I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of April 15th, 2025.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Absent Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here.

Mayor Woodards?

Here.

Please join me in listening to this land acknowledgement and the flag salute led by Councilmember Walker, followed by a moment of silence.

We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Puala people where they make their home and speak the Leshutesit language.

Please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence for which it stands.

Under God.

Seeing none, we will move on to the consent agenda.

I move to adopt the consent agenda, including first and final reading and reading of ordinance number 229030.

Second.

All right, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed.

The consent agenda is adopted.

Moving on to proclamations, recognition, and presentations.

We're going to start with a Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Week proclamation.

And I would like to invite Venerable Kimar Chan and Head Abbot of Wat Chang Tarasi.

Come for Cho Numuk.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

I was like, uh I was gonna pass it to you and go, you're gonna do a much better job.

So I will give it to you.

So uh we have uh Venerable Kamara um who's the head monk of Watchantarakse.

Um and then we're also bringing up uh Michael Ti Cheng, uh founder and president uh of the Khmailture Cultural Khamay Language Arts and Culture Academy, along with uh Savong Lam.

Uh we are also uh inviting up Bakun Sin, founder of Cambodian American Community Council of Washington.

Uh and then we are also inviting up Si Long Chun, founder of the Khmer Anti-Deportation Advocacy Group and Red Scarf Revolution, and we are bringing up Susne Su, President of the Khmer Student Association at the University of Washington, Seattle, to the podium while I read the proclamation.

Thank you all for being here.

Whereas Cambodia is one of the original civilizations in Southeast Asia dating back nearly 4,000 years, and whereas between 1969 and 1973, the United States dropped 540,000 tons of bombs into Cambodia, destabilizing the destabilizing the country's already fragile government and helping fuel the rise of the Khmer Rouge and during the Cambodian genocide from April 1975 to January 1979.

Approximately two million people lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

And whereas today, over half the members of the Cambodian population experience varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder or other forms of mental health issues brought forth by the Cambodian genocide.

And whereas this year marks the 50th anniversary of our community coming together to remember the atrocities that occurred to the Khmer community under the Khmer Rouge regime, and whereas Khmer community leaders and elders from across Washington state to work together tirelessly to build the historical and cultural identity nearly exterminated by the Khmer Rouge and to uplift our communities through advocacy, education, and cultural empowerment.

And whereas it is critical to remember the ultimate sacrifice of those whose lives were lost during the Cambodian genocide and resiliency of survivors and to celebrate community members who tirelessly promote neighborhood revitalization by participating in public policy on local, national levels, establishing local and international businesses and professionals, and developing new art forms in community organizations.

Now therefore, I, Joe Bushnell, on behalf of Victoria R.

Wooders, mayor of the city of Tacoma, and on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim April 13th through the 19th, 2025 as Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Week in the City of Tacoma, and urge all people in our city to join me in this observance.

I want to thank Councilmember Bushnell for reading for reading the names and for reading the proclamation.

Normally we would have had an opportunity to get together so he could give me walk me through the names so I could pronounce them myself.

But today's been a very crazy day, and that didn't happen.

So Jill, thank you so much.

And please forgive me because I would rather have him read it than have me butcher it.

So am grateful for you all being here again this year.

Every year we have an opportunity to read this proclamation and to celebrate this week.

But I think what people don't get to see because it's not televised is a beautiful program that happens before before we actually start the council meeting or read the proclamation.

So councilmember, I think in the years, in the coming years, we should think about how to show the ceremony itself as well, so that our community, our entire city of Tacoma community, um can learn and understand and be more aware of what happens in this community or what has happened in the past and why it's important to have this week of remembrance.

Um Joe, I would uh council Councilmember Bushnell.

I don't know if you have a few words that you would like to say, but let me just say I'm grateful that you all are here this evening.

I'm grateful that we get to do this every year, but I'm even more grateful for the opportunity that you all had prior to this meeting to be able to have that ceremony here in our chambers.