City Council Committees: End of Year Updates
Happy December, friends! As we look forward to the New Year, we wanted to touch on some of the work accomplished by our City Council Subcommittees and some of the final actions of our Council for the 2024 year.
At our last Safe Community Committee meeting on October 23rd, there was an update on the Flock Safety Cameras, which has assisted officers in recovering weapons, stolen cars, and even missing persons using a nationwide system. Most of these cameras are evenly distributed throughout the city and take pictures of license plates, while the 3 cameras in various parks can record video of the entire area that can be used if there’s an incident. Additionally, the Mayor and staff recommended a new ‘No-Sit-No-Lie’ buffer zone for the area around the Imagine Children's Museum, citing “qualifying events” at nearby businesses as the reason for this recommendation. The final update was regarding the Traffic Safety Cameras at local intersections and the Horizon Speed Zone. 7 of the 11 Safety Cameras are in operation with early data showing a reduction in speed in school zones with flashing lights.
Our Budget Committee only meets as needed, and they met on November 6th, to review the proposed 2025 budget. The same budget information shared at this Committee was also shared during the Council meetings that day and in the following weeks, and this review included information regarding the citywide revenue categories (such as taxes, licenses, and fines) and the revenue budget of $610 million for both general (i.e. core city services paid primarily by tax-dollars) and non-general government (i.e. services paid by revenues that cannot be used to subside general government operations) revenue. This review also included information regarding the expenditure budget of $644 million for general and non-general government spending, and what services will be prioritized by the 2025 budget (services such as housing, transportation, safe community, responsible government, and the workforce).
The Parks & Quality of Life Committee Meeting on November 20th started with a discussion on how the Parks Ranger Program would be eliminated due to the 2025 budget, and the Parks Department’s plan to mitigate safety and services due to this loss. In the short term, some restrooms will be closed, but 24/7 Port-a-Potties will be added in the 9 most commonly used parks, and all park gates will be kept open. In the long term, the Department will work with the Unions and see what technological solutions are also available to provide services. A Draft Noise Ordinance update was also presented, which moves enforcement of these ordinances to Code Enforcement from HR, differentiates between episodic and consistent noise, makes the appropriate updates needed to align our policy with State law, and includes other updates to better handle complaints related to noise.
On December 4th, the Health and Human Services Committee met and guests from Compass Health shared more about the work happening at the Broadway campus, which includes housing at Andy’s Place, which was founded in 2021. The Compass team stated their intention to continue collaborating transparently with the County, City, and surrounding neighborhood while they re-develop their crisis stabilization facility on their Broadway campus (planned to be completed by May 2025), which they also expect will help with some of the safety concerns cited by the local community. This meeting also included information on the proposed Tenant Protection and Rental Registry Ordinance, which would create a registry of rental properties in our city to ensure landlords are providing safe housing to their tenants. Several policy questions were reviewed at this meeting including the types of rental units, caps on security deposits, how to balance landlord and tenant interest, and how the City could support this program considering staffing and budget concerns.
At the Built Environment Committee meeting on December 11th, updates on the 2044 Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations were shared (and can also be found on the Everett 2044 page). Goals for development were discussed, including how some zoning adjustments could be made (without changing the Comprehensive Plan) and how many of the changes prioritize housing. Other discussions included how middle housing needs will be addressed (and how some areas in our city will be exempted from the middle housing adjustment due to lack of access and environmental concerns), and how community centers will also influence this and mixed-use area development.
The last meeting we’ll touch on was the final City Council Meeting of 2024, which was held on December 18th. Among other topics, the Council selected the downtown site for the AquaSox facility with all members noting that making the fiscally responsible decision was a priority, and many members stating that their decision came with the expectation that more details would be clarified in future meetings to maintain their support.
I think, considering all the work being done in the commissions and committees and councils, it’s fair to say that the next year will be an interesting one for our city and - as always - it’s up to all of us to continue building up our city so it can be a community where we all can thrive.
All of the above information can be found with more details on the Everett City website - particularly the Agenda page - and, while they don’t take public comment during subcommittee meetings, they are always open to the public (and recorded!).
Happy New Year and we’ll see you all in 2025!
Angela Di Filippo currently works in State Social Services and recently earned her Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with extensive training in evidence-based leadership coaching. Angela moved from North Carolina to Washington 6 years ago and has proudly called Everett her home for 5 of those years. When not helping others solve problems in creative and strength-driven ways, Angela enjoys her time painting, hiking with her terrier-mix, Indy, and eating waffles.
