OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Committee of the Chairs Meeting – September 23, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Tuesday, September 23, 2025
BodyOlympia, Washington
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, September 23, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 55:32

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

Or Pro Tim, you want to kick us off?

0:07

Yeah, happy to.

0:09

Um, is that all right with you, Danny?

0:10

I think you've been leading these meetings.

0:13

Only because uh no one else raised their hand.

0:16

You go right ahead.

0:18

Oh, okay.

0:19

Well, hi everyone.

0:21

Um, all right.

0:23

So uh Jay, I thought that you sent us over a um uh just some draft topics.

0:32

Is that right?

0:33

And is that mostly carryover from last time?

0:35

I don't think we did uh you know individually asking people this time around.

0:39

Is that right?

0:40

And you were uh we you and I didn't meet last week, but I did talk to everybody last week about and so the topics that are there are kind of a uh hodgepodge of things I heard as potential ideas.

0:51

Um then sprinkled in with some things like work plan that we usually always do and um and other things, but that's that's what the that's what's in front of you.

1:03

Okay.

1:04

And then um, and then the I know this might be silly, but the PBB is priority based budgeting.

1:10

Is that correct?

1:10

It's correct.

1:12

Okay, great.

1:13

Uh so um though I am facilitating if I do anticipate this to be more casual of a work group meeting, so I hope that's all right.

1:23

Um so if uh do folks have any strong feelings?

1:26

I think kind of separating.

1:28

We can either uh narrow down the topics or we can kind of separate uh by what's already there, what would be landing on Friday or Saturday, and then kind of narrow from there.

1:39

I anticipate having to nick some of these items because it is a pretty healthy list of top topics.

1:45

So any strong feelings from a committee meets.

1:49

Could we like put the document uh that Jay sent around up on the screen so we're all working from the um looking at the thing?

1:58

So I don't have to dig through my email and open it up.

2:00

Um yeah, that sounds good.

2:03

We've typically started with like logistics first, like nailing down um potential dates, uh um location facilitator, and then we work our way through what we think we can get through on the agenda.

2:18

Yeah, I hear that.

2:19

Um we can we could also go that route.

2:22

Uh I plan on hitting logistics today for sure.

2:25

So good reminder on that.

2:26

Um I guess I'd just ask uh Susan or yeah.

2:33

Someone that's in the office.

2:34

If they could put it up on the screen, that'd be great.

2:37

I shared it.

2:38

What's up?

2:39

Okay.

2:43

Great.

2:45

Okay.

2:47

So uh let's see.

2:49

So it sounds like uh council member Madrone is uh feeling like we should start with logistics.

2:55

And um I don't feel strongly that we don't.

2:57

So I guess we can start there.

2:59

So uh I believe January 23rd and 24th are locked in, and and there are any questions on that.

3:05

Is that right, Jay?

3:06

Looking at you since you met with folks.

3:09

Yeah, um, I didn't talk specifically about the date.

3:11

I just went off what we put on the calendar at your um last retreat.

3:16

We moved it out um past the three-day weekend to get later in January.

3:21

A lot of and I think there's a lot of reasons to do that, especially this year with a new council member.

3:25

Uh, you're gonna have at least one new council member coming on board and to give them some time to have a swearing in and not be baming to retreat their first weekend.

3:34

So um we left it at that kind of third weekend in January as you did last year, but it can it can move around if you need, but I think um that's the date that we had selected.

3:45

Okay, yeah, it makes sense.

3:46

I remember uh that suggestion going over really well last year for the new council member and and really for everyone else is you know the um excitement of the new year kind of winds down for everyone.

3:59

Uh council members, Madrone and Gilman.

4:03

Do you have any anything else on the date for now?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████34%
Program Management██████████████████████████████30%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Public Safety█████████9%
Community Engagement██████6%
Tribal Relations██████6%
Budget Equity Analysis████4%
Emergency Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Committee of the Chairs Meeting – September 23, 2025

The Committee of the Chairs (Councilmembers Clark Gilman, Yến Huỳnh, and Dani Madrone) met on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to plan the 2026 City Council Retreat. The group discussed logistics, agenda topics, and potential focus areas, including the need to address federal funding impacts on local services.

Discussion Items

  • Retreat Dates: The committee initially considered January 23–24 but shifted to January 9–10, 2026, to allow earlier committee work plan alignment and avoid conflicts with the legislative session. Backup dates of January 16–17 were noted. Councilmember Gilman requested checking for conflicts with all council members.
  • Location: Council chambers were selected for the retreat. The Friday dinner location will be identified (replacing the now-closed Dockside).
  • Facilitator: Amy Lenaker (Lenaker Group) will be retained; she will conduct one-on-one interviews with council members to refine the agenda.
  • Retreat Format: A half-day Friday (noon–4 p.m.) plus dinner, and a full-day Saturday (9 a.m.–4 p.m.). No working lunches will be scheduled; a walking break or alternative activity will be included.
  • Agenda Topics: The committee reviewed a draft list. Key items include: work plan, committee assignments, working agreements, budget reset, priority-based budgeting (PBB), tribal sovereignty training (with Squaxin Island Tribe Chairman Chris), and community survey input. Councilmember Gilman emphasized the need to leave room to discuss federal cuts affecting housing, homeless services, and healthcare, possibly with scenario planning. Councilmember Madrone stressed a clear goal for such a conversation. The community survey design discussion was moved off the retreat agenda to a later study session, with CLIPS committee potentially front-loading work.
  • Pre-Retreat Materials: The 2024 community survey will be circulated for optional reading. Homework from Amy Lenaker is expected.
  • Next Meeting: The committee will reconvene after Amy Lenaker completes interviews to finalize the agenda.

Key Outcomes

  • Dates: January 9–10, 2026 (Friday half-day, Saturday full day).
  • Location: Council chambers; dinner location TBD.
  • Facilitator: Amy Lenaker confirmed.
  • Topics: The list will be refined by Amy Lenaker based on interviews. Federal impacts and community survey were acknowledged as placeholders needing further definition.
  • No formal votes were taken; decisions were made by consensus of the three committee members.

Meeting Transcript

Or Pro Tim, you want to kick us off? Yeah, happy to. Um, is that all right with you, Danny? I think you've been leading these meetings. Only because uh no one else raised their hand. You go right ahead. Oh, okay. Well, hi everyone. Um, all right. So uh Jay, I thought that you sent us over a um uh just some draft topics. Is that right? And is that mostly carryover from last time? I don't think we did uh you know individually asking people this time around. Is that right? And you were uh we you and I didn't meet last week, but I did talk to everybody last week about and so the topics that are there are kind of a uh hodgepodge of things I heard as potential ideas. Um then sprinkled in with some things like work plan that we usually always do and um and other things, but that's that's what the that's what's in front of you. Okay. And then um, and then the I know this might be silly, but the PBB is priority based budgeting. Is that correct? It's correct. Okay, great. Uh so um though I am facilitating if I do anticipate this to be more casual of a work group meeting, so I hope that's all right. Um so if uh do folks have any strong feelings? I think kind of separating. We can either uh narrow down the topics or we can kind of separate uh by what's already there, what would be landing on Friday or Saturday, and then kind of narrow from there. I anticipate having to nick some of these items because it is a pretty healthy list of top topics. So any strong feelings from a committee meets. Could we like put the document uh that Jay sent around up on the screen so we're all working from the um looking at the thing? So I don't have to dig through my email and open it up. Um yeah, that sounds good. We've typically started with like logistics first, like nailing down um potential dates, uh um location facilitator, and then we work our way through what we think we can get through on the agenda. Yeah, I hear that. Um we can we could also go that route. Uh I plan on hitting logistics today for sure. So good reminder on that. Um I guess I'd just ask uh Susan or yeah. Someone that's in the office. If they could put it up on the screen, that'd be great. I shared it. What's up? Okay. Great. Okay. So uh let's see. So it sounds like uh council member Madrone is uh feeling like we should start with logistics. And um I don't feel strongly that we don't. So I guess we can start there. So uh I believe January 23rd and 24th are locked in, and and there are any questions on that. Is that right, Jay? Looking at you since you met with folks.

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