Good evening. Welcome to
Vancouver City Council. Today
is Monday, March 23rd, 2026. We
have just returned from
executive session. We're now in
our regular meeting. Will you
please stand and join me in the
Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to
the Republic for which it
stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you,
Miss Staller. Please call the
roll.
>> Council member. Harless.
Present. Perez. Present. Fox.
Here. Paulson. Here. Stober.
Hansen. Present. Mayor.
McEnerny. Ogle.
>> Present.
>> Move to excuse Stober.
Council member. Stober.
>> Seconded by Harless. All
those in favor, say aye.
Opposed? Motion passes. Thank
you very much. We have a quorum.
This is the public hearing.
This is an ordinance of the
City of Vancouver relating to
changes to the bylaws of the
Downtown Redevelopment
Authority, adopting an
amendment to section 2.09 of
the bylaws, clarifying the
employment status of the
Executive Director staff.
>> Thank you. Mayor. Members of
City Council. I don't have a
remote. Sir, are you going to
ride the. Are you going to run
the presentation for me? That'd
be awesome. Thank you. Just
while the presentation is
queuing up, mayor, members of
City Council. For the record,
I'm Jeff Tory, deputy city
manager. This issue was before
the council two meetings ago
and remanded back to staff for
additional work. You had your
first meeting, your first
reading at your meeting last
week. And tonight I'll run
through the staff presentation
and open it up for questions.
Comments in the public hearing.
So briefly review Public
Development Authority's The
history of the Downtown
Redevelopment Association and
background, the city and the d
r a relationship opportunities
for future collaboration. The
prior Council review and the
proposed action for tonight.
Next slide. Sarah. Thank you.
So public development
authorities are established
under Washington state law.
There are 70 ish or so based on
our last count in the state of
Washington. Governance and
operations where vary widely.
Some operate with separate
staff and an operational
infrastructure. Some depend
entirely on the sponsoring city
or county for staffing and
administrative support. Our DRA
has a separate board appointed
by the City Council. Staff
support has historically been
provided by city staff and at
least partially reimbursed by
the DRA. Our DRA was
established in 1997 under that
public authority. The
Convention center and hotel
opened in 2005. The charter was
amended by the City Council in
oh six to focus on the
development and management of
the convention center Hilton
Hotel. Those properties are
owned and managed by the DRA.
Next slide. The seven member
board of Directors is appointed
directly by the City Council.
The DRA executive director has
historically been an At Will
city employee, except for about
two years of the 30 year
history. And based on the
recent DRA bylaw change, all
the staffing and support for
the DRA, including admin,
finance, I.t and such is
provided by the city. City
support expands the amount and
lowers the cost of DRA debt
through debt service guarantees
and a pledge of lodging tax.
There are currently two
refinanced bond issues, both
refinanced in 2013, one where
the city provides a debt
service guarantee that matures
in January 2020 2044 rather.
And then there are tax revenue
bonds where there's a pledge of
2% lodging tax to support the
debt payments that matures in
January 2034. Thank you. Next
slide. The city and DRA have
been collaborating on a series
of planned or proposed
redevelopment projects in the
downtown area, including the
expansion of the convention
center to grow capacity,
attract more events and
visitors, the redevelopment of
properties owned by the city
behind City Hall and adjacent
to the convention Center, which
may evolve into mixed use
development, active public
space and there's also been
long discussed proposed
performing arts center that
might be located on city owned
property behind the convention
center, and ultimately will
require substantial investment
by the city. Next slide.
Pursuant to the law, the city's
responsible for overseeing and
correcting deficiencies in the
area's operation, including
board governance lapses. The
City Council amended the
charter on three previous
occasions to refine its mission
and address changes to the
Dra's operation and manage risk
to the city. Previous ordinance
was approved on consent by City
Council February 23rd and
remanded back to staff on March
2nd to clarify the role of the
DRA board in appointing the
Executive Director. The amended
bylaw language is in the
current ordinance, and it's
intended to address the issues
by retaining the Dyches role in
the appointment process. Next
slide. And specifically, we
asked you to advance the
ordinance that amends the
bylaws for the DRA, clarifying
the appointment status of the
DRA Executive Director. Setting
a date, and today is the date
for the second reading and
public hearing. Happy to answer
any questions if you have them
now or after the public hearing.
>> Councilors, do you have any
questions of Jeff now? Thank
you. Let's go ahead and open
the public hearing. Mr. chair,
I have no yellow cards. Do you
have any cards of anyone
wishing to testify on this? Are
there any online registrations
for this? Then I'll close the
public hearing. Bring it back
to council. Councilors, would
you like to do?
>> Move to approve the
ordinance.
>> Fox. Seconded by.
>> Perez.
>> Perez. Any further
discussion? Hearing none. Roll
call. Vote, please.
>> Councilmember Harless I
Perez I Fox I Paulson I. Hansen
I mayor McEnerny. Ogle.
>> I. Motion passes unanimously.
Thank you very much. That
concludes the public hearing
and the business of the Council.
Council will now adjourn for a
quick bite to eat. Will be back
for the community forum at 630.
Thank you so much.