Redmond City Council Business Meeting - October 7, 2025
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Redmond City Council Business Meeting - October 7, 2025
The Redmond City Council held its regular business meeting on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 7:00 PM. The meeting featured robust public comment, a consent agenda with one item pulled for discussion, staff reports on economic development and World Cup planning, and updates from council members. Key decisions included approval of the consent agenda (minus item 6) and a 6-to-1 vote to purchase the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from September 16, 23, and 25, 2025 meetings.
- Approved payroll/direct deposit and claims checks.
- Approved partnership with King County Regional Homelessness Authority for severe weather shelter funding.
- Approved agreements for Tablet Command integration with NORCOM and PSRFA.
- Approved sixth amendment to interlocal agreement with King County for Redmond Watershed Trails maintenance.
- Item 6 (acquisition of Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village) was pulled for discussion and voted on separately.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Speakers overwhelmingly criticized the city’s handling of the old firehouse (OFH) teen center closure and the stakeholder process. Key points:
- Aaron Hamilton accused the city of lying about building safety, claiming less than $20,000 spent on repairs since 2023 and alleging the building could collapse but is not condemned.
- Sasha Glenn described the local government as an "aristocracy" and alleged that a requested subcommittee was "hijacked" by the mayor and parks director, with council members only observing. She noted that her group has nearly 4,000 signatures in support of repurposing the OFH as a music/arts teen center.
- Chester Anderson (a teen) argued the stakeholder group has 15 adults vs. 8 teens, with 7 adults working for the city, creating a conflict of interest. He demanded replacing adult city affiliates with teens.
- Ellie (age 15) shared emotional testimony about the loss of a safe space, noting that after OFH closed, she attended an unregulated house show where adults arrived with vapes.
- Wolf Adri (age 18) criticized the stakeholder focus groups as manipulative and expressed disappointment with the direction of teen services at the new RCCMV location.
- Sally Adriatico (Wolf's mom) pleaded with council to be transparent about their plans, warning that the process is devastating teens' mental health.
- David Morton spoke on environmental plans, supporting ESAP targets but questioning feasibility and urging mandatory climate-resilient building specifications in the CFP.
- Noah Radford (remote) called the process a "farce" and said he's embarrassed to be civically involved.
- Max Ruhlman (former city recreation leader) urged council to pull the RCCMV purchase from the agenda until public engagement and attendance statistics are provided, arguing the purchase is duplicitous given the lack of discussion on OFH.
Discussion Items
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Consent Agenda Item 6 – Acquisition of Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village (RCCMV)
- Finance Director Kelly Cochran presented: The $18 million purchase fulfills a commitment from the 2017-2018 park plan for a decentralized recreation system across urban centers. Funding comes from over-collected REET and park impact fees, plus project savings, without impacting other capital projects including the teen center. The city has a first option to purchase; LW Tech approached the city to accelerate the sale.
- Council questions focused on: conditions for returning to council if issues arise (Cochran said she would return); assurances that this purchase does not conflict with OFH funding (Cochran confirmed the teen center is a $15M identified project in the CFP, not yet in CIP, and this purchase uses separate funds); clarification that overcollection means more revenue than budgeted. Councilmember Fields noted a staff note had linked the purchase to OFH sale, but Cochran denied that connection.
- Several council members explained the purchase is separate from OFH decisions and secures land for the Marymoor Village urban center. Councilmember Stewart noted the building is not a dream teen center but provides land for future community space.
- Vote: 6-1 (Councilmember Anderson dissented).
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Staff Report – Economic Development and Tourism Progress
- Director Carol Helland introduced the first-year implementation of the Economic Development and Tourism Strategic Plans. Philly Marsh highlighted: new staff hired (Small Business Assistance Program Manager, World Cup Program Manager); business walks, office hours, newsletter with 2,000 subscribers; business attraction efforts including Select USA event; and regional leadership.
- Jackie Lawler reported on tourism: 17% of 64 initiatives completed; launched Placer.ai geo-fencing data showing 600,000 visitor nights and $84M spending in 2024; lodging tax funding for microtransit shuttle and bike storage; district development activations around light rail (e.g., Intentional Small Business Pass with 26 businesses and 500 registrants); creative economy forum planned.
- Council questions addressed: security concerns (deferred to World Cup presentation); inclusion of Overlake’s intercultural district in feasibility study (broad citywide scope); potential conflicts between tourist and resident uses of circulator bus (data will be collected).
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Staff Report – World Cup Planning Update
- Deputy Planning Director Sarah Allen presented a cross-departmental overview for the 2026 FIFA World Cup (six matches in region, team USA on July 19). Redmond's tagline: "Redmond is Ready for the World." Activities to date: questionnaire (55 responses), business meetings, Club World Cup watch party (250 attendees). Upcoming: community grants ($500-$6,000), ambassador kickoff, World Cup draw watch party, and a major watch party at Marymoor Park for the final match.
- Communications Manager Kelly Schutz: Branding launched with press release; "Soccer Stories" campaign to collect community stories; steady comms cadence.
- Deputy Fire Chief Mike Quirconi: Emergency preparedness subgroup conducting SWOT analysis, developing incident action plans, planning tabletop exercise by early 2026.
- Deputy Police Chief Brian Coates: Public safety subgroup focusing on protecting residents/visitors, monitoring human trafficking (training pending vendor selection), working with Sound Transit and Washington State Fusion Center (now has an analyst in Redmond). security staffing will ramp up four days before first game (June 15, 2026) and continue through non-game days.
- Parks Deputy Director Zach Hoovner: Operations and logistics subgroup discussing wayfinding, permits, permanent "Redmond" letters at Downtown Park as legacy art; microtransit shuttle launching Q1 2026; short-term rental regulations; Derby Days moved to July 24-25, 2026.
- Council questions: Security timing (deputy chief: around game days and non-game days); hotel data (tickets not yet on sale for single games, hotels already near capacity in summer); human trafficking training (proactive messaging, port partnership, free trainings from FIFA); official fan zone status (Redmond not an official fan zone but creating own); concerns about hotel rooms being blocked for World Cup (direct inquiries to staff); immigration climate considerations (acknowledged ongoing dynamic).
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda (minus item 6) approved by roll call vote (7-0).
- Item 6 – Purchase of RCCMV approved 6-1 (Councilmember Anderson voting no). The ordinance (No. 3229) adjusts the 2025-2026 biennial budget to fund the acquisition.
- Staff will return with quarterly World Cup updates.
- Councilmember Fields raised concerns about the OFH stakeholder process lacking visioning; Council President Kritzer noted discussion about integrating visioning and ensuring teen voices are prioritized.
- Councilmember Nuevacamina arranged a tour of Issaquah’s "The Garage" teen center for interested council members.
- Ombudsperson reports included a wide range of constituent concerns, with follow-ups noted.
Meeting Transcript
I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a regular business meeting of the Redmond City Council held on Tuesday, October 7th, 2025, commencing at 7 o'clock PM. I will call roll starting with Council President Kritzer. Here. Councilmember Fields. Here. Council Vice President Forsyth. Here. Councilmember Slahoudine. Councilmember Stewart. Councilmember Stewart. Thank you. Councilmember Nueva Camina. Here. Councilmember Anderson. Here. The first item on the agenda is items from the audience. I have the sign-in sheet for members of the public to speak tonight. When I read your name, you will come up to the podium and have three minutes to address the council. Council members generally will not respond to comments or questions directly at the meeting, and members of the public are welcome to email the council any time at Mayor Council at Redmond.gov. The views stated by members of the public do not represent the opinion of the city of Redmond. And as a reminder, RCW 4217A555 prohibits any public comment during the council meeting in support or opposition about propositions, measures, or candidates. And I'm changing how I'm doing things. I've noticed that people are going over the three minutes, so at exactly three minutes, I will be turning off the microphone. There are nine people signed up to speak tonight, and two people have signed up to speak remotely. Um I'll call out the first four names or so so you know when you're coming up. We'll start with Aaron Hamilton, then Sasha Glenn, then Matt Lobby, then Chester Anderson. There you go. There you are. Thank you. Hello. So hopefully you all have uh a pretty interesting slide in front of you. Uh it's a slide that was presented on the study session, the last study session, um, that I feel like the public should uh know what it says. So it's highlighting about the city building assessment throughout the entire city of Redmond, and it states proactive maintenance prevents major problems, proper maintenance extends the service life and prolongs the intervals between major reinvestment. Um so that got me thinking. I was wondering how much is the city actually spent on the firehouse since the city is recommending proactive maintenance. So I did a public records request and asked for the very specific data of how much the city has spent on construction, repairs, and maintenance. And since 2023 to today, they have spent less than 20,000 on construction, maintenance, and repairs of the building. Do you call that proactive maintenance? Nope, I don't. So now we're this is where we're at. And I found this interesting because your own city employees are staying are saying that the building can collapse at any moment. The roof can collapse at any moment. Your city employees are saying that to the public. If that was the case, by law, you are required to classify the building as condemned, fence off the lot, so nobody can approach the building at all. If you're worried about public safety, you have to be worried about the entire public and having people just walk around the park next to a building that can debate that can collapse at any moment in time per the city. That tells me you're lying. Because if that was the case, it would be condemned, it would be fenced off. No one would be able to be near the building if it is close, if it can be collapse at any moment. You didn't close this building because of safety.
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