Housing & Human Services Committee 7/23/2025

OF THE HOUSING AND HUMAN
SERVICES COMMISSION. I AM MARK
SOLOMON, VICE CHAIR OF THE
COMMITTEE. BECAUSE WE DO NOT
HAVE QUORUM AT THIS POINT, WE
CANNOT PROCEED WITH THE MEETING
SO I AM GOING TO PUT US IN
RECESS UNTIL 10:00 A.M. TO SEEK
QUORUM SO WE CAN ACTUALLY HOLD
THIS MEETING . I JUST WANTED TO
LET YOU KNOW THAT. I WANT TO
THANK THE FOLKS THAT HAVE SHOWN
UP IN PERSON. THANK YOU FOR
TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY AND
MAKING HER WAY TO CITY HALL. WE
HOPE TO FIND QUORUM SO WE CAN
TUNE YOU TO TODAY'S BUSINESS.
WE WILL BE IN RECESS UNTIL 10:00
A.M. . THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
AND PATIENCE.
GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. IT IS
10:00 A.M. AND THIS IS STILL THE
HOUSING AND HUMAN SERVICES
COMMITTEE. WE STILL DO NOT HAVE
QUORUM FOR THE MEETING. WE WILL
BE AGAIN DELAYING FOR ANOTHER
FIVE MINUTES. AT WHICH POINT WE
WILL COME BACK AND LET YOU KNOW
HOW WE WILL PROCEED FROM HERE.
AGAIN, I APPRECIATE YOU BEING
HERE AND I APPRECIATE YOUR
PATIENCE. WE WILL RECONVENE AT
10:05 . THANK YOU.
AGAIN, THANK YOU, EVERYONE.
THANK YOU FOR INDULGING US IN
OUR DELAYS. HERE'S HOW WE WILL
PROCEED TODAY. WE DO NOT HAVE
QUORUM. AS A RESULT, WE CANNOT
TAKE ACTION. ALSO BECAUSE WE
DON'T HAVE QUORUM WE CANNOT
TAKE PUBLIC COMMENTARY. THAT
BEING SAID, I WANT TO HONOR
THOSE WHO TOOK TIME OUT OF THEIR
DAY TO COME DOWN HERE AND SPEAK
TO US. SO WE CAN PROCEED WITH
HEARING IT . WE JUST CAN'T
VOTE. THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE
DON'T WANT THE INFORMATION.
WITH THAT, I DON'T KNOW IF
THERE'S ANYTHING TO READ TO THE
RECORD OR WE JUST INVITE PEOPLE
UP. GO AHEAD.
WE ARE GOING TO DO SOMETHING
KIND OF UNPRECEDENTED. BECAUSE
WE DO NOT HAVE QUORUM WE ARE
GOING TO END THE MEETING. IT IS
10:10 . THE SPECIAL MEETING OF
THE HOUSING AND HUMAN SERVICES
COMMISSION IS ADJOURNED. THAT
BEING SAID, SINCE THAT MEETING
IS OVER WE STILL WANT TO HEAR
FROM YOU. YOU ARE HERE. YOU HAVE
TAKEN YOUR TIME. LET'S HEAR
FROM YOU.
CHAIR, --
COUNCILMEMBER RINCK: COUNCILMEMBER RINCK.
WE ARE GOING TO RUN THIS AS A: WE ARE GOING TO RUN THIS AS A
COMMUNITY DISCUSSION AND NOT A
FORMAL MEETING SINCE WE ARE ALL
HERE TOGETHER. I WANT TO ECHO
WITH THE CHAIR SAID. THANK YOU
FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT OF YOUR
DAY TO COME DOWN. I'M
DISAPPOINTED WE ARE UNABLE TO
TAKE ACTION TODAY, LOSING QUORUM
FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE MEETING.
IT FEELS SUSPECT. AS THE ONLY
RENTER AS PART OF THIS BODY I
THINK IT'S TREMENDOUSLY
IMPORTANT THAT RENTER
PERSPECTIVES ARE HURT SO WE WANT
TO BE SURE WE HEAR FROM YOU
TODAY AT THE VERY LEAST. CHAIR,
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO
TAKE A MOMENT TO INVITE THE
PROSPECTIVE APPOINTEES TO THE
TABLE ARE WE WANT TO TRY TO USE
THE MICROPHONES AT THE PUBLIC
COMMENT AREA, I WILL LET THAT BE
YOUR DECISION BUT I WANT TO
VOICE AGAIN MY GRATITUDE FOR
EVERYONE TAKING TIME TO BE HERE
TODAY. WE WILL MAKE SURE
EVERYONE IS HEARD. THANK YOU,
CHAIR.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE ARE
JUST HAVING A COMMUNITY
DISCUSSION. PLEASE JOIN US AT
THE TABLE . WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN
THE FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS, YES.
[ INAUDIBLE - LOW VOLUME ]
THANK YOU, CHAIR SOLOMON AND
COUNCILMEMBER RINCK FOR HAVING
US AT THIS DISCUSSION. IF IT'S
OKAY WITH YOU MAYBE WE CAN START
WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM.
THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT WERE
SUBMITTED FOR APPOINTMENTS. THEY
WOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THEIR
BIOS AND WHY THEY ARE INTERESTED
SERVING ON THE COMMISSION. I
THINK WE ARE JOINED BY A FEW
PEOPLE ONLINE AS WELL. I CAN
READ OUT ANY OF THE REMAINING
BIOS .
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. FOR OUR
EDIFICATION, PLEASE INTRODUCE
YOURSELF . AS YOU GO AROUND, WE
WANT TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
I AM LAURA JENKINS WITH THE: I AM LAURA JENKINS WITH THE
SEATTLE DEPARTMENT OF
NEIGHBORHOODS.
MY NAME IS LIZ. I'M A
RESIDENT OF DISTRICT FOUR ,
EDGEWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD. I'M HERE
TO GIVE A COUPLE OF INTRODUCTORY
THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING PART OF THE
COMMISSION . JUST SOME THINGS TO
SAY. I AM A RENTER IN THE CITY.
I HAVE ENCOUNTERED A LOT OF THE
CHALLENGES MANY OF US FACE
NAVIGATING RESOURCES. TRYING TO
ADAPT TO RISING COSTS AND
SEARCHING FOR SUPPORT AND A LOT
OF THE OVERWHELMING SYSTEMS .
PROFESSIONALLY, I WORK IN
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT. MY DAILY
WORK IS VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN
SIMPLIFYING COMPLEX INFORMATION
AND MAKING IT ACCESSIBLE FOR
EVERYONE. THIS IS SOMETHING I
WOULD LOVE TO FOCUS ON AS PART
OF THE COMMISSION, TAKING THAT
INFORMATION OUT THERE AND MAKING
IT ACCESSIBLE FOR FOLKS. I'VE
ALSO HAD A LOT OF WORK IN
COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT, MOSTLY VOTER
ENGAGEMENT AS WELL AS SUPPORTING
ISSUE CAMPAIGNS WHERE I LIVED
PREVIOUSLY BEFORE I MOVED TO
SEATTLE . THAT IS SOMETHING I
WOULD LOVE TO DO HERE AS A
RESIDENT OF THE CITY. I LOVE TO
HELP OTHERS AND EMPOWER FOLKS.
AS PART OF THIS COMMISSION MUCH
OF IT WOULD BE MAKING SURE
PEOPLE HAVE THE RESOURCES THEY
NEED AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.
THANK YOU: THANK YOU.
GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU FOR
HEARING US . MY NAME IS ALLAN
FRANCIS. I AM A RENTER. MY
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND, BOARD
OF DIRECTORS SEATTLE HOUSING
RESOURCES . THE NEIGHBORS
EDUCATION FUND. WHY AM I HERE? A
YEAR AGO I WAS ABLE TO SIGN THE
RENTAL AGREEMENT TO LIVE IN THE
ROOSEVELT DISTRICT. THAT IS
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