Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting: September 20, 2022
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Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting - September 20, 2022
The City Council held a study session at 5:30 p.m. and convened the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. The study session focused on the Regional Mobile Crisis Response Interlocal Agreement. The regular meeting included special presentations, a consent calendar, business items, and reports. The council provided direction on several key issues, approved ordinances and resolutions, and heard public comment.
Consent Calendar
- Approved 7-0: Minutes of September 6, 2022; audit of accounts (payroll $3,848,983.08, bills $5,114,347.51); claims for damages acknowledged; acceptance of NE 124th Street/113th Avenue NE Pedestrian Safety Enhancements (lien period established); acknowledgment of Human Services Commission member resignation; School Zone Safety Camera Program Expansion Update; Resolution R-5555 (Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan); Resolution R-5556 (Transportation Commission Work Plan 2022-2023); Resolution R-5557 (CDBG fund allocation for 2023); Resolution R-5558 (interlocal purchasing agreement with Cowlitz County); Ordinance O-4813 (Transportation Commission work plan requirement); July 2022 Financial Dashboard; 2022 2nd Quarter Investment Report; Procurement Report.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jennifer Coombs (Executive Director, Essence Health and Research Foundation) asked the council to include her nonprofit in human services grant funding, stating the process favors large nonprofits. She requested at least minimal funding to establish a relationship.
- Katherine Freire delivered a statement citing constitutional rights, accusing the council of violating their oaths and committing felonies under U.S. Code Title 18.
- Heaven Strothers-Randall (representing King County Sexual Assault Resource Center) requested continued support for sexual assault survivor resources, sharing a personal story of family members who were sexually abused.
- Michell Billing (resident of Velocity Apartments, Imagine Housing) raised concerns about lack of community dinners and case management at her housing complex. She recommended accountability and transparency from Imagine Housing.
- Alex Tsimerman criticized restrictions on signs and public participation, accusing the council of constitutional violations and comparing them to "Nazi Gestapo fascists."
Study Session: Regional Mobile Crisis Response Interlocal Agreement Update
- Deputy City Manager Beth Goldberg and Management Analyst Carly Joerger presented a draft interlocal agreement (ILA) to create a Community Mobile Crisis Response (CMCR) agency as an independent nonprofit between Kirkland, Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline. The agency would deploy mental health professionals as primary responders.
- Council provided unanimous support for the concept but requested adjustments: more frequent Principals Assembly (elected officials) meetings in the first years; a non-voting liaison from the Community Advisory Board to the Executive Board (optional); rebalancing the Operations Board to include more behavioral health representatives; and a clearer emphasis that the response is an alternative to police.
- Council also discussed staffing levels (13 employees, day/swing shifts with on-call graveyard), funding (Kirkland at 54% of city contributions initially, $4.3M total from cities, assuming $1M in grants), and weighted voting (supermajority requiring Kirkland's affirmative vote).
- Staff will incorporate feedback and bring a revised ILA for council adoption on October 18.
Special Presentations
- Kirkland Municipal Court Update: Judge John Olson reported the court is fully operational post-COVID with virtual hearings, the Community Court program (25 graduates, 22 active), and probation programs (DV MRT, Anger Management MRT). Challenges include the Blake decision (drug possession) and breath machine litigation. The court has no backlogs and has improved efficiency with electronic scheduling and document retention.
- COVID-19 Update: Deputy City Manager Beth Goldberg and Community Responder Lead Renee Cox reported that three community responders have been hired, with more to come. They also provided an update on the North King County Crisis Receiving Center: Connections Health received a $4.2M state grant for a 16-bed stabilization unit (target opening October 2023). Additional funding is sought for an outpatient clinic and evaluation & treatment center.
Discussion Items
2023-2024 Human Services Commission Grant Funding Recommendations
- Human Services Manager Jen Boone and Commission Chair Gildas Cheung presented three options: Option A (base budget $1.7M/year), Option B (one-time funding and COLA), Option C (additional behavioral health and rental assistance). Total recommendation $2.5M/year ($5M biennium). Framework includes 10% set-aside for BIPOC organizations in base budget, 15% across all options, and $40,000/year unallocated for Indigenous and Black/African American residents.
- Council expressed strong support for the framework and hoped to fund all options. Council requested staff further explore the unallocated fund idea before committing a specific dollar amount. The city manager will incorporate direction into the proposed budget.
Houghton Community Council Sunsetting Phase 2 Code Amendments
- Planning Supervisor Nick Cilluffo presented Ordinance O-4811 (zoning code) and O-4812 (municipal code) to eliminate references to the former Houghton Community Council and achieve regulatory consistency citywide.
- Key Outcomes: Ordinance O-4811 approved 7-0 with an amendment (moved by Councilmember Nixon, seconded by Black) to correct the definition of "cottage" from 1,500 to 1,700 square feet. Ordinance O-4812 approved 7-0.
NE 85th Street Station Area Plan - Phase 2 Update
- Deputy Planning Director Allison Zike gave an update on remaining work: form-based code for perimeter districts and planned action ordinance.
- Council affirmed that affordable housing is the top priority and provided direction: explore incentive weighting to favor deeper affordability (e.g., 20% inclusionary), higher bedroom counts, and more units; consider keeping affordable housing as an incentive rather than a base requirement; ensure mixed-use with commercial retention; and engage the development community for feedback on feasibility.
Kirkland Avenue and Lake Street Intersection Construction Closure Options
- Capital Projects Manager Rod Steitzer presented three options: partial, minimized, and full closure (8 weeks). Full closure is fastest, cheapest, and most predictable.
- Council supported Option 1 (full closure) due to predictability, cost savings, and reduced impact on downtown businesses (no through traffic). Council also requested pedestrian/bicycle access and traffic cameras to monitor detours.
Maintenance Center Storm Water Pollution Prevention Project Update
- Senior Project Engineer Will Denton presented four alternative locations for a material storage bay.
- Council supported Alternative 4 as the most efficient and safe, noting the opportunity to improve aesthetics on the Cross Kirkland Corridor side.
Unmanned Aircraft System Pilot Program Update
- Deferred.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved 7-0.
- Ordinance O-4811 (zoning amendments) approved 7-0 as amended.
- Ordinance O-4812 (municipal code amendments) approved 7-0.
- Motion to authorize the Mayor to sign draft letters to Sound Transit Board (East Link) and King County Council (K Line) carried 7-0. Staff will incorporate additional detail from the Regional Transit Committee meeting.
- Council provided direction on: mobile crisis response ILA (staff to revise), human services grant funding framework (support with further exploration of unallocated fund), 85th Street plan (prioritize affordable housing, engage developers), intersection closure (option 1), and maintenance center bay (alternative 4).
- Executive session held to discuss pending litigation from 10:15 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, I will thank you. I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of September the 20th, 2022. Tonight's meeting is a hybrid meeting. Community members are welcome to join us either in person or remotely through Zoom or by telephone. Clerk, will you please call the roll for this meeting? Here. Here. I don't think she can hear you. Council Member Falcon. Here. Councilmember Pascal? Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Sweet. Here. Thank you. Our study session tonight is on a regional mobile crisis response and our local agreement update. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at approximately 7 30. City manager. Okay, thank you so much, Benamair, and members of the council. So tonight our primary focus is to walk you through the draft interlocal agreement between five cities. A reminder that the other four cities are also having a similar presentation. Kenmar went last night and the other three cities are going to be going between tonight and September 26th. And we're looking for council comments and feedback. And then I'm going to turn this over to Beth Goldberg, our deputy city manager, to give an introduction. Good evening, uh Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Council members. As uh City Manager Triplett uh indicated, we are here to provide you an overview of our uh work to develop a proposed community mobile crisis response agency. And um I'm gonna turn a pause one second while we have our we have an extra computer going here, so we're gonna just pause for just a second. Okay, there we go. Okay. Go back back to you. Back back to me. Uh so um I'm gonna provide a brief overview of where we are heading tonight, and then I'm gonna turn uh the presentation over to uh Carly Jorger, our management analyst for the bulk of the presentation, and then uh wrap up. Before we get started, I would like to introduce a few people who are um here physically or um in um remotely to uh participate in tonight's presentation or to respond to questions. Uh first we've got uh Karen Reed, who is our consultant who helped facilitate the negotiations over this draft ILA and drafted the uh ILA itself and articles of incorporation on the phone. Uh we have Kevin Raymond, our city attorney, who along with Deanna Gregory of Pacifica Law conducted the legal review of the ILA and Articles of Incorporation. And then we have uh Renee Cox here, our interim community responder program supervisor, um, as we um will be introducing later on the staff uh that we have hired for that program. So uh Carly, if you can move to the next slide, please. So uh tonight we intend to provide you all with a little bit of background on how we got here, go through the highlights of the ILA and its key provisions with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussions as Carly presents those details, and then we'll wrap up with an overview or an update on where we are with our community responder staffing and our efforts to cite a crisis clinic in North King County. Carly, if you could switch to the next slide. So establishing a mobile crisis response agency is part of a larger effort to establish a regional system that better responds to community members in crisis and provide alternatives to police for those suffering from mental and behavioral health crises. So uh best practices in this field uh suggest that um people need or we need to provide someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go, as uh is depicted on this chart on this slide. Uh the someone to call is uh the 988 system in a in conjunction with our 911 system for um the audience um and as a reminder to council members the 988 system uh launched in mid July and is uh place for people in crisis to call. Um if uh a response is needed, they generally will forward those calls to 911. We will talk about this a little bit more with uh the proposed budget that we'll be presenting in a couple of weeks, but we're also looking at whether there is benefit to providing uh mental health professional in the 911 dispatch center to respond to calls. So that's something that we will be uh discussing, I'm sure quite a bit with uh the upcoming budget discussions. In terms of someone to respond, um, we've got our community responder program and the uh North King County radar program that are responding. This effort is intended. This ILA we're presenting tonight is intended to strengthen and bolster that that uh our ability to respond by creating a regional entity.
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