Yakima City Council Regular Meeting – August 18, 2026
Yakima City Council Regular Meeting – August 18, 2026
The Yakima City Council held its regular meeting on August 18, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting included recognitions, a discussion of state legislative priorities with state legislators, a public hearing on a preliminary plat subdivision, public comment on flock cameras and other topics, and deliberations on an annexation and affordable housing funding.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from the August 3, 2026 regular meeting
- Payment of disbursements for July 1–31, 2026
- July 2026 Investment Transaction Report
- Resolution accepting 2nd Quarter 2026 Claim Report
- Resolution authorizing Heritage Theater Grant Award for Capitol Theatre Façade Improvements
- Resolution approving grant modification for Office on Violence Against Women Firearms Technical Assistance Project
- Resolution approving MOU with Seattle Police Department for Internet Crimes Against Children investigations
- Resolution authorizing contract with Central Washington Fair Association for police services
- Resolution authorizing Professional Services Agreement with Fuller Designs Inc. for Fair Avenue Multimodal Improvements
- Resolution adopting Yakima Transit's Development Plan 2026–2031 and 2025 Annual Report
- Resolution authorizing contract with Thomson Reuters for legal research database
- Resolution authorizing grant agreement with WSDOT for four paratransit vehicles ($434,080)
- Resolution authorizing agreement with Microsoft for volume licensing
- Ordinance amending the 2026 budget (Second Reading)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Eric Rodriguez spoke about rising deaths from drug overdose, alcoholism, and suicide, criticized the council for inaction, and referenced lawsuits against Barth Clinic. He prayed over the council.
- Zachary Gallian argued that the city's contract with Flock Safety cameras violates the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, citing recent Supreme Court decisions (Carpenter v. US and Shatry v. US). He noted that LAPD found over 130 false flag stolen vehicle alerts in two months.
- Kira Smith demanded the council cancel the Flock contract, accused the city of misspending, and warned of consequences if rights are infringed.
- Taylor Willis (via Zoom) expressed concerns about Flock cameras: risk of abuse, violation of privacy, use of ARPA funds for cameras, potential immigration enforcement violations, and cameras near sensitive locations. He stated that only 5–10% of arrests involve Flock assistance and that over 300,000 unique license plates were scanned in 30 days.
- Adrena Rangel reported that Flock and Raven cameras are still installed near schools, churches, and playgrounds, and questioned why Raven audio devices remain after the subscription ended. She called for removal of all devices.
- Joseph Coptic argued Flock cameras perform unconstitutional general searches and cited a 93% success rating with one billion incorrect searches per month. He thanked Councilwoman Gonzalez for consistent opposition to renewing the contract and urged trust in police only after cultural change.
- Amanda G. presented evidence from Chandler, Arizona, where Flock contracts were terminated after misuse, including an officer using cameras to stalk his wife. She called for canceling the contract and a moratorium on the technology.
- Tony Corsey spoke about a personal housing issue and criticized the council for not responding to his concerns.
Discussion Items
- State Legislative Priorities (Item 4C): City staff and council members discussed priorities with Representative Corey and Senator King. Topics included:
- Airport modernization (baggage carousel completion this fall, ticketing area next, $550,000 funding gap)
- Transportation projects (I-82 connection, East-West Corridor delayed due to NEPA)
- 911 services (Suncom funding shortfall; rates not updated since 2014)
- Indigent defense costs ($2 million/year for the city, growing)
- Medicaid reimbursement rates (state underfunding, harming Yakima's hospitals)
- State budget issues (cuts to programs while overall spending increased; $9B in new taxes in 2025 followed by $4B deficit in 2026)
- Local control: Council members argued the city should retain a greater share of tax revenue. Legislators expressed pessimism about increased local autonomy under current majority.
- Councilwoman Patricus (via Zoom) raised education choice tax relief (federal tax deduction for educational expenses), water safe kids act (public pool funding for high-poverty cities), and youth grant scoring priorities.
- Public Hearing – Preliminary Plat Subdivision "Plat of the Vine" (Item 8A): A closed record hearing to consider the hearing examiner's recommendation for a five-lot subdivision at 1501 Conrad Avenue, proposed by Habitat for Humanity. Staff explained the long plat process due to a five-year stipulation. Two public speakers supported approval: Gary Green (Habitat volunteer) and Jeff Peters (PLSA Engineering), noting improvements are in and final plat ready for recording. Council members recused themselves from ex parte communications. A motion to adopt the resolution passed unanimously (6-0, with one absent).
- Annexation – Columbia Ridge Homes (Item 9A): Planning Manager Trevor Martin presented a 10-acre property owner-initiated annexation near N 96th Ave, Summitview Ave, and N 98th Ave. The property is zoned R-1 single-family residential. Council directed staff to collect signatures from owners representing 60% of assessed valuation to proceed with the annexation petition. Motion passed unanimously.
- Proposal to Expend Affordable Housing (1406) Funds (Item 9B): Assistant City Manager Gary Balou proposed issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the $1 million fund balance (generated from state sales tax credit, ~$120–140k per year). The fund must be used for affordable/supportive housing activities (acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, operations, rental assistance). Four partners expressed interest: Habitat for Humanity, Yakima Housing Authority, Catholic Charities, and True Vay. Council prioritized adding new units, leveraging other funds, and reducing homelessness. Some council members questioned the complexity of an RFP for a relatively small amount. Staff received general approval to proceed with developing the RFP and returning with recommendations.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda approved unanimously (6-0) as read.
- Preliminary Plat "Plat of the Vine" approved by resolution (6-0) after a closed record public hearing.
- Annexation direction – Council voted unanimously to direct staff to collect 60% owner signatures to initiate the annexation process for the Columbia Ridge Homes parcel.
- 1406 Funds – Council provided consensus for staff to develop an RFP for allocating the affordable housing funds, with scoring criteria based on council priorities. Staff will return with a proposal.
- State legislative priorities – Discussion was informational; no formal action taken. Council and legislators agreed to continue advocating for increased local control and addressing indigent defense and healthcare reimbursement.
- Next meeting – City Council special meeting on August 25, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
I will uh call this regular council business meeting to order. Uh clerk roll call, please. Brown? Here. Five years. President. Glen? Here. Gonzalez. President. Patricus. Here. Roy. Here. And Berg is absent. All right. Uh stand with me for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag. All right. Interpreter services. Uh, yes, for the audience, we have interpreting services I provide uh through language connection in the radio. Thank you. Uh, next is open discussion for the good of the order, and we have Chief Boyle uh up first to recognize Nicole for 25 years of service. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to recognize Nicole Sandino. Um, she has twenty-five years employed with the city, but she actually has twenty-eight years of service with the city. Started as an explorer, worked in their park patrol, was a reserve of the Yakima Police Department, and ended up serving some time in Union Gap when she was full-time hired here in two thousand one. She was a PSS one, a PSS two. Payroll. She used to put the gold sticker on when I get when we did our gold when I handed time back in the day. She was instrumental in bringing in TAMS to our department, or for all of you folks in the city that love TAMS. She helped bring it to us. She spent a little bit of time at dispatch, but came back to us. She was asked to come back because to the police department from communications because she did such an outstanding job. And then the community service officer position came open in twenty twenty-two, and she was one of the founding members of the team, and which is animal control parking, and then a plethora of other things we ask her to do and the group to do. Um, they handle thousands of calls a year, realistically. But the biggest thing I could say is she's raised her family here. She's but we've watched her grow up. It's kind of funny. I was talking about, I said we actually watched her grow up. She was a teenager, and now she's a young lady. We'll go with that. But she has an infectious smile, and she's always happy, and she's got some other things that she's brought to our the automated dog licenses and stuff that'll help instead of chipping animals, it's going to be a barcode reader, help find the owners. She doesn't show it, which is positive for us. So thank you for twenty-five years of working at the city, and hopefully you got twenty-five more or so. But thank you again, and and we appreciate everything you've done at our organization. Twenty-five more years. All right. Next we have item 4B. This is Vicki Baker and the introduction of Jen Harrison.
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