Governance and Utilities Committee 4/9/2026

MORNING, THE APRIL 9, 2026 OF
THE GOVERNANCE AND UTILITIES
COMMITTEE WILL COME TO ORDER.
PLEASE CALL THE
COUNCILMEMBER KETTLE. ROLL.
PRESENT.
COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA: COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA.
PRESENT.
COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS: COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS.
PRESENT.
CHAIR HOLLINGSWORTH: CHAIR HOLLINGSWORTH.
PRESENT.
THERE ARE FOUR PRESENT , FOUR
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT.
THANK YOU, CLERK.
COUNCILMEMBER KETTLE IS EXCUSED.
WILL COME TO THE GOVERNANCE AND
UTILITIES COMMITTEE. WE HAVE A
PACKED AGENDA SO WE ARE LOOKING
FORWARD TO ALL ITEMS ON THE
AGENDA. THANK YOU ALL WHO SHOWED
UP. WE ARE HAVING TECHNICAL
DIFFICULTIES WITH OUR ONLINE
SIGN-UP, LOOKING FORWARD TO
HEARING OUR PUBLIC COMMENTERS.
WE ARE NOW CONSIDERING THE
AGENDA. IF THERE IS NO OBJECTION
THE AGENDA WILL BE ADOPTED. THE
ADOPTION. WE ARE NOW GOING TO
OPEN THE HYBRID PUBLIC COMMENT
PERIOD. PUBLIC COMMENTS SHOULD
BE RELATED TO THE ITEMS ON
TODAY'S AGENDA OR BE WITHIN THE
PURVIEW OF THE COMMITTEE. CLERK,
HOW MANY SPEAKERS DO WE HAVE.
CURRENTLY WE HAVE ZERO IN: CURRENTLY WE HAVE ZERO IN
PERSON SPEAKERS AND FOUR REMOTE
SPEAKERS.
EVERY SPEAKER WILL GET TWO: EVERY SPEAKER WILL GET TWO
MINUTES. I WILL READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS. PUBLIC COMMENT
WILL BE MODERATED. SPEAKERS WILL
BE CALLED IN THE ORDER IN WHICH
THEY REGISTERED. STARTING WITH
THE IN PERSON SPEAKERS, WE HAVE
NONE SO WE WILL JUMPED TO
ONLINE. IF YOU HAVE NOT
REGISTERED TO SPEAK BUT WOULD
LIKE TO YOU CAN SIGN UP BEFORE
THE END OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT
PERIOD. WHEN SPEAKING PLEASE
BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND
THE ITEM YOU ARE ADDRESSING.
SPEAKERS WILL HEAR A CHIME WITH
10 SECONDS OR LESS, EXCUSE ME,
10 SECONDS -- THANK YOU, THAT IS
THE SOUND , YOU MIGHT HEAR THAT
SOUND. AND THAT IS 10 SECONDS.
AND YOU STILL HAVE TIME. PUBLIC
COMMENT PERIOD IS OPEN. WE'RE
GOING TO BEGIN WITH THE FIRST
SPEAKERS. AND LOOKING ONLINE, IT
LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE FOUR PEOPLE
THAT HAVE SIGNED UP BUT THEY ARE
NOT PRESENT. CAN I.T. CONFIRM IF
ANY OF THE SPEAKERS ARE PRESENT?
WE ARE WORKING ON THE ISSUE: WE ARE WORKING ON THE ISSUE
RIGHT NOW. THIS MIGHT TAKE A
WHILE.
THINK YOU SO MUCH. WE ARE
GOING TO BE AT EASE UNTIL WE
KIND OF FIGURE OUT THE ONLINE
THING. JUST BEAR WITH US. I
DON'T HAVE ANY GOOD JOKES.
YOU MAY WANT TO RECESS FOR A: YOU MAY WANT TO RECESS FOR A
FEW MINUTES.
SO WE ARE GOING TO BE IN: SO WE ARE GOING TO BE IN
RECESS. THANK YOU, WE ARE GOING
TO RECESS FOR FIVE MINUTES. I'M
DOING MATH IN MY HEAD. AT 9:41
AM WE WILL BE BACK HERE. WE ARE
JUST GOING TO TAKE A RECESS.
THANK YOU.
[ MUSIC ]
WE WILL ANSWER PUBLIC COMMENT: WE WILL ANSWER PUBLIC COMMENT
WHEN THAT COMES. SOUNDS GOOD.
AWESOME. OKAY. I.T., CAN YOU
CONFIRM IF THE PEOPLE I SEE ON
THIS DOCUMENT TO PRESENT ARE
ALLOWED TO SPEAK?
WE CURRENTLY HAVE ABOUT 50%
OF THE REGISTRANTS ON LINE. SO
IF YOU WANT TO PROCEED I'M SURE
WE CAN GO FORWARD FROM HERE.
WE CAN START. OKAY. THANK
YOU. WE WILL DO THAT. DO WE HAVE
ANY SIGN-UPS IN PERSON? AWESOME.
WE'RE GOING TO START WITH HER
ONLINE PUBLIC COMMENTERS. I DO
SEE JUNE BLUE SPRUCE, PRESS STAR
SIX. WE WILL PUT TWO MINUTES UP.
WE HAVE TO TAKE THE ROLE. MY
BAD. I'M JUMPING INTO STUFF.
ONCE I. CLERK, PLEASE CALL THE
ROLL. WE'RE GOING TO RESTART
THE MEETING. THANK YOU.
> COUNCILMEMBER KETTLE.
PRESENT.
COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA: COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA.
PRESENT.
COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS: COUNCILMEMBER STRAUSS.
PRESENT.
CHAIR HOLLINGSWORTH: CHAIR HOLLINGSWORTH.
PRESENT.
WE HAVE FOUR PRESENT: WE HAVE FOUR PRESENT.
THREE PRESENT AND: THREE PRESENT AND
COUNCILMEMBER RIVERA IS ON HER
WAY. WE'RE GOING TO START WITH
PUBLIC COMMENT. I SEE JUNE.
UNMUTE YOURSELF.
CAN YOU HEAR ME: CAN YOU HEAR ME?
LOUD AND CLEAR: LOUD AND CLEAR.
OKAY. I WANT TO THANK THOSE
WHO RESPONDED POSITIVELY TO
PREVIOUS COMMENTS. MY MESSAGE TO
THE COUNCIL, DO NOT FURTHER
RELAX AND PERMIT THE
PROTECTIONS. SEATTLE USED TO BE
A WEST COAST LEADER IN
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. NOW WE
BEING PRESSURED TO DEREGULATE
INVAR MENTAL STANDARDS AND
DEVELOP MORE HOUSING. THE PR
CAMPAIGN TO MAKE TREES THE ENEMY
OF THE ELEMENT IN HOUSING IS
BASED ON LIES WE CAN NO LONGER
AFFORD TO ACT ON. CLIMATE
CHANGES HERE. YOU CAN SEE IT IN
ARE MUCH HOTTER SUMMERS AND
WINTERING STORMS. DROUGHT AND
FLOODING. IN WINTER SEATTLE HAVE
[ INDISCERNIBLE ] PUTTING A
HIGHER STRAIN ON THE SYSTEM WITH
STREAM CAPACITY. THE CITY AND
RATEPAYERS ARE SPENDING MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS NOW JUST TO PREVENT
THE WORST IMPACT. LARGE MATURE
TREES, ESPECIALLY CONIFERS, DO
THIS WORK FOR FREE AND HAVE
HUNDREDS OF OTHER HEALTH
BENEFITS. WHEN THEY ARE CUT FOR
DEVELOPMENT THE CITY CREATES
PROBLEMS IT CAN'T SOLVE AND
EXPENSES THAT RATEPAYERS CAN'T
AFFORD. PLEASE TAKE THESE
ACTIONS. IMPLEMENT NEW AND
RETAINED TREES AS STORMWATER
MANAGEMENT LIKE OTHER CITIES.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. OTHER
WASHINGTON CITIES HAVE DONE
THIS. ALL THE DATA REQUIRED TO
DO THE CALCULATION ARE AVAILABLE
IN THE ARBORIST REPORTS. PLEASE
REQUIRE NEW AND RETAINED TREES
IN ALL BMP APPLICATIONS AS IN
THE BOSTON CODE. REJECT A
PROPOSAL TO RAISE THE THRESHOLD
FROM 2000 TO 5000 ON FLOW
CONTROL REGULATIONS -- O

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