was done at not for profit organizations in the community, but because of the COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of community service organizations were not able to have people do community service. And in the ways that people did prior to COVID, I have engaged with people who I have sentenced to do community service and helped them think outside of the traditional box. And I have helped them figure out what things that they are interested in. And then using the skills that I have developed in my private practice and as well as my knowledge of community services, I have helped court users understand that they are able to do community service and organizations online. So the court has been creative of accepting online community service with organizations that have helped benefit people such as community passageways. Thank you. Colleagues, council member Balducci. And Mr. Chair, and it's very nice to meet you and thank you for replying and congratulations on making it to be a finalist. I like to call out one thing in each application that that really spoke to me in ten years. I was I was taken by your experience working with victims and domestic violence advocacy and your involvement with the immigrant and refugee community right after that really tragic shooting in our own courthouse and just below where we would be sitting if we were doing this in person. So thank you for your work in that regard. And I think that gives you an interesting view on the entirety of the criminal justice system. Like often is, please describe how you have incorporated equity and social justice principles into your work in the justice system and how that work would be furthered if you were appointed to the position. Thank you so much for your words and. I have. I think before I answer your question specifically with examples of what I've done to address disproportionality and bias in the justice system, I do want to take a moment to say that I have been affected emotionally by the horrors of what we have seen over on our television screens and our cell phone screens over the last year. And I do appreciate you, council member Balducci, for making a statement about the fact that people who were from Asian-American communities have been singled out and have been assaulted and racist vitriol has been lobbed at them. So to answer your question, when I was a defense counsel, lead defense counsel in juvenile drug court, which is a therapeutic court in juvenile court, superior court, I worked collaboratively with the prosecutor and to restructure policies regarding sanctions and drug courts and violations and terminations from drug court in order to reduce youth incarceration and racial disproportionality. I also worked collaboratively with the drug court team to implement evidence, evidence based interventions and supports to make sure that services that the youth were receiving were culturally appropriate. I also worked in juvenile court in the juvenile system with prosecutors, defense attorneys, schools and probation counselors to end incarcerating youth on status offenses and specifically truancy cases. And I worked to strengthen interventions prior to those cases actually coming to court. Some of the community organizations that we worked with were Choose 180 and Community Passageways. And through that work, the number of truancy cases that were actually filed in court dropped dramatically. I've also taking taken a number of trainings in cultural competency and bias, particularly implicit bias and its impact on jurors. I've used the information that I've learned through those trainings in my practice and as a pro tem judge, and I work very hard to recognize my own biases and to set them aside when when they're influencing my decisions. Also, in the work that I that I do as a pro tem, it's really important to me that the people who come before the court understand the resources that are available to them. I will say just anecdotally, my parents have lived in English speaking countries for 50 years and they are very proud of their their ability to speak English. But there are still times, and especially in the medical system, that they too need interpreters. I use that anecdotal story, too, to tell people who come before me that that even though they are they speak English quite well, it is imperative that they use an interpreter to understand what is happening in court, and so that I can understand what they are trying to say if they are representing themselves. So I remind court users that they are entitled to use interpreters for their probation appointments as well as during the entire court process. Also, I'm active in the community through the South Asian Bar Association. I also mentor young lawyers, and when I say young, I should say I'm sorry. I should correct myself and say folks who are just entering the legal profession or or who are just are still in law school. And and that's really rewarding work. So I think all those experiences and the work that I've done collaboratively help me, will help me in my role to work with the partners in the justice system. Thank you so much. Thank you. And colleagues. All right. I'll have the last prepared question, and that is in the subcommittee. You were asked to describe what your previous coworkers would say is your greatest weakness. Please describe what you believe to be your greatest strength and how it would make you successful if you were appointed to this position. Thank you so much for the question. I don't know if it was if it's cheating to use the same weakness as a for but I do think especially with the backlog of cases that the King County District Court faces, I do think that my strong work ethic is definitely needed at this time. And but to answer your question directly, I think that my coworkers probably would say that one of my strengths is the fact that I am able to listen to people and connect with them on a deep level. I pride myself on being able to speak to people and make them feel comfortable. I've had a number of jobs that have helped me do that. I've been working since I was 11 years old. First at my parents grocery store, I sold shoes. I have made sausages. I've waited tables at some of our finest restaurants in Seattle. So I have held a number of jobs. And I think that that perspective and the perspective of having a number of jobs in the legal system. Councilmember Baldridge, she mentioned that I had been a domestic violence victim advocate. I've been a domestic I was a domestic violence victim advocate, advocate first in the community and then as part of the King County prosecutor's office. And I've also worked as private as a private defense attorney. So I understand some of the challenges that the private bar faces. And I also have work to the public defense attorney. I think these different roles that I've had will make me a strong partner on the bench. And I believe that my the letters that I've had written that that is included in my materials are varied there from judges, defense attorneys and prosecutors and community partners that I've worked with over the last 20, 24 years. And I think they all speak to my strengths and I look forward to being on the bench. The future. I'm Councilmember Lambert. Thank you. I know you said. It was last question. I couldn't get my. And you've written and you've. Relative safety. Thank you, sir. I would like to know. A couple of weeks ago, there was a calendar of 70 people that came before one of the judges, and most of them had been arrested for a different crime within the last couple of weeks. How will you handle something like that when you see a recidivism coming through like that. In such a short. Timespan? Thank you for your question, Councilmember Lambert. You know, that is an issue that we struggle with every day. I do sit on the felony first appearance calendar as well as the first appearance calendars in the district court and arraignment calendars. And we do unfortunately see recidivism and people who have come before the court on a short period of time. And undoubtedly the council is aware that our crime statistics have increased dramatically. Many of those cases where the crime statistics have increased are under the purview of the Superior Court. I can assure you that with respect to violent crimes, the judges are bound by the rules that govern pretrial release, which require that I make specific findings of either a danger to the community or a likelihood of flight. And if I'm appointed, I will commit to be bound by those standards and rules in making bail decisions. And obviously, it will play into the step into my decision making, the number of times that a person has appeared in court in terms of nonviolent offenses, I will say that the district court is does a very good job . In our community court program to address recidivism and. It's a program that is proven to reduce recidivism rates. It's increases it. The research that I have done on community courts show that there's a decrease of costs to crime victims. There's a reduction of the use of jail, and there is a reduction of recidivism. So I hope I have answered your question. Thank you. Thank you. See no other follow up questions from colleagues. I would invite you to share your closing statement and ask you to shoot for about 2 minutes. Thank you so much. In my opening, I talked about why my personal experiences, my values and my unique perspective will enhance the King County District Court bench. I have served the community as the judge pro tem for the last three years. It's been a rewarding, challenging and enriching experience. I have a reputation. Pardon me? I have earned the respect of the judges. And I am asked to sit on voluminous and difficult calendars, both criminal and civil. I have a reputation for honesty, integrity and fairness. I've been rated exceptionally well qualified by six bar associations, including the King County Bar Association. I am proficient in all the technologies in the court, including the new case management system that the King County District Court rolled out in October of this past year. I've sought out training during the pandemic and so that I am fair regarding procedures in remote hearings and the trainings that I've taken. Help me make sure that I'm fair to not only folks that I can see on platforms such as this, but also if people just appear on the telephone. My experiences as a pro tem judge will allow me to step in on day one to address the backlog of cases caused by the COVID pandemic. I look forward to administering the court with my colleagues. I also come in to work side by side with my bench mates in King County and across the state to dismantle the policies and structures of racial disproportionality and and inequality. So we truly have a justice system for all. I want to thank you all for your time and your commitment to this important process. Thank you again. Thank you very much, Mr. Dunn. And Madam, critical invite you to excuse Mr. Allen from the Zoom meeting and invite Miss Robertson to join us. We're ready, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much. Miss Robertson, welcome. Thank you again for your interest in serving on the King County District Court in the West District. And welcome to the full committee the whole this morning. I need to check and make sure it's still morning. I will invite you to share your opening comments and ask you to shoot for about 2 minutes. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. I was just about to write a note to show you that I could not unmute. Thank you so much for having me. I very much appreciate the opportunity to come and speak to you all. I am Rebecca Robertson. For the last 11 years, I have been a full time elected judge in the City of Federal Way. I am a former president of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association, and I'm currently the representative from the District and Municipal Court Judges Association to the Board for Judicial Administration. For the last 11 years, my job has been to provide equal, fair and thoughtful and compassionate justice to the people of federal way and statewide. I had the experience and the passion to do this job and to bring these this experience to King County District Court. I grew up in King County. I was raised by my mom, with my sister in Bothell. When my sister and I decided to go to college, my mom decided to go back with us and we all went to college together. And I have to admit, she probably studied harder and she did get better grades than both my sister and I. My family raised me to believe that my job should be to help other people and to help to make the world better. And what kind of job would I do to make that happen? I did a lot of internships to find out what my interests were, where my skills lay. And I landed as a victim advocate for both the Seattle Police Department and King County District Court. I realized that the criminal justice system was where I wanted to be. I was a prosecutor for cities of Kent and Seattle for nine years, and while I was a prosecutor, I realized that I really could effectuate better justice as a judge. I started to protest in King County District Court, and in 2009, I was elected as a full time judge in federal way. As you may know, Federal Way is one of the busiest municipal courts in the state. We process thousands of thousands of cases per year. It is a very diverse community with all of the issues that King County is currently experiencing, including racial inequity in the justice system and society as a whole, and how we are going to address that. Homelessness. The Opioid Crisis. As a judge, I have dealt with administrative and budget issues as well as all of the other issues that I would handle as a King County District Court judge. I've been a leader in the District and Municipal Court Judges Association throughout the years, and I would like to take this experience and leadership and court administration to King County District Court. And I very much welcome the opportunity to speak with you. Thank you. Thank you very much. For the first question. Council Member Wells. Thank you very much and good to have you with us again. Thank you. And I have a question that is, what do you see as the most critical issue facing the courts? And what do you believe the role of the judges is in terms of addressing this most critical issue. In current times? The most critical issue is how we respond to the pandemic and all other times are most critical issue is handling the mental health, homelessness, drug addiction crisis is happening all over the country. The pandemic simply makes all of these things harder. The judge's role is to work with all of the executives and the councils across the state to really make the courtroom a safer place so that we can continue the business of delivering justice. That we have had a difficult year doing that, but we have risen to that challenge. Most of us are on Zoom court or doing a hybrid Zoom court. We are allowing people to continue cases out longer. We are making our courtroom safer with various PPE devices, etc. And we are also understanding that as it is harder for us, it is also harder for everyone appearing before us. Those who are addressing their mental health or addiction issues are having a harder time because those organizations have been affected by the pandemic as well. The judge's role is to really lead the entire court in responding to these issues, to understand the issues that the defense attorneys and the prosecutors are having as well. And certainly to understand the issues that this pandemic is causing for the folks who appear before us. Most of them have been economically affected by this pandemic, and that's something that we have to recognize and address as well. Thank you very much. Thank you. Maneuvering to my own unmute button. Thank you. Next question. Council member Banducci. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Judge Roberts. And it's very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for being interested in this position at King County. And I'd just like to make an observation about each of the candidates. You obviously stand out by virtue of your judicial experience. You have a lot. And I was taken, by the way, in your recommendations, you see that you're kind of a judges judge, that other municipal judges look to you as a a resource and a supporter. And that that speaks, I think, to the level of respect that you have developed in your career. So I think you just wanted to share that. I had noted that. And that's that stands out. The question is you're welcome. The question is, please describe how you have incorporated equity and social justice principles into your work in the justice system and how that work would be further if you were appointed to this position. So I think the first thing is to acknowledge that racial inequities and social inequities exist and they exist in the justice system, they exist in society before people even get to the courts. They have experienced a number of these inequities, and that's something that courts always have to recognize and look beyond what you see on paper to understand what someone has gone through, what their experiences have been. So a simple recognition is the first step. Secondly, I have educated myself as much as I can on what these social and racial inequities are, how I may recognize them, how I address implicit or explicit bias in my courtroom, and the best practices for having to dealing with those inequities. It's very scary for anyone to appear in court, but when you feel that society has everything stacked against you and you've never been treated fairly, it becomes even worse. So it's part of my job to explain the process to people, to explain to them that they are going to be treated fairly, to do so at every opportunity to acknowledge what they've gone through in the system. And I will take my 11 years of experience doing this and learning about this and federal way to King County, where I would hope that I would assist my colleagues in continuing this learning process about how to best address all of these inequities. Thank you. Thank you. And in the subcommittee, you were asked to describe what your previous coworkers might see as your greatest weakness. And please describe what you believe to be your greatest strength and how it would make you successful as appointed to this position. So I believe that my greatest strength, and I've heard this from people who appear before me is my ability to listen. I don't believe that the job of a judge is to lecture. The job of the judge is to listen to the people who appear before, before the judge. So I really spend a lot of time listening to what people have to tell me so that I can make a more thoughtful and appropriate decision when they appear before me. One of my other strengths is being able to efficiently run a courtroom and run a calendar. And when you have an extremely busy court such as Federal Way or King County District Court, that's important because. How long a court runs or how well it's run does have effect on the rest of the court and on the attorneys and on the defense attorneys and people who are appearing before you are taking time out of their busy lives to appear in court. So respecting that and I feel I'm very good at running a courtroom. Thank you. Thank you. Are there other questions from my colleagues? Same night, I would invite you to share your closing remarks with us and again to shoot for about 2 minutes. Thank you very much again. Thank you, all of you, for having me. I know that this is a very well thought out process, and I appreciate you doing this and recognizing the importance of the judiciary. I have the experience and the passion and the leadership that would work well with King County District Court. I could work well with my with the esteemed colleagues I have already on King County District Court. I've had the demonstrated skills and leadership abilities throughout federal way and in the statewide system. And I would very much look forward to bringing that to King County District Court. I live in the West Division. My family is lives in the West Division and we have for 20 years and I very much care about the West Division in this community. And again, I thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today. Thank you. Thank you very much. And. I'd invite all the can ask the court to have all the candidates come back into the main zoom call. They are ready, Mr. Chairman. All right. And colleagues for the executive session to discuss the qualifications of the candidates. Be valuable. I'm seeing some nods. We will we will now enter executive session. The grounds for executive session are under RTW 4231 ten. Though the committee is going into executive session to evaluate the qualifications of the candidate for appointment to elective office. The committee will be in executive session for approximately 10 minutes until about 1155. We'll post until 1155 and the committee will be off this zoom call for the executive session, together with only those county employees directly necessary for the discussion. Members, please note the executive session today is a separate Zoom meeting. This should be on already on your calendars for possible executive session. I will see council members there. And just a note to council members. You will have to exit this Zoom call before you can get into the executive session, zoom call and then do the same on the way back in. Thanks. I'm. It's. The chair has asked me to announce that the executive session will be extended an additional 10 minutes to approximately 12:05 p.m.. Thank you. But she was asked me to announce to the listening public that the executive session has been extended an additional 5 minutes to approximately 12:10 p.m.. Uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh. The executive session has been extended an additional 5 minutes to approximately 12:15 p.m.. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I'm in many ways, you're doing the heavy logistical work today. We are back in session, and I would entertain a motion. To adopt a motion. 2020 156. Mr. Chair? Councilmember Caldwell's. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm a proposed motion 2020 156 making an appointment to a judicial vacancy in the West Division West Electoral District Judge Position number five of the King County District Court. Thank you councilmember Caldwell's this moved we give it to pass recommendation the motion 2020 156 making an appointment to the west district district Kim County District Court. Councilmember Caldwell's Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have an amendment to this motion. This is the appropriate time to commence. It would be. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we add the name of Kristen Shotwell to be hereby appointed to fill the judicial vacancy in the West Division West Electoral District Judge Position number five of the King County District Court. Thank you. Councilmember calls this move. We insert the name of Christian Shotwell into the motion to make making the appointment. Councilmember Caldwell's. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I we were very impressed with every candidate who applied, and several of us have stated that, in fact, this probably has been the most amazing, outstanding roster of individuals who have made application for district court appointment. So it was very, very tough decision to make. And we certainly would hope that the other candidates would apply for future positions because we were so impressed with all three of you. We did come down to making our recommendation or I am making the recommendation that we select our Kristen Shotwell for this position and I will leave others to speak to their positions or perceptions. Thank you. Thank you. Colleagues, Councilmember Bellevue Cheek. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to echo Councilmember Caldwell's statement. We've been appointing an awful lot of judges since since I've been on the council in the last several years. And I, I can't recall and I don't think any of us can recall the time when we had three exceptionally well qualified applicants who I, I could very happily appoint all of you. And I do hope that when additional vacancies come open, because they seem to come open relatively frequently, that you will apply again if you're not the recommended candidate today. Because I really think our district court would benefit from this Dunn and Judge Robertson being on the bench, and I absolutely would support that because you just all bring so much to the table. So thank you for that. But we can only select one. And and I think that you'll find that we're all we're all we're all very supportive of the recommendation. And I will vote yes for this recommendation. Yeah. I mean, this is just an incredible panel. It really, really is. There's no there's not one bit of daylight where I would say one is better than the other, but we have to select somebody. And there's some good reasons for each of you. So thank you. And I'm happy to vote yes on the amendment and the motion. Well, the discussion. Of all those in favor of the amendment inserting Christian Shotwell was named into motion 2020 156. Please signify by saying I. Those opposed. Nay, the ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Further discussion on motion 2020 156 as amended. I would on my own behalf concur in the comments that councilmembers Caldwell's and Covenant Council Member Bill Dewji have already made or exceptional candidates. Three We heard from today and the work of District Court, as we so often hear, is the People's Court. We have very strong people seeking to serve in the court. We're blessed by having them serving already in pro tem or other capacities. And this motion I'm appointing the sharp well will serve King County District Court well. And the conversations I've had with people interested in engaging in the bench over the last two weeks makes me more confident in the ability to address the pressing needs we have within our criminal legal system and our civil legal system. And I look forward to being able to work with, perhaps soon to be Judge Shotwell and also the other three people we've had very meaningful conversations about our judiciary with. Further discussion. Being known. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council member Belushi I. Council member Dombrowski, I. Council member done. I council member calls. I Council member Lambert. I council member of the group. I council member. Gone. Right there. Now. Council members. Hello? I. Mr. Chair. Hi. Mr. Chair. The vote is eight i's council member upon my thorough votes. No and no one excused. Thank you. By your vote committee to pass recommendation to Motion 2020 156 as amended. And unless there is opposition objection, we will expedite that to full council this coming Tuesday for adoption by the full council seat. None so ordered. We are going to give him the time today and the pressing need of or the timeliness, if you will, of item eight. Our agenda. We're going to advance to item eight, ordinance 2021, 93, which would require grocery stores in unincorporated King County to provide hazard pay for their workers. Mary Buchanan from Council Central South will provide a staff report. I'm Ms.. Brogan on the line is yours. Thank you, Mr. Chair. For the record on Mary Burke and on from the council staff and the materials for this item begin on page 59 of your packet. In addition, there are two amendments that are proposed for today's meeting that were sent separately in a supplemental packet yesterday. The proposed ordinance would require hazard pay of $4 per hour for grocery workers who work at grocery business locations that meet three conditions which you can see outlined at the bottom of page 59 of the staff report. Those conditions are first, that the grocery business is located in unincorporated King County. Second, in terms of size, that the grocery business is either over 10,000 square feet, primarily engaged in the retail sale of groceries or over 85,000 square feet with 30% or more of floor area dedicated to the retail sale of groceries. And in terms of employee count, that the grocery business has at least one employee working at the location in unincorporated King County and employs 500 or more employees worldwide, regardless of where those employees are employed. And the ordinance is written that this includes but is not limited to chains, integrated enterprises or franchises. This ordinance is written that it would expire at the termination of the proclamation of emergency for the COVID 19 pandemic that King County executive Dow Constantine issued on March 1st, 2020. Moving forward, I will note that given both the executive's and the governor's emergency proclamations of about a year ago, which the council commemorated yesterday on March 23rd , the governor issued a proclamation, the stay home, stay healthy order that closed nonessential workplaces and banned gatherings. Since that time, although the governor has adjusted restrictions on gatherings and workplaces, essential businesses have remained open. And you can find a list of the essential businesses identified in the Governor's Order in attachment three to the Staff Report. Moving down to the bottom of page 60, hazard pay is something that is defined by the United States Department of Labor as additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship. National reporting has indicated that many employers provided hazard pay at the start of the pandemic, but that most have since phased out hazard pay. In response, a number of local jurisdictions have implemented hazard pay ordinances during the last several months. And you can see a list on page 61 of some of the West Coast jurisdictions that have done so, including Seattle and Berrien, Washington, as well as Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland, California. Each of these ordinances, like the proposed King County Ordinance, have limited durations tied to local emergency orders. The next section describes in more detail the ordinance. I'm going to skip over that for now and move it to page 63 to just talk a little bit about what the ordinance would do and who would be affected by the ordinance. So again, as I noted, the ordinance would apply to employees at specific grocery business locations. This compares to the Seattle and Berrien ordinances in that obviously both of those refer to just grocery businesses within their jurisdictions, whereas King County's would be for the unincorporated area where King County is the local government. I'll also note that while the Seattle ordinance has enforcement and regulation to be managed by its Office of Labor Standards for King County, since there is no such entity, enforcement would be managed by providing that employees or entities representing employees could bring civil action in court if they felt that their right to hazard pay has not been met. In terms of the businesses that could be affected by this ordinance. And I'm now on the bottom of page 64 based on a review of grocery businesses using information from the King County demographer and Department of Assessments on the location building square footage of grocery businesses, as well as research on national employee accounts, including of franchises , alliances and brand names of stores, even where individual locations might be individually operated and owned. Staff analysis identified ten grocery businesses that could potentially be affected in attachment. Or you will find a list of those ten grocery businesses as well as their address, the district they're located in, and the square footage of the building in which they are located. You will also see in that attachment about ten pages of grocery businesses that would meet the terms of the ordinance, except for the fact that they are located in incorporated areas. Those are organized by district just so that council members can see if there is anything that you believe is missing from your district. I'll note in terms of the impact on grocery businesses both nationally and across Washington state. According to the Census Bureau, grocery sales have increased during the pandemic by about 11.3%. And based on earnings reports from some of the larger national chains, grocery business profits have increased as well during this time period. That said, staff do not have an easy way to identify potential profits or sales from individual grocery business locations. That is because the Washington State Department of Revenue does not collect gross business income for specific business locations, but rather for the entirety of a business. And in addition, King County receives sales tax information only for items that are subject to the sales tax, which would obviously excluding food, not include most sales at grocery stores. And in addition, aggregates that sales tax information, so it's not easily disaggregated to individual locations. That said, I will note that of the ten locations staff identified, approximately half are part of larger national chains. Half are part of either local chains or are potentially individually owned and operated businesses that are part of a larger alliance, such as the one that you heard from, from the owners of the Skyway Grocery grocery outlet who spoke to the committee earlier this morning. Next. In terms of staff's analysis, we identified health impacts as and looked at the vaccination status of grocery workers. And I'm now on page 65 of the staff report. There has been research done over the last year, including in the British Medical Journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, that has studied grocery retail workers and found that they are at higher risk of COVID 19, particularly for those who interact with customers on a regular basis. In addition, this research noted that 76% of infected grocery employees had no symptoms, suggesting that those employees could be a source of asymptomatic infection. I will note again that this ordinance requiring hazard pay would expire upon the termination of the governor. This I'm sorry, the executive's emergency order. And I'll also note, and you can see outlined on page 66 that grocery workers would most likely be eligible for vaccination in phase one B tiers two and four, which would begin to cover workers who are either 50 years and older or 50 years and younger who are in occupations considered high risk. Now, it is unclear at this point what the status of grocery workers might be given the governor's announcement of expediting vaccinations for educators yesterday, or the follow up announcement that workers in essential congregate situations such as grocery workers would also be expedited to some level. We're waiting for further guidance from the Department of Health on that. Moving on. On page 67, staff also studied potential community access to food. In other words, if a grocery business that is required to pay hazard pay determines that it must close as a result of that, what would happen to the community? To do this analysis, staff used two metrics used by the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA to study communities with limited food access. And the USDA uses metrics for both low income census tracts that either have a poverty rate equal to or greater than 20%, or a median family income that is 80% or less of the metropolitan areas, median family income, and looks at a metric that they call low access, which are census tracts in which at least 500 people and or 33% of the census tracts populations may have more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store in an urban area or more than ten miles in rural areas . Based on these metrics and using the USDA Food Access Research, Atlas staff identified that of the ten potential grocery business locations identified as being potentially affected by the proposed ordinance. Four of them are located in census tracts that meet the USDA's definition of low income, and you can see those in attachment six of the packet. In terms of the level of access to food, using the low access metric, staff identified that in 2010 there were four of the ten census tracts that would meet that definition, and in 2015, three of them would. Now, because it's sort of impossible to say, well, a store now exists and may affect whether a census tract is determined to be low access or not. What staff also did, and you can see this in attachment five, is mapped each of the potentially affected grocery stores and the surrounding area and listed the distance to comparable grocery stores so that you can see is it a half mile to miles, six miles to the closest grocery store? So that information is all available. I will note that there has been litigation brought to both the Seattle and BURIAN ordinances, and we do have legal counsel on the line who would be prepared to discuss litigation issues in executive session if desired. And I will again just close by noting again that this ordinance would be terminated upon the termination of the Executive's March 1st, 2020 Proclamation of Emergency. I'll note again that there are two amendments happy to pause now and take questions or move into the amendments, if you'd prefer, Mr. Chair. Question. Union Council member LAMBERT Thank you. I have a question I got during testimony the other day that the person testifying from the shore industry said that they had divided outreach help from grocery and that. But 6% of the employees in grocery were susceptible and 20% in the government sector. Can you help me remember the background on that? Because in here it looks like they're more susceptible in the grocery sector than retail or government. And I don't remember that being what we heard in testimony the other day. So can you help me remember that? Thank you, Councilmember. I can't speak to the testimony that you heard the other day. I can simply cite the sources that staff used, which again was a British medical study that looked at particularly a group of grocery retail workers at a store in Massachusetts last year and identified the findings. You can see on page 65 of the staff report as well as information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the impacts to people of color who are predominantly represented in frontline or essential industries. So I think one of the things the lady said the other day was. But some of those studies had been done in a conglomerate of all retail. And then it was just recently that they had because they were feeling that that data wasn't accurate to their sector to have them do that. The last thing I want to say, it's a little concerning to me on page 67, we can't do anything about it, but it's kind of what I deal with on a regular basis. So we all deal with on a regular basis. Is the USDA characterized as low access tax of those in which at least 500 people in or 33% of the population reside more than one mile from a supermarket, a large grocery in the urban area, it's not in a rural area. It's ten miles, ten miles to get to the grocery store. When you're 90 years old and somebody's taken away your driver's license, that's really quite upsetting. So I wanted to point that definition out because I think that's that's really very sad. So if this were to pass and one of the stores was to close as a result of this ordinance, what would happen to the people, you know, living in or served by hopefully, you know, with the new announcements from the president and the governor in the last 48 hours, this is going to be a short term thing . But what if in the short term timeframe we lose one of these stores and then there isn't a store coming out on the other end? One of the stores in question is across the street from a senior center, a senior living area. And I am very concerned that those seniors would not be able to get to the store. You might remember a number of years ago I tried to see if we could have golf. Carts. To move the people from their house to the grocery stores. And so, you know, we weren't able to do that for a number of reasons because there's a major road going there. But I still think that we need to look at that. But I'm very concerned that the ramifications to the senior community could be devastating. So I just want to put that on the record. Thank you. Councilmember Lambert, in responding to your point about the distance to define food deserts, they point out that I'm representing rural areas myself. If we had a grocery store within every mile of each other with no longer be rural, we'd be dramatically changing the character. People choose to live in rural communities and accept that part of living in rural communities, being rural and having more distance to go for such services. Further questions of mayors on Councilmember Bell Duty. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had been working in my office on the definition of employees that are covered. I had some question in my mind reading the proposal about whether there might be unintended consequences in terms of including employees that are obviously not intended to be covered. One of the discussions in a different jurisdiction was about whether it covered people working in a home office. You know, in the headquarters office, truck drivers, etc. and it out. That work really didn't lead to an amendment, but I thought there was going to be an amendment, and I see that there is not one. So, Mary, could you just speak a little bit about the definition that's in the proposal as it sits today? Sure. Thank you, Councilmember. So the definition of grocery employee can be found in the ordinance on page 74 of your packet, starting at line 134. And it reads Grocery employee means a person employed by a grocery employer and works at a grocery business. And this gets a little circular, but grocery business is defined further up in the amendment at line 119 as a retail store operation located in unincorporated King County and then has the square footage requirements. So this clearly would not cover someone working at a home office. I think the question of whether it might cover, say, you know, a truck driver who serves that store would be questionable. You know, I guess it would cover them for the point of time that they were working at that grocery location. But this is pretty clearly defined to those specific grocery businesses in unincorporated King County. Certainly, if the council wished to amend this to add more specific, clarifying language about which employees would be affected, that could be done. That's helpful to know. I don't have more questions at this time. Thank you. See. No more questions. Very few brief amendments. Sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the separate packet that you were sent yesterday with the amendments, there are two. Amendment one, which is sponsored by Councilmember Balducci, would state that the council intends to review the need for the ordinance three months after it takes effect and may choose to repeal all or part of the ordinance. And then it adds clarifying language that states that if the Council does not act to repeal the ordinance, it would expire upon the termination of the executive's emergency proclamation. So then moving on. Amendment two, which is sponsored by Councilmember, I would exempt from the requirements of this ordinance a grocery business location that meets four criteria. First, that it is located in what is defined as a limited food access community, defined as a low income, historically underserved community that has one or no grocery businesses within its census tract that it is independently owned and operated with that owner having four or less locations operating simultaneously, that it is over two miles from the closest grocery business location that would satisfy the terms of the ordinance in terms of size and employment threshold, and that that location has less than 25 employees regularly working there. So those are the two amendments, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Senior questions on the amendments and having nothing before us now. I would call on the prime sponsor, Councilmember Dombrowski. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate my colleagues patience as we work through a good, long meeting today with a lot of issues. And I appreciate members attention to this legislation and the excellent staff report, which is, I think allowed us to digest the issues and reflect on where we might be on it and if it would be in order. Mr. Chair, I would move adoption with a do pass recommendation of proposed ordinance 2020 1-0093. The motion is before us. Thank you. I'll just speak if I could briefly get to it. Yesterday, the council adopted a proclamation sponsored in part by Councilmember Dunn, but signed by all members and the county executive. Reflecting on the past year in which we've been living with and responding to this pandemic, which has killed 500,000 Americans and tested our systems of government and society. And in that proclamation, we honored and recognized frontline workers, essential workers, including grocery store workers. And I think that that recognition was appropriate. This industry has been essential. And by that I mean our food industry and ensuring that we are able to deliver this essential function of feeding our community and the council's priorities in response to the pandemic. Housing, security and food security have been the top two areas of focus among those that we've identified. We really engaged in it. We cannot deliver this essential food without both the industry, but also workers who fill the stores and who frankly have shown up every day for the last year putting their health and safety at risk. You can't do it all for yourself. You can't do it on the farm. And without them, we couldn't be providing the food security to them, to the community that we need. So why should we pay them more for doing this? And why should government mandated? I think those are two real questions that are called to be addressed by this legislation. First, with respect to why government should do it, I think that we in our country have now, for over a century, a long history of bringing forth action by government to protect and support workers. There is an imbalance of power between the worker and the employer, and the equalizer in that equation can be and has been in our system, the government looking out for the broader good. We regulate workplace safety conditions. We regulate wages and hours with minimum wages and overtime. This is an area that the government engages in and has in our country for a more than a century. And in. Particular, I. Would say that the concept of hazard pay is well recognized and even our federal government. You go to the Department of Commerce and they have adopted regulations in the court of federal regulations to give somebody to give workers, quote, hazard pay when they are undertaking duties that were not originally contemplated when they started the job because of increased exposure to health risks, among other other things. And the code of federal regulations authorizes increased pay for hazardous duty, and that has occurred here in similar effect. We've got workers in the grocery stores carrying out this function who are putting their lives and those of their families that they go home to on the line. And I think in this case, that it is appropriate to recognize that on a limited, short term basis, this legislation would expire concurrently with the ending of the emergency proclamation, or assuming that that comes from Refugees Amendment. If the Council looks at it in 90 days and said we want to make a change or or alter it , that kind of component, but it's limited in nature. It responds to this particular need, and I think it's the right thing to do. A number of other jurisdictions, of course, have done it for Seattle and Palm Beach, California, L.A. County and others. And so we're not we wouldn't be, I would say, going out on a limb here. So for those reasons, Mr. Chair, I hope that the council will take this up with our values here that we have and keep telling and supporting frontline workers and have really supported us. Thank you. Thank you. Colleagues. Amendments. Councilmember Bell Dewji. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Amendment One. Amendment, what is before us? Councilmember Bell DEWJI. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's been very succinctly and correctly briefed. This has been looking at this overall, and I'll speak to the ordinance as a whole on final passage. But I took a good hard look at implementation questions and, you know, making sure that it's clear and and can be implemented because the last thing we would want would be for there to be confusion and have people be disappointed and or not know what we're expecting them to do. So this the purpose of this amendment would be to just give us a moment in time, a fixed moment in time when we could take action if we choose to not take action. The ordinance continues by its term until the terminates by its terms, but especially given the announcements over the last few weeks and how quickly things are changing, we now have at least a credible promise that possibly every adult in America will be vaccinated within 90 days. And and we see that the cases have been coming down and the hospitalizations have been going down. Of course, all of this could change, right? Like everything changes very quickly in this pandemic. So I would not want to rely on that and say changes the expiration date. But I think we should take a good look and a reasonable but short period of time. And where are we at now as is necessary to continue? And that's the idea behind the amendment. Thank you for considering it, colleagues. The discussion on Amendment One. I like it. It's well thought out. Thank you for all those and see no further discussing all this in favor of please say I. Am. Opposed. Nay, the ayes have it. Amendment one is adopted. Council members are alive. I move amendment to Mr. Chair. Amendment two is before us council members. Hello. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Councilmember Dombrowski, for bringing this forward. Thank you to the unions who have been supporting this. I'm very much in support of hazard pay and will be voting yes on this this ordinance. I've proposed a very limited exemption that would exempt grocery stores located in very limited food access communities that are low income, historically underserved communities, and where the grocery stores are independently owned . They're not part of this, these big national chains that have been making record profits because of the pandemic. I think that the fact that, as Mary mentioned, it's more difficult to understand the financials of each specific store and the fact that if anything were to happen to a grocery outlet, for example, we would further create a food desert. If you looked at the map that Mary provided, there aren't any other grocery stores in Skyway. So when we're dealing with a community that 70% people of color that has the highest proportion of African-Americans in the state of Washington, that many people don't have a car to get around and drive to the next closest grocery store , which is not in Skyway. I just want to be very careful about this very limited situation. Otherwise, I'm very much in favor of this ordinance and believe that we need to pay our workers who are been enduring all kinds of risk, putting their bodies on the line to feed our communities. Thank you. Further discussion. Mr. Dombrowski, I want to thank councilmembers, our ally for working collaboratively on this. And it was an issue that we identified when looking at the legislation. And of course, the history of that grocery outlet is that it took a lot of work to get it there. The one in Skyway, it was empty. The community was without a grocery store for a long time because the big folks, frankly, wouldn't come in because the margins weren't there, the profitability wasn't there. And so I think this amendment under the precautionary principle is well taken. And and we'll be supporting it because we don't want to do harm. And so I think it's very narrowly tailored and well done. Mr. Chair. The Chair. Councilmember Lambert, I. Have a technical question and then I have a comment. Could you tell me online 45 with the is? I've never seen one like that. Usually when you have hammered out with the rest of the line is there. So what is that on line 45? Thank you, Councilmember. What this represents, it's just the way that amendments are written because there are new sections being inserted. This is just instruction to the code revise or that when they add those new definitions in. We have to remember that there are two things going in in between two other things. And so we have to keep adding new letters and so that it's just instruction to the code. Revise here. Okay. I usually see the rest of the statement, but so that yeah. That, that is not there because it's not changing. So this is just telling the code revise or, you know, put this in here and then what had been l is now going to become M okay. So I agree with the statement of the previous speakers, the idea that we don't want to be creating food deserts and I too have a similar situation in my district where the access issue for transportation is very serious and it pertains to seniors. And also we have a lot of people of color in the area that are low income also. So and we don't have good transportation for the bus in that area. So there are a lot of issues where I want to make sure we aren't creating a food desert. So I was hoping that this amendment would say that all low access areas in the county would be treated equally. So I will be voting and supporting this, but I will hope to have an amendment for council that will say that all low accesses can be treated equally. So. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Ms.. Bergeron. Cannot I ask? What what locations are identified in the staff report? We might think this amendment identifies. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. So the the belief is and I'm just going to scroll to the appropriate attachment here. The belief is, after much quality time spent on the USDA's Food Access Research Atlas, that this amendment could potentially apply to two of the locations identified in Attachment four. One would be the grocery outlet and skyway that meets all of the, you know, owner operated size, income and distance criteria. The other potential, although I do not know for sure, is the Red Apple Dominick's, which is located in District eight that appears to meet the low income, independently owned and operated and the distance criteria. I am not certain about the employee account and I actually have to confess I am not certain how many outlets that owner of that particular Red Apple owns. So that one is potentially affected by this amendment? Not 100% clear. So I hope that's helpful. Thank you. Yes. Further discussion of amendment to. Mr. WELLS. Mr.. QUESTION Thank you, Mr. Chair, of Council Members online and anybody else. But one concern I have here is that you have individuals who are working in grocery stores, are front line employees, putting their health and safety at risk. And at one store they would be able to get this hazard pay and then another store they will not be able to. And I'm just wondering if you have a response to that, to provide some comfort to me about it. I appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you. Councilmember Caldwell's. So. This grocery outlet is not owned by the national grocery outlet. It's independently owned. The national grocery outlet is just their wholesale seller. So financially they are basically independent from the national one. And so I would look at it in terms of which ones are owned by this specific grocery outlet rather than the national grocery outlet. And these owners own just the Skyway one and a rent and one. And of course the rent and one wouldn't be impacted by our King County legislation, since it's a different city. And I. Mr. Chairman, go on, please. Please. And I understand that. And I think that's a valid point. But my concern overall, again, is the individual workers at the stores who have their own one store, they get that hazard pay. The other store they do not. And I think that's the question we can't answer here. You mean that other grocery outlets owned by the national chain. Well, or even our stores in their area might not be skyway, but it might be in other areas where there is the store that would be required to provide that hazard pay, and there might be a nearby store that would not have to provide that transit plan. Gotcha. Yeah, I would. My position would be that each of these stores has a different circumstances and as highlighted by the very limited requirements of this amendment. And I can speak more broadly to the legislation in that regard. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I might, as a member. TOMASKY Thank you, Councilmember Cornwell's appreciate the inquiry. I guess I'm I think it's a good question slash point. The way I think of it is assuming that that that you believe there is value in the hazard pay concept for frontline workers. It's we don't operate in a vacuum. Right. That there are these other competing public interest issues, public policy issues that we need to account for when adopting that policy for workers. And one is in an area where there may be low margin that could perhaps tip the financial picture of the operator to the red instead of the black. The consequences of that are pretty significant in the communities identified by Council Members Alkalis amendment and that is you've reverted to Democrats creating a food desert in the Skyway West to one that isn't. We don't know the finances, but the risk of the food desert is real because that's what it was until grocery outlet came and council members. All my predecessor and his office worked very hard around zoning issues and development issues of the county to get that store in there to be viable. So I think of it as a as a a recognition that we're not operating in a vacuum, there aren't consequences, and that we want to mitigate against the risk of losing that fundamental service to the community of delivering food through this network. I don't know if that's helpful. Thank you, Councilmember de Basket. For the discussion on amendment to. See none of those in favor of amendment to please signify by saying hi. Those opposed? Nay, the ayes have it. Amendment two is adopted. Further discussion. On the on the legislation as amended. I will. I'm on my behalf. But I will say that I'm at this time of unprecedented profits for some national grocery chains to then discontinue making hazard pay for their employees, who we have seen documentation in the staff report and in pursuing since this legislation was introduced and over the last year of the pandemic, are at higher risk of contracting COVID 19. We need to step up in and encourage this type of support for frontline workers. We know that grocery workers are more at risk. And to use this type of legislation as a wedge in arguing that that's why they are closing stores in some hard hit neighborhoods. I think it is abhorrent on behalf of large corporations experiencing great profits during the pandemic. So very disappointed in how some of those actors have behaved. I think encouraging and supporting frontline workers in this legislation has great value. I would ask, and I think it would be the sponsor if you'd be willing to respond to a question about intent in that it be. Large, important, large stores and associations included, not individual ownership. Ms.. Brigadoon referenced in her staff report branding. And I think that might also apply depending on how ownership is structured. With some ideas and thrift ways in particular. Is it the intent to. Only apply to large own stores and not ones that might brand with other stores. Yes, Mr. Chair, it's my understanding and I'm happy to be corrected by Mary or legal counsel, but that the structure of the legislation applies to those larger entities and that a mere affiliation through a brand. This, for example, the main grocery outlet brand, if it's independently owned, it would it would still have to meet the criteria of the multiple stores and employees and square footage before the ordinance applied. Thank you. This is Mary. I'll just jump in to note that in the legislation itself, on page 76, in your packet, starting at line 172, there is a section that describes how business entities that would otherwise be treated separately are, for the purposes of this ordinance, considered as either an integrated, an enterprise or, you know, categorized as part of their larger body. And factors that are considered in the ordinance the way it's drafted, which again, could be amended if this does not meet the intent of the council members, our degree of interrelation between the operations of multiple entities, the degree to which the entity share common management, centralized control of labor relations, degree of common ownership or financial control over the entities, and use of a common brand, trade, business or operating name. So, you know, it's I think it's that final point that might get to some of the thrift ways. As you know, some of the stores that are independently owned and operated but operate as part of a larger alliance or as grocery outlet does as a consignment to that larger entity. So again, this certainly could be amended. This was patterned after the legislation that was developed in Seattle and the way that they made their definition. But but those those are sort of the clarifying points that the ordinance makes about how do you determine if a grocery business is part of this ordinance or not part of it? Thank you, Councilmember Lambert. Thank you. I might add a legal question. There's some that's turning around. We have legal counsel. So my legal question is this. If when this passes, it is prospectively not retrospective. Is that correct? Councilmember. I know we have Steven Tapley from the prosecuting attorney's office here. I will just note that this is prospective only. Okay, great. And I thought one of our in-house attorney, not not in Pasadena, but one of our members who. I'm covering more we're covering the intel is not. Giving legal advice. No, no. The intel the makers that are being prospective only effective upon effectiveness of the ordinance. But I just want to make sure that, you know, I it does concern me that we're telling a business what they will pay because it could become a slippery slope. But hopefully with the new information that we have out and the parameters were put in because of amendment number one, that in 90 days is will be gone and that this is the would that be able to make business decisions? Thank you, Mr. Chairman, to check that legality. Thank you, Councilmember Balducci. Mr. Chair, just a few comments on final passage. One of the things that we have all learned through this incredible last year that we've all lived through is, I think, and a renewed and deeper appreciation for the people and the things that make our everyday life possible. And I'm very grateful that I that I now carry around with me, as I think many people do, this idea that grocery workers are essential workers. But that was not something we used to say before a year ago. And and we learned it really clearly, because at first we were all so afraid. We didn't know if we were going to be able to buy food. We didn't know how things were going to stay open. And throughout all that time, all the uncertainty, not knowing how bad things were going to get and then how bad things actually did get over the last year at times. Every single time that any of us had to go and buy food for our families, there were grocery workers on the other end of those trips to help us get the groceries and feed our families so that we were able to say stay safe and healthy. And we've talked a lot in government and news and public and private about about that gratitude that that new gratitude that we feel towards essential workers like grocery workers. But truthfully, it doesn't mean a whole lot unless you honor people's work with appropriate compensation. That is when I mean, literally putting our money where our mouth is. And so that's why I appreciate this proposal that's been brought forward. That's why I support it. I, I want to answer just a couple of questions. I think a lot of questions have been answered, but that I have heard that have not been answered yet. So one of the questions I've heard about this is what if I'm a grocery operator who runs my business very safely? I've done everything I need to do with regard to each fact and improvements and and personal protective gear and making sure customers are wearing masks, etc., etc.. You know, why should I have to pay hazard pay when my workplace isn't hazardous? Because I've done everything I should. I think this is just a definitional question. Hazard pay doesn't mean that the employer isn't doing everything they ought to do. In fact, I hope they all are, and I think that many of them are. Hazard pay means that just by virtue of going out of your house and going to work every day and being around other people, regardless of what kind of protocols you put in place, there's a risk that somebody is taking on who's out in public working all the time, that those of us who get to work from home are not taking on. I've been asked why these employees and not other types of employees? Why not county employees? Why aren't we giving more hazard pay? Why aren't we do give Caterpillar some of our employees, especially the ones that are on the front line of actually responding to COVID patients. And to me, the answer to that is that grocery workers, among all of the workers who are out there doing what they need to do every day are some of the lowest paid just by virtue of the occupation and the industry. And so to provide a modest and temporary increase to their pay in recognition of the risk that the grocery workers have taken on for all of us, seems reasonable and fair. I do believe that it can be done without putting businesses out of business. If I thought a whole bunch of businesses weren't going to be able to afford this, I wouldn't support it, but I do support it. So I'm happy to vote yes. And I do want to warn that there may be one more amendment at full council, and that's because there's some contingencies around what the implementation date is. Kind of getting back to Councilmember Lambert's question, just by virtue of how we pass ordinances and how they take effect, it could happen on a certain date or it could happen on a contingent date, depending on whether the executive signs or doesn't sign or whatever happens. Right. So I may bring an amendment that says it will take effect on this day. So we will set a day that is, you know, at an appropriately short period of time, just like an ordinance would normally take effect on one of our two paths. But that way, everyone who's charged with implementing it will have a very clear sense on this day it starts. But I, I also want to thank Councilmember Dombrowski and the advocates for bringing this up, because I think it's important it's an important statement and important support that we should provide to important people in our community. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You're welcome for the debate. Scene nine Councilmember Best Q2 clothes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the great debate today on the merits and opportunity to reflect with my colleagues about where we are and on this particular legislation. It is broad legislation for the County Council. This is a big deal and I think for me anyway, sometimes I think if we don't reflect and pause and think and look at things from different angles, maybe we shouldn't be in this business. But I think we all do that. And I, after introducing it, was, you know, looking at the debate and really reflecting, is this the right thing? And and one of my advisers, as you all know, I think, is my dad. And he happens to be the oldest former grocery store worker I know. As a teenager, he worked for Mr. Kreider, Kroger's store in Dallas, Oregon, delivering groceries and stocking the shelves. In fact, his dad, my granddad, said, I don't care if Mr. Crowder tells you to stock the shelves with the cans upside down and backwards, do it just as happily as if he told you to put them on the shelf, right side, up and forwards. In other words, he was the boss. But that was tough work and essential work. And I said, So, Dad, is this the right thing to do, paying four bucks an hour more? And he didn't hesitate. He said, of course it is wearing their bust in their tails and working. Hard. And dealing with the public. And and that was reassuring to me and gave me the comfort to know at least that that little check that I feel we are doing the right thing here today in courage member support. Thank you for the opportunity to bring this forward today, Mr. Chair, on a very packed agenda that can help. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Councilmember Belushi. Councilmember Dan Belsky. Councilmember Dunn. No. Council member Coles I Council member Lambert now council member of the group I like. Council member by night. The high. High Council members. I might. Mr. Chair. Hi. Mr. Chairman. About a seven I's council members, Dunn and Lambert vote no. Thank you. By your vote, we've given it to pass recommendation to 2020 193 as amended, and we will expedite that to full council this coming Tuesday. I'm pleased we are going on the 4 hours of Oak Hill meeting and I want to apologize and express appreciation to Councilmember Up the Grove, whose district executive committee his staff has been delayed from his old low tape 1:00 search. We also have on today's agenda legislation addressing fireworks in unincorporated King County. You've heard it our last meeting from residents of unincorporated King County who are dramatically affected by this legislation. I'm in fact, the testimony we heard was overwhelmingly in support. We had one person testify against one last time. Today, we heard from more people offering testimony on both sides of a allow me to note that a lot of the opposition to the ban today was from the industry. I'm from TNT, Fireworks and others. In no way if we had can we take action in and ban fireworks by the 4th of July this year? I'm giving the timing of implementing new legislation if we were to adopt it for council. There's a 30 day waiting period from the time it moves out of committee until it'd be taken up before council. I want to assure everyone this, that this legislation will not and cannot be in effect by this 4th of July. But it is imperative to me to make sure that we take up and address the life, health and safety issues that fireworks bring to unincorporated communities so we can make appropriate public policy decisions. This will be on our next agenda. And given the time and already delayed executive committee of the Fun District, we will not take up the legislation today without and having no other items on our agenda today. Mr. Clare throughout the month ago. Thank you. The Flood District Executive Committee will convene at 130. Thank you. Knowing of no other business can before us. We are adjourned. By.

Output: A MOTION making an appointment to fill a judicial vacancy in the west division, west electoral district, judge position number five of the King County district court.