The Everett City Council convened on September 23, 2026, at 2:30 PM. The meeting included the introduction of three new firefighters, a public hearing on the 2027 proposed budget revenue briefing, and significant public testimony opposing the proposed consolidation of Everett Transit with Community Transit. The council approved consent items and a routine budget amendment, and received a first reading on the Walter E. Hall Playground Renovation project.
Mayor's Correction: Mayor Franklin addressed three inaccuracies: (1) paratransit employees would become union employees under the ILA and would never be absorbed into DART; (2) service cannot be reduced and must grow, as written in the ILA; (3) the long-range plan does not grow service to the same level as consolidation.
Good afternoon, residents of Everett, Washington. I led I would like to call to order the Everett City Council meeting of September 23rd, 2026. For information on council meetings and how to participate, please visit our website at Everett Wad.gov slash city council. Please note we don't allow comments of any kind of campaigning, whether for or against ballot measures or candidate running for office. We also do not accept comments focused on personal matters that are unrelated to city business. Clerk, will you please take the Mayor Franklin here? Councilmember Bader. Here. Vice President Ryan here. Councilmember Burbano. Here. Councilmember Tui here. Councilmember Weir here. Councilmember Zarlingo. Here. President Schwab. Here. And at this time I'd like to ask Vice President Ryan to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Stand up here. My Pledge Allegiance to the play. Under God. Indimciful. Thank you. And this time I'd like to ask Councilmember Zarlingo to lead or read the land acknowledgement. This council acknowledges the original inhabitants of this place, the Stohops people and their successors, the Talelep tribes. Since time immemorial, they've hunted, fished, gathered on, and taken care of these lands and waters. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. We will strive to be honest about our past mistakes and bring about a future that includes their people, stories, and voices to more of a form a more just and equitable society. Thank you. Um good afternoon. I keep wanting to say evening afternoon meetings are like dark like evening too. So it's making it harder. Well, good afternoon, Mary. Good afternoon. I have just a few updates uh today. Um first, I'm excited to share we've reached an important milestone for the potential transit consolidation. Earlier today, we released the interlocal agreement with community transit. We met with regional media this morning and shared the opportunity we have before us and the impact it will have on our community. The ILA is now available on our transit consolidated consolidation website. So Everett Wad.gov backslash transit consolidation. As a reminder to council, at your next meeting, we'll be out asking the council to set a date for the public hearing. This will be a procedural vote. No action will be taken on the ILA until after the public hearing. So there's still more time for community members to review review the agreement and continue to be a part of this important process. I personally am really excited about what transit consolidation will bring and will do for our growing community of Everett. And then Sound Transit also recently released the draft environmental impact study. They are seeking community feedback on station locations as well as potential alignments and the Everett Lake extension. It's a really exciting uh and important milestone for us. So I highly encourage community members to share your thoughts with Sound Transit on that. And you can learn more by visiting Sound Transit.org backslash Everett Link D E or dash D E I S.