Redmond City Council Business Meeting – November 18, 2025
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Redmond City Council Business Meeting – November 18, 2025
The Redmond City Council held a regular business meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, commencing at 7:00 PM. Mayor Pro Tem (Council President Vanessa Kritzer) presided. Councilmember Jeralee Anderson arrived later; Mayor Angela Birney participated remotely. The meeting included 18 in-person and 2 online public commenters, approval of a 20-item consent agenda (with item 21 on the Old Firehouse Teen Center pulled for discussion and a vote), staff reports on fire overtime, the third-quarter financial report, personnel manual and pay plan updates, and committee reports.
Consent Calendar
- Approved all consent agenda items except item 21 (AM No. 25-184). Items approved included:
- Minutes of November 3 and 12, 2025 special meetings
- Payroll and claims checks
- King County Cost Reimbursement Agreement for monitoring sex offenders
- Amendment to Operational Services Agreement with Wave Aquatics
- Indigency Screening Agreement Renewal
- 2025-2027 WSDOT TDM/CTR Implementation Agreement
- Contract with Strategica, Inc. for business license evaluation ($150,000)
- Lease Amendment for Northwest Restaurants, Inc.
- Lease with WSDOT for trail segment connecting SR 202 and Redmond Central Connector
- Three wireless telecommunications amendments (Novelty Hill, Fire Station 14, Education Hill)
- Confirmation of appointment of new Human Services Commission member Vartica Gupta (later sworn in)
- Construction contract for NE 24th Street pavement management
- Consultant agreement for Idylwood Park parking lot expansion and frontage improvements
- Final contract for 156th Cycle Track project ($3,383,138)
- Resolution No. 1613 rejecting all bids for Lift Station Equipment Upgrades Phase 2
- Resolution No. 1614 establishing sewer connection charges for Redmond Town Center area
- Ordinance No. 3233 updating business license fee for 2026
- Ordinance No. 3234 establishing 2026 property tax levy for general operations
- Resolution No. 1615 and Ordinance No. 3235 updating water/wastewater connection charges and stormwater capital facilities charges
- Ordinance No. 3236 for 2025-2026 Budget Adjustment #4
Public Comments & Testimony
- Redmond Library Report: Miri Comstock (Regional Manager) reported over 300,000 visits through October 2025, nearly 35,000 active cardholders, and almost 1.5 million items checked out. She highlighted partnerships with city departments, including Story Times, Talk Time, and World Cup soccer programs. Naveen Ejman (Library Board trustee) thanked the council and noted library staff collaboration with city departments.
- Flock Cameras: 10 speakers (Valentina Veneva, Jacqueline Kemsey, Bill King, Caleb Lee, Eugenio Vidalis, TJ Horner, Daniel Dawson, and others) expressed strong opposition to Flock safety cameras, urging the council to cancel the contract and physically remove the cameras. Speakers cited a University of Washington report on ICE access, a research paper by John Gaines identifying 51 security vulnerabilities, and concerns about data privacy, cyber security, and the risk of warrantless access. Some noted cameras may still be vulnerable even if software-disabled. Hank Myers defended Flock, calling media reporting inaccurate, and criticized Councilmember Melissa Stuart for statements made at a previous meeting.
- Old Firehouse Teen Center: 7 speakers (Faith, Wolf Adriatico, Ellie Ferdell, David Morton, Max Rollman online, Charlotte Moore, and others) shared deeply personal testimony. Several criticized the stakeholder selection process as flawed and not representative of teens. Many expressed that teens felt unheard and that the closure of the firehouse has caused heartbreak and loss of community. David Morton supported the rebuild motion but urged that teen voices remain central and that the space maintain its informal, music-focused, LGBTQ-friendly atmosphere. Wolf Adriatico alleged the stakeholder group was manipulated by city staff. Ellie Ferdell said she felt yelled at by the council.
- Human Services: Alison Morton (Chief Advancement Officer at Kindering) thanked the city for partnership on Families in Transition (FIT) and parent education programs. She noted 75% of children experiencing homelessness have at least one developmental delay by age 5, and that 83% of children in FIT made measurable progress. She urged continued investment.
- Transgender Issues: Aaron Hamilton shared a personal story of losing a friend to suicide due to anti-trans hate, and criticized the Redmond Police Department for not taking anti-trans harassment seriously. He announced a community event in late January at the Redmond Senior Center for relationship building.
- Other: Several speakers urged rejection of all bids for rebuild and instead renovation of the old firehouse to preserve its historic character and reopen sooner.
Discussion Items
- Old Firehouse Teen Center (Item 21): Councilmember Anderson moved an amendment to approve renovation instead of rebuild. After debate, the amendment failed (2-4: Fields and Anderson aye; Forsythe, Stewart, Nueva Camina, Kritzer nay). Councilmember Fields then moved to add "renovate or rebuild based on executive evaluation" — also failed (2-4). The main motion to rebuild on the same location, with expedited construction, teen-centered design, and music performance/recording studio passed 6-0. Council President Kritzer and members emphasized the importance of teen input and a long-lasting facility. Councilmember Fields expressed concern that insufficient due diligence had been done on renovation viability.
- Fire Department Overtime Report: Deputy Chief Ami Varrell reported that regular/overtime salary expenditures are at 35% of budget (below the expected 37.5%). Overtime is at 53.7% over target ($4.6 million) but fully offset by $3 million in regular salary savings from vacancies. She explained shift coverage vs. incident-driven overtime; incident overtime is often reimbursed. Councilmember Stewart asked about the overhire strategy; Deputy Chief said it's too soon to assess.
- Third Quarter Financial Report: Finance Director Kelly Cochran reported revenues on track. Sales tax exceeded $5 million per month for two consecutive months. Assessed value increased 6.3% ($2.5 billion). Employment and business licensing remain strong. Expenditures are at expected levels. No concerns. Councilmember Stewart noted the report showed a well-performing budget despite economic uncertainty.
- Personnel Manual and Pay Plan Updates: HR Director Catherine Laird presented proposed changes to the personnel manual (approved for future consent) and 2026 pay plans. Non-represented COLA set at 3.8% (following RESHA); union COLA at 2.3% (CPI-W). New classifications added (assistant COO, principal financial analyst, HR generalist, confidential paralegal) with no new FTEs. Councilmember Nueva Camina requested more time to study non-union changes. Council agreed to place union pay plans on the December 2 consent agenda and defer non-union pay plan changes to the December 9 study session, with retroactive effect possible. Personnel manual changes will also go on consent.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda approved (items 1-20) minus item 21.
- Old Firehouse Teen Center rebuild approved (6-0) on same location, with expedited construction, teen-centered design, and dedicated music performance/recording studio.
- Fire overtime and financial reports received and noted.
- Personnel manual changes approved for placement on future consent agenda.
- Union pay plans set to be approved on December 2 consent agenda; non-union pay plan changes deferred to December 9 study session for further discussion.
- New Human Services Commissioner Vartica Gupta sworn in.
- Council vacancy announced: application period opens November 19, 2025, and closes January 2, 2026, at noon. Selection process will be public, with interviews and a vote in January.
- Executive session held for 10 minutes on labor negotiations (RCW 42.30.140(4)(b)), with no action taken, and meeting adjourned at 9:31 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a regular business meeting of the Redmond City Council held on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, commencing at 7 p.m. I am presiding over this meeting as Mayor Pro Ten, and I'm Council President Kritzer. I will call rolls starting with Councilmember Fields. Council. Sorry. Here, here, here. Council Vice President Forsythe. Here. Councilmember Stewart. Here. Councilmember Nueva Comina. Here. Councilmember Anderson is not joined us. And I will announce her if she arrives. The next item on the agenda is items from the audience. We have no special orders of the day today.gov. The views of the stated of the views stated by members of the public do not represent the opinion of the city of Redmond. As a reminder, RCW 42.17A.555 prohibits any public comment during a council meeting in support or opposition of ballot propositions, measures, or candidates. All comments must pertain to the city of Redmond business as indicated on the sign-in sheet. There are 18 people signed up to speak tonight in person and two online. And before we we continue on, I will note that Councilmember Anderson has joined us, and that we are also joined online by Mayor Bernie. Um and with that, we will start with the first couple names on the list. Um I'll read them so you know who's coming next. Um please come up to the podium when it is your time. The first uh is Miri Comstock, then Erin Hallibay, then Valentina Veneva. Welcome. Go ahead. Thank you. Hello, Mayor Burney, hello, council in the building and online. My name is Mary Comstock, and I'm the regional manager representing the Redmond Library tonight to give our annual report to you to council. Um with me tonight is uh four, no, one, two, three members of our Redmond Library Board of Trustees. We have Joanna Kim, who's our board president, uh Naveen Yami uh Jamin, uh, and Aaron Hallaby, who is over there. Um, as you know, the Board of Trustees is an advisory capacity to uh the Redmond City Council and coordinates and gives input to the King County Library System. And I'm thrilled to have them with us tonight. Um with you on your in your packet is some of the statistics from the Redmond Library. This year through October, we have had 300 over 300,000 visits to the library. We have almost 35,000 active cardholders, and we have created almost 5,000 new patron accounts, and we have checked out digitally and physically almost 1,500,000 items. This is a very busy place across the parking lot. Um I also want to share with you that we have several programs in partnership with the city of Redmond. That includes our weekly Redmond Community Court and Resource Center, our nonprofit and fundraising research databases uh with which we do one-on-one assistance and have done programs in the past with human services. I see Brooke Buckingham is online tonight. Um Story Times with the Parks and Rec on the Farrell at the Farrell McWhorter Park and on the Great Lawn. Um we do story times also at the New Redmond Senior and Community Center. We're doing talk time twice a week, which is English learning, and our welcoming ambassadors assist our immigrant and refugee communities in the library. So I um invite you to read more about this uh with the handout that you have. Tonight I want to especially thank some members of the city's staff who work so closely with us, including Zach Hoovener, Erica Chua, Laura Williams, and Mac Leonard with the Parks and Rec department and the event staff. Dominique Meeks from Planning and Development is working with us on an entrepreneur roadmap series. We are also very grateful to Sergeant Patty Narr, who's the community engagement partner, the community engagement sergeant who works so closely with us to keep uh the community safe and welcoming. In addition, we've been working with Kristen Rafftus on World Cup Soccer, and we're very, very excited about that.
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