Redmond City Council Special Meeting – November 2, 2026

The Redmond City Council held a special meeting on Monday, November 2, 2026, at 7:00 PM at City Hall (15670 NE 85th St), with remote participation available via RCTV, Facebook, and phone. Mayor Angela Birney presided; Council President Melissa Stuart, Vice President Angie Nuevacamina, and Councilmembers Jessica Forsythe, Vanessa Kritzer, Sayna Parsi, Vivek Prakriya, and Menka Soni were present. The agenda included a Native American Heritage Month proclamation, recognition of Youth Climate Action Fund awardees, a 15-minute executive session, a public hearing on the preliminary 2027–2028 biennial budget, a downtown adaptive signal control project update, ombudsperson and committee reports, and a quasi-judicial appeal of a SEPA threshold determination for noise code amendments. The Mayor reminded residents that ballot boxes were open through 8:00 PM on Election Day (November 3, 2026). The council unanimously accepted the hearing examiner's recommendation, remanding the noise code DNS to the technical committee.

Special Orders of the Day

• Mayor Birney proclaimed November 2026 as Native American Heritage Month, honoring the histories, cultures, resilience, and contributions of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous peoples; recognizing the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe and other tribal nations; and acknowledging the ongoing harms of colonization, displacement, and harmful federal policies.
• The city recognized youth recipients of Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund grants; Redmond was one of 300 cities globally selected. The city received 22 applications with requests totaling more than $76,000, and the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee selected 13 projects, with roughly 40 youth in attendance. The announced projects included Snap Sort Redmond, East Lake Native Plant and Pollinator Garden, Sue Green Tech, Nest and Nectar, Bike Rack Engineering and Mural Design Challenge, Native Plant Fair, Aquafusion, Green Libraries, Wild Yards, Redmond Storation Blackberry Busters, Eco Beats, and Hackathon Green Code Redmond. Projects will be implemented over the next six months.

Executive Session

• The council held a 15-minute closed executive session to evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment (RCW 42.30.110(1)(g)).

Public Comments & Testimony

• Eileen McComb (HopeLink, Director of Housing and Case Management) expressed gratitude for the city's continued investment, stating HopeLink served 1,688 unduplicated families in Redmond over the past year, including 401 adults and children accessing housing and comprehensive case management. In fiscal year 2026, Redmond food markets served more than 3,300 Redmond residents, providing over 700,000 meals to families facing rising food costs.
• Laura Goodsell (Kindering) thanked the city for its partnership and the recent recommendation to support 2027–28 funding requests for the Families in Transition (FIT) and parent education/family support programs. She noted that 88% of children enrolled in FIT for six months or longer made measurable progress in at least one skill area, and 100% of survey respondents reported improvements in parenting, teaching, and caregiving skills.
• Aaron Hamilton expressed strong frustration with the pace of affordable housing progress after nine years of advocacy, stating that rent is skyrocketing, area median income continues to go up, and affordability goes down. He said he is "done being patient" and criticized ARCH representatives as out of touch, asserting that no ARCH board members have depended on affordable housing to survive. He stated he has watched building after building being built downtown (the transcript renders "20 10 buildings in the span of nine years" from his apartment window) without relieving affordable housing pressure, and urged the city to "build buildings, not give five percent of an apartment building to affordable housing."
• Sandra Ruffner (Puget Sound Mycological Society, co-chair of the Bridle Trails survey project) asked the city to reconsider its policy of charging $25 per hour and requiring six-week advance applications for low-impact citizen-science fungal research in the Redmond Watershed Preserve, stating her committee is not budgeted for such expenditures and that citizen scientists help bridge gaps in underfunded research.
• David Morton asked the council to pull the 2027 State Legislative Agenda from the consent agenda and add three items: (1) state PFAS source control, cleanup of contaminated sites, and monitoring near wells in critical aquifer recharge areas, noting PFOS has already been detected in Wells 1 and 2; (2) a sentence stating Redmond is not asking to weaken protections for aquifers, streams, or critical areas; and (3) support for state urban forestry resources and standards allowing cities to independently verify tree assessments prepared by applicant-hired professionals. He also asked that the $3 million maintenance and operations center request specify a sustainability standard. No councilmember pulled the item.
• Joe Kunzler (remote) expressed support for legislative agenda items including new Public Disclosure Commission tools to strike down repeat respondents, an updated (2026) Attorney General's open government manual (currently dated 2016), and annual training exercises for planning officers and clerks. He congratulated Redmond on its "hate free zone" and encouraged residents to vote.
• Jennifer Barrett (remote) could not be reached; her comment was not delivered.

Consent Calendar

• On a motion by Councilmember Prakriya, the council voted to take up item IV.A.4 (Confirmation of Appointment of New Commission Members) before the executive session; the motion carried.
• The council confirmed and the City Clerk swore in Jenny Baldwin (Parks, Trails, and Recreation Commission) and Zichuan Huang (Planning Commission).
• The remaining consent agenda passed unanimously by voice vote, including: approval of minutes from the October 20, 22, and 27, 2026 meetings; payroll/direct deposit and claims check registers; confirmation of Truc Dever as Redmond's Human Resources Director (with the Mayor noting she will be sworn in on November 17); adoption of the 2027 Legislative Agenda; adoption of the 2027 Housing and Human Services Action Plan; the final contract with Dickson Company in the amount of $333,304 and acceptance of construction for the Old Fire House Teen Center Demolition Project; the on-call and continuing legal services contract with Foster & Garvey; and the 2027 rate amendment to the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) interlocal agreement.

Public Hearing: Preliminary 2027–2028 Biennial Budget

• Aaron Hamilton spoke in support of using the community-based organization engagement line item (or similar funding) to compensate community members who provide services to the city, such as his training and engagement initiatives with law enforcement, noting that work involving marginalized communities is often expected to be free while other training is paid.
• David Morton raised three requests not yet reflected in the issues/deliberation matrices: (1) confirm sufficient 2025–2026 budget funding for PFAS soil and groundwater testing before ground disturbance at the Evans Creek project, extending to the 2013 Allwood recycling fire site approximately 1.5 miles from Wells 1 and 2 (where PFOS is present at roughly 5 parts per trillion), and publish the results; (2) clarify when city arborist review is required under the tree code (currently exception-based) and set a date for deciding on additional arborist capacity; and (3) keep the $2.44 million environmental sustainability package whole. He also asked the council to identify which items tied to House Bill 2015 (approximately $5.5 million in new funding capacity) remain funded and from what source, to consider holding the MOC budget at $250 million until January (noting the project holds $20.7 million in contingency while the matrix proposes raising the budget by $18.5 million), and to tie the estimated $184 per household annual cost of adopting both new sales taxes to named outcomes.
• Joe Kunzler (remote) suggested the budget fund excellent local government training modeled on Redmond, additional bus shelters, a monument to Redmond's "hate free zone," and carbon-absorbing plantings.
• The hearing was closed without council action; budget deliberations continue, including a special meeting on Thursday.

Discussion Items

• Staff Report – Downtown Adaptive Signal Control Project: Paul Cho (city traffic engineer) and Hidemi Suru (senior engineer) reported that the QFree adaptive signal system was deployed along Redmond Way from 160th Avenue NE to East Lake Sammamish Parkway, with MyOVision multimodal detection for cyclists, pedestrians, and continuous traffic counts. A before/after study showed corridor travel times maintained or improved; weekday PM transit delay decreased by approximately 7 seconds per eastbound trip and nearly 3 seconds per westbound trip; and planning-level CO2 emissions decreased by approximately 2.5 metric tons per average weekday (the environmental equivalent of taking a vehicle off the road for half a year). The system greatly reduced the need for manual signal retiming, which previously took about three to six months per corridor. Lessons learned included verifying hardware compatibility in real-world field conditions, establishing thorough issue identification/resolution processes, and allocating significant staff time or considering contracting. The upcoming Overlake Adaptive Signals Project (deployment planned for 2027–2028, wrapping up in 2029) will install similar technologies along NE 40th Street, 140th Avenue NE, and 156th Avenue NE, including a pilot feature that detects crossing pedestrians in real time and holds a red light a few extra seconds to let pedestrians finish crossing. In response to Council President Stuart's questions about the Community Facilities District/Microsoft partnership and Bellevue-owned signals on 24th Street within Redmond city limits, Cho explained that those signals are owned and maintained by the City of Bellevue and linked into Bellevue's adaptive system; a prior cooperative agreement using Bellevue's technology in Redmond cabinets was abandoned due to incompatible technology and emergency-response challenges. Staff will also explore coordination with WSDOT off-ramp signals at NE 51st and NE 40th Streets.
• Ombudsperson Reports: Councilmember Nuevacamina (October) summarized community inquiries about the Columbia choirs residency event, a DOT pilot program for wheelchair transportation, tree canopy verification practices, downtown public safety concerns, gas leaf blowers, a perceived conflict of interest in public safety technology, accessibility concerns at Village Square on 85th and a proposed north–south midblock trail, Axon Fusus Core pricing, real-time surveillance and police budget, and a Lake Washington Tech bright futures coffee kickoff. Councilmember Parsi (November) reported inquiries about noise and light pollution, leaf blower noise, a resident public safety concern, and questions about construction plans for 40th Street bike lanes.
• Committee Reports: Councilmember Forsythe reported her final East Rail meeting as co-chair, with Councilmembers Evans (Woodinville) and Balducci to co-chair the next two-year cycle, and noted visioning and future funding discussions including the Snohomish section. Councilmember Soni reported on Parks and Environmental Sustainability committee topics (parks and recreation impact fees, the teen center demolition contract, Derby Days 2026, Redmond Lights 2026 preview, pay plan updates) and community events including the One Redmond annual meeting, Spotlight Awards, a ribbon cutting, and Trunk or Treat. Councilmember Kritzer noted the intensive budget process, a special deliberations meeting on Thursday, and tenant protection subcommittee work on a proviso. Councilmember Prakriya said the budget proviso is being drafted with stakeholders and will be shared with the full council within a day or two. Council President Stuart reported that the Puget Sound Regional Council's housing production report ("are we on track?") shows the region on track and slightly ahead since 2019, with Redmond highlighted among core cities, and that the Association of Washington Cities is seeking clarification that House Bill 1220 is a planning mechanism rather than a requirement. Mayor Birney reported on the Cascade Water Alliance (approval of the board oversight strategy for the Cascade Supply Program and a letter to King County on reclaimed water), a meeting with the four cities around Lake Tapps, a King County election center tour, a Green Redmond planting event at Smith Woods, an AWC Districts 7 and 13 joint meeting, and a Kimchi for Peace event.

Quasi-Judicial Proceeding: SEPA Appeal of Noise Code Amendments

• The council held a closed-record appeal of the SEPA Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) for the noise code amendments (a non-project action), with a written recommendation from the contract hearing examiner dated October 19, 2026, recommending that the DNS be remanded to the technical committee.
• City Attorney Rebecca Mueller conducted appearance-of-fairness questioning; the matter became quasi-judicial on June 24, 2026. Two councilmembers disclosed ex parte communications: Council President Stuart received an Interlake Sporting Association (ISA) Board email (June 30, 2026) stating concerns about proposed operating hours and support for a development agreement to implement noise reduction measures; Councilmember Parsi reported verbal communications with homeowners near ISA (June 27, 2026) in which some said noise did not bother them, one expressed concerns about cars, and two reported being bothered by summer and nighttime noise. No challenges were raised, and both councilmembers stated they could base their decision solely on the record.
• Appellant Andrew Lewis (for the Interlake Sporting Association) argued the council should accept the hearing examiner's recommendation. He argued that the DNS was not based on an appropriate environmental baseline (which should measure actual noise conditions rather than the property's general designated use) and that the DNS improperly balanced the ordinance's perceived benefits against its impacts, which is contrary to SEPA. He cited Friends of Sammamish Valley v. King County (2024) and urged the council to remand so the technical committee can establish a conditions-based baseline and assess the ordinance's impacts against it.
• Deputy City Attorney Anthony Saldato (with Jeff Churchill and Alex Hunt) asked the council to reject the recommendation. He argued that city staff appropriately and reasonably reviewed and reissued the CEPA checklist after considering ISA's comments (the comment period ended May 27, 2026), that a non-project action does not require a study, that the examiner relied on inadmissible expert testimony regarding balancing, that the "moving days" impact theory was unsubstantiated and refuted by public comments, and that the ISA gained a benefit of delay through the appeal (citing Dr. Jarvis's January 2026 testimony that ISA would sue if the ordinance were enacted).
• Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about the status of the technical committee (which is being disbanded due to departmental reorganization), the cost of remand (not part of the record), litigation statements, the appropriate environmental baseline, the evidence behind the examiner's 52–67 decibel maximum sound level finding (a sound study by Tommy Poole/Municon West Coast commissioned by ISA after the appeal was filed, whose underlying daily data was not produced), and the adequacy of the city's supplemental checklist.
• During deliberation, Councilmembers Prakriya, Parsi, Nuevacamina, and Soni expressed support for accepting the recommendation, citing the integrity of the city's environmental review process, due diligence, reliance on the examiner's thorough record review, and potential litigation exposure. Councilmembers Kritzer and Stuart emphasized deciding based on the record rather than city costs or liability, acknowledged the substantial due diligence performed by staff, and framed acceptance as expert feedback supporting continued policymaking on the issue. Councilmember Forsythe similarly noted this is an opportunity to re-examine and solidify the citywide ordinance.
• Councilmember Parsi moved to accept the hearing examiner's recommendation; the motion was seconded and passed 7–0 on a roll call vote.

Key Outcomes

• The council unanimously (7–0) accepted the hearing examiner's recommendation, remanding the SEPA DNS for the noise code amendments to the technical committee (or successor body) for further review consistent with the examiner's conclusions; staff will share next steps with the council.
• The council confirmed Truc Dever as Human Resources Director and confirmed and swore in Jenny Baldwin (Parks, Trails, and Recreation Commission) and Zichuan Huang (Planning Commission).
• The remaining consent agenda was approved unanimously, including the 2027 State Legislative Agenda (without the additions requested during public comment), the 2027 Housing and Human Services Action Plan, the $333,304 Dickson Company contract and acceptance of construction for the Old Fire House Teen Center Demolition Project, the Foster & Garvey legal services contract, and the 2027 SCORE rate amendment.
• The public hearing on the preliminary 2027–2028 biennial budget was held and closed without a vote; budget deliberations continue, with a special meeting scheduled for Thursday.
• The council received the Downtown Adaptive Signal Control Project status update and was informed that the Overlake Adaptive Signals Project will deploy similar technologies in 2027–2028, with completion expected in 2029.