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Cmd120820EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL VIRTUAL ONLINE MEETING APPROVED MINUTES December 8, 2020 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Mike Nelson, Mayor Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Council President Kristiana Johnson, Councilmember Luke Distelhorst, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Vivian Olson, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Laura Johnson, Councilmember ALSO PRESENT Brook Roberts, Student Representative 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE STAFF PRESENT Phil Williams, Public Works Director Patrick Doherty, Econ. Dev & Comm. Serv. Dir. Shane Hope, Development Services Director Angie Feser, Parks, Rec. & Cultural Serv. Dir. Jessica Neill Hoyson, HR Director Shannon Burley, Deputy Parks & Recreation Dir. Dave Turley, Finance Director Rob English, City Engineer Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Dave Rohde, GIS Analyst The Edmonds City Council virtual online meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Nelson. The meeting was opened with the flag salute. 2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Councilmember L. Johnson read the City Council Land Acknowledgement Statement: "We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water." 3. ROLL CALL City Clerk Scott Passey called the roll. All elected officials were present, with the exception of Councilmember K. Johnson, participating remotely. (Councilmember K. Johnson joined the meeting during the first seven minutes. ) 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 1 COUNCILMEMBER OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, THAT ITEM 7.1, CONFIRMATION OF CHIEF OF POLICE APPOINTMENT, BE DESIGNATED AS A STUDY ITEM ONLY TO ALLOW OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE VETTING AND MORE INPUT. Councilmember Olson observed this had been on the agenda for next week, and she felt there was value to waiting. She hoped Councilmembers would not force this through and allow an opportunity to hear from everybody. Council President Fraley-Monillas said Mayor Nelson and she discussed putting this on the agenda; one of the main reasons was because both candidates for Police Chief were being trashed in social media and in the media. To create less animosity for those applying for the position, it would behoove the Council to move forward one way or another. The Council will be asked to either confirm or not confirm the appointment Mayor's for Police Chief. It is not about the Council's opinion, both candidates have already been vetted very carefully. The finalists have been be out for the last five weeks and nothing was heard until the Mayor announced his choice for Police Chief. At that point there were numerous contacts about the Police Chief position. This has been very hard on both Chief Lawless and Chief Pruitt. The best thing to do is move forward in a progressive manner. Council President Fraley-Monillas said it is not the Council's responsibility to vet people applying for jobs and it is the Mayor's decision to appoint the person he wants to work with. She acknowledged some times she liked the Mayor's appointments, sometimes she didn't, but no matter what, she had to respect the decision made by the Mayor for an executive level position. She encouraged Council not to approve the motion to delay this until next week because nothing will be different or change. The only thing that will happen is continued inappropriate comments on social media regarding the two candidates which is disrespectful to both as good, solid citizens and law abiding people who have served their country in inaity different ways. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED TO HOLD AN EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THIS TOPIC. Council President Fraley-Monillas raised point of order, stating there is a motion on the table. Councilmember Buckshnis asked whether a motion to hold an executive session would be an amendment or a separate motion. City Attorney Jeff Taraday recommended it be an amendment to the agenda. There is already an amendment pending and Councilmember Buckshnis' proposed amendment would not be a proper amendment to an amendment. He recommended voting on the first amendment and then Councilmember Buckshnis' amendment would be in order. ntIving +1vaSa t %-.ULMS vSpceiai icc�unrn, t Lni' stetlhorst asked it a0a0a1:ng air executive session would be allowed on a special meeting agenda. Mr. Taraday said his advice was always to err on side of caution when adding things to special meeting agenda. The statute states no final action can be taken on an item that has not been listed on the special meeting notice. The statutes are not clear what constitutes "final action." He has always recommended the Council err on the side of caution and not amend special meeting agendas. Councilmember K. Johnson requested the motion be restated as she had joined the meeting late. Mayor Nelson restated the motion as follows: TO MOVE ITEM 7.1, CONFIRMATION OF CHIEF OF POLICE APPOINTMENT, TO A STUDY ITEM. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 2 Councilmember K. Johnson said there is great value in taking the time; Police Chief Compaan resigned nearly a year ago and things are getting very compressed this time of year. She has received 56 comments, primarily today. The public would benefit from having more time and taking more time would be a good way to proceed to ensure the process was open and transparent and there was no reason to rush. Councilmember Olson corrected the record regarding the statement made by Council President Fraley- Monillas, advising contacts were made to the HR Director after the candidates were identified; the source documents related to that contact were not sought out. Councilmember Paine raised a point of order, whether was discussion regarding the motion. Mayor Nelson agreed it was straying. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (3-4), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, BUCKSHNIS AND OLSON VOTING YES; AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS DISTELHORST, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING NO. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER OLSON, TO HOLD AN EXECUTIVE SESSION PRIOR TO ITEM 7.1. Councilmember Buckshnis explained she requested an executive session on Sunday after a lot of information and documents came forth. She again asked for an executive session on Monday at noon and her request has not been answered. She hoped her fellow Councilmembers understand that personnel issues and documents are part of the executive session mandate because the candidates were interviewed in executive session. Council President Fraley-Monillas said an executive session was already held on this issue. City staff have done numerous checks, checks and rechecks, contacting everyone from the FBI to the military and back. As of today, the HR Director indicated she had contacted perhaps 14 people from the FBI, the Tribes and the military and all the references were very good. She was not interested in continuing to "pursue some sort of a hunt for someone at this point." As the Council had already had an executive session, she encouraged the Council to move forward tonight. Councilmember Paine said she did not support the motion for an executive session because anything the Council did needed to be transparent to the community. Councilmember Buckshnis said there was no hunt, it was flushing through documents that have been provided. Because the Council interviewed the candidates in executive session, it was best to discuss things in an executive session and then provide final action and comments during Item 7.1 which would be very transparent. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (3-4), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, BUCKSHNIS AND OLSON VOTING YES; AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS DISTELHORST, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING NO. Councilmember K. Johnson asked whether the Council was doing the CFP/CIP before or after the item regarding the budget. Mayor Nelson advised the agenda currently has the CFP/CIP before the budget. COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO AMEND THE AGENDA SO THAT THE CFP/CIP IS AFTER THE BUDGET. Councilmember K. Johnson said the budget is much more important and she was not prepared to discuss the CFP/CIP but was fully prepared to discuss the budget. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 3 Mr. Taraday referred to an email he sent a few minutes earlier recommending that even if the Council did not amend the agenda, that the Council not vote on Item 7.2 until they determined whether they would be adopting the budget because those approvals must occur at the same meeting. If the Council thinks they are likely to adopt the budget tonight, he recommends reversing the order. If the Council thinks they are unlikely to adopt the budget tonight and just want to discuss the CFP/CIP and it move to Consent next week, there may not legally be a reason to amend agenda. Councilmember K. Johnson said she has many comments regarding the CFP/CIP, but did not think the Council would be able to cover it in a timely manner and she wanted to ensure the budget was covered in a timely manner which was the reason she suggested reversing the order on the agenda. If there was any time left, the Council could discuss the CFP/CIP. She anticipated the budget would take all Council's time so she wanted to change the order of the agenda items. Councilmember Buckshnis expressed support for Councilmember K. Johnson's motion. She preferred to postpone the entire budget since the packet was not complete. In the past there has always been rationale and understanding provided for amendments. She anticipated the budget discussion would be longer this year to allow Councilmembers time to provide the rationale for their amendments. She agreed it would be best to have budget first and then the CFP/CIP which has always been done in the past. Council President Fraley-Monillas relayed her understanding of Mr. Taraday's advice, not to change the agenda if the Council was unlikely to approve the CFP/CIP tonight. Mr. Taraday clarified the final vote to approve the CFP has to be at the same meeting as the final vote to adopt the budget. If that was not likely to occur tonight, the final vote on both would be next week. Council President Fraley-Monillas said hearing that, it did not make sense to move CFP/CIP prior to the budget adoption because both have to be approved at the same meeting. She did not support the motion. With regard to budget deliberations, Council President Fraley-Monillas said the Council has had the budget for eight weeks; this weekend there was a flood of budget amendments, three days before the Council was scheduled to talk about the budget. She cannot fix stuff when people aren't cooperating or doing things in a productive manner. She encouraged the Council to leave the agenda as proposed. Councilmember L. Johnson said she arrived at the last three meetings fully prepared to make amendments and discuss others' amendments. She was challenged at understanding why the budget discussion was continually punted. Councilmembers received the budget book on October 6"'; she was ready to discuss it, had done her homework and hoped fellow Councilmembers had done the same and were also ready. Councilmember Buckshnis said she has also been ready, but she has had ten people contact her and she provided the Q&A for the budget just two weeks ago. She questioned Mr. Taraday's comment that the CFP and budget have to be adopted on the same night and did not recall that occurring in the past. She did not want to be shamed into thinking that she was not doing her job because the Council has had the budget for eight weeks. Many people have contacted her to provide input. The Council needs to vet the budget and be deliberative because it is a very detailed budget and there is a lot of information in it. She wants to hear from other Councilmembers because she respects their opinions. She has not provided her opinions because she was told last Tuesday that she needed to submit her rationale and budget amendments within 24 hours which she did. She recommended respecting each other's timing and respecting that citizens are watching and are very interested in the budget. Mr. Taraday said the reason this year is different than past years is because the GMA requires Comprehensive Plan amendments happen only once a year with a few exceptions. This year the Council has already adopted the Comprehensive Plan amendments, so the only way to adopt the CFP, which is part Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 4 of the Comprehensive Plan, is to do it with the budget. That is the only way to satisfy the exception to the once per year requirement. He agreed it had not been this way in past years because in those years the CFP was adopted along with the other Comprehensive Plan amendments. Councilmember Paine observed if the CFP/CIP was moved to the end of the agenda, the Council could proceed with budget deliberations although she was unsure the Council would get through that process. She was ready to start budget discussions tonight and it would be great to get as much of that done tonight and finalize it next week if it could not be completed this week. Council President Fraley-Monillas said approving the CFP first will be shorter since the Council has done a majority of the work prior to the budget deliberations. Councilmember K. Johnson called the question. Council President Fraley-Monillas recommended leaving the agenda as it stands and moving forward with approval of the agenda as it is now 7:24 p.m. and the Council has spent 24 minutes on approval of the agenda. UPON ROLL CALL, AMENDMENT FAILED (3-4), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, BUCKSHNIS AND OLSON VOTING YES; AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS DISTELHORST, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING NO. UPON ROLL CALL, MAIN MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY, COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, DISTELHORST, BUCKSHNIS, OLSON, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING YES. 5. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Mayor Nelson invited participants and described the procedures for audience comments George Bennett, Edmonds, said he rarely gets involved in politics as he has a distain for being wrong all the time to half the people, but he does get involved when he is passionate about and issue. He found it ironic that Council President Fraley-Monillas said the candidate was being trashed in Edmonds on public forums. He has found a strong amount of decorum in those discussions; the only trashing he has seen was in the KING 5 news story where it was implicitly stated that Edmonds has a large racist population. He asked the Council President to be careful when implying that decorum and debate are trashing candidates. The points of his discussion were vetted in the initial vote. He still thinks something is rotten in the State of Denmark; there has been zero transparency into Mayor Nelson's process and any qualification -based decisions he has made. In the early discussion, it sounded like there was additional information that some Councilmembers would like to discuss. If that was widely available, like the bible says, nothing happens in the dark that doesn't not come out in the light of day. He encouraged the Council to understand that the public will pursue this. He applauded and appreciated the two candidates for their willingness to put themselves in the line of fire, not only for a living but through this process. Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons to make a political statement is purely appeasement; the Council is appeasing for political reasons. There is zero transparency into the qualifications -based decision that was made. Basing a decision from a perspective of color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, age or gender as the deciding factor is wrong. The reckless news interview by Council President Fraley-Monillas was irresponsible and not borne out by the facts of the town. Mayor Nelson has had ample time to release any and all documents and has not done so. The only explanation is a unique and fresh prospective. He urged the Council to vote no and delay. Maria Sixto, Edmonds, a proud resident for 19 years, said it was always her and her wife's goal to live in an idyllic town like Edmonds and raise their child there. Acceptance seemed unlikely given their perception Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 5 of the conservative senior population residing in Edmonds. They soon started meeting police officers that represented their LGBTQI+ community who were widely supported by Assistant Chief Jim Lawless. Historically no other chief has been as instrumental at creating a more diverse workforce in Edmonds. She was shocked and dismayed when after making a public announcement, Mayor Nelson appointed a very fine but less qualified Chief of Police. She was certain Chief Pruitt would have been an amazing recruit under Chief Lawless, but at this moment his qualifications were not on par. The final straw was Council President Fraley-Monillas declaring on television that Edmonds was a racist town. She should be recalled; and Ms. Sixto said shame on you Councilmember for your careless remarks and generalization of the citizens of Edmonds. There have been plenty of racist events and the hacking of the Zoom interview was appalling and better security measures should have been taken. However, that does not justify denying a great candidate a well -deserved appointment. None of the elected Councilmembers believe for one moment that Chief Pruitt is as equally qualified as Chief Lawless from the level of education, experience, and certifications, not to mention that Chief Pruitt comes from a jurisdiction of approximately 400. The Council has a duty to do what is right for the citizens of Edmonds. Council President Fraley-Monillas publicly admitted that this was a racially motivated appointment. This affects her personally as she comes from a hardworking family of immigrants who sought political asylum from Cuba in 1968, leaving with just a suitcase for a family of four. She was the first to graduate from college in her family, their daughter is a graduate of a competitive high school where she worked tirelessly for impeccable grades and a GPA, earning multiple scholarships to top universities. While she was sure the Council's intentions were good, they were only adding to microaggressions that hardworking, qualified people of diverse backgrounds have to endure. She has never had any accomplishment handed to me that she did not earn. All things being equal, she supports diversity hands down, but this is a slap in the face to Chief Lawless as well as to Chief Pruitt. She sincerely hoped Councilmember would vote no on this appointment. Gail Welfringer, Edmonds, a resident since 1988, business owner, homeowner, taxpayer and parent whose children attended Edmonds schools, read from a letter she submitted to Councilmembers today. Her letter was submitted with no affiliation to any organization she belongs to. As a private citizen, she requested the Council not allow the vote to be pushed tonight with regard to the appointment of the City's next Police Chief. Conflicting facts that have led to this point are not in line with the culture or traditions in Edmonds, a city based on trust and support by citizens to its elected officials. Many citizens asked for and deserve more details regarding this process, which to this day remain unanswered. As events have unfold, one fact remains, this process is unclear and complicated and should give pause to all involved. The timeline was set for December 15"' and now, without any valid explanation, it has been moved up to tonight without allowing time for concerned citizens to show support or reconcile answers which is not right. In the end, citizens elect City officials based on the understanding they meet their duties with fair and unbiased judgment and that the busines coming before Council will be given its due diligence and deliberation. Based on the outpouring of concern, contact by citizens, police associations and media channels, she requested the Council forego voting on this matter. This is not about credentials or skills, it is about a responsibility based on a specific and distinct promise made by an employer, Mayor Nelson, to their employee, Assistant Chief Lawless, that needs to be honored. It was about law enforcement professionals put in a position that recognizes their hard work and dedication that would allow them to excel in the position. If this was not done right, she questioned what would incentive other officers to excel to these positions. She urged the Council to consider the relationship, hard work and dedication and forego, hit pause and do their job. Al Compaan, Edmonds, said he had the honor of serving as Edmonds' Police Chief for 12 years prior to retirement December 31, 2019 and serving the City for over 41 years in the Police Department. He was very troubled by the process that was followed for selection of the City's next Police Chief. It is a critical appointment, important to the community and to the members of the Police Department. He was very troubled by the lack of transparency, the fact that the agenda was changed last night after business hours to put the confirmation matter on the agenda for tonight. He said there was no other way to describe it other than sleazy, noting he did not use that word lightly. This is not the Edmonds way; Edmonds is a wonderful Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 6 community and he has lived here many years. He was stunned by how this matter has been handled, troubled by it and if Council moves forward tonight with the number of unanswered questions that remain, shame on the Council and Mayor Nelson. He trusted that the Council would make the right decision. Dennis O'Malley, Edmonds, born in Edmonds 1977 and a lifelong resident, said he like many others hoped the Council would cast their vote to nominate Chief Lawless the City's permanent chief. Chief Lawless has not only been an officer with the Edmonds Police Department for 25 years, but he is also a member of the community and knows the City better than any other candidate possibly could. He knows the community and what it needs in terms of a Police Department. He has more education, training, and experience than Chief Pruitt and served in a town with 50,000 and many officers, while Chief Pruitt is currently the Police Chief in a department with less than 1,000 residents and a mere 5 officers reporting to him. He questioned how Chief Pruitt even qualified for the position. It appears Mayor Nelson and Council President Fraley-Monillas were basing their nomination solely off Chief Pruitt's nationality and race, blatantly obvious and pretty disappointing. Race is not a qualification for a job, experience, qualifications and training are what a decision should be based on. If Council President Fraley-Monillas believed her angle would gain her votes in the next election, she was sorely mistaken. As if the community hasn't suffered enough in this pandemic, with small businesses struggling to survive or closing and instead of promote the City, Council President Fraley-Monillas goes in the opposite direction and bashes the City on the news. Unfortunately, while there are racist people in every town, there are more good people in Edmonds than bad. Council President Fraley-Monillas put every resident in the same category by calling Edmonds a racist city and she should be absolutely ashamed of herself. The Council is expected to represent the City as a whole, not just certain groups or to push their personal agenda through as has been done repeatedly since the pandemic began. As a lifelong resident, now raising his own family here, he was genuinely disappointed in himself for voting for Mayor Nelson and truly feels deceived and will be voting for anyone but him and Council President Fraley-Monillas in the next election. He asked Councilmembers to look at what matters for this position: experience, qualifications, training and most importantly, genuine care and knowledge of the City. He asked that the Council confirm Chief Lawless as Chief of Police. No one has been bashing anyone and he expressed concern with that statement. People want the more qualified, better police officer who has been in the Edmonds community for over 25 years to be the City's Police Chief. Leslie Marmion, Edmonds, referenced the decision regarding the Police Chief, pointing out Mayor Nelson has all along supported Chief Lawless which is a no brainer and he has been Acting Chief for a long time and has an incredible resume that stands alone above all the rest. The person Mayor Nelson appointed could someday be a great Chief when he has more experience. She pointed out Council President Fraley-Monillas was shaking her head while people are commenting on the fact there were two candidates, one with superior skills, education, and managing nearly 50,000 people versus 200-400, there was literally not one thing on the resume of Mayor Nelson's current choice that shows he was the better candidate. She was dismayed to think Council President Fraley-Monillas went on KING 5 and said to all viewers that Edmonds was a racist community. Council President Fraley-Monillas can shake her head all she wants, but the bottom line is she has shamed the Council and the town. Her family in Duvall asked her about the KING 5 report; they were shocked, surprised, and frustrated. This Council should work together to fix the problem and it shouldn't be to shove this nomination down the community's throats; taxpaying citizens deserve far better than they are getting in this situation. To Mayor Nelson, she hoped and prayed that at some point he figured out how to work with Council and that Council President Fraley-Monillas would take a step back, reflect on what she has done to the community by saying taxpaying citizens are racist. She said shame, shame, shame on Council President Fraley-Monillas. She echoed the comments made by previous speakers. Brian Thompson, Edmonds, a resident and small business owner, said he appreciates the City's law enforcement. Although he wants to respects the position of Council President, he finds hard it with the quote he heard, "with all the racism in Edmonds," stated in the context of justifying the nomination of Chief Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 7 Pruitt. If racism was a problem, and he did not believe it was, the color of the Police Chief s skin would not make a difference. Back in 1998 voters overwhelmingly passed I-200 striking down affirmative action. Last year, through Referendum 88, voters overturned affirmative action that legislators had imposed without a vote of the people. He did not understand why legislators, including the Edmonds City Council, were trying to impose affirmative action when the voters have repeatedly said it is undesirable. On November 9"' at a Town Hall, one Police Chief candidate stated that to make up for the lack of an SRO in the school district, he would reach out to students at basketball courts and football fields. With COVID, there are no students on basketball courts or on football fields. It was Chief Lawless who had a plan to make up for the missing SROs. He hoped the Council would do the right thing and appoint the person who would meet the community's needs. Barry Crane, Edmonds, thanked Councilmembers and Mayor Nelson for their service to the community, recognizing public service involved many personal sacrifices and it was impossible to please all citizens. They have a difficult and often thankless job and he appreciated all they do. According to Abraham Maslow, after psychological needs are met, the most important human need is safety. As duly elected officials, the community's public safety is placed in their hands and they have a fundamental civic and moral responsible to the citizens of the community to choose the most qualified candidate to lead the Police Department into the future. He believed, along with others who have spoken, that the most qualified candidate was evident to all. Racism is not acceptable in the community, but the way to address systemic racism is not by putting the wrong person in the wrong job at the wrong time. Under the leadership of Chief Compaan and Jim Lawless, the number of women and persons of color in the Edmonds Police Department has nearly doubled since 2009. He was deeply saddened and frankly completely baffled that some Councilmembers would consider this appointment on any other basis than that of the most qualified candidate. Public safety is not the place for political posturing because of the importance of getting it right. As the Council votes, he urged them to consider the good faith that 42,000 residents place in them to make the correct decision. Darrell Marmion, Edmonds, a resident for 32 years, said although he did not know either candidate, reading the resumes and information that has been published, the obvious choice was clear. As he did not know either candidate, his comments would be regarding the process. To Council President Fraley- Monillas' earlier comment that it was not the Council's job to vet the candidates, he said it actually was because that is what confirmation is about based on what he had seen in the Supreme Court candidate vetting via the confirmation process and he suggested she relook at that. Since Mayor Nelson's announcement of his preferred candidate, he has not seen anything explaining the rationale used to propose that the person who looks the least qualified on paper be confirmed by the Council. He hoped more information would be provided about that tonight during the agenda item because that did not make sense from his perspective. He was also concerned about Council President Fraley-Monillas moving up the agenda item; instead of people having a week to mull things over and raise concerns, the decision was made to move it up and people have had only a day or two to think about it and many people may not even be aware that the agenda was changed which he did not feel was appropriate. In reviewing comments on My Edmonds News, he did not see any trashing of the candidates, but there was plenty of trashing of Mayor Nelson and Council President Fraley-Monillas, which he agreed with, so that was not a valid reason to delay the process. He urged the Council to vote no on this suggested appointment. He appreciated that Council meetings were available on Zoom so that the public can participate. Most Councilmembers are very attentive and listening to comments, but he found it very distracting that one person in particular, Council President Fraley-Monillas, is continually smirking, dismissing comments, shaking her head no and appears distracted during most of the meeting which is not conducive to good meetings. Duane Hoekstra, Edmonds, referred to a letter he sent to the Mayor and Councilmembers and stated he is a retired Seattle sergeant who spent 42 years with the Seattle Police Department, five of those years working in community relations assigned to the Office of the Chief of Police in the early 1970s. He has lived in Edmonds for the past 38 years. During his 42 years with the Seattle Police Department, he saw many Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 8 changes in the Chief of Police, changes that caused disruption to the personnel working for the department and to the expectations of the citizens they served. Because of his past experience, he strongly disagreed with changing from a Police Chief who has successful managed the department and is well liked by the department and the citizens. He urged the Council to consider the disruption and instability to the Edmonds Police Department and disruption of expectations to the citizens served before deciding to taking a new and unknown course with the Edmonds Police Department. Susan Hoekstra, Edmonds, a graduate of Edmonds High School class of 1958 and longtime citizen of Edmonds, said her perspective comes from the many years she has personally witnessed and appreciated the steady hand of the Edmonds Police Department and the commitment of the officers to protect the city. That same qualified leadership is still there over a cohesive, disciplined department now. She urged the Council to keep that exceptional continuity under the fine leadership of Jim Lawless. She recommended the Council vote no on Pruitt and yes on Lawless to give citizens piece of mind. She thanked the Council for considering her feelings, safety and stability. Peter Gibson, Edmonds, expressed his embarrassment that Council President Fraley-Monillas went on KING 5 television and was quoted saying, "with all the racism in Edmonds." His friends and family who do not live in the community, watch that news source and that was not something he wanted to live up to. Council President Fraley-Monillas does not represent him, his family or his community. He said shame on Council President Fraley-Monillas and suggested she step down and Chief Lawless resume his role. Chris [last name not provided] expressed disappointment and questioned the motives of those who have chosen not to acknowledge Chief Pruitt's experience beyond his current position. Her neighbors are willing to pay respect to all of Chief Lawless' honorable resume and his distinguished career, but decline to pay the same respect to the qualifications beyond Chief Pruitt's current position, including his highly relevant 12 years of service in the Marine Corps, 8 years in the Washington National Guard and his years with the Tulalip Police Department in multiple leadership positions including his role as sergeant and Interim Chief of Police of a staff of 65 people, information both candidates provided in the November 9"' public forum. She hears repeated accusations of a lack of transparency by her neighbors who do not take the time to participate and research all the resources that the Council and City provide to offer transparency including a public forum where both candidates provided their qualifications, ideas and vision for the community. She hears repeated accusations of abrupt actions being taken, however, this process has occurred over six months and involved eight members of the community and five local law enforcement leaders who assisted with the candidate search and vetting as well as the City's own HR Department. The irresponsible report that KING 5 posted last night was very disappointing on many levels. She agreed there was some poor word choice by Council President Fraley-Monillas, coupled with sensational editing by KING 5. Her neighbors are misquoting the unfortunate sound bite and she encouraged people to re -watch the clip for Council President Fraley-Monillas' actual statement. Regardless of what Council President Fraley-Monillas said, racism is real even in Edmonds. Even though the town is charming and adorable and has a little fountain downtown, racism is real in Edmonds and everywhere, but people are using that to distract them from the real issue tonight. She encouraged Mayor Nelson to help heal some of the public's mistrust following a clumsy process and explain why he was putting Chief Pruitt forward. He encouraged the Council to listen and give weight to Mayor Nelson, the selection committee and HR Department who are qualified to evaluate and vet candidates and vote as soon as possible so respect can be paid to both chiefs who are being unfairly targeted with online attacks by citizens who continue to claim how lovely and not racist Edmonds is. Mark Marsh, said he has over 35 years in law enforcement, including 33'/z years with the Edmonds Police Department. He retired in March 2015 but kept his passion for the City and Police Department by doing volunteer work. During his time with the Edmonds Police Department, he had the opportunity to interact with numerous outside police agency as well as watch the growth of the Edmonds Police Department and Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 9 its personnel. One of the officers he supervised was Acting Chief Lawless; he personally observed how Assistant Chief Lawless continued his rise through the organization through hard work and dedication. Even while working full-time as Assistant Chief, he completed his master's degree, no easy task given the amount of work he had. When Mayor Nelson announced his plans to appoint Assistant Chief Lawless as full time Police Chief, Mr. Marsh said he couldn't have been happier or more proud of the Police Department and City. That joy was short lived when members of the Council pointed out a City ordinance that required more than one candidate be interviewed before an appointment could be made. Assistant Chief Lawless' qualifications are without question, deserving of Edmonds Chief of Police. He did not know Mr. Pruitt, however, his qualifications and experience are lacking for someone to be considered for the Edmonds Police Chief job. His 14 years of experience with smaller Tribal Police agencies does not equate to the knowledge and job skills required for the Police Chief position. Early this year Mayor Nelson praised the leadership shown by Assistant Chief Lawless and stated he wanted to appoint him to the permanent position. Now he reverses course and states Pruitt is the best person for the task. Chief Pruitt has had less than one year in his current position and is in charge of a department with less than 10 officers. He quoted from an article by the City when the two finalists were announced, "most candidates fail to exhibit sufficient command staff experience, serving only corrections experience and/or having worked in agencies much smaller than the Edmonds Police Department." He questioned what changed and why the sudden reversal, whether the qualifications were changed in the back room without any public input or other reasons that were not stated publicly. Many questions regarding this decision by Mayor Nelson need to be answered. This process and the choice made by Mayor Nelson are not in the best interest of the Edmonds Police Department and more importantly, for the City of Edmonds. He hoped the process would end with the selection of the right person, Jim Lawless. Kasandra Allen expressed her disappointment that Jim Lawless will not be able to continue leading the Edmonds Police Department as he has ably done for nearly a year. Her husband has been with Edmonds Police Department for nearly three years and has always spoken highly of the department and its leadership and that continued when Jim Lawless stepped up to lead through a difficult season. She referred to a letter she keeps in her nightstand drawer that Jim Lawless sent to family members of EPD personnel this past June; his words of wisdom provided hope, encouragement and acknowledge the stresses on families in law enforcement. There are very few things that touch her enough to keep, but that letter did. Edmonds has not seen an exodus of law enforcement as some neighboring jurisdictions have and she believed the leadership was one of the reasons the Edmonds Police Department remains a place where officers want to work and families encourage good officers to stay with the department. The Edmonds Police Department and Jim Lawless both have the respect of the community, the department, and the families of the law enforcement agents who serve the City. She found it difficult to understand any reason from what she has seen expressed that would warrant a change in leadership, why fix something that isn't broken? In this case, the fix has real consequences for real people like Jim Lawless, Edmonds Police Department staff and families, and the community at large. She quoted from Mayor Nelson's April 9"' statement, "one measure of a person's worth is how they perform during a crisis. This has been a crisis like no other. Acting Chief Lawless has been a steady, firm hand during this time of uncertainty. I can't imagine a person better suited for this job than Jim." Ms. Allen deeply regretted that the political leadership of Edmonds is not united to work together to do what is best for the community and the department and frankly has turned this process into a mess where it is hard to see how the community wins. Martha Karl, Edmonds, thanked elected officials for their public service, recognizing it was a tough job and listening to all the bashing tonight must be difficult, but it was part of the job. A long term resident with over 20 years of law enforcement experience, working in local and federal law enforcement, she has experienced firsthand the benefits of a change in leadership in law enforcement agencies from the top down. She believed the Edmonds Police Department had grown comfortable and their efforts to engage citizens have become stale and are not a priority. The public outcry from citizens to the City and the Edmonds School District about not wanting law enforcement in schools was due to the problem with law enforcement Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 10 in the City and this is a great first step in repairing some of those relationships. When speaking with people in the tribal circles, she has heard recommendations for Chief Pruitt and that he has a great reputation for engaging the community. His abilities to read people and understand people and situations and handle interpersonal relationships judicially and empathetically are important. Emotional intelligence is not something one can get with a higher degree. It is essential to rebuild this community and people with children in the community not wanting law enforcement in their schools is something to pay attention to. She trusted that the electeds have done a great job and recommended sticking with what they know, and not changing just because a lot of people are angry. Jay Grant referred to a letter he sent this evening after finding out there would be a vote tonight, said he did not understand why a change was made. He did not know either candidate well, but after talking to many people, heard only good results regarding the City's current Police Chief. From a command point of view, professionally, hands -down, the current Acting Chief was a superior choice. The process bothered him the most and other extremely negative things have come to light regarding the candidate, the appointment and the confirmation. Much of it has just come up recently, some of what he has read has been factual. For that reason alone, the City Council has an obligation to back off, look at this from a professional side, and find out the facts before making any determination. If some of the information is true, approving the nomination tonight could put the person into the position of resigning after the appointment. Karin Butler, Edmonds, applauded the City Council for calling for an expanded search and for Mayor Nelson's appointment of Chief Pruitt. There is racism in Edmonds, hers is a family of color and they have experienced the racism. As a Black man, her husband has been pulled over multiple times in the community. She reached out to then -Chief Compaan and Interim Chief Lawless to explain how her sons are afraid of police and her fear that they might harm her husband, neither responded in ways other than to encourage the current police culture. She said positive change is needed, the community is diverse and a Chief of Police is needed who understands that. Having a Chief of Police that her sons can look up to is meaningful to them and to the community. This is beyond how qualified he is, he is extremely qualified, and the community needs to wake up and she hoped the Council approved the appointment of Chief Pruitt. She summarized her family of color would feel more safe and welcome walking the streets of Edmonds if that happens. Darnesha Weary, Edmonds, a 30 year resident of Edmonds, a graduate of an Edmonds high school, and a member of the interviewing panels, agreed with the decision to move forward with this appointment for several reasons. With the qualifications on paper, she believed this was the correct choice. Edmonds is a racist city and everyone who is says it is not is not a person affected by it. She is Black, has a Black husband, Black son and daughter, and Black friends who live in Edmonds who can say Edmonds is racist because they have experienced it several times. Her kids were assaulted and she found the way the Police Department handled that situation unacceptable. She echoed Ms. Butler's comments that she and her husband do not go to downtown Edmonds often. Her husband has been followed, had the police called on him when they were looking for houses to buy because someone said lie was suspicious. Her kids are not allowed to walk anywhere or go anywhere, especially her son, or hang out in downtown Edmonds because they are afraid of the police. When the police showed up at a peaceful rally led by a youth, she was upset at how they handled it. They did not protect her high school daughter when she was talking about her passion for justice in the community and she was almost harmed until her dad stepped in to protect her. The world and community are changing, there are a lot of Black and Brown faces showing up and it is time to move forward. She was offended by the comment that he was being hiring just because he was Black because it was completely untrue, something she would never stand for. Black people were not a monolith, she would not support someone because they were black and she hoped no one would ever support her just because she was Black, but rather for her qualifications and because she was the right fit for the job. Edmonds needs to move forward and that means making difficult decisions. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 1 I Mike O'Malley said he has been listening to comments for and against Lawless and a previous speaker's comments about her daughter who was at Harveys which is a bar and her daughter seems like she was underage and although he was uncertain about the circumstances, underage children should not be at a bar. Chief Lawless has been engaged in the community; he has talked with several Edmonds Police Department officers and several are minorities. For someone to say they are scared to go to Edmonds and that police officers are coming at them makes no sense because there are minority police officers. He sees plenty of minorities in Edmonds and plenty of people of color in Edmonds who walk around and do not get harassed. He expressed concern with the City Council pushing this through and for four members to vote against a delay and pursue their own agendas when the public has stated they want Chief Lawless as their permanent Chief. Councilmembers are voted in by the public and not elected to pursue their own agendas, but instead pursue what the majority of Edmonds wants. It is very clear that the majority of Edmonds wants Chief Lawless to be the permanent Chief of Edmonds, nothing to do with racism, but on qualifications alone. He urged the Council to look at the candidates' qualifications and listen to the public opinion of the entire Edmonds who overwhelmingly support Chief Lawless. Nora Murphy said she intended to read a letter she sent to the City Council regarding the selection of the Chief of Police, but after listening to the meeting she was extremely disappointed in the process, the comments about race and four Councilmembers who would not agree to postpone this decision. Elected representatives have the duty to take into account the citizens' requests. She did not know the elected officials' agendas but she found them disturbing. She has known Jim Lawless for many years; to say he is not progressive enough is ridiculous. With the number of people of color, women, gays that are now within the Edmonds Police Department, anyone saying that should be ashamed of themselves. Chief Lawless has promoted and encouraged this, met with members of community, and has reached out to young adults and young people. This conversation needs to go away from the candidates and look at the process; Council President Fraley-Monillas should be ashamed of herself for putting this forward so quickly this evening and she was disgusted by the other four COunCiImembers who agreed to that. As a 60+ year resident of Edmonds, she thoroughly endorsed Chief Jim Lawless and suggested the Council look at the additional, disturbing information that some members of the public have found about Chief Pruitt. She looked forward to the Council hopefully postponing this decision and taking the time to look at it further. Jeff Jones, Edmonds, a long-time Edmonds resident and a sergeant for Edmonds Police Department for more than two decades including when Chief Lawless hired, said he watched him progress through his career to Assistant Chief. He was thoroughly embarrassed by the antics that have occurred during this process, commenting it was basically a joke. This does not just affect the Police Department, all the agencies in the City work closely and everyone is watching what the Council does. Without support from the top, it is difficult to do one's job. What he has seen is the opposite, the Police Department is not getting support from the top. Things cannot be done behind closed doors; he was disappointed with the news media coverage as other speakers have described. That news report stated the vote would take place in a week, but after the news, he learned it would occur tonight, which does not sound like open and honest negotiations or consideration. He was proud to have served the City for 37 years, but was embarrassed about what going was going on right now in the City. Chief Lawless is an excellent candidate and he not seen anyone display or say anything that would change the decision Mayor Nelson made in May with regard to his performance for the City for over two decades. He realized tenure was not the only consideration, but given the amount of time Chief Lawless has dedicated, he has been a member of the SWAT team, run the SWAT team, been the supervisor for many officers, and under his leadership, the Edmonds Police Department is more diverse than the population it serves. (Written comments submitted to Pub]icComment@Edmondswa.gov are attached.) 6. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 12 COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER OLSON, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The agenda items approved are as follows: 1. APPROVAL OF COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 24, 2020 2. APPROVAL OF COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 1, 2020 3. APPROVAL OF CLAIM, PAYROLL AND BENEFIT CHECKS, DIRECT DEPOSIT AND WIRE PAYMENTS 4. FINDINGS OF FACT FOR CONTINUANCE OF ORDINANCES NOS. 4200 AND 4201 ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON SUBDIVISION APPLICATIONS AND ASSOCIATE INTERIM DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS 5. WWTP CHIEF OPERATOR JOB DESCRIPTION 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS CONFIRMATION OF CHIEF OF POLICE APPOINTMENT Council President Fraley-Monillas asked for clarification from City Attorney Jeff Taraday, noting there seemed to be a viewpoint that if one candidate were not chosen, the other candidate would be the alternate. It was her understanding that Mayor Nelson had the ability to call for more candidates and go through the process again. Mr. Taraday explained the City Council has confirmation authority, but not appointment authority. The Mayor is the only officer of the City who can appoint a Police Chief and the Council has simply an up or down vote on that appointment. Furthermore, the Mayor can only appoint one Police Chief at a time so there are not two pending Police Chief candidates. There is only one appointee and it is up to the Council to vote up or down to confirm that appointment. Council President Fraley-Monillas said if the current appointee is voted down, the Mayor can make the decision either to bring up second candidate or go out for more names or potentially start the process over. Mr. Taraday agreed, advising that was up to the Mayor. Council President Fraley-Monillas said she wanted that to be clear as several speakers recommended turning down one to get the other, but that was not how the process works. HR Director Jessica Neill Hoyson agreed if the appointment was not confirmed, it would be up to the Mayor to decide next steps for selecting another appointee. Ms. Neill Hoyson reviewed the Police Chief requirements and background process in response to questions whether Chief Pruitt meets the requirements of Police Chief under RCW 35.21.333. The requirements are: 1) the candidate must be a citizen of the United States of America which Chief Pruitt is, 2) has obtained a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate which Chief Pruitt has, 3) the candidate has not been convicted under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States of a felony; Chief Pruitt has not been convicted of a felony and a complete criminal background was done by a third party contractor who does the City's criminal background checks, 4) has not been convicted of a gross misdemeanor or any crime involving moral turpitude within five years of the date of application; Chief Pruitt has not been convicted of any crime or anything involving moral turpitude and that was confirmed by the third party contractor, 5) has received at least a general discharge under honorable conditions from any branch of the armed services for any military service if the person was in the military service; Chief Pruitt received an honorable discharge and that was confirmed with paperwork from the military, 6) has completed at least two years of regular uninterrupted full-time commissioned law enforcement employment involving enforcement responsibilities with a government law enforcement agency; Chief Pruitt meets that requirement, both Tulalip and Sauk-Suiattle have met the requirements to be considered a general authority law enforcement agency per RCW 10.92. There are certain things that tribal police have to meet to be Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 13 considered a general law enforcement agency, 7) has been certified as a regular and commissioned enforcement officer through compliance with the state's basic training requirements or equivalency. Chief Pruitt passed the equivalency academy at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in 2007. This was confirmed by his employer at the time, Tulalip, as well as the Criminal Justice Training Commission. Ms. Neill Hoyson advised the City has an additional requirement in its job description. While the RCW only requires two years, the City's job description requires 10 years of increasingly responsibility experience as a sworn general enforcement officer. Through his time with Tulalip and with Sauk-Suiattle, Chief Pruitt meets that requirement. Ms. Neill Hoyson reviewed the background process for this candidate, advising it is very similar to that done for a lateral law enforcement officer. The candidate completes a Personal History Statement, a very extensive form with information on relatives, references that are not employers, law enforcement academies they have attended, their education, residences for the last ten years, employment for the last ten years, all law enforcement applications they have done and the result, any military experience, any law enforcement experience, all arrests and convictions, motor vehicle citations and the information must be certified by the candidate. This statement along with the criminal background done by the third party are then used to conduct the background investigation. Ms. Neill Hoyson explained the third party contractor verified Chief Pruitt's education, a BA in criminal justice administration, which was verified by the educational instruction, the criminal background check which did not result in any criminal background information, and a financial check to determine if there was anything concerning in the candidate's finances the City should be aware of. Additionally, Chief Pruitt's personnel file was reviewed to determine if there were any complaints, investigations, demotions, or discharges; his evaluations; as well as any additional information. The review of his employment file with Tulalip revealed nothing concerning with regard to his qualifications for Chief of Police. Additionally, the employment of the candidate was confirmed with both Sauk-Suiattle and Tulalip and they confirmed the information Chief Pruitt provided. Ms. Neill Hoyson explained Chief Pruitt also completed a lateral polygraph where the candidate completes a questionnaire and the polygraph looks at truthfulness as it relates to criminal background, education or things the person has been involved in; Chief Pruitt passed that polygraph. Reference checks were conducted with direct supervisors such as the Chair of the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, the current Chief of Police of the Tulalip Tribe as well as two former Tulalip Police Chiefs. Professional and personal reference checks were conducted as well as secondary reference checks (names provided by people providing references regarding the candidate's qualifications for the position). The final piece, a psychological evaluation, cannot be done until a candidate has a conditional offer due to ADA issues. That evaluation was completed today and in speaking with the psychologist, she found no concerns related to Chief Pruitt. The City is awaiting the final report from the evaluation; because Chief Pruitt has VA benefits, he needs to provide the form to the company doing the psychological evaluation for them to produce the final report. Because that final report is not in hand, she recommended due to ADA regulations, if Mr. Pruitt is confirmed, it needs to be a conditional confirmation of his employment subject to the City receiving that final evaluation information from the psychological evaluation. Mayor Nelson advised Council questions would be taken in a round robin format with Councilmembers asking one question during their turn. Councilmember Olson referred to the City's requirement of 10 years of increasing experience; however, the Sauk-Suiattle Police force and scope of responsibility is significantly smaller than the Tulalip Tribe. She asked how that requirement was met. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered the increasing responsibility does Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 14 not depend on the size of the organization, but the responsibility of the position, The majority of that requirement was certainly met during Chief Pruitt's time with Tulalip where he progressed through many positions of responsibility including Commander, Deputy Chief and Interim Police Chief. Councilmember Buckshnis said she has received numerous emails and was not prepared to ask questions. She asked if there was an agenda memo or packet for this item. Ms. Neill Hoyson advised there was an agenda memo. Councilmember Buckshnis asked if it included the information Ms. Neill Hoyson had just provided. Ms. Neill Hoyson said it did not provide the specific details of the RCW but stated it had been confirmed that he met the requirements of the RCW for Police Chief and included the RCW number. Councilmember K. Johnson recalled Ms. Neill Hoyson said two years of uninterrupted patrol duty or service were required and she had mentioned Chief Pruitt served at Sauk-Suiattle and the Tulalip Tribes. She asked if going from one agency to another counted as uninterrupted. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered yes, it could be counted as uninterrupted depending on the length of time between; Chief Pruitt had two years at Tulalip. Councilmember Distelhorst asked if the candidate for appointment has an adequate understanding of some of the challenges they may face in the position. Ms. Neill Hoyson asked Councilmember Distelhorst to clarify what he meant by challenges. Councilmember Distelhorst said in terms of opinions submitted by the community today regarding the two finalist, have there been discussions with the candidate about that. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she has been in contact with Chief Pruitt and he absolutely understands. Interestingly enough, he was in a similar situation when he was the Interim Chief at Tulalip; an outside candidate competed with him for the position and he did not get the position. He is very understanding of what is occurring and shared he would be surprised if Edmonds was not coming to the defense of the incumbent. He feels that is very normal and speaks well of the City that residents feel that strongly and are engaged. Councilmember Olson said on paper, there is no municipal policing experience, 10 years less in policing and less time in staff leadership positions, and the lack of knowledge of the community, the surrounding communities and the community partners are glaring disparities between the experience, qualifications and readiness for this job. With the conversations that have occurred, she asked whether City was at risk of an EEOC lawsuit for hiring based on race, not diminishing Chief Pruitt, just a relative weighing of the resumes. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she believed there was an assumption in Councilmember Olson's statement that the hire was based on race; nothing she has seen indicates that. Mr. Taraday said the Council has before it an appointee appointed by Mayor Nelson subject to Council confirmation. Mayor Nelson has never told him that the appointee was appointed because of his race and he not heard him say anything to that effect. There should not be any risk because he was not aware of any evidence to that fact. Councilmember Buckshnis said since there was no packet to do comparison, she relayed a question about the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, that tribal police are not certified peace officers with statewide jurisdiction unless they have successfully going through the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission. She recalled Ms. Neill Hoyson saying Chief Pruitt was certified and asked if he qualified as a commissioned officer. Ms. Neill Hoyson yes, Chief Pruitt does; he attended the equivalency academy at the Criminal Justice Training Commission in 2007. Councilmember Buckshnis asked if that was similar to getting GED, noting she did not mean to be disrespectful. Ms. Neill Hoyson said tribal police attend a different academy to be recognized by the state. They do not need to attend the full basic law enforcement academy which is typically about five months. They attend an abbreviated academy to address the things that were not addressed in the Tribal Police Academy. Once they do that, they are certified as peace officers in Washington State. Additionally, the agency itself has to go through a process to be considered a general law enforcement agency which includes filing certain things with the Department of Enterprise Services; both Sauk-Suiattle and Tulalip went through that process. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 15 Councilmember K. Johnson said Ms. Neill Hoyson answered this question in an email; she apologized for the redundancy but felt it was important for the record. She asked Ms. Neill Hoyson to describe the process she went through with the community group; who the members are, what cities they live in and who appointed them. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she emailed that information and it was published in a press release. Councilmember K. Johnson requested the information be provided for the minutes. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she did not know the cities in which the panelists live. The panelist were selected by Mayor Nelson. The Community panel members were Dr. Gustavo Balderas, Superintendent, Edmonds School District; Darnesha Weary, community member; Sekou Kone, Diversity Commission member; Alicia Crank, community member; Owen Lee, Youth Commissioner member; Richard Taylor, community member; Jan Flom, Swedish Edmonds Nursing Director, and Shubert Ho, business owner. The law enforcement panel members consisted of Dan Templeman, Everett Chief of Police; James Nelson, Lynnwood Chief of Police; Shawn Ledford, Shoreline Chief of Police; and Edmonds Police Department Sergeant Ken Crystal. Councilmember K. Johnson asked how did the panelists' advice shaped the selection process, whether there was criteria, votes, or just a discussion. Ms. Neill Hoyson advised each panel had a discussion at the end of the process where they provided feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates as it related to the police of Police Chief. That information was provided to Mayor Nelson. Councilmember Paine asked with the qualifications and record developed with all the sources and resources, was the Edmonds Police Department at risk of losing their accreditation. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered she did not believe there was any risk of the Edmonds Police Department losing its accreditation as the candidate meets the requirements of the RCW and the background process met the requirements of any applicable WACs or RCWs. Councilmember Paine appreciated the diligence of the lengthy research process. With regard to accreditation, Councilmember Olson said some amount of course work needs to happen in a short amount of time before the accreditation comes up again and there would be a crunch to get that done. She asked the benefit to the City of being an accredited police force. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered in her opinion it provides a level of established credibility that the department has procedures and policies to show that the department is providing law enforcement at a standard that WASPC has set for achieving accreditation, that there is consistency and accountability in the law enforcement. There could be other things related to law enforcement that an officer could specifically speak to. Councilmember Olson asked if there were any officers in the meeting that could speak to that. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered there were not. Council President Fraley-Monillas observed Ms. Neill Hoyson and she have had multiple discussions regarding the number of references she checked. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she had contacted 15 references. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked her to state who she has contacted for references, noting she found the reference list impressive. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she would not provide specific names, but she spoke with the current Chair of the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, the current Tulalip Police Chief, two former Tulalip Police Chiefs, two current Tulalip Police Commanders, one current Sauk-Suiattle Police Officer, one current Tulalip Police Officer, a current Sauk-Suiattle Officer who was previously a Tulalip Officer, one retired FBI Agent who spent his career stationed in Everett and was assigned to work with tribal communities, a current regional FBI Supervisor for the region that Tulalip and Edmonds are in, one Assistant U.S. Attorney assigned as a tribal liaison and two personal family friends of Chief Pruitt. Council President Fraley- Monillas asked if she spoke to anyone in the military. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered she did not. Councilmember K. Johnson referred to Ms. Neill Hoyson's comment that the Council could not take final action as it was pending the results of the psychological evaluation, noting it seemed that the Council was being asked to make a decision without all the information. Ms. Neill Hoyson said due to the fact that she received an initial verbal confirmation of no issues related to the psychological evaluation, she did not Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 16 believe there was any issue with the Council confirming the appointment conditional on receipt of the final psychological evaluation. Councilmember K. Johnson said she thought the psychologist was waiting information. Ms. Neill Hoyson said the psychologist was waiting for a VA benefit form that must be released to the psychologist before they could finalize their report. It was her understanding it was a procedural issue. With regard to accreditation, Councilmember Olson referred to the career level certification required by the rank involved which is typically done in municipal policing, but not in tribal policing and it was her understanding Chief Pruitt did not have any of them. If the first level, mid -level, and executive level have not been done, she asked how long will it take him to complete the different levels and would it be done by the time accreditation comes around mid -year next year. Ms. Neill Hoyson assured every effort would be made to have him reach that level. Councilmember Olson commented the amount of time that would take and whether that was a feasible goal was unknown and asked if that was saying it was not important to keep the department's accreditation in order to make this happen. Ms. Neill Hoyson reiterated every effort would be made to have the candidate reach that level as required. Councilmember Buckshnis asked her fellow Councilmembers for an extra week due to the amount of documentation that has come in and because she had not had time to decipher what was said during public comments. She wished Ms. Neill Hoyson had answered Councilmembers emails. She had no questions because she has not had time to prepare valid questions based on legal documents she needs help trying to understand. Council President Fraley-Monillas reminded that if the Council turns down this candidate, the Mayor goes back to the beginning and may or may not include Chief Lawless. She wanted Council to understand the process was out of their hands except for who the Mayor brings back. During her time with the City, multiple directors have been appointed who perhaps were not her first choice, but because the Mayor made a decision and moved forward with the person he was most comfortable working with, the City ended up with the person and she had been pleasantly surprised every time that that had occurred. Just because some are picking away at this gentleman like she has never seen done before in a director's position, that does not mean the Council makes the decision about who is chosen next. She asked Ms. Neill Hoyson if she believed everything possible had been done to vet this candidate for this position. Ms. Neill Hoyson said a very thorough background on the candidate had been done that meets the level for lateral police officers. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked if she had ever vetted anyone this much in her career in public service. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered yes, she has done this level of recruitment before and believed it was appropriate, not excessive. Councilmember K. Johnson asked for a summary of the town hall/public meeting held on a Monday regarding the two candidates. She did not attend because a citizen threatened to sue if three or more Councilmember attended and she has not viewed it. She asked how many people attended, how many spoke, and what information was shared. Ms. Neill Hoyson said it was a Zoom meeting and she did not know how many attended. There were no public questions during the meeting; the public was asked to submit questions ahead of time and those were compiled and asked of the candidates at the meeting. The public's role at the meeting was to listen to the responses and subsequently submit any feedback on the candidates. She did have the questions in front of her. Councilmember K. Johnson observed it was basically a public forum. Ms. Neill Hoyson agreed it was a public forum where the public submitted their questions ahead of time. Mayor Nelson asked if the video of the meeting was publicly available to watch. Ms. Neill Hoyson said she believed it was, but she could confirm. Councilmember Olson asked if there were any domestic violence instances in this candidate's background. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered she was unsure that should be discussed in a public forum. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 17 Councilmember Buckshnis said the Council interviewed the candidates for 45 minutes each in an executive session so she cannot say anything about it. As Mayor Nelson had not interview the candidates in an executive session, she asked him to provide information regarding his selection criteria and choice. Mayor Nelson answered it was important to understand that he was the moderator of this meeting and was not here to testify or provide testimony to the City Council. He is the Mayor of the City of Edmonds' executive branch and has exercised his appointment authority. With regard to the process, he thanked the Council who were clear about him following the City code and the process. He went through the process, he followed City code. In August, the job was posted and the hiring process progressed for 3'/z months, it can't get any more transparent. There were 22 applicants and during the process 2 finalist rose to the top. The finalists were announced on October 27 and for 5 weeks the community has known who the finalists were. Their bios have been shared, community and law enforcement panels were created as well as a public forum that was viewable from November 9"' through today. The public has had an opportunity for five weeks to view the candidates qualifications and ask questions. On December 3rd, he announced that Sherman Pruitt was his appointment as the next Chief of Police for Edmonds because he thinks he is the best candidate for the job. He wanted to be clear so that there was no confusion because there seems to be a lot of confusion about transparency and how this came about. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed Mayor Nelson was the moderator, but this was the Council's meeting and he continues to control the meeting via round robin Q&A. She can ask Mayor Nelson questions, noting he has answered budget questions in the past. She found his testimony to be very helpful and thanked him for sharing it. Council President Fraley-Monillas said she understood Mayor Nelson's frustration with the process. She pointed out nothing came forward until Mayor Nelson chose a candidate who was not part of Edmonds, it had been fairly quiet until then. That said, she asked whether Chief Pruitt had been convicted of domestic violence. Ms. Neill Hoyson said talking to specifics in a public forum was not appropriate. She reiterated he passed the criminal background check. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked if a conviction for domestic violence would have been reflected in his background check and disqualified him. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered that was correct. Councilmember Olson observed the police panel recommendation had not discussed and asked if Mayor Nelson had anything to share from that. Mayor Nelson answered the panelists were to advise him and as stated by Ms. Neill Hoyson, they provided him information and that information, information from the community panel, from the public forum, from citizens and everyone else who has weighed in, informed him and his decision to appoint Sherman Pruitt. Councilmember Olson said there had been a lot of discussion about how thorough the background check was; she knows of at least one significant hole in it. She asked Ms. Neill Hoyson whether there was a time previously in her career when a fire chief appointment was made that the City Council objected to based on things that did not come up in the background check. Mayor Nelson asked if Councilmember Olson was questioning his staff member about her abilities. Councilmember Olson said she was questioning how thorough the background check was. Mayor Nelson asked if she was questioning the thoroughness of the background check for the current candidate. Councilmember Olson answered yes. Mayor Nelson said Ms. Neill Hoyson has already stated what was done with regard to the background check and he did not want a Councilmember questioning the abilities of his HR Director. Council President Fraley-Monillas said this was inappropriate. If Councilmember Olson had evidence of malfeasance or inappropriate actions, she requested it be brought forward to the Council and/or to the Mayor. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 18 Mayor Nelson advised Council comments would be taken in a round robin format with Councilmembers making one comment during their turn. Councilmember Paine appreciated that there had been a lengthy time for review because the Council insisted on a more thorough candidate selection process. As she has said to the community, this is the Mayor's appointment and she was happy to affirm his appointment. She enjoyed the discussions during the interviews with both candidates and was glad to support Chief Pruitt. She has done many interviews in the past in her work and she appreciated the entire process the City has gone through. Councilmember Distelhorst thanked the two finalists for going through the process as well as the community panel members and the law enforcement panel members. He was able to attend and watch the community meeting through the difficulties and appreciated the professionalism and poise of both candidates. This is a big task and requires community support for a position at this level. He hoped the City would come together and if there is new leadership for the Edmonds Police Department, that they will support the leadership, the department and the City as it was in the best interest of the wellbeing of residents and the City. It's clear there will be no shortage of opportunities in the community and he looked forward to a brighter future ahead for all the City's residents. Safety is defined very differently by how people experience their community; what some consider safe, others may not. It is important that all those views are incorporated within the Police Department and he looked forward to voting for the conditional confirmation of Sherman Pruitt. Councilmember Olson said she understands the Council's job of confirmation, and knows it is not a choice. She has been through this process 2-3 times and could always understand/justify the decision that was made but was not getting there this time. She had additional comments to share about interviews. She understood the charm of Chief Pruitt, a lovely guy and lovely interview, but she did not feel he had the experience and readiness to take on a large municipal program. There may possibly be other positions where he could get that experience and then be ready. Councilmember Buckshnis apologized for her misstep using the term previously, she agreed equivalency for a commissioned officer was very important. She has been through many appointments and voted against the confirmation of a director 8-10 years ago. This happened too quickly and there is so much information that she wished the Council could have respected each other's time and had a discussion in executive session. She found the candidates' interviews great, but a great deal of information is coming in from numerous sources. She was not prepared to make a conditional appointment because some questions have not been answered which was why she asked Councilmembers to respect her request for a delay which didn't happen. She was glad Mayor Nelson provided his testimony/opinion. This is a very important appointment and as Mr. Bennett and Mr. Crain said, this is our community and it is a very important position. She was not prepared because she was getting emails every 4 minutes and still has 55 to read. She did not support the appointment at this time. Her truth is listening to the citizens and there is just too much information and too many questions to be answered. Council President Fraley-Monillas said what has been so concerning about this process was that no attack was made on anyone prior to Mayor Nelson naming his selection. As soon as Mayor Nelson made that announcement, a number of groups "went fairly wild about the situation." She understood, she happens to like Chief Lawless a lot, he is a very bright man, has already been respectful to her and if she needed help she has contacted him and she had nothing negative to say about him. He is a very good person, a good cop, and he has been very upfront and honest with her. Council President Fraley-Monillas said the community is not the same as it once was; she has lived in Edmonds longer than anyone on the Council. Councilmember K. Johnson interjected she has lived in Edmonds longer than Council President Fraley-Monillas. Council President Fraley-Monillas continued, she Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 19 has lived in Edmonds or the area over 60 years, moving from Richmond Beach to Edmonds and has seen changes in the community. Her neighborhood which used to be predominately working class single income households, is now the community of color and most households have two working members just to survive, it is the working area of Edmonds. Things have changed and the City needs to change with it and she had no question that Chief Pruitt could bring the City through that change. She found him to be willing to change, interested in changing and he will show Edmonds perhaps a new way of doing things. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked the length of Chief Pruitt's probation as a new employee. Ms. Neill Hoyson answered probation is six months. Council President Fraley-Monillas said he will be an at - will employee and the probation period is an opportunity to encourage, train, teach and correct performance issues. If there are any probation issues, there will be an opportunity for the Mayor and HR Department to create a project for him to correct. The same would be true if Chief Lawless were in that position. She was willing to give this a shot, to see how Chief Pruitt moves through the process. She was sorry that he has had to watch this play out over the past week in the media and on television. She will provide a statement later about what came up yesterday during her interview. Chief Pruitt has shown the best in all of us; when he was called names and inappropriate attire and pornographic material was displayed at the Zoom meeting, he handled it with grace, not something that everyone can do. She admired his ability to not let a high stress situation where people were calling him names and treating him disrespectfully get to him. She was willing to give Chief Pruitt a shot; she did not want to take anything away from Chief Lawless, he was a good man, but it was time for a change. Councilmember L. Johnson said the position of Police Chief is most likely the most important position she will make during her tenure on City Council. Given the large number of emails, phone calls and personal discussions she has had, people are invested and understandably very passionate about the decision. This decision was not rushed into, there was a two month search and once two top candidates were named in October, a six week process followed with multiple forums, interviews and extensive vetting. The Mayor's choice for appointment, Chief Pruitt, has a vast range of experience and training including tribal law enforcement, co -commissions with the FBI and U.S. Marshalls as well as military service. Like many cities, Edmonds is working to respond to the societal demand for a more equitable, restorative law and justice system and traditional responses to this demand are sometimes slow and often require more than a gentle push to implement. There are benefits of a fresh perspective that come with a change in leadership. Chief Pruitt is not comfortable with the status quo because he is not from the status quo. The extensive interview process painted a picture of a leader who is deeply respected for his community building, his engaging style and his deep empathy and ability to understand people and situations. These are intrinsic qualities that cannot be taught. Those intrinsic qualities plus a warmth, approachability and level of grace combined with his unique background and experience make him an ideal face and voice for public safety to lead Edmonds forward. She was prepared to support this appointment. Councilmember K. Johnson recalled a Councilmember saying this was the Mayor's appointment and her job was to support that appointment. She had an entirely different viewpoint, believing that it was the Mayor's job to make the appointment, but the Council's job to develop their own seven -member assessment and then confirm or not. She asked Mr. Taraday to speak to that. Mr. Taraday answered each Councilmember may have their own philosophy about what's involved in the confirmation process. There was a long time in the country's history where presidential appointments were routinely confirmed by deferring to the president and a lot of appointments were confirmed on 90-10 votes in the Senate. There has recently been a very different type of confirmation process in the Senate. There is not any one way that is the right way; each Councilmember has their own level of deferring to the Mayor versus imposing their own values and try to force the executive to come to their values. At the end of the day, if there are four votes to confirm, the Mayor's appointment is confirmed. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 20 Councilmember K. Johnson respected the Mayor's authority to appoint whomever they wish, but as separate body of government, the City Council acts as a discrete body and makes the decision amongst the seven about what they think is best. It is not whether the Council supports or does not support the Mayor, but whether they want to confirm his appointment. She asked Mr. Taraday if he disagreed with that. Mr. Taraday said each Councilmember may have a different approach; some may decide they will not confirm unless they themselves would hire the candidate. Others may view it from the standpoint that it is the Mayor's employee and as long as they are okay with the Mayor's appointment, they will defer to the Mayor's judgment. Both are valid perspectives and valid approaches to the confirmation process; there is no right level of deference to give the Mayor. Councilmember K. Johnson appreciated Mr. Taraday's philosophical discussion, acknowledging she has a very limited viewpoint; the Council is not here to defer to the Mayor or use their own judgment, they are here to represent the 42,000 residents of Edmonds as this is a representative form of government. She appreciated that Mr. Taraday was trained as a philosopher and she always enjoys their intellectual discussions. Council President Fraley-Monillas said she represents the 42,000 people living in Edmonds, not just those who are active and reaching out to the Council. COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO CONFIRM THE MAYOR'S CHOICE OF CHIEF PRUITT TO BE OUR NEW CHIEF OF POLICE. Ms. Neill Hoyson pointed out the confirmation needs to be conditional based on receipt of a satisfactory psychological evaluation. COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED TO AMEND THE MOTION TO SAY PROVIDED THE WRITTEN PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION COMES BACK AS VERBALLY TOLD TO THE HR DIRECTOR. COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER OLSON, TO TABLE THIS VOTE UNTIL NEXT WEEK. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION FAILED (3-4), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, BUCKSHNIS AND OLSON VOTING YES; AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS DISTELHORST, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING NO. Councilmember Olson requested the Council vote no so she could finish her comments. Mayor Nelson said this is discussion on the motion to confirm Chief Pruitt so this was her opportunity to comment on that. Councilmember Olson said she wanted an opportunity to comment on the appointment, not the motion. Mayor Nelson advised comment should be on the motion on the floor. Council President Fraley-Monillas raised a point of order, the motion is to appoint. Councilmember Olson could amend the motion, but her comment about voting down the motion so she could make another comment was irrelevant to the motion. Councilmember Olson said she was hoping the Council could have more discussion and asked how that could happen. Mr. Taraday said the Council can still discuss the merits of Chief Pruitt as the Mayor's appointee so if Councilmember Olson was attempting to speak to the merits of that, her comments were in order. Councilmember Olson said this selection didn't happen in a vacuum with no context and no history. She always felt unless there was a candidate obviously better qualified and with a better temperament, that Acting Chief Lawless would be chosen for many reasons, the greatest being he has been performing the role so admirably since January with the support of his organization from the beginning. Having been Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 21 publicly named Chief on April 9"', lie also withdrew from another Chief selection process. She asked her fellow Councilmembers to consider how badly they were willing to treat a long term, faithful employee. She felt she was being pressured and told she was being unkind in her assertions that things were left out of the background check but she believed that was the case. Despite repeated denials that things came up in the background check, she knew there were holes in it. In the end, it was all about public safety. She was not asking anyone to uphold past promises without giving that consideration, but that conversation has already happened and the City's public safety is better upheld by a candidate that has exposure and experience. From a loyalty standpoint, the proposed motion was a crummy thing to do and she hoped the Council would not do it. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (4-3), COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS AND COUNCILMEMBERS DISTELHORST, PAINE AND L. JOHNSON VOTING YES; AND COUNCILMEMBERS BUCKSHNIS, OLSON AND K. JOHNSON VOTING NO. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON, TO MOVE THE BUDGET AND CFP/CIP TO ANOTHER DATE EVEN IF IT WAS A SPECIAL MEETING. Councilmember Buckshnis said there is so much intricacy in budget, and although Councilmembers have said they are prepared to discuss it, it is important to have fresh minds. From the extended agenda, it appeared there was time on next week's agenda. Council President Fraley-Monillas said there are two hours of agenda items on December 15"'. She suggested starting on the CFP/CIP to get Councilmembers' positions before moving into the budget. She will confer with the Mayor about when to schedule discussion on the budget. Although there are a number of agenda items next Tuesday, some could be delayed to the new year and moving the budget discussion may require some creative scheduling. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed some items could be delayed. She emphasized the CFP/CIP is totally tied to the budget with decision packages and changing the CFP/CIP changes decision packages in the budget. Observing it was 9:45 p.m., she was willing to meet another day or even December 22❑d anticipating it would be beneficial for all. Councilmember K. Johnson recalled Council President Fraley-Monillas agreed to schedule two hours on tonight's meeting for the purpose of the budget. Instead, within 24 hours she changed the agenda and the Council spent those two hours to discuss the appointment. Councilmember K. Johnson said she was done for tonight and preferred not to continue with the CFP/CIP, the budget or anything. Councilmember Distelhorst said in looking at the agenda, there is 2 hours indicated for the budget, 30 minutes for the confirmation and 30 minutes for the CFP/CIP. He has been up working since 7 a.m. on his day job and was willing to go another 73 minutes to 11 p.m. It the Council's duty, they have had the budget for a long time, and this is at least the third time the CFP/CIP has comes to Council. He was prepared to kaP.n vvnrk i n a Councilmember L. Johnson said she arrived to the meeting prepared, fully caffeinated, and ready to start the budget process. She was concerned with continuing to punt the budget discussion, noting for a number of Councilmembers, this is the first time they have been through the budget process which is part of the reason she did work early in the process so she would be prepared. She preferred to get going on the budget. Councilmember Paine offered go to 11:30 p.m. because it was time to get things related to the budget underway and get through as much as possible. Councilmember Olson said she would vote against proceeding because she was really tired although she acknowledged if the meeting were extended she would rally. She has been prepared for weeks but she was tired and was not in the best place mentally to focus and make good decisions. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 22 Council President Fraley-Monillas suggested extending to 11:30 p.m. She usually did not like meeting this late most of time, but if the Council doesn't, the budget would be pushed out. The Council has had the budget for 8 weeks and 30 amendments were provided over the weekend; that will take numerous hours and the Council needed to start knocking some of those out. She was not interested in having another meeting just because "we can't get ourselves organized up enough." She preferred to continue tonight for another hour, until 11 p.m. Councilmember Buckshnis said she has been prepared and refused to be shamed that information should have been submitted sooner. She received input from 10 citizens and got questions answered and those decision packages were included in the packet including the rationale. She preferred to start with the budget instead of the CFP/CIP. Councilmember K. Johnson raised a point of personal preference; as Council President Fraley-Monillas, Councilmembers Buckshnis, Paine and Olson are aware and now anyone else is, she has been having very unusual problems with her eyes tonight and cannot see or read adequately and could not complete her homework. For those reasons she did not want to consider with any detailed documents. She respectfully requested the Council meeting not continue. She requested Mayor Nelson rule on her point of personal privilege. Mr. Taraday said a point of personal privilege is something like a request to turn up the heat, take a bathroom break, etc. Councilmember K. Johnson is asking for adjournment of the meeting and that is beyond the scope of personal privilege. Councilmember K. Johnson clarified she was having physical disabilities and would appreciate people recognizing that and not make her stay until 10, 10:30 11, 11:30, as she was done. Mayor Nelson said that may be, but it was not a point of personal privilege. Councilmember Olson suggest the Council consider the possibility of other days of the week to meet. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed. Councilmember L. Johnson asked what the options were if the Council didn't start tonight and delayed the process to next week, whether there was the option and availability for another meeting. She wanted to respect Councilmember K. Johnson's struggles at the same acknowledge it was now December 8"' and it was getting closer to the last meeting of year and serious discussions needed to start very soon. Mayor Nelson asked Mr. Taraday to respond regarding Councilmembers' options for meeting. Councilmember L. Johnson said her question was not directed to Mr. Taraday, but other Councilmembers' availability given their jobs, etc. Councilmember Buckshnis said the Council has met for two hours on a weekend in the past. She began committee meetings today at 4 p.m. today and it has been a very busy day for Councilmembers. Her personal view, having reviewed many budgets, was that fresh minds makes things go faster. It would also be helpful if Mr. Turley provided all the questions and the rationale for decision packages. Having a complete packet would allow the Council to effectively move through the budget and the CFP/CIP. She suggested having a separate two-hour meeting to discuss the budget, commenting Councilmembers will be surprised at how easy it will be. Councilmember Distelhorst said he remains available outside of his day job hours to meet and get this done as soon as possible. There has been a lot of discussion, emails, and availability of documents and appreciated the Mayor and staff s time answering emails. Council President Fraley-Monillas said there is a houseful of staff waiting for the next two items who have been waiting for hours. She was not comfortable blowing it off because Councilmembers were tired; staff has been here as long as Councilmembers. She acknowledged it was getting late and suggested knocking out the low hanging fruit may be a reasonable idea. A lot of people have plans and it will be an Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 23 inconvenience to hold another meeting. She reiterated the budget has been out for eight weeks; five Councilmembers have all their amendments in. She encouraged the Council to move forward tonight. Councilmember K. Johnson said she did not want to get into a point -by -point argument, but she will have to leave the meeting if it is extended beyond 10 p.m. Mayor Nelson restated the motion: MOVE THE CFP/CIP AND BUDGET TO A FUTURE MEETING. MOTION FAILED (3-4), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, BUCKSHNIS, AND COUNCILMEMBER OLSON VOTING YES. (Councilmember K. Johnson left the meeting at 10 p.m.) COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER DISTELHORST, TO EXTEND TO 10:30 P.M. MOTION CARRIED (5-1), COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS VOTING NO. Mayor Nelson declared a 5 minute recess. Councilmember Buckshnis suggested reversing the order of the CFP/CIP and budget. The CFP/CIP cannot be approved without having the budget discussion first and if the Council only planned to have a 30 minute discussion, it would be preferable to start with the budget because the CFP/CIP couldn't be approved anyway. She was also aware that Councilmember K. Johnson had a lot of questions. Council President Fraley-Monillas suggested working through some of the issues on the CFP/CIP and getting questions answered and queued up for next week. It may be more important for Councilmember K. Johnson to participate in the budget since she had the lion's share of the amendments this weekend. Councilmember Buckshnis observed Councilmember K. Johnson had provided the rationale for all her amendments. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER DISTELHORST, TO REVERSE ORDER OF THE CFP/CIP AND BUDGET AGENDA ITEMS. Council President Fraley-Monillas recalled Mr. Taraday said the items should be keep in the order they are. Her issue was the budget needed to be dealt with in 2021 and therefore she felt Councilmember K. Johnson needed to be present for the budget discussion. If she had any questions about the CFP/CIP, they could be answered next week. It would be much cleaner if questions by the remaining six Councilmembers could be answered tonight versus voting on budget amendments and that would give Councilmember K. Johnson the ability to add to the discussion. Mr. Taraday clarified lie did not say the agenda items needed to stay in the same order; he said the vote on the CFP/CIP and the budget ordinances need to occur at the same meeting. That obviously will not occur tonight so the vote on both will need to happen at some other meeting in the future. The Council can still discuss both items in whatever order they want and even make preliminary amendments to either, but the final vote on the two ordinances has to be done at another meeting. Councilmember Distelhorst observed the Council voted on this motion earlier the meeting so it would require a motion to reconsider. City Clerk Scott Passey explained there was a parliamentary principle that the same question not be addressed more than once in a meeting but he was unsure if that applied. Mr. Mr. Taraday agreed it was essentially the same motion made earlier so it would require a motion for reconsideration by someone on the prevailing side of the motion. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 24 COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED TO RECONSIDER THE MOTION TO TAKE THE BUDGET FIRST AND DISCUSS DECISION PACKAGES TO MOVE THROUGH THIS MORE SEAMLESSLY AND QUICKER. Council President Fraley-Monillas raised a point of order, whether Councilmember Buckshnis was on the prevailing side. Mr. Taraday said she was not. 2. ADOPTION OF THE 2021-2026 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM/CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Public Works Director Phil Williams said he and City Engineer English were present to answer questions, Materials were presented at previous meetings. Mayor Nelson advised Council questions would be taken in a round robin format with Councilmembers asking one question during their turn. Councilmember Buckshnis said her amendments were related to removing decision packages that are tied to the CFP/CIP. Mr. Williams said decision packages are related to the budget; he was interested in whether any changes were desired in the CFP/CIP. Councilmember Buckshnis said she would remove items in Storm that are tied to decision packages. Council President Fraley-Monillas raised a point of order, this is not the budget discussion. Mayor Nelson agreed decision packages were related to the budget. Councilmember Buckshnis said she wanted to change the Stormwater project for the marsh. Mr. Williams said a motion could be made to make a change in the CFP to accomplish that and he assumed the same motion would be made to modify the budget. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO REMOVE $450,000 AND $80,000 IN THE 2021 REQUEST ON PAGES 224 AND 225. Councilmember Buckshnis explained those are tied to decision packages because the marsh is a continuous salmon recovery thing so it should be a holistic Parks & Recreation project. She suggested the $17+ million be zeroed out and replaced with TBD. This ties into Mayor Nelson's legislative agenda, the Comprehensive Plan changes and the information about the marsh. When looking at the project from an RCO or regional parks standpoint, there is basically a regional park funded through RCO grants. This would be fulfilling Mayor Nelson's suggestion on the legislative agenda; figure out what to do with the Unocal property and therefore there should not be any design analysis or any type of funding and the best thing to do is to insert TBD. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked for clarification, the proposal was to take money out of the CFP for the marsh and move it where? Councilmember Buckshnis said based on the fact that the marsh is one holistic thing, she wanted to go back to the way it was for many years, rather than identify a $17 million marsh restoration project, zero out the $17 million and insert TBD. The City is waiting for the resolution of the Unocal properties so there should be no design or consideration of what will happen because everything is still in flux. Council President Fraley-Monillas asked where they money would go. Councilmember Buckshnis it was just defunding Storm so when Storm rates are calculated that $17 million is not included. Council President Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 25 Fraley-Monillas asked where the $17 million goes. Councilmember Buckshnis said it would not go anywhere, the cost is unknown at this time. Councilmember Paine referred to packet page 231, remove $450,000 for 2021 in the Willow Creek Daylighting and the items in the first 2021 column. There may be some activity mid-2021 for a bigger project that could be designed in a way that would encompass any property the City might get adjacent to the Edmonds Marsh. Councilmember Distelhorst asked if that change would impact the potential for grants if the property were transferred in 2021. Mr. Williams answered it could. Staffs recommendation was to carryover the money that was in the 2020 budget to the 2021 budget with a promise that none of it would spent without a specific scope of work approved by the City Council. The funds show a certain level of commitment that this is serious project for the City. If all reference to the marsh project is taken out of the budget including the minimal amount of $450,000 compared to the likely cost of the project and there is no reference to a future capital project in the out years of the CIP, that basically erases the whole effort from the budget and the CIP. It is useful to have it in there and it is not part of the stormwater rates at this point and does not have any significant impact on stormwater rates. Whether that would change in the future depending on how the City decides to provide local match for grants is another decision the Council would make. As Councilmember Paine pointed out, things are moving forward with the Department of Ecology and WSDOT and there may be some resolution to the ownership issue in mid-2021. it would be useful to have money in the budget to react to that type of development. Councilmember Distelhorst observed ensuring that money is still in the CFP/CIP is important. He asked if having it in a different fund was okay, whether it was in Stormwater or Parks & Recreation, would maintaining the dollar amount but switching where it lived still meet the potential goal of having it there for grant match. Mr. Williams said the first $450,000 was from stormwater rates and was designed to match a grant which was lost due to the unresolved property issue. Providing those funds was a unanimous decision. He saw no reason to take it out of the stormwater budget and was unsure where else to put it. It does not make a lot of difference where it is in the City's budget. Councilmember Buckshnis said it is extremely important because it affects stormwater rates and it is not a stormwater floodplain project. The $450,000 was provided as a match for a NOAA grant that was lost. She will propose moving the $450,000 decision package to Marsh Restoration Fund 017. She is requesting that the dollar amounts that affect future rates be changed to TBD which was stated in the CFP for many years and was just changed last year. The cost of the entire marsh restoration is unknown under RCO or regional park because when looking at salmon recovery money, it has to be looked at with the salmon starting at Marine Beach and going all the way to the Edmonds Marsh so Marina Beach cannot be separated from the marsh, it has to be one holistic system. Contrary to what Mr. Williams says, it does matters which bucket it is in. Public Works will manage the project and help with engineering, but to receive RCO grants, it needs to be a regional park in Parks & Recreation and not Storm. She is trying to simplify this because the stormwater aspect is unknown other than $40,000 for cleaning out the pipes and there is no idea how much design and construction will cost. She will recommend moving the $450,000 to the Marsh Restoration Fund 017. Councilmember L. Johnson said Councilmember Buckshms' comments provided more insight. She asked the potential implications of moving the funds to Fund 017. Mr. Williams agreed it can be accounted for in whatever way the City prefers. The source of the funds is important; if it is stormwater rate revenue, it needs to be spent on stormwater related work. That is a legal requirement, that it go toward work related to the mission of the Stormwater Fund. The $450,000 and the recommended $80,000 are from stormwater rates. The source of the $17 million has not been identified. A cost estimate has been prepared although its Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 26 accuracy was unknown at this stage of design; it was likely +/- 30-40%. That does not need to be included if the Council does not want to; it does not address the cost of acquiring property and he agreed it was best not to speculate about that. There is a cost estimate for daylighting Will Creek, that portion of the marsh restoration. Stormwater and Engineering have been working on that project for the past ten years to assist Parks on the project across the railroad tracks that he agreed was part of the same effort. He concluded it was appropriate to have money in the budget that shows the City's commitment to that project. Anytime funds are sought for a project, the question is asked what funds the City has committed to the project and where the match would come from. If all the funding is removed, it leaves that question open. Councilmember L. Johnson clarified the original $450,000 set aside as a grant match originated from Stormwater. Mr. Williams answered that was correct. COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRALEY-MONILLAS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO EXTEND FOR 10 MINUTES. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mayor Nelson said he and Council President Fraley-Monillas will work on scheduling an additional meeting, possibly on Thursday evening, to work on the CFP/CIP and the budget. 3. BUDGET DELIBERATIONS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR BUDGET ADOPTION Due to the late hour, this item was postponed to a future meeting. 8. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Nelson said due to the unfortunate rise in COVID numbers, today the governor announced an extension of the restrictions imposed three weeks ago through January 4. He also announced additional grant funding available for small businesses. With the rising numbers, he encouraged the public to physically distance and mask up, noting the sooner they do so, the sooner the restrictions will be loosened. 9. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember L. Johnson encouraged the public to be safe, be well, do their part to protect the public safety and help get us out of this mess. Councilmember Olson thanked Acting Chief Lawless for his service as Acting Chief during the past year, and his great service to the community. She also extended a warm welcome to Chief Pruitt. Councilmember Paine expressed appreciation for everyone's comments tonight, recognizing that they were heartfelt. She believed the City would have a great Chief in Chief Pruitt, and expressed appreciation for Acting Chief Lawless. She commented it is dangerous out there, wear masks, wash your hands and stay safe to bring the numbers down. Councilmember Buckshnis echoed Councilmembers Olson and Paine's comments about Acting Chief Lawless and new Chief Pruitt. She voiced a heartfelt thank you to Gail Lovel who is retiring from the Tree Board, noting she helped create the logo, right tree right place, got the Tree Board involved with Edmonds in Bloom, and was a shining star and has spent a lot of time with City employees Debra Dill and Rich Lindsay. There is now an opening on the Tree Board and the application is available on the City's website. She encouraged people to apply, noting the Tree Board is a great group of people. She echoed previous Councilmembers' comments regarding wearing masks, noting she missed the gym, going to movies, etc. People need to stay in their own space, wear masks and stay safe. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 27 Council President Fraley-Monillas explained her television interview yesterday. To George Bennett, Maria Sixto, Dennis O'Malley, Leslie Marmion, Brian Thompson, Barry Crain, Darrell Marmion, Peter Gibson and Nora Murphy, she explained she was interviewed yesterday for ten minutes by KING 5, a solid ten minutes of questions and discussion. From that, two lines of what she said made it to the media. By no way did she say Edmonds citizens were discriminatory or were racist. She did say that Edmonds had its fair share of racist incidents such as someone yelling at a Black family walking on Sunset, tagging a person of color -owned businesses, threatening children with baseball bats, hanging nooses in construction sites where only the Black people would see them, yelling racist comments in the streets at families, and marking up certified approved BLM art in public. All those incidents occurred in the City of Edmonds within the last few years. Council President Fraley-Monillas explained what she was trying to reference yesterday when asked was that there have been a lot of issues in Edmonds and that these are some of the issues. By no means did she say anything about all citizens in Edmonds being discriminatory, because that would be foolish for anyone to say. She did indicate that there are some problems in Edmonds and this is not a Pollyanna approach, everyone knows there have been problems and that the community needs to work on those problems. There is no question there is racism in Edmonds, but the difference is what is done about it. She wanted to explain because she has gotten massive hate mail today as a result of two lines taken from a ten minute discussion about Edmonds and its citizens. She has lived in Edmonds most of her life and understands Edmonds better than most. The majority of residents are not racist, but there is racism in Edmonds. If people want to take hits at her again tomorrow, she said feel free. This was coming from her heart and she believed in the people that live in Edmonds. Councilmember Distelhorst thanked Acting Chief Lawless for his service during this time and welcomed Chief Pruitt. He pointed out COVID numbers continue to skyrocket, yesterday there were nine deaths in Snohomish County. To those who think this is not a serious issue, fellow community members are literally dying. He urged the public to take it seriously, don't watch the Sounders on Saturday with anyone other than those already in your household. Do not see friends, don't see anyone else and be safe. He always enjoyed Student Representative Roberts' comments and looked forward to them tonight. Student Rep Roberts thanked Acting Chief Lawless for his service as Chief and congratulated and welcomed Chief Pruitt. He hoped Edmonds would be able to adapt and ultimately support the new Chief. He announced the Youth Commission now has an Instagram account, EdmondsYouthCommission. The Youth Commission also has an opening for Position 10 and he encouraged students to apply. He urged the public to wear masks; the reality is the phrase "wear a mask" and these reminders won't be going away anytime soon. Just because there is a vaccine and the year will be changing doesn't mean the virus will somehow magically go away. The virus is here to stay and people are dying. He urged the public to follow the guidelines, wear a mask and do everything possible to not get the virus and not spread it. 10. ADJOURN With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 10:39 p.m MICHAEL NELSON, MAYOR SCOTT PASSEY, CITY CLERK Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 28 Council President Fraley-Monillas explained her television interview yesterday. To George Bennett, Maria Sixto, Dennis O'Malley, Leslie Marmion, Brian Thompson, Barry Crain, Darrell Marmion, Peter Gibson and Nora Murphy, she explained she was interviewed yesterday for ten minutes by .KING 5, a solid ten minutes of questions and discussion. From that, two lines of what she said made it to the media. By no way did she say Edmonds citizens were discriminRtary or were racist. She did say that Edmonds had its fair share of racist incidents such as sorrreone yelling a[ a Black family walking on Sunset, tagging a person of color -owned businesses, threatening children with baseball bats, hanging nooses in construction sites where only the Black people would see them, yelling racist comments in the streets at families, and marking up certified approved BLM art in public. All those incidents occurred in the City of Edmonds within the last few years. Council President Fraley-Monillas explained what she was trying to reference yesterday when asked was that there have been a lot of issues in Edmonds and that these are some of the issues, By no means did she say anything about all citizens in Edmonds being discriminatory, because that would be foolish for anvone to say. She did indicate that there are some problems in Edmonds and this is not a Pollyanna approach, everyone knows there have been problems and that the community needs to work on those problems. There is no question there is racism in Edmonds, but the difference is what is clone about it. She wanted to explain because she has gotten massive hate mail today as a result of two lines taken from a ten minute discussion about Edmonds and its citizens. She has lived in Edmonds most of her life and understands Edmonds better than most. The majority of residents are not racist, but there is racism in Edmonds. If people want to take hits at her again tomorrow, she said feel free. This was coining from her heart and she believed in the people that live in Edmonds. Councilmember Distelhorst thanked Acting Chief Lawless for his service during this time and welcomed Chief Pruitt. He pointed out COVID numbers continue to skyrocket, yesterday there were nine deaths in Snohomish County. To those who think this is not a serious issue, fellow community members are literally dying. He urged the public to take it seriously, don't watch the Sounders on Saturday with anyone other than those already in your household. Do not see friends, don't see anyone else and be safe. Ile always enjoyed Student Representative Roberts' comments and looked forward to them tonight. Student Rep Roberts thanked Acting Chief Lawless for his service as Chief and congratulated and welcomed Chief Pruitt. He hoped Edmonds would be able to adapt and ultimately support the new Chief. He announced the Youth Commission now has an Instagrarn account, EclmondsYouthCommission. The Youth Commission also has an opening for Position 10 and he encouraged students to apply. He urged the public to wear masks; the reality is the phrase "wear a mask" and these reminders won't be going away anytime soon. Just because there is a vaccine and the year will be changing doesn't mean the virus will somehow magically go away. The virus is here to stay and people are dying. He urged the public to follow the guidelines, wear a mask and do everything possible to not get the virus and not spread it. 10. ADJOURN With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 10:39 p.m. WHAEL NELSON, MAYOR 7 - PASSEY, CIT;CLF Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 28 Public Comment for 12/8/20 Council Meeting: From: Bill Phipps Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6:25 PM To: Citizens Planning Board <citizens-planning@edmondswa.gov> Cc: Lien, Kernen <Kernen.Lien @edmondswa.gov> Subject: tree code public comment Hello Planning Board members and Mr.Lien; Please enter the following comments, on the Tree Code, into public record and as comments to Mr. Lien. Thank you. I really enjoyed your last meeting on November 18, 2020. You really dug into the issues surrounding the updated tree code. I appreciate your efforts. I liked the way you danced around the issues and each other ! We now realize that the proposed code, as written, only addresses 5% of the private land in Edmonds. That is the amount of un-developed land that remains.. It does not address the 95% of private land in Edmonds that is already developed. Is it true that Edmonds is 95% "built out".? Thus, there is only 5% of private land left that might be developed. That's the land this code addresses, so far. Some of us realize that this is not enough. In the Urban Forest Management Plan it was stressed that 83% of our forest canopy is on private land. It was a goal of the UFMP to update our codes in order to control deforestation on that 83% of land in Edmonds. The code, as written, doesn't do enough to address deforestation on private land. Not when you remember phrases like "no net loss". So, we can look at "alike" nearby cities and see what they have done: In Shoreline, a property owner can take out three significant trees in a three year period. In Kirkland, a property owner can take out two significant trees at a time and may not take out the last two trees on the lot. It goes on and on with permits vs notifications, fees, plans, penalties, It's complicated. But it can be done. Most of our neighboring cities are already doing it. You know, these are not draconian measures we're talking about. On my street in the last month, 6 significant conifers were cut down; on two different properties. Even under a strong tree code, both of these events would have been permissible. But neither of those folks are replanting conifer saplings.! If you're scared of the "property righters", at least institute a notification system; whereas property owners notify the City of tree cuttings on their property. Then the City knows how Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 29 many trees are being lost and how many replacement trees to plant in our Tree Bank from proceeds from our Tree Fund. The city of Kirkland uses such a system to track their forest canopy. I've always thought the key to a good tree code is replacement trees. We have to realize that we are losing tree canopy due to development and "property rights". We must commit to replacing lost trees with new trees. We must be forward looking and play "the long game". The trees we plant today will make a huge difference to our grandchildren and their grandchildrens' quality of life. We must plant multiple "of kind" replacement saplings for every tree cut down. Any significant tree cut down anyplace, any time, for any reason; must have replacement trees planted. Once again, thank you for allowing me to sit in on your "tree code" meetings. I appreciated your nuanced discussions about tree replacement requirements, penalties, fees -in -lieu -of, permits, and especially incentives. We must encourage tree plantings and incentives for property owners to retain their trees. Tree credits, tax breaks, storm water bill discounts, tree vouchers; all are good ideas. I hope you choose to broaden the scope of the draft tree code. I hope you look at regulating tree removal on the already developed properties in Edmonds. This is where our urban forest canopy is. Let's create a meaningful tree code that we can all live with and be proud of. Thank you for your time and consideration; Bill Phipps Edmonds From: Dave Teitzel Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6:27 AM To: Council <Council@edmondswa.gov> Cc: Passey, Scott <Scott.Passey@edmondswa.gov>; Nelson, Michael <Michael.Nelson @edmondswa.gov>; Wippel, Teresa (My Edmonds News) <myedmondsnews@gmail.com>; Edmonds Beacon Editor <edmondseditoryourbeacon@gmail.com> Subject: Choices Councilmembers, please submit the following open letter as part of the record of the 12/8/20 Council meeting: Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 30 I respect each of you for your willingness to step up and serve our community. Yours is not an easy job, and the vote you will be taking this evening is clearly the most challenging one of the year. I encourage you to carefully consider all the factors around selection of the best candidate for police chief before you cast your vote. And I urge you to request the Administration be extra transparent in revealing all the criteria that were considered in making the decision to bring forward Chief Pruitt as the preferred nominee. Anything less will fuel ongoing suspicion among your constituents that the city is hiding something. The position of police chief is arguably the most important one in our city. Our citizens need to be assured our next chief is best qualified to manage a large and increasingly diverse force, has direct experience addressing policing around issues such as homelessness and substance abuse, has intimate knowledge of crime issues affecting our community, has clearly demonstrated the ability to implement policy/procedures around deescalation and safer/more equitable policing techniques, has demonstrated a willingness and ability to connect well with our community, etc. Please don't feel rushed to a vote until you are well assured all the questions such as these and others which have been raised by your constituents have been answered. Your decision is too important to do otherwise. Regards, Dave Teitzel Former Edmonds City Councilmember From: Jean Sittauer Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 5:30 PM To: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Subject: Fw: Please Read This SITTAUER GOUGE GROUP COLOWELL BANKER I GAIN From: Jean Sittauer Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 9:16 PM To: council@edmondswa.gov <council@edmondswa.poy> Subject: Please Read This Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 31 To all council members: I am absolutely astounded by the news tonight that Adrienne has asked to move the vote for police chief up to tomorrow instead of the 15th. Please DO NOT approve the agenda that Adrienne has proposed for tomorrow.! Pull the item until next week as was proposed, as this change is unacceptable. You might not know me, but I LOVE Edmonds with all of my heart!! My parents moved here in 1957, and they knew that Edmonds was the best place to live with their six kids, and I agree because I have my kids and grandkids living here, I want you to know that what I say comes from not only of many years of living here, but also from what I know about Edmonds. I was upset when I heard Adrienne say that we have a racist issue in Edmonds. I do not believe that we have the problem that she is taking about. We have to be bigger than the few people who are the problem and try to educate the upcoming generation about how to be better than those few people. In this case, my family's safety is in question and I am deeply concerned. If you permit Sherman Pruitt to be Chief of Police, you are putting someone into power based on color, not qualifications for the job. Chief Lawless is the best candidate for the position. In this time of COVID-19 and all that we have been going though, I hope that you don't believe that the best way to make change is through a pandemic situation. We should be making changes based on good decisions, not emotions. We can make Edmonds the place that we are dreaming about. Thank you, Jean Sittauer From: Roberts, Brook Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 5:21 PM To: Council <Council@edmondswa.gov> Cc: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Subject: Youth Perspective: Police Chief Confirmation Dear Council, My original intent was to write a detailed email outlining my thoughts on the Police Chief nomination and submit it on Friday, but due to the vote being moved to tonight, I will briefly share my thoughts on the nomination and confirmation from the youth perspective. Edmonds needs a Police Chief who can lead with confidence and experience. One who is accountable for himself and the actions of his officers. One who can connect with all members of the community, especially those from underserved areas, and build a sense of trust with them. One who understands why certain people believe that all law enforcement officers are "bad", and can work towards overcoming that notion. One who can handle the four responsibilities of policing: enforcing laws, preventing crimes, responding to emergencies, and providing support services. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 32 I encourage you all to look at the education, experience, and plans of each candidate and to consider how they could best cater to the needs of the Edmonds community, especially those who live in the underserved areas and at -risk youth. During tonight's meeting, I request that you all ask the important questions relating to Mayor Nelson's decision to backtrack from selecting Acting Chief Jim Lawless to choosing Chief Sherman Pruitt for the Police Chief position. For example, what caused the change? How does he foresee Chief Pruitt adapting to the Edmonds Police Department and community? In a time like right now, the administration must be transparent in its decisions. If transparency is not maintained, the suspicion against the current administration and Council among citizens will continue. Lastly, please take your time with this decision, it is not to be rushed. If need be, postpone the vote. When you eventually vote, vote for who you believe will best serve the Edmonds community, his officers, and the City; and vote with confidence. Thank you, Brook Roberts, Edmonds City Council, Student Representative Edmonds Youth Commission, Position 4 From: Jeffrey Jones Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 5:13 PM To: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Subject: Police Chief vote As a citizen of Edmonds, I am offended by the antics of the council. The council president was on Television today stating that Edmonds is a racist community. I am completely offended by that statement as a citizen and as a 37 year employee of the City. At the time, the reporting was that the vote would take place next week. After the airing of the TV coverage, it was announced that it would be tonight. Completely illegal and not acceptable. The issue before you is the approval of the Chief of Police. This is something that needs not only council oversite, but public comment. This during a time when there is no on person meetings, which means that many citizens can't or don't know how to attend or submit public comment. This too is unacceptable given the importance of the position under consideration, and the fact that the stated reasons by the council president and Mayor are absolutely illegal under current Federal law. Comments have been made that Edmonds is a racist community. No specific incidents have been identified. I can say all people are clowns, but with no proof that doesn't mean anything. I can tell you as a 37 year veteran of the Edmonds Police Department, under the guidance of Chief Lawless, our department is more diverse than Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 33 the community we serve. I have seen indications of prejudice, but they have been mostly outsiders stating them did not want to talk to my "persons of color" taking their report. I have no room in my life for prejudice and expressed this to these person. I have never observed an expression of prejudice from one of my officers. This process is a joke and one that will cost the city in the long run from people leaving employment with the city. I was proud of serving Edmonds for 37 years. Now I am ashamed of what you have made us in the media and to the local community. If you do this vote tonight, you will be saying that service to the city counts for nothing and we can just do things behind closed doors. If you support this system, you should resign. I will do everything I can to support anyone with a conscience who runs against you. Let your conscience be your guide. Consequences are eminent. From: Kurt Trester Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 4:20 PM To: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Subject: Sheriff Appointment Added to 12/8 Agenda 1 commend Officer Pruitt on his service to our country in the military and during his time as an officer of the law. However, his lack of municipal experience in comparison to Sheriff Lawless is of great concern to me as an Edmonds resident. Experience matters greatly in a position such as this. Please, Edmonds City Council Members, do not confirm Sherman Pruitt. Jim Lawless is the right man for this job. Kurt Trester From: Chris Gradwohl Sent: Tuesday, December $ 2020 2:11 PM To: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Cc: Monillas, Adrienne <Adrienne.Monillas@edmondswa.gov> Subject: Public Comment Yesterday Eric Wilkinson of King 5 News posted a story "Questions raised over abrupt change for potential new Edmonds police chief' htt s: www.msn.com en -us news us uestions-raised-over-abru t-chime-for-potential- new-ed_monds-police-chief/ar-BB1bJ0o9?ocid=hplocalnews Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 34 In the article, City Council President Adrienne Fraley-Monillas is quoted as saying: "I think he will be very good for the city," said Fraley-Monillas. The council president also believes racism is a problem in Edmonds, and Pruitt is the better pick to heal the city's racial wounds. "In this time frame in Edmonds, I think we could use Chief Pruitt," she said. "With all the racism in Edmonds, we have somebody who has had that experience in their life. I think that's important." I would ask that the council president provide specific examples to support her statement of "all the racism in Edmonds". I would expect that such a statement should be easily supported by numerous, well-known examples. Chris Gradwohl From: Ken Reidy Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 7:22 AM To: Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov>; Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Cc: Council <Council@edmondswa.gov>; Nelson, Michael <Michael.Nelson @edmondswa.gov>; Judge, Maureen <Maureen.Judge@edmondswa.gov>; Passey, Scott <Scott.Passey@edmondswa.gov>; Taraday, Jeff <jeff@lighthouselawgroup.com>; Hope, Shane <Shane.Hope@edmondswa.gov>; Williams, Phil <Phil.Wllliams@edmondswa.gov>; Lien, Kernen <Kernen.Lien @edmondswa.gov> Subject: Public Comments for December 8, 2020 City Council meeting Please make full public disclosure that Ordinances 4200 and 4201 failed to pass Neither City Council Motion included the following concept: This Ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect immediately upon passage, as set forth herein, as long as it is approved by a majority plus one of the entire membership of the Council, as required by RCW 35A.12.130. If it is only approved by a majority of the Council, it will take effect five days after passage and publication. One cannot throw things into an Ordinance different than the related Motion made. This is very dangerous. Please put a stop to it at once. I have personally been impacted by something similar. On March 17, 2009, City Council passed an incomplete Ordinance. Council motioned to reserve an easement that had yet to be Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 35 defined. An Exhibit defining the easement was added to Ordinance 3729 AFTER Council's vote. My family was greatly harmed by that Exhibit. Please do the right thing and admit both Motions failed. Next, please budget to compete a full Rewrite of the Code. Both the ECC and the ECDC have needed updating for years. Please provide a status update of the Code Rewrite and explain what prior budgeted amounts have accomplished. Please explain why hundreds of thousands of dollars previously budgeted have not resulted in execution of the Code Rewrite. Finally, please review the offices of Hearing Examiner and City Attorney before budgeting any public funds for either position. I believe I have provided plenty of evidence that the Hearing Examiner system does not work in Edmonds. History shows the City Attorneys and Staff are willing to provide incomplete information to Hearing Examiners in front of Hearing Examiner decisions. As for the Office of City Attorney, history shows City Attorneys are willing to misrepresent law to City Council immediately in front of a City Council vote. The March 17, 2009 Meeting Minutes disclose that Council was told that "an intrusion into a right-of-way was not allowed and the City had the obligation to clear it". All know that the City has no right to clear an UNOPENED right-of-way. The rights are NOT ABSOLUTE, and the property owner has the right to use their property. Also, please do not forget the impliedly joining concept created by City Attorney T araday weeks after a Conditional Use Permit expired Null and Void. From: David Varnau Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 7:46 PM To: council @edmonds.gov; Public Comment (Council) <publiccomments@edmondswa.gov> Subject: to consider in your city council meeting I am a resident of Edmonds and walk or bike ride along Sunset Avenue virtually every morning. The purpose of this email is to point out what is patently obvious to most pedestrians J L.; I.e rs . L, +I.. Sunset A.. Namely, that, 1, t+4 I I.. t allu UInCIJ V�%I to currently �/ use Sunset Avenue. Namely, that, because of the sheer volume VI folks using the walkway during the pandemic, the street has become hazardous for all who use it. On any given day, you will see pedestrians walking in the vehicle lane in order to maintain social distancing. Add to the mix bikers as well as owners with dogs on leash all weaving in and out between the parked cars and you have a recipe for disaster. In fact, in the late morning, an elderly woman can be routinely observed using a walker assistive device as she laboriously ambulates with her companion in the vehicle lane. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 36 Given the safety hazard of the current situation and the City's resulting potential liability, I urge the City Council to give strong consideration to closing the one way lane of Sunset once again to all cars except for local access. Sunset remains one of the few options Edmonds residents have for enjoying the outdoors on foot or on a bike locally during this long Covid winter. That said, 1--and many others --would be elated if such a traffic revision were made permanent and that section of Sunset were converted into a more pedestrian/bicycle friendly pathway with a park -like feel to it. Certainly, there is opposition to such a move, but it would improve the quality of life for --and the appeal of --our community. Thank you for your consideration. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 37 [v