Parks, Public Utilities & Technology Committee 7/23/2025

GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. THE
JULY 23, 2025 MEETING OF PARKS,
PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE WILL COME TO ORDER.
ALSO KNOWN AS THE COMMITTEE. I
AM JOYCE HOLLINGSWORTH, CHAIR OF
THE COMMITTEE. PLEASE CALL THE
ROLL.
[ ROLL CALL ] THERE ARE FOUR
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT.
AWESOME. THANK YOU ,
COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA CAME IN HOT
TODAY. THANK YOU. COLLEAGUES,
TODAY WE WILL HOLD A PUBLIC
HEARING ON THE SEATTLE PUBLIC
UTILITIES , LAND USE AND ZONING
FOR SOLID WASTE. WE ARE ALSO
GOING TO HEAR FROM OUR
PHENOMENAL SEATTLE PUBLIC
UTILITIES. I DON'T WANT ANYONE
FIGHTING BETWEEN PUBLIC
UTILITIES AND PARKS. LAND USE
AND ZONING. ALSO, THE PHENOMENAL
PARKS DEPARTMENT ABOUT TWO
DIFFERENT CONCESSION AGREEMENTS.
WE WILL NOW CONSIDER THE AGENDA.
THERE IS NO OBJECTION, THE
AGENDA WILL BE ADOPTED. THE
AGENDA IS ADOPTED. WITH THAT, WE
ARE GOING TO MOVE RIGHT INTO THE
HYBRID PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.
PUBLIC COMMENT SHOULD BE RELATED
TO ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA OR
BE WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE
COMMITTEE. AGAIN, THERE IS A
PUBLIC HEARING FOR ITEM NUMBER
ONE, WHICH IS COUNCIL BILL
121005, AND THAT PUBLIC HEARING
WILL BEGIN SHORTLY AFTER THE
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. IF YOUR
COMMENTS RELATE TO ITEM 1 ,
PLEASE HOLD YOUR COMMENTS UNTIL
WE OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING.
CLERK, HOW MANY SPEAKERS DO WE
HAVE SIGNED UP TODAY?
CURRENTLY, TWO IN PERSON AND
ONE REMOTE SPEAKER.
AWESOME. EVERYONE WILL GET
TWO ME NUTS. -- MINUTES.
THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
WILL STARTING WITH IN SPEAKERS
FIRST. IF YOU HAVE NOT
REGISTERED TO SPEAK BUT WOULD
LIKE TO, YOU CAN SIGN UP BEFORE
THE END OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE. THE LINK
IS LISTED ON TODAY'S AGENDA, OR
BY SIGNING UP ON THE SIGN-UP
SHEET AT THE FRONT OF CHAMBERS.
WHEN SPEAKING BEGIN BY STATING
YOUR NAME IN THE ITEM YOU ARE
ADDRESSING. SPEAKERS WILL HEAR A
CHIME WHEN 10 SECONDS ARE LEFT.
IF SPEAKERS DO NOT END COMMENTS
AT THE END OF THE ALLOTTED TIME,
THE SPEAKER'S MICROPHONE WILL
BE MUTED TO ALLOW US TO CALL AND
THE NEXT PERSON.
LET THE RECORD REFLECT WE ARE: LET THE RECORD REFLECT WE ARE
JOINED TO PRISON BY
COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS. WE ARE
READY FOR THE FIRST SPEAKER.
THE FIRST SPEAKER FOR IN: THE FIRST SPEAKER FOR IN
PERSON PUBLIC, IS MAGGIE
JOHNSON, FOLLOWED BY ALEX
ZIMMERMAN.
HELLO, AND THANK YOU FOR THIS
OPPORTUNITY. I AM MAGGIE
JOHNSON. I AM A VOLUNTEER FOR
THE URBAN NATURE GUIDE FOR
SEATTLE PARKS ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION PROGRAM . FIRST OF
ALL, WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO YOU,
THE COUNCIL, AND TO THE MAYOR'S
OFFICE FOR DECIDING OUR PROGRAM
IS PRETTY -- CRITICALLY
IMPORTANT FOR THE YOUTH OF OUR
CITY AND MUST BE SAVED. YOU
INCLUDED FUNDING FOR MAINTAINING
OUR STAFF POSITIONS, NINE STAFF
POSITIONS IN THE SCHOOL LEVY.
BUT WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANT TO
KNOW THAT OUR PARKS
ADMINISTRATION DOESN'T SEEM TO
BE ON BOARD. WE UNDERSTAND THAT
OUR CURRENT PROGRAM MANAGER HAS
BEEN INSTRUCTED TO MAKE A WORK
PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR FOR ONLY FOUR
POSITIONS. IT APPEARS THAT PARKS
IS PLANNING TO DIVERT FUNDING
FOR THE FIVE POSITIONS THAT WERE
SPONSORED, APPROVED BY YOU IN
COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS'S LEVY
AMENDMENT FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
WHILE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE HAS
ASSURED US THAT PARKS SUPPORTS
ITS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
PROGRAM, IN FACT, PARKS
CONTINUES TO TRY TO DISMANTLE
IT. PARTS HAS NEVER SHARED WHAT
THEIR ATTITUDE OR PLANS ARE FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION , NOT
WITH YOU, THE COUNCIL, NOR WITH
AFFECTED STAFF, VOLUNTEERS,
IMMUNITY PARTNERS AND TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF PROGRAM
PARTICIPANTS. I HAVE A REQUEST.
I UNDERSTAND YOU DON'T HAVE
DIRECT CONTROL OVER PARKS
OPERATIONS, BUT COULD THIS
COMMITTEE REQUEST A PRESENTATION
FROM PARKS ABOUT THEIR PLANS FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ?
SPECIFICALLY, WHAT THEY PLAN TO
DO WITH THE LEVY BUDGET SHOULD
IT PASS. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. NEXT, WE
HAVE MR. ALEX ZIMMERMAN.
VERY APPRECIATE YOU. I AM
READY. MY DIRTY NASTY GESTAPO
PIG. ALEX MILLER. I WANT TO
SPEAK AGENDA NUMBER TWO ABOUT
PARK . FOR MANY YEARS, MANY
YEARS, I TALK SPENDS MONEY FOR
PARKS. THEY SPENT $1 BILLION FOR
PARK. WHY? WHY SPEND BILLION
DOLLARS FOR PARK AND THOUSAND
EMPLOYEE? 1000 EMPLOYEE WHO
WORKED FOR PARK? WHY? TOO MUCH
MONEY? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. IT
DOESN'T CHANGE. I SAY, WHY
DOESN'T CHANGE? BEFORE WE NOT
FIRE MAYOR, NOTHING WILL BE
CHANGED. VERY CRITICAL. IT IS
ABSOLUTELY NEED MONEY FOR EVERY
PROBLEM . HOMELESS , SOCIAL
SECURITY, DISABLE LIKE ME. WE
NEED MONEY FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT
FOR THE TREE. YOU KNOW WHAT THIS
MEAN? I AM CONFUSED ABOUT THE
RULES. IT IS A PURE
DISCRIMINATORY. IT IS VERY
IMPORTANT. BEFORE WE DON'T
CLAIM US GOVERNMENT FROM PEOPLE.
YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?
CITIZENS ASSEMBLE FOR 16 YEARS
AND BRING SEATTLE TO TOTAL
COLLAPSE. TOTAL COLLAPSE. I LIVE
HERE FOR 40 YEARS. I SPEAK HERE
FOR 30 YEARS. ANYWAYS. WHO CARE
ABOUT WE NEED CLEAN CITY
TOTALLY. WE HAVE TOO MANY
PROBLEMS. MAYOR HARRELL FOR 16
YEARS AND 40 YEARS. AFTER LAST
WEEK , CAN COUNTRY TAKE AS
CONSTITUTION AND GARBAGE. MUCH
HARDER WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.
VIVA
REPORTER: , VIVA NEW AMERICAN
REVOLUTION, VIVA COMMON SENSE.
WE AR

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