The Everett City Council Community Health and Safety Committee met Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 5:00 PM in City Council Chambers. Councilmember Weir presided according to the transcript, although the printed agenda listed Councilmember Tuohy as chair; Council President Don Schwab was present. The committee reordered the agenda at the start, moving the legislative session debrief to the end so the mayor's youth violence prevention update could be heard while Youth Advisory Board guests were present. No formal motions or votes were taken.
There we are. Hello, City of Everett residents and those here with us today. I'd like to welcome you to the Community Health and Safety Council Committee meeting for April 1st, 2026. I have with me Council President Don Schwab, and we've got some special guests. Um the agenda is a legislative session debrief. Jennifer. Yes, I was wondering if we could put that at the end and maybe take the next item, the mayor's youth violence prevention directive for all these folks to help share. That's fantastic. What a great suggestion. Thank you. Okay, I'll let them take it away then. All right. Good afternoon, uh, Councilman Weir, Council President Schwab, uh, Robert Getz, Chief of Police. Thanks for the invite to provide you our uh law enforcement perspective and give you an update on our efforts toward um reducing youth violence and increasing youth safety in our community. This continues to be a key priority for our department and for the city as a whole and reflects the mayor's sustained commitment to your reducing youth violence, dating back to when uh she first took office in 2018 and reinforced through subsequent directives in 2023 and 2025. The work I'll describe today is directly aligned with the 2025 renewed commitment to youth safety and many of the efforts underway as a result of that directive and continue council support. At its core, youth safety is not the responsibility of any single organization. It is truly a whole community effort, one that requires engagement before, during, and after an incident of violence occurs. Our approach is structured around three core components: prevention, intervention, and enforcement. Starting with prevention. This is where we focus much of our efforts because it's where we have the greatest impact long term. At the center of our effort are our school resource officers who serve as our first line of engagement with youth. This is a key element of the mayor's 2025 directive. Today, we have school resource officers assigned to the Everett High School, Cascade High School, as well as North Explorer Eisenhower and Evergreen Middle Schools. At the beginning of 2025 school year, we filled one of our two vacant SRO positions, expanding our ability to build relationships and intervene early. We are also working to fill our last vacant uh position projected at the start of the 2026-2027 school year, so that we can return to a full-time coverage at Eisenhower Middle School and Evergreen Middle School right now. That those two schools are split between one school resource officer. Beyond the safety setting, we are continuing to expand our opportunity for positive engagement with uh youth in the community. Another emphasis area in the mayoral directives. This this includes programs like the Casino Road Soccer Camp, our police STEM Academy, our partnerships with the boys and girls club through events like the East uh Sports Gaming Competition and badges for baseball. In addition, I want to highlight the recent announcement uh announced partnership between the city and boys and girls club to establish a new club at or around Casino Road. This will create additional space and opportunity for meaningful engagement between our officers, youth in the area, where we know we will have connection, where we know that connections matter. Another important piece in the mayoral directives in is engagement is to engage area youth in a discussion about violence and violence prevention. With me tonight are two members of the mayor's youth advisory board, Kylie and Eva. I'll let them talk about what they're doing. Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm Kylie, this year's admin, and this is Eva, the city's intern. We're excited to share a little bit about Mayor Franklin's Youth Advisory Board, also known as YAB. What we do, why it matters, and what we're currently working on. YAB is made up of high schoolers from different parts of Everett Everett's community. And each member brings something unique. From their personal background to their interests, we all have something to bring to the table. We also work alongside city staff who help guide conversations and make sure our ideas can turn into action. The mayor's youth advisory board was established in 2019 by Mayor Franklin to elevate youth voices in shaping Everett's future. This year we have 16 members who represent a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Each year, YAB focuses on different topics and themes that are affecting Everett. And this year, YAP has chosen to focus and work with Mayor Frank Franklin on youth safety. We wanted to take what we've seen and experience and turn those insights into meaningful actions. By sharing our voices, we aim to help create solutions that reflect the real needs of young people in Everett.