2023-04-25 Regular Meeting
Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes
April 25, 2023
Page 1
EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL MEETING
APPROVED MINUTES
April 25, 2023
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT
Mike Nelson, Mayor
Neil Tibbott, Council President
Vivian Olson, Councilmember
Will Chen, Councilmember
Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember
Susan Paine, Councilmember
Dave Teitzel, Councilmember
Jenna Nand, Councilmember
STAFF PRESENT
Mike De Lilla, Senior Utilities Engineer
Jeff Taraday, City Attorney
Scott Passey, City Clerk
Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator
1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE
The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. by Mayor Nelson in the Council
Chambers, 250 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. The meeting was opened with the flag salute.
2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Councilmember Nand read the City Council Land Acknowledge 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.
4. PRESENTATION
1. ANNUAL REPORT - SOUTH COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE
Thad Hovis, Fire Chief, South County Fire (SCF), introduced Bob Eastman, Assistant Chief, and Leslie
Hynes, Communications Director. Fire Chief Hovis presented:
• South County Fire by the Numbers
o 15 neighborhood fire stations staffed 24/7, including three fire stations in Edmonds
o 300+ uniformed personnel
o 70 firefighters on duty during the day and 64 overnight
o 36,891 incidents in 2022, including 6,038 in Edmonds
o Most 911 calls are EMS - 84% in the City of Edmonds
o Serves nearly 300,000 people across 53 square miles in south Snohomish County
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April 25, 2023
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o Mill Creek annexed into the regional fire authority in 2022
o Brier and Mountlake Terrace, currently served by contract, are voting on annexation on April
25
• Staffing
o An additional 24-hour EMS transport unit was added effective March 1, 2022.
• Serving Our Residents
o Fires
o Medical emergencies
o Motor vehicle collisions
o Hazardous materials
o Rescues
o Marine / Water
o Other hazards and emergency situations
o Community health, safety and risk reduction
• Emergency Medical Services
o This is our most requested service
o All firefighters are emergency medical technicians or paramedics
o 84% of incidents in the City of Edmonds were dispatched as EMS in 2022
o South County Fire is the first agency in the county to carry whole blood to provide in-field
blood transfusions for patients with life-threatening medical conditions or trauma injuries
o Cardiac arrest saves
South County Fire’s cardiac arrest save rate across the RFA is consistently well above state
and national averages
o Community lifesavers
ACT First Aid provides free online training in hands-only CPR
AED partnership with Edmonds Police, Edmonds Police Foundation and South County
Firefighter Foundation
Photograph of two Edmonds residents with their driving instructor who took ACT first aid
training and performed CPR and resuscitated an individual
• Regional Training
o Benefits of regional training
Sharing instructors and expertise
Reducing duplicated efforts
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April 25, 2023
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Breaking down borders with neighboring fire agencies allows us to work together more
effectively on mutual aid incidents
o County Fire Training Consortium
South County Fire, Everett Fire, Marysville Fire, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue,
Snohomish Fire District 4 and North County Fire & EMS
o Snohomish County Fire Training Academy
119 entry and lateral recruits completed training in 2022
- Winter: 49 recruits from 8 departments – including 19 from South County Fire
- Summer: 15 recruits from South County Fire
- Fall: 55 recruits from 7 departments – including 19 from South County Fire
• Edmonds Fire Prevention
o Development Review & Construction Inspections 2022
850+ maintenance/follow up inspections*
474 construction inspections
366 compliance inspections
20 special event inspections
396 plan review
91 pre-development/development meetings
• Community Outreach
o EMS Week Fire Station Open House
Saturday, May 20th – 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Edmonds Downtown Station 17 – 275 Sixth Ave N, Edmonds
o Community events in Edmonds
More than 6,100 residents reached at events including Fire Camp, Fourth of July Parade,
Kids in Transition Oktoberfest and National Night Out events in the city.
o Free online classes
ACT First Aid & CPR
Disaster Preparedness
Child Car Seat Safety
Virtual Car Seat Checks
Home Fire Safety
Aging in Place
Child Safety & CPR
o Distribution of lifesaving devices
Child car seats
Smoke alarms
CO alarms
Infant safe sleep sacks
Bike helmets
File of Life
• Community Resource Paramedics
o Non-emergency service to help reduce 911 calls and hospital use
o Serves older adults, mental health patients, disabled people, homeless and veterans
o Breaks down barriers and creates access to care
o Edmonds by the numbers:
Enrollments: 132
Contacts: 600 This includes home visits, phone calls, emails, etc.
51% reduction in 911 calls throughout the South County Fire service area
Assistant Chief Bob Eastman reviewed:
• Emergency Responses – 2022 by the numbers and contract required metrics
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o Number of Calls
2018: 5,555
2019: 5,486
2020*: 4,977
2021*: 5,461
2022: 6,038 (9.7% increase from 2018)
*Due to COVID, 2020 and 2021 not considered in data trends
o Type of calls
Emergency Medical Aid: 84%
- Basic Life Support: 54%
- Advanced Life Support: 30%
Fire: 9%
Other: 7%
• Response Times
o Looks at 8-minute response time in four categories
o This measures Sno911’s call receipt to arrival
o Comparisons of data for 2018-2022
o Response times have varied
80% of calls received by 911 center are via cell phones
Cell phones increase dispatch time due to need to confirm address; land line phones
automatically provide address and phone number
o Percentage of calls within 8 minutes or less
2018: 75.72%
2019: 73.45%
2020: 56.19%
2021: 68.41%
2022: 79.58%
o Response time on 90% of calls
2018: 09:29
2019: 09:42
2020: 10:40
2021: 09:59
2022: 09:16
• Turnout Time
o Measures the time from when Sno911 call is dispatched to the time the apparatus leaves the
station
o Includes time to put on bunker gear and other safety equipment such as body armor when
necessary
o The reporting standard in the contract is different from the city’s adopted standard in the 1756
compliance report: 2:15 (contract) vs. 2:45 (compliance report)
o South County Fire meets and exceeds the city adopted standard of 2:45 (90.44%)
o Turnout time percentage at 2:15
2018: 75.44%
2019: 82.34%
2020: 81.28%
2021: 77.66%
2022: 78.07%
o 90% Turnout Time
2018: 2:49
2019: 2:34
2020: 2:34
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2021: 2:42
2022: 2:43
• Neighboring Unit Utilization Factor
o What it evaluates: Response of units across jurisdictional boundaries.
o What the numbers mean:
100% = an equal balance of cross-jurisdictional response
Contract considers 90%-110% to be within balance range
Over 100% = units from neighboring jurisdictions are responding into Edmonds more than
Edmonds units are responding outside the city
o Why does this matter?
We have a regional emergency delivery system
This evaluates if level of service decisions in one jurisdiction negatively impact a
neighboring jurisdiction
• Neighboring Unit Utilization Factor
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Mountlake Terrace 133% 130% 157% 111% 41%
Lynnwood 202% 210% 280% 253% 147%
RFA 148% 162% 197% 178% 92%
o In 2022, the Neighboring Unit Utilization Factor varied greatly from previous years.
o As a result of longer wall times at hospitals, made operational changes
o This is due to the deployment of an additional aid unit that was operating out of Station 20 for
the first part of 2022 and Station 16 for the remainder of 2022.
Mountlake Terrace units: 58.55% less into Edmonds
Lynnwood units: 47.33% more into Edmonds
RFA units: 8.32% less into Edmonds
• Unit Hour Utilization Factor (UHUF)
o What it evaluates: Percentage of time a fire unit is on a call
o What the numbers mean: The higher the number, the busier the unit is
Unit Hour Utilization Factor is up for Edmonds stations, but within compliance with
contract standards
This number is up at all Edmonds fire station
20% is the trigger to start looking at deployment options and additional resources
o Unit Hour Utilization
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Station 16 15.10% 15.06% 14.72% 13.79% 14.96% 18.46%
Station 17 14.60% 13.11% 11.75% 10.79% 11.72% 12.61%
Station 20 16.30% 17.36% 17.40% 15.94% 17.45% 21.59%
• Transport Balancing Factor (TBF)
o Looks at the balance between:
Edmonds Outside City
- The number of times Edmonds-based units are doing transports outside the city
Outside City Edmonds
- The number of times South County Fire units based outside the city are doing
transports in Edmonds
o In 2022, the factor was under 1.0
- Outside city units transporting in Edmonds less than Edmonds units transporting
outside city
- A factor of 1.0 means = in balance
Transports
2021 2022
RFA transports in the City 575 595
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Edmonds transports not in the City 460 794
Transport Balancing Factor (TBF) 1.250 0.749
• Other required metrics
o Transport fees billed and collected in Edmonds and Esperance
Edmonds Billed Edmonds Collected Esperance Billed Esperance Collected
2018 $2,374,490 $1,013,928 $135,776 $53,080
2019 $2,310,729 $973,880 $118,595 $48,838
2020 $2,164,260 $896,643 $85,807 $34,927
2021 $2,314,119 $870,562 $68,059 $27,601
2022 $2,500,700 $995,040 $79,605 $33,188
o Shoreline units into Edmonds (measured in incident responses)
2018: 103
2019: 119
2020: 56
2021: 97
2022: 16
o Edmonds unit into Woodway (measured in seconds)
2018: 164
2019: 5,288
2020: 5,544
2021: 4,713
2022 287
• Standards of Cover Compliance (1756 Report)
Standard 2021 2022
Turnout Time in Standard of Cover 2:45 2:42 2:43
Turnout time in contract 2:15 2:34
First arriving engine company to a fire 6:30 6:38 6:39
Full first alarm assignment at residential fire 7:45 8:15 10:55
Full first alarm assignment at commercial fire 9:00 12:35 9:16
BLS response 5:15 6:33 6:25
ALS response 6:45 6:13 6:20
o Works starts with first arriving units, do not wait for all firefighters to arrive. More work is
completed as more units arrive.
o Additional standards measured in compliance report include (information in packet):
Hazmat responses (operational and technical)
Rescue technical response (operational and technical)
Marine response
Assistant Chief Eastman recalled during the 2021 annual report, a question was raised about acquiring the
former Value Village property for a fire station. A reportable release quantity was reported to Ecology from
the site based on its previous use. There is a 10,000-gallon tank near Highway 99. SCF has been working
with Ecology and Hospital District 2 to determine the extent of the release and what cleanup will be
necessary. The most recent funding SCF received from Ecology needs to be spent by the end of June; he
was hopeful enough information will be available by then to determine how move forward. This process
takes time and has been underway for about two years. Ecology has been a great partner, about $284,000
has been spent to determine what needs to be done before moving forward. He anticipated more information
would be available after July.
With regard to a question about firefighting foam, Assistant Chief Eastman explained SCF stopped using
that foam in 2018 when they were notified of the issue. The RFA currently has 16 five-gallon sealed and
secured containers of the foam at their headquarters. SCF and other agencies are working with Ecology;
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April 25, 2023
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Ecology has a formal process that includes public hearings regarding how to dispose of the foam. More will
be known about that in December once Ecology gets through their process.
Council President Tibbott thanked SCF for their complete report, expressing appreciation for the slides and
photographs that represent what SCF is doing in Edmonds. As SCF will return in a few weeks to talk more
broadly about the contract, he requested councilmembers limit questions to the report provided tonight. He
inquired about a term used in the report, “wall time.” Assistant Chief Eastman explained time is measured
from when they arrive to the hospital to drop a patient off to when they are cleared and available for another
call. Council President Tibbott recalled Assistant Chief Eastman mentioning that they have experienced six
hours of wall time. Assistant Chief Eastman said units have experienced up to eight hours of wall time.
This has occurred in California and Oregon in the past, Washington is just now experiencing some of those
challenges. Some of it is infrastructure, not enough healthcare including behavioral health, hospital staff is
tired and there are people in the hospital who shouldn’t be there. For example, there are 125 people at
Providence Everett who do not need to be in the hospital, but there is no place to take them. There were
times in December where the hospital was at 30% staffing in the ER; if the fire department was at 30%,
they would close 9 stations, but the hospital stays open and continues to see patients. He acknowledged 6-
8 hours sounded horrible, but he commended the hospital staff at Swedish Edmonds and Providence Everett
for the amazing work they do. The problem of extended wall time will continue; SCF is doing its best to
manage it from an operational point of view.
Councilmember Nand thanked SCF for the work they do at the front line of a lot of the challenges facing
society, basically doing triage due to a lack of funding and resources and putting a bandaid over the gaping
wounds facing society. During the budget process last year, she and Councilmember Chen proposed an
amendment to fund a study to locate a permanent police substation on Highway 99. She asked SCF to
comment on whether it would make sense to combine that with a firefighter/EMS presence and how that
would affect NUUF. Chief Hovis answered that would be a good question when the commission meets with
the council next month. Having a multiuse facility that can address law enforcement as well behavioral
health and fire/EMS makes sense. Grid 157, the hospital area, is the epicenter of the City’s call volume.
With what is happening in Edmonds with the reimagining Highway 99, it makes good sense. However,
electeds sign interlocal agreements, not him, and he would be interested in their thoughts. In an initial
conversation with Verdant Health Commission, they also thought it was a great idea.
Councilmember Paine was not surprised by the six-hour wall time as hospital infrastructure in the Puget
Sound area has not grown to keep up with the population. She thanked Assistant Chief Eastman for
answering her questions, particularly the one about the fire extinguishing foam with the forever chemical
PFAS. She was glad to hear it was not in active use. She asked if there was anything the City could do to
assist the community in having their cell phone provide their home address. Assistant Chief Eastman said
the public can sign up for SMART 911. Mayor Nelson said the City is actively involved in SMART 911
and have signed up 5,000 residents. Chief Hovis said having location services enabled on a person’s cell
phone so it can be pinged also helps dispatch identify a caller’s location.
Councilmember Buckshnis thanked SCF for their presentation and for their service. She asked about houses
with alarm buttons, such as an ADT alarm where someone can push the fire button. She noted her family
got rid of their land line due to that expanded alarm service function. Assistant Chief Eastman answered it
depends on the alarm system and service. Typically, the alarm service sends all the information when an
alert is activated for fire or EMS.
Councilmember Buckshnis commented the extended wall time is costing someone money, probably SCF.
She asked how that could be mitigated, commenting if someone is held up for eight hours, that could be
their entire shift. Assistant Chief Eastman answered in working with all the hospitals in the county including
Skagit Valley, six-hour wall times are small blips, not every call takes six hours. Wall time of 1½ hours
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April 25, 2023
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during peak demand times is not unusual in all the hospitals in Snohomish County. Using a procedure
developed for disasters, all providers call Providence Everett who maintains a real time dashboard of the
status of all the hospitals and ERs, incoming transports, how long units have been there, etc. and using that
information, patients are routed to hospitals to bring wall times down. There are efforts to formalize that
system which was designed for disasters like bus accidents and plane crashes, to be the model for the state
because extended wait times are happening everywhere. Providence Everett who gets most of the transports
in Snohomish County, has a contract with Northwest Ambulance to provide EMTs who become temporary
hospital employees and can take care of three patients which allows fire personnel to leave. A lot of creative
things are happening to get fire units back in service quicker, some of which required state approval, which
takes time. The goal is to take care of people SCF serves; the byproduct is patients move through the hospital
faster and SCF units get back in service faster.
Chief Hovis advised SCF has worked with the union to have up to five peak activity units on duty during
daytime hours; about two-thirds of calls come in between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. That also allows the fire engines
and ladder trucks to get back in service because, although there are not a lot of fires, there have been some
significant events over the years in Edmonds so peak activity units help address that. The community
resource paramedics have been at the hospital to “sit on patients” as the nursing staff tries to find beds for
them.
Councilmember Buckshnis expressed interest in having a joint partnership on Highway 99. Chief Hovis
agreed there was great potential for expanding vertically on that site.
Councilmember Buckshnis inquired about the use of body armor. Assistant Chief Eastman explained
dispatch will inform when there is a scene of violence and crews will don the appropriate PPE including
body armor and helmets either before they leave the station or occasionally enroute. He recalled in 2019,
an ambulance in Marysville had a bullet through the windshield. It doesn’t happen often, but crews have
the PPE available and a defined protocol regarding when to use it.
Councilmember Chen expressed his appreciation for SCF’s service. The presentation provides the council
the insight and knowledge they need. The fact that 84% of calls are EMS makes sense for Edmonds because
of its 20% senior population. He referred to the transport balance factor, recalling a year ago Edmonds was
over-utilizing neighboring cities’ services and now that is reversed. He asked the implication of the $1.5
million that Edmonds paid to correct that imbalance. Chief Hovis asked for clarification, whether there
should be consideration on the cost if the unit is moved. Councilmember Chen asked whether that could be
considered or were there other factors that caused the imbalance. Chief Hovis answered Mountlake Terrace
has one fire station, Station 19, and in the 4.2 square miles of Mountlake Terrace with all the growth they
are experiencing, they had 2900 incidents. When the TBF and NUUF was discussed previously, Mountlake
Terrace was a piece of that. As fire chief, he cannot add staffing. If Mountlake Terrace voters decide in
tonight’s election to annex into the RFA, he will propose adjustments in the staffing at that station to the
commission for next year. Mountlake Terrace has the same staffing that existed in 2001. Another piece in
the TBF and NUUF is Lynnwood; Station 17 has the greatest penetration into the Edmonds bowl area. If a
unit is moved to Station 16, it will serve Lynnwood and Highway 99, as well as North Edmonds. Station
20 Esperance is the busiest area, but until something different is done in Mountlake Terrace, it will provide
extra service. The intent was to provide data from all three Edmonds fire stations, that year of data will be
used to determine the best location for that unit.
Councilmember Chen commented the reverse trend makes sense with the tremendous growth in Lynnwood
and Mountlake Terrace. If the trend continues, consideration needs to be given to appropriately adjusting
the funding. He noted there was a workshop in the Brackett Room today regarding SMART 911. Chief
Hovis advised as part of SMART 911, people can indicate if they are trained in ACT and/or CPR and be
notified of a nearby medical emergency.
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April 25, 2023
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Councilmember Teitzel thanked Chief Hovis and Assistant Chief Eastman for their presentation and for the
good work they do for Edmonds. In Edmonds, like other cities, more large apartment and condominium
buildings are being constructed up to 75-feet on the Highway 99 corridor. He asked where a ladder
apparatus to fight a fire on the top floor would come from as none of the three Edmonds stations have one.
Chief Hovis answered there are ladder trucks at Lynnwood Station 14 in Blue Ridge and another at 156th
& Highway 99. Councilmember Teitzel asked if a ladder apparatus would be added at a new station at the
former Value Village site if that came to fruition. Chief Hovis answered due to Sound Transit, consideration
is being given to moving the ladder truck to Station 15 and if the Verdant property is secured it could be
located there or at Station 10.
Councilmember Teitzel observed calls are up 10% since 2018, but even with more calls, performance has
improved; percentage of calls within 8 minutes or less is up about 5% 2018 compared to 2022, the response
time on 90% of calls is down compared to 2018 and 2019. He asked what that was attributable to. Chief
Hovis answered a highly motivated workforce and the remedial measure the council approved.
Councilmember Teitzel referred to the TBF, observing since Swedish Edmonds is the only hospital in the
Edmonds/Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace area, it would be logical there would be more transports into
Edmonds. He asked if the numbers were adjusted or normalized to take that into account. Assistant Chief
Eastman answered the TBF is only calls that are generated within in Edmonds or calls outside Edmonds
and specific units going out and coming in. It doesn’t take into account if a unit happens to be at the hospital
and is dispatched because it is closer. Other analysis has been done to ensure that is not happening.
Councilmember Teitzel clarified his question was if a Mountlake Terrace EMS unit responds to a
Mountlake Terrace incident and transports to Swedish Edmonds, is this data normalized somehow.
Assistant Chief Eastman answered yes, the calculation is not based on where a patient ends up, it is where
they are picked up.
5. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO
APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
6. AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Mayor Nelson described procedures for audience comments.
Ron Wambolt, Edmonds, referred to the city attorney agenda item and the first question, should legal
services be contracted for as they are now, or should the city attorney position be a staff member? For the
last 32 years of his business career, he worked for two corporations that had in-house attorneys. As the
officer responsible for worldwide sales, he also had an attorney on his staff. No single attorney will have
the breadth of knowledge to deal with all issues so one of the major duties of an in-house attorney is to
manage the work handled by the contracted attorneys. There will always be a need for outside attorneys,
but not a need for an in-house attorney. The second question for the council is if the City continues to
contact for services, who should the City contract with? He recalled about 12 years ago, after more than 24
years with the same firm, the council decided to test the market for the possibility of less expensive services.
While it was a given that at least one proposal would be a lower cost than the current cost since a lower
cost was the real purpose for seeking bids, Lighthouse Law offered a lower cost and the City contracted
with them. The cost for their services was known, but the quality of the services was unknown. For about
half their tenure, Lighthouse went through what was probably best described as an apprenticeship of City
business. In recent years, they appear to be doing a good job. He has read and witnessed their annual reports
and believed they were objective and unbiased. In his opinion, it would be a waste of the City’s time and
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April 25, 2023
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the taxpayers’ money to go through another bidding process for legal services because a lower price will
obviously be received for services of unknown quality. The Einstein quote, “Insanity is doing the same
thing over and over and expecting a different result” somewhat applies to this situation.
Lee Kimmelman, Edmonds, referred to the city attorney issue on the agenda and information from
Shoreline provided in the study about maintenance of a law library. The cost of in-house counsel needs to
include the cost of a library and historical background. He suggested the council consider whether they
wanted to take a long term or short-term view. If the council was considering that Edmonds was growing
and its legal problems will also grow so the legal team also needs to grow, in-house counsel makes sense
and will provide a foundation. He thinks of Edmonds like Mayberry, a small town with small town problems
that cannot anticipate or plan for the big town issues. He preferred to have an experienced legal team that
has the infrastructure to adapt to whatever comes their way. In his opinion, in-house counsel may be more
than the City can handle. Another issue with in-house counsel is contract attorneys are still necessary which
reduces the predictability of cost. With regard to the MOU with WSDOT that the council discussed last
week, he said sometimes things need to be simple. In reading the MOU, there is nothing that obligates the
City. If the City ever enters into a contract to purchase the property, all the due diligence can be done, and
he did not see why the council would object to signing the MOU.
7. RECEIVED FOR FILING
1. CLAIM FOR DAMAGES FOR FILING
2. OUTSIDE BOARDS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
3. WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS
8. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS
COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NAND, TO
APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The agenda items
approved are as follows:
1. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 18, 2023
2. APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 18, 2023
3. APPROVAL OF PAYROLL AND BENEFIT CHECKS, DIRECT DEPOSIT AND WIRE
PAYMENTS
4. APPROVAL OF CLAIM CHECKS
5. 2023 APRIL BUDGET AMENDMENT ORDINANCE
9. COUNCIL BUSINESS
1. AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE 2023 UTILITY REPLACEMENT
PROJECT
Senior Utilities Engineer Mike De Lilla reviewed:
• Scope of Work
o 1,870 ft of 12-in, 8-in and 6-in Watermain
o 310 ft of 8-in and 6-in Sewer pipe
o 710 ft of 18-in Sewer pipe
o New Sewer Structures
o 1,180 ft of 8-in & 10-in CIPP Sewer
• Bid Results
Contractor Amount
Shoreline Construction $2,638,969
Rodarte Construction $2,661,789
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April 25, 2023
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Laser Underground $2,708,421
Marshbank Construction $2,879,012
Colacurcio Brothers $3,859,802
Engineers Estimate
$2,852,346
• Proposed Construction Budget
Proposed Budget Amount
Contract Award – Shoreline Construction $2,638,969
Management Reserve (15%) $395,845
Const. Mgmt., Inspection & Testing (15%) $395,845
Total $3,430,659
• Construction Funding
Funding Source Amount
Water Utility Fund $1,792,019
Sewer Utility Fund $1,638,640
Total $3,430,659
• Staff Recommendation
o Award Construction Contract to Shoreline Construction
o Authorize a 15% Management Reserve of $395,845
Council President Tibbott pointed out Shoreline Construction has done a lot of work in the City. Mr. De
Lilla answered staff has been extremely happy with their work, they are very responsible, responsive, and
look ahead to things that may be a problem; everything one would expect a contractor to do, they do and
do it well. He was very glad they were the low bidder.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT TIBBOTT MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO
AWARD THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT TO SHORELINE CONSTRUCTION IN THE
AMOUNT OF $3,430,659.
Council President Tibbott commented he has seen Shoreline Construction’s work firsthand and was glad
they are a company the City can rely on.
Councilmember Olson said she also feels good about the contract award; four of the five bids were in line
with each other as well as with the engineer’s estimate. She referred to the narrative that states this project
was a combination of the annual water and sewer replacement projects and asked why staff was confident
they would receive multiple bids. Mr. De Lilla answered the market has been pretty interesting. With the
pandemic there has been the great resignation among engineers and many jurisdictions are having difficulty
keeping up with projects. Edmonds was lucky to retain its usual timeline for going out to bid but many
cities have not been able to do that so more contractors looking for work. The goal is to go out to bid in the
timeframe of January - April/May when everyone is building their backlog. Doing that usually results in
more bidders and a more favorable bidding climate versus going to bid later in the year when the
construction season is a bigger consideration such as delays due to weather. Going to bid earlier results in
a better chance of doing the work during dry conditions although the weather this spring has been an
anomaly.
Councilmember Olson said she felt lucky the City had the engineers it does, and she expressed appreciation
for the competent estimates they provide. Mr. De Lilla said the engineers have a good idea about costs, the
biggest challenge has been the economy and inflation, but engineers keep in touch with contractors
regarding material availability; for example, sometimes pipe can take 4-8 weeks to be delivered. Having
contractors like Shoreline Construction helps with that as well.
Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes
April 25, 2023
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Councilmember Chen commended staff for getting so many bids and the lowest bid from Shoreline. He
asked about equity and inclusion in the selection of contractors. Mr. De Lilla answered there are state laws
that have to be followed that include inclusion, apprentice utilization measures, etc. He was not familiar
with requirements related to minority-owned businesses. With regard to Shoreline Construction, they are a
minority-owned business, the main owner is Doug Suzuki. Federal contracts have requirement for minority
businesses, but the City’s purchasing policies do not. A lot of consultants the City deals with have minority,
women or veterans owned statuses. The City tries not to always pick the same contractor, but in accordance
with state law, the City is required to accept the lowest bid. There may be ways to increase inclusion, but it
would need to fit the requirement for the low bid, the one true selection item that the City is required to
follow.
Councilmember Chen asked with a big project like this, the engineer must have quality control in place to
ensure work is done properly. Mr. De Lilla answered this project has been 1-1½ in the making. Engineers
coordinate with maintenance and operations staff regarding the projects and sites and compare that to the
sewer, water and stormwater comprehensive plans. Once sites are selected and preliminary alignments
done, the fire marshal is consulted to ensure hydrant coverage is adequate for the project and verify
necessary fire flows. Various models are consulted for water and sewer to ensure demand is met. For
example, last year’s sewer project was constructed due to increased development near 239th that may have
caused issues downstream for the sewer system. From there it is an iterative process with numerous
discussions between public works, engineering, and maintenance and operation. The public is involved
whenever possible, especially with regard to placement of fire hydrants.
Councilmember Chen commented the scariest thing would be to install pipe that ends up not being large
enough. Mr. De Lilla said so far, the modeling has been good, but the comprehensive plan update will
reassess things, more than likely sewer related, because the water system is in pretty good shape.
Councilmember Teitzel commented this was reviewed by the Planning & Public Works Committee. He
referred to bills that were passed by the legislature and headed to the governor that will result in more
density in a non-standard trend line.
Council President Tibbott raised a point of order, requesting councilmembers speak to the motion. Mayor
Nelson ruled point taken.
Councilmember Nand said she has questions about the information presented and was not be comfortable
voting on the motion until she gets those questions answered. She was surprised Shoreline’s bid was
$200,000 below the engineer estimate. She asked whether the management reserve of approximately
$400,000 was adequate in view of labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and fuel cost fluctuations or
should it be higher. Mr. De Lilla answered he anticipated 15% should be fine. For projects like this the
management reserve is usually 10%. The reason this project has a 15% management reserve is the water
main site is closer to the bowl area which has historically had a lot of interesting underground features that
records do not typically show. This is similar to the Dayton replacement project which was accomplished
with the budget provided.
Councilmember Nand said she had a comment related to the issue of DEI that Councilmember Chen brought
up, but she would wait until after the vote on the motion to ask those questions.
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Councilmember Nand said she has a minority and woman-owned business but chooses not to seek an
OMBWE designation because as a lawyer she does not want to be typecast, a decision a lot of other minority
and woman owned businesses make. She asked if it would be possible to do a voluntary self-report for the
REDI manager and engineering to track that demographic information. Mr. De Lilla said that could be
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considered; he did not see any issue with tracking, only having the staff and time to track that metric.
Councilmember Nand said that may be part of the REDI manager’s workload.
Councilmember Teitzel continued his earlier comment, anticipating there will be more density per square
mile in the next 5-10 years; however, infrastructure planning has been based on previous projected densities.
He asked if there were plans for larger diameter pipes or had that been considered yet. Mr. De Lilla answered
the exact locations are currently unknown and will occur based on the new zoning. City staff is definitely
looking into reassessing the sewer and water models in the near horizon. It may be harder to make that
determination for the sewer model as the City takes effluent from other entities to the WWTP. He concluded
stay tuned is his best answer.
2. EDMONDS CITY ATTORNEY DIRECTION DECISION - CONTRACT OR IN-HOUSE?
Councilmember Paine explained tonight is when the council will make a decision whether to remain with
the contracting model for city attorney services or to bring city attorney services in-house. Council has had
an opportunity to review and ask questions about the materials in the packet. The subcommittee has been
working on this since the beginning of the year and have endeavored to present all the information in a
neutral but complete manner including pros and cons for both models, summary information and financial
summaries for the nine comparator cities as well as an assessment of the contracted city attorneys’ hourly
rates. Per the subcommittee’s work plan, if the choice is to continue with contracted services, the
subcommittee will propose a draft Request for Proposals/Qualifications (RFP/RFQ). If the decision is to
bring city attorney services in-house, the administration will be asked to start the process of developing a
job description and ultimately publishing the job bulletin seeking applicants.
Councilmember Paine pointed out the administration will have an opinion about this and the subcommittee
invites the mayor to speak on the issue.
Mayor Nelson began his comments and Councilmember Buckshnis raised a point of order, suggesting the
council vote on whether the mayor should speak first.
Councilmember Paine commented before the council votes, it is important for the council to hear the
administration’s opinion because this is a big decision that includes a lot of the administrative staff who use
the city attorney services daily. Therefore, it is important to have the mayor and administration’s voice in
this discussion. Councilmembers will make their own voices heard during the process and this is an
opportunity to hear the administration’s opinion.
Council President Tibbott raised a point of order, commenting it sounded like Councilmember Paine was
making a motion and discussing the motion. Councilmember Paine said she was making a motion.
COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT TIBBOTT, TO
HAVE THE MAYOR REPRESENT THE ADMINISTRATION AND OFFER THE
ADMINISTRATION’S VOICE AND OPINION.
Councilmember Buckshnis said she will vote against the motion because she preferred the council discuss
this first followed by the mayor weighing in rather than him providing his opinion first.
UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (5-0-2), COUNCILMEMBERS TEITZEL, CHEN,
OLSON, PAINE AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT TIBBOTT VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBERS
BUCKSHNIS AND NAND ABSTAINING.
Mayor Nelson said as someone who was a councilmember who had the opportunity to see how the city
attorney operated from the outside, now as the mayor and seeing how the city attorney operates from that
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perspective and how staff interacts from the city attorney at a level he did not see when he was a
councilmember, he could say a majority of the workload is with a variety of city staff, most of which is
unseen by council as well as by the mayor. There are regular reports, meetings, advice, etc. where all
Lighthouse’s contract attorneys are constantly working with staff on a myriad issues. Without that
experience, it is difficult to look at it objectively and say an in-house attorney would be better because of
X or a contract attorney would be because of Y. He has had the pleasure of working with one contract
attorney who he believes has done a great job. He was unsure he could be objective but preferred to keep
the contract attorney because of who the contract attorney firm is.
To ensure everyone understands the process, Council President Tibbott explained tonight the council is
making a decision regarding contracted city attorney services or in-house city attorney. The intent is to
discuss how to proceed at the next council meeting. He had an opportunity to review the survey responses
from city council, city staff and others and found the reviews regarding the current contracted city attorney
were very good. He opined the City consistently gets quality legal input from whomever at Lighthouse is
providing legal counsel, whether Mr. Taraday, the labor specialist or other specialists. He expressed support
for an RFP process for a contracted attorney.
Councilmember Teitzel thanked Councilmembers Paine and Nand for their professional and diligent work
gathering information. He stressed the information in the packet is presented by the subcommittee without
any bias or spin. Tonight the subcommittee members will be speaking as individual councilmembers and
provide their own opinions. He referred to the list of pros and cons, highlighting one of the pros of hiring
an in-house attorney is it is intended to be a long-term commitment such that the city attorney hopefully
will become a long-term employee and gain institutional knowledge, a pro provided by one of the
comparator cities. The term “long term commitment” is important, because if the council were to make that
change, it would be a long-term commitment, a choice that cannot be made lightly and needs to be well
thought through.
Councilmember Teitzel referred to another pro of hiring an in-house attorney, City attorney(s) are generally
accessible for in-person consultation and will maintain regular office hours. He noted that was clearly a
benefit to be able to go down the hall and talk to the attorney. That pro was also provided by one of the
comparator cities.
Councilmember Teitzel highlighted a con of hiring an in-house city attorney, as a generalist, the city
attorney(s) may not have knowledge of specialty areas of the law, requiring contracting of outside counsel
to special legal needs. This can make it difficult to assess the net total city attorney costs (when in-house
and the need for ad hoc contracting legal services are considered). Councilmember Teitzel highlighted
another con, as city employee(s), in house attorney(s) require full benefits packages, incur professional
expenses related to the practice of law (including legal research engines, continuing legal education credits,
bar dues, professional association membership, etc.) and office support, which require a municipal budget
that is able and willing to support those needs. A city attorney arrangement will likely require multiple
attorneys (a single attorney would likely be unable to cover the workload), a paralegal and assistant to cover
the range of legal issues facing a city.
Councilmember Teitzel highlighted another con, The in-house attorney(s) will report to the mayor, and that
arrangement could compromise the independence of the city attorney(s) since the mayor—as the direct
supervisor—may exert political pressure on the decisions of the city attorney(s). Councilmember Teitzel
assured he was not saying that would happen or was likely to happen but there was the potential due to the
direct reporting relationship versus the current contracted relationship.
Councilmember Teitzel referred to pros and cons for a contracted city attorney, highlighting the following
pros: offers a third-party, impartial, perspective; typically, a contracted city attorney firm has expertise in
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Page 15
specialty areas in addition to standard municipal legal areas—minimizing the need to seek contracted help
from additional firms; and no direct line of reporting to the administration, which can reduce potential for
bias and the appearance of political interference in legal decisions.
Councilmember Teitzel highlighted cons for a contracted city attorney: lack of cost predictability in the
hourly rate model, as opposed to the less common flat-rate model; performance evaluation process can be
cumbersome and vague (as opposed to a direct reporting arrangement); City may not have consistency in
attorney coverage (e.g., when primary attorney is not available, a substitute may step in who is not as
familiar with the current city issues). Councilmember Teitzel summarized each model has pros and cons.
He reiterated if the council chooses to go in-house that is a big, long-term decision, not to be taken lightly
and will require funding contract attorneys in addition to the in-house attorney.
Councilmember Teitzel cited numbers from the data provided. The in-house annual expense for 2022
ranged from $725,000 in Shoreline to $1.5 million in Puyallup; Edmonds paid Lighthouse $647,000 in
2022. He referred to the 2023 hourly rate comparison for current contracted attorneys, Lighthouse Tier 1
attorneys bill at $336/hour and Tier 2 attorneys bill at $253/hour, which is in the mid-range of other 2023
contracted city attorney rates. He concluded Edmonds was getting a fair deal from that perspective
compared to the market.
COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS,
THAT THE CITY CONTINUE TO CONTRACT FOR CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES.
Councilmember Nand said, speaking not as a member of the legal assessment subcommittee but as a
councilmember, she was in favor of retaining the contract model as well as bypassing an RFP and retaining
the contract with Lighthouse. She did not think the City of Edmonds was large enough administratively to
justify having in-house counsel. Funding the RFPs for support paralegal and assistants and managing
outside billing of specialty law firms is an endeavor that a much larger city might undertake; Edmonds does
not have that level of need. The City’s needs are more than adequately being served by Lighthouse and the
contact attorney model. She anticipated the City would be taking on more fuss, expense and headaches than
needed with an in-house attorney because basically the City is contracting with Lighthouse to manage that
administrative burden. As the 2022 Legal Investment Summary for Comparator Cities indicates, the City
is getting a very good bargain.
Councilmember Buckshnis commented she takes this job very seriously and was involved with the review
in 2014 and saw the fiasco in 2019. She also worked with Ogden Murphy Wallace when she was first on
council. She has discussed this with many individuals including attorneys and supports continuing to
contract for city attorney services. An issue for discussion is non-biased decisions and whether the citizens
still have trust in Lighthouse.
Councilmember Teitzel raised a point of order, suggesting Councilmember Buckshnis speak to the motion.
His motion was not related to any particular firm but continuing to contract for city attorney services. Mayor
Nelson ruled point taken.
Councilmember Buckshnis commented this was an important issue due to lawsuits, tort, land use, and
everything imaginable facing the City such as 5G and agreed the City should continue contracting for city
attorney services.
Councilmember Olson commended the subcommittee for the information provided in the packet. She
referenced two cons related to an in-house attorney that she was interested in avoiding and she has a strong
bias toward a contract arrangement. Those cons are related to potential gaps in coverage should the counsel
be ill or on vacation. There has also been a question raised of whether one in-house city attorney would be
adequate or if more than one would be required which makes it a less financially viable option. Under the
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Page 16
current contract city attorney arrangement, when Mr. Taraday is away, there are other very competent
attorneys available to fill that role. She highlighted another con related to an in-house attorney reporting to
the mayor and potential for compromising the independence of the city attorney. Those were big reasons
not to utilize an in-house city attorney model. Almost all the pros of an in-house city attorney are met with
the City’s particular contracted attorney Lighthouse such as familiarity with city issues and personnel, long
term commitment and gain of institutional knowledge, generally accessible, focused only on City issues
and more sensitive to ongoing issues because regularly works in the City. She had no reservations with a
vote for a contracted city attorney model.
COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER NAND, TO AMEND
THE MOTION TO CONTINUE CONTRACTING WITH LIGHTHOUSE EFFECTIVE TONIGHT.
Councilmember Paine commented it was clear the council had all the votes needed for an RFP for a
contracted city attorney model. With Lighthouse, the City has terrific access to a broad range of legal
services with a well-respected municipal services law firm. A contracted city attorney is more cost effective
and multi-year contracts offer consistency and easy access to legal advice for both the council and
administration. The service provided by Lighthouse is tantamount to having in-house counsel but provided
via a contract. Looking from a 30,000-foot view, the City has had very effective counsel who knows
everyone, can speak to their concerns and picks up on threads. Lighthouse’s staffing model has been very
effective with superb services. She expressed support for a new contract with Lighthouse effective next
week.
Councilmember Teitzel said although he has had a very good experience with Lighthouse, he will not
support the motion because many citizens have said it is time after 12-13 years to see what is available in
market. It is incumbent on councilmembers to hear those voices and to respond. He preferred to proceed
with an RFP which both the contract with Lighthouse and the ordinance related to the city attorney provides
for.
Councilmember Olson asked if there were any councilmember who did not want to take a vote on this issue
tonight. She did not want to vote if anyone wanted more time to make that decision. To the extent that the
council proceeds with a vote tonight, she had the same opinion bubble up through this process. She was
thankful for the process and the amount of information provided to council. To the point made by another
councilmember about wanting to learn what is available in the market, the council is unlikely to learn that
from applications or interviews so that is not a compelling reason. Having someone actually do the work is
how one sees how the work will be done. She had compelling reasons for continuing with the current
contract city attorney after evaluating this packet. Many of the pros of an in-house attorney have been met
with the City’s existing contracted attorney, which may not be the case for other cities who utilize contracted
city attorneys per the feedback from comparator cities.
Councilmember Olson observed Lake Stevens contracts separately for employment law and Puyallup
contracts separately for telecom and cable franchises, areas of expertise that Lighthouse has. Issaquah paid
two additional months of overlap between their new and old contracted attorneys when they selected
another contracted attorney. Even if the City obtains a new contract attorney at exactly the same hourly
cost, they will not have the institutional knowledge that Lighthouse has, requiring more hours for the new
contract attorney to gather information. She concluded it would be more expensive to contract with a
different city attorney. Based on the above, and crediting Lighthouse for navigating a very contentious few
years with professionalism and patience, she will support continuing to contract with Lighthouse.
In speaking to the amendment to bypass an RFP process and negotiate a contract with Lighthouse,
Councilmember Nand said her philosophy is if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If there had been serious problems
as a result of the review of Lighthouse in January where multiple people who work with the city attorney
indicated they were dissatisfied with the level of service, she would have supported devoting time to
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managing an RFP process. However, she did not think that was a good use of the council’s time this year
and preferred the City strengthen its relationship with Lighthouse. Although she was unsure the City would
ever get back to the incredible flat rate that Lighthouse offered, the hourly rate contract is being managed
very judiciously and the City is making good use of taxpayer dollars. She preferred if it was not broke,
don’t not fix it and for council to focus on actual issues facing the City and not fall prey to a very vocal
minority that have issues with the city attorney. Of the 43,000 people in Edmonds, 99.99% do not have a
problem with Lighthouse or the services they provide.
Councilmember Chen observed a lot has been said about the wonderful service provided by the current city
attorney, but as elected officials, the council represents its constituents in making a decision whether to
have legal services provided via a contracted firm or in-house attorney. He agreed with continuing with a
contract model given the City’s size and situation and all the pros and cons that councilmembers have cited.
However, he did not support the amendment because he wanted to see what’s out there. If Lighthouse
continued to be the strongest candidate, logically they would be selected as the City’s contracted attorney.
Councilmember Buckshnis said there was a reason the City chose to look at other attorneys in the past when
OMW was the city attorney. Like Mr. Wambolt described, the City hired a young firm with a flat rate model
and learned a lot. It is important to citizens to be judicious because there has been a long-term relationship
with Lighthouse and there have been a lack of trust with some citizens on specific issues. She agreed an
RFP process would take a lot of time, but the last few years have been very tedious and troublesome with
some things that happened.
Councilmember Paine urged councilmembers to support the amendment because the City has been getting
high quality service from Lighthouse. The judicial officers who commented on their work said Lighthouse
was top of the line and could not have scored them higher. Lighthouse has been doing municipal services
work for the City with high marks.
UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (4-2-1), COUNCIL PRESIDENT TIBBOTT AND
COUNCILMEMBERS OLSON, PAINE AND NAND VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBERS CHEN
AND BUCKSHNIS VOTING NO; AND COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL ABSTAINING.
MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
10. MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Mayor Nelson gave a special shout out to Council President Tibbott, commenting he was looking forward
to councilmembers and directors attending the budget retreat and having a good discussion.
11. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilmember Buckshnis reported Earth Day at Marina Beach was great. She thanked Robert Ha and the
Asian Service Center team and Councilmember Chen. She heard the other team which included the youth
commission doing cleanup at Yost Park also had a great day.
Councilmember Nand commented the community was struck by two tragedies this week, an innocent man
was stabbed to death going to the grocery store at WinCo on Highway 99 and there was nothing people
could do to save his life, and a young boy was shot, whether randomly or targeted. Her heart broke that a
mother posted on My Edmonds Neighbors asking that anyone with information regarding the shooting
report to the police. The council is trying to move police services to Highway 99, and she assured this is
not a part of the community that is being disregarded or should be underserved. Edmonds should not be the
type of place where people are stabbed or shot. There is violence happening in the community indigenously
and coming into the community from other places. People should feel safe to live, work, and visit Edmonds
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Page 18
and just go to the grocery store or let their son play with friends. She summarized these events were
heartbreaking and her heart goes out to those families.
Councilmember Paine echoed Councilmember Nand’s comments, the escalating violence needs to be
addressed. She announced Edmonds Earth Fair on Saturday at the Frances Anderson field from 12 to 3:30
p.m. The public is invited to attend and volunteer opportunities are available. The Climate Protection
Committee has been working on the fair for the last 15 months. It will include providers such as Ridwell
and opportunities to recycle plastic, food truck, dietitians, composing tips and tricks, haulers, etc.
Council President Tibbott referred to tragedies that occurred this last week, commenting it is very
regrettable in so many ways to see this happening in Edmonds, it is frightening, grieving and not reflective
of the Edmonds he knows. One of the silver linings for him was to see how effectively the Edmond Police
Department worked with other police departments to develop a list of suspects and eventually bring people
to justice.
Council President Tibbott reported he and his wife recently celebrated their 29th anniversary; the vast
majority of their married life has been spent in Edmonds. There were many places to choose from for dinner.
He thanked his friends who offered suggestions and reminded anyone celebrating an anniversary, birthday,
etc. that there are many great places in Edmonds.
Councilmember Olson commented on the recent incidents, finding them so regrettable, and her heart goes
out to those families. Even one incident is too many. She appreciated the KOMO story that indicated
Edmonds’ violent crime is down overall, the lowest since 2018 even with the addition of these two
incidents. She wanted the public to hear that information, acknowledging incidents like these in the
community are very scary and upsetting. She hoped everyone could find a way to way to contribute to
broken window kind of crimes. It is not coincidence that there is gang graffiti in Edmonds and gang-like,
violent actions happening. She relayed a story of someone who used to live across the street from a school
in Seattle where graffiti showed up every day. They and the neighbor got permission from the school to
paint over graffiti and it became a game to see who could paint over the graffiti faster. If that’s what it takes,
she wanted to do that to protect Edmonds and let gangs know that Edmonds is not a place for them.
Councilmember Chen said he was saddened, and his heart goes out to the family of the man stabbed to
death on Highway 99. There have been many incidences in the last few years in the underserved Highway
99 corridor including the 7-Eleven shooting, the Boo Han Market shooting, a robbery at gunpoint on the
Interurban Trail, the Plum Tree Plaza fire that destroyed 14 businesses and now this stabbing in the parking
lot of a shopping center and numerous break-ins and thefts, shoplifting, etc. There is a hotel coming to this
corridor, bridge housing that will help people in need. Two years ago, he recommended a study to relocate
the police substation to Highway 99 which did not get much traction. In the 2023’s budget, he requested
$60,000 to study relocating services. He hoped this was a wake-up call for elected officials and the public
that crime is concentrated in this area and police services need to be where the action is. The Uptown City
Hall provides a presence on Highway 99, but it is not enough to deter crimes.
Councilmember Chen thanked Councilmember Buckshnis for her leadership in organizing the youth
commission to help with the Marina Beach cleanup. He never knew it would be much fun picking up
garbage. He said the people who participated from the Asian Service Center is not the entire team, it is only
1/10th of them.
Councilmember Teitzel reported on April 16 a hate crime incident occurred at the Edmonds United
Methodist Church on Caspers Street in Edmonds where pornographic and hate filled flyers were placed on
car windshields in the parking lot. The images on the flyers were horrific and he hoped to never see
something like that again. As Mayor Nelson has said on multiple occasions which he completely agreed
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Page 19
with, hate has no place in Edmonds. He read from the press release the church posted on April 20 in the
local media, “A response and a call to a community vigil. Dear Church and Edmonds Community. On
Sunday, April 16, we had an incident at church during our 10:30 am service. A man put double sided flyers
on congregants’ cars in the parking lot. The flyers were violent, transphobic, homophobic, racist, and child
pornographic. A staff member saw the flyers and removed them from most of the cars. This incident was
immediately reported to the Edmonds Police Department. The police were already made aware of the
incident from a neighbor and were concerned. The police offered a presence in the parking lot on Sunday
evening during the youth group meeting.
Our Edmonds UMC Administrative Board met on Tuesday, April 17 to discuss the matter and create a plan
moving forward. The Board unanimously agreed to increase our security measures including additional
cameras on the property, locked building doors, a buzzer system to enter the building during the week, and
additional measures. The Board is taking this threat very seriously and is creating a robust safety and
emergency preparedness plan to implement in the next two weeks to adequately take care of our staff,
school, and groups that meet in and use the building. The Board also unanimously affirmed Edmonds
UMC’s commitment as a reconciling congregation: a church that affirms, welcomes, serves, and loves all
people, especially folks who are trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, and intersex. Pastor Ann will
serve as our primary point of contact as we deal with this matter. There is a song written by Mark Miller
with the words:
We resist, we refuse to let hatred in!
We rise up, we won’t back down!
We’re in this ‘til the end.
Pray for your enemies!
Welcome the stranger!
Show love to your neighbor!
We’re in this ‘til the end.
This disturbing, hateful, violent act is meant to intimidate us and strike fear into us. As you read this and
learn about this incident, if you feel afraid or anxious, I affirm it. This is a really disturbing event. And I
also want to affirm that we are Easter people, church. We resist and refuse to let hatred in!”
Councilmember Teitzel continued, the church plans to hold a community vigil “We Side with Love” on
Tuesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. in the Edmonds United Methodist Church sanctuary. He encouraged elected
officials and the public to attend.
Executive Session
At 9:04 p.m. the city council convened in executive session for approximately 20 minutes to discuss
pending or potential litigation per RCW 42.30.110(1)(i).
The executive session concluded at 9:23 p.m.
Reconvene in Open Session
The meeting was reconvened at 9:26 p.m. No action was taken.
12 ADJOURN
With no further business, the council meeting was adjourned at 9:26 p.m.
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____
SCOTT PASSEY, CITY CLERK