Here we go. Good evening.
Welcome to Vancouver City
Council. Today is Monday, May
4th, 2026. This afternoon we
had a couple workshops. The
first one was on our digital
accessibility briefing. Laura
Shepherd in communications is
helping us with that federal
law. And then we talked about
PFA in the water and the
mitigation for that. So please
stand and join me in the Pledge
of Allegiance.
>> I pledge. 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 very much, Sarah.
Please call the roll.
>> Councilmember Harless
present Perez here. Fox here.
Paulson. Stober. Present.
Hansen. Present. Mayor.
McEnerny Ogle.
>> Present.
>> Mayor moved to excuse.
Council member. Fox. Council
member. Paulson.
>> Second motion and a second.
Those in favor say aye. Aye.
Opposed. Motion passes. Thank
you very much. All right. Thank
you. We're now moving into the
approval of the minutes.
Councilors. You have the
minutes of April 27th. Any
corrections or changes. Mr.
Hansen? Seconded by. Stober
Stober. All those in favor, say
aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion passes.
Thank you very much. Tonight we
have a very special
presentation. Kindness 911 was
founded by lifelong Vancouver
resident Jason Hatrick almost
seven years ago in 2019, and is
a program that recognizes
people through our first
responders for their genuine,
positive impact on their
community by issuing kindness
citations, a tangible showing
of our appreciation. Chief
price. There you are. Thank you.
Troy, please provide us some
more information about the
program and introduce who is
here today. Good evening chief.
>> Good evening. Troy Price,
chief of police. Really am.
>> I know a button. There you
go. Start again. Please. Green
is good.
>> All right. Troy Price, chief
of police. I'm very happy this
evening to come and talk to you
a little bit about the kindness
one kindness 911 organization.
We've been members and in
partnership with them for for a
few years now. Jason Hatrick
came and approached actually
yourself, mayor and myself and
said that he had an idea that
would actually bridge some of
the gaps between our community
and law enforcement. And we do
it just one kind act at a time
through something called a
kindness citation. When people
in the community are observed
doing good things or going out
of their way by law enforcement,
we have the opportunity to
present them with the kindness
citation, and it just helps
build stronger relationships
between Vancouver police and
the community we serve. And
we're one of several law
enforcement agencies in the
Pacific Northwest and beyond
who are actually taking part in
this program. It has been very
effective for us. And tonight,
we're going to be honoring one
of our officers through their
organization. And so I'd like
to introduce the founder of
kindness 911, Jason Hatrick.
>> Thank you.
>> Could you show me where that
magical button is?
>> There it is.
>> Good evening.
>> Mayor McEnerny Ogle, council
members and community guests.
Again, my name is Jason Hatrick,
lifelong and proud Vancouver
member. For the last 52 years.
We have the honor at kindness
nine one of supporting and
connecting. 18 law enforcement
and fire agencies with the
communities they serve over the
past seven years, with
Vancouver Police Department as
chief, price said. Being one of
those, we have the privilege of
issuing kindness citations, a
tangible expression of people's
contribution to their
communities. Additionally,
because of these individuals,
kindness 911 makes annual
donations to charities right
here in our community to honor
those people who we've cited.
Tonight. We are here to
celebrate Officer Messer with
the Vancouver Police Department.
Where are you at, Holly? Come
on. Roll on up here. Let's just
do it that way. There we go. So
I want to first tell you a
little bit about Holly Messer,
the superhero. She grew up in
Alaska. She loves her husky
soccer and loving Jesus. She's
been married 15 years and has
four children. With the fourth
adoption finalizing soon. She
is also been in the Coast Guard
Reserves for the past ten years,
serving out of the Portland
base as a police officer. Holly
Messer has been serving with
VPD for 20 years and has worked
many assignments. In fact, her
and I met when she was on bike
patrol a very long time ago.
Holly truly loves to serve.
Officer Messer is not normal.
She is extraordinary. She
genuinely demonstrates kindness
in all she does. She
understands that kindness is
not merely a one time event,
but it's a habit that needs to
be built upon daily, creating a
culture of kindness throughout
the community and in the end,
leaving a lasting and powerful
legacy. Holly, you are truly
the gold standard and the
example to every other kindness
cop and crew member. Each year,
kindness 91 has the opportunity
to recognize the top 1%, the
five out of 500 kindness cops
and crew for the commitment to
excellence, for their
participation in the Kindness
Citation Program, for
connecting with their
communities, and for truly
being a Kindness Ambassador to
their agency, their community,
and beyond. Officer Messer
exemplifies these
characteristics. Last year, in
2025, Officer Messer issued
almost 80 kindness citations
within and beyond the city of
Vancouver. She has touched the
hearts of students, teachers,
district leaders, city
employees, regional
professionals, local business
owners and other first
responders, to name a few. In
fact, I learned that the
recipient of her very first
kindness citation four years
ago is here tonight. Where are
you at, Mark?
>> Mark!
>> There he is.
>> Hey.
>> What? I mean, she just
happened to run into him at the
PD today. Even more. In the
four years kindness 91 has
worked with Vancouver Police
Department officer Messer has
issued more kindness citations
than any kindness kind. Any
kindness cop in our history.
Seeing the importance of the
positive connections between
law enforcement and our
community. So Vancouver is
truly a fortunate community
because of this kind of
superhero. She has received
this distinction of kindness.
Cop of the year from us in 2022,
2023, 2024 and is an
unstoppable force in his back
again. So it is my honor to
present Vancouver Police
Officer Holly Messer with
kindness. 911 2025 Kindness Cop
of the Year Award.
>> There you go.
>> So, Andrew, let's get some
chief, you want to bring Holly
and Jason around and councilors,
come and join us right here.
It's a little awkward back here.
Come right here. I'm sorry.
>> The first kindness award.
>> I think we might have done
that before. So, Holly, you get
to stand in front.
>> Beautiful. Thank you for
each.
>> Looks like a giant ice cube.
>> That's right.
>> Holly, if you'll turn around.
Jason. Chief. Come on. No. Come
on in, chief. There you go. No.
You're fine. We can stand tall.
Go on. Okay. Yeah, yeah.
>> Right here. One, two and
three. I got one more right
here. One, two and three.
>> Okay. Got it.
>> Did you get it?
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you so much. All right.
>> But the family.
>> Is good families.
>> I know there would.
>> Be. To our newest member. Oh.
>> Four legged.
>> Mayor.
>> 000, yes.
>> Here with mayor as well. If
she takes just a little step
towards. Oh oh council. Thank
you to the three.
>> All right, let's move into
the proclamations again. This
is an McEnerny Ogle mayor for
the city of Vancouver. We have
small business week and we have
small business month. So let's
have Kyle and Nicole and
Kimberly all come on up. They
get grabbed three chairs there
and let me do a little of the
introduction here. America's
small businesses make up more
than 99% of all private sector
employers, contributing to
opportunity and prosperity
across the country. Vancouver
continues to grow and thrive
thanks to local entrepreneurs
who bring bold ideas, take
risks, and work hard to
strengthen our community. The
City of Vancouver's revolving
loan fund will offer 1.2
million in loans to small
businesses in the fourth plane
investment area, along with
another 1.2 million in matching
funds for small businesses
citywide that lack access to
traditional financing. The
city's small Business
Resiliency Grant program will
provide 300 zero zero 0 in 2026
to support small businesses in
the fourth plane corridor,
facing economic development and
challenges. It goes on to say
for all of this, Vancouver's
entrepreneurs reflect a wide
range of talents and
backgrounds, contributing to a
strong, diverse and resilient
local economy. The City of
Vancouver joins communities
across the nation in honoring
small businesses for their
essential role in our economy,
and helping to ensure that our
neighborhoods remain vibrant
and thriving now. Therefore, I
Anne McEnerny Ogle, Mayor of
Vancouver, Washington, do
hereby proclaim the week of May
4th through 10th as National
Small Business Week and
proclaimed the month of May as
National Small Business Month
in the City of Vancouver, and
urge all community members to
support and celebrate our small
businesses throughout this week
and the entire month. So here
we go.
>> You get the month and you
have a week. And.
>> Good evening, mayor and
council members. My name is
Kimberly Quiroz, senior
business developer at the
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber.
It is truly an honor to receive
this proclamation on behalf of
many small business owners and
service providers who make up
the heart of Vancouver's
economy. Entrepreneurship
requires courage to keep going
even when things are uncertain,
and that's something that we
see every single day in our
community. Business owners
continue to show up, adapt and
grow, even when facing
challenges. At the Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber, we have
the privilege of supporting
entrepreneurs and navigating
systems, building connections,
strengthening their businesses.
Last year, the chamber provided
one on one technical assistance
to 621 entrepreneurs across
Oregon and southwest Washington.
We had over 6550 direct, one on
one meetings with our clients.
We were able to leverage
1,000,006 68,279 in matched
savings accounts and grants
awarded across our services in
Oregon and Southwest Washington.
This proclamation is not just
recognition. It is a reminder
that when small businesses
succeed, our entire community
thrives on the behalf of the
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber.
Thank you to the City of
Vancouver for this
acknowledgment and for your
continuing support of small
businesses and to entrepreneurs
and service providers. This
recognition is for you. Thank
you.
>> Thank you. Kimberly. Kyle.
Go ahead.
>> I have to echo what Kimberly
says. Thank you so much for
inviting the Sbdc to be a part
of this this evening. I'm I'm
happy to represent the Sbdc
here in the city of Vancouver,
where I also live. And thank
you as a city, for being so
invested in the the success of
your small businesses here. You.
You obviously understand how
important the success of the
small business economy is to.
The stability and growth of of
a city. So thank you for that.
I passed out some some quick
stats on the work that we've
done here in Vancouver over
since I was here last month,
last year at this time, I, we
had the opportunity to work
with a total of 67 individual
clients in the city of
Vancouver over the last year.
43 of them were brand new.
Thanks to our ongoing
collaboration with the City of
Vancouver. And many thanks to
Julie Arenz for setting this up,
and also for our partnership
with the downtown. The
Vancouver Downtown Association.
We saw a variety of business
types through our work with
those 67 businesses in the city,
we helped them achieve almost
400 000 in capital infusion
dollars into their businesses.
That allowed those businesses
to create 13 new jobs out of
eight new businesses that were
started over the year. Working
with us and many of our
businesses reported really good
numbers in their changes in
sales. Despite the ever
challenging economy. With $1.7
million change in revenue over
the last year for those
businesses, there's additional
demographic information on the
types of businesses that we saw,
who the business owners were.
If you have any questions, I'm
happy to field those, but thank
you for including us in in this
discussion and this
proclamation. And I look
forward to another successful
year with the City of Vancouver.
>> Thank you so much. Please
join us. Whereas on May 5th, we
remember. Honor and take action
for the lives of indigenous
women, girls and two spirited
individuals whose lives have
been taken as a result of the
ongoing missing and murdered
crisis. And whereas, Washington
state has the second highest
rate of missing and murdered
indigenous, and the risk of
rape or sexual assault is 2.5
times higher for indigenous
women than the rest of the
country. And the city of
Vancouver is committed to
spreading awareness of our
indigenous women, girls to
spirit, transgender and gender
non-conforming relatives who
have gone missing or have been
murdered. And whereas we act in
solidarity as we recognize
National Day of Awareness and
Action for Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Women, girls and two
spirits seeking to build upon
and support our indigenous
communities to stop this
epidemic and heal within our
communities. And we must
continue to bring awareness. By
doing so, we will increase the
accountability and bring
justice to the families of the
missing and murdered. Now
therefore, I Anne McEnerny Ogle,
Mayor of Vancouver, Washington,
do hereby proclaim the fifth
day of May as the National Day
of Awareness for Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women and
Persons in the City of
Vancouver, and urge all
community members to act for
all our missing and murdered
indigenous women, girls and two
spirit relatives as we work to
end violence.
>> There we go. Might help if I
unmute myself. It always makes
me emotional. Wow, this has
been a journey. I appreciate
each and every one of you. City
Council members and mayor Anne
Mikhno McEnerny Ogle. You've
been alongside me since 2020
and I appreciate that so much.
It speaks volumes, and this is
the reason why I can call
Vancouver home, because me and
my kids finally feel safe. For
those of you who don't know me
and those that are watching, I
am Diana Ricks Johnson. My
pronouns are she her. I'm a
Colville Lakes tribal member
and proud disabled U.S. Navy
veteran, single mom of four.
I'm now a proudly a grandma of
two. I am learning to own that
I am a DAV and an essay and
trafficking survivor. And I'm
sitting before you again in red.
It's the color that my
ancestors see. And we hope to
call back the missing and
murdered spirits of our loved
ones to unite them with our
ancestors. It has been my
passion to speak to the m, m, I,
w p and housing disparities
that we face here in Washington
State. Doing this work with
MMIP. Advocacy and housing
justice has been incredibly
healing in my journey from
victim to survivor. I know all
too well without your help at
the local, state and federal
level, along with these yearly
proclamations given by you, our
City Council. By bringing
attention to this ongoing
genocide, those indigenous
persons who are fleeing from DV
Essraa and trafficking will
continue to be targeted,
victimized, and exploited by
those who would seek to do us
harm. As I sit here, there are
eight 108 open missing cases
just in Washington State alone,
and that was as of April 27th,
2026. While I applaud the
efforts of the Washington State
MMIP task force for being the
first of its kind in America,
we need to do more at a
national level. I am committed
to keep raising my voice for
those affected by MMIWP. I will
help our community go full
circle through connecting the
vital parts needed to build a
strong community. Focus on
bringing awareness to this
ongoing genocide that does not.
Discriminate between blood,
quantum age or gender. The best
way we can do this is by
actively working towards
creating a safe, well-informed
community that provides
affordable housing so our
hurting people can heal. It is
paramount that I actively work
to bridge this gap, and I'm so
proud that I've got a council
that's doing the same. You can
help raise public awareness for
MMI, w p and their families by
heeding the call to action and
following these steps in our
community. This is what you can
do to help. MMIWP cause
acknowledge and bring awareness
to May 5th. Every year, work
with local indigenous
communities to uphold awareness
and wear red and displaying a
red dress in your windows.
Reporting, re, reporting and
reposting missing fliers on all
your social media pages. Help
conduct local help. Oh help by
contacting local legislators to
lobby for quicker
implementation of the feather
alert promised by Washington
State Patrol and support local
MMIP nonprofits. They help our
hurting families with missing
loved ones. And it also
addresses the prevalence of
violence against indigenous
women with their searches and
needs. Speak up against
violence against indigenous
people in our community by
creating safe spaces and being
aware. If you see something,
say something. And in closing,
in this current political
climate. Brought by our current
federal administration as an
indigenous woman, there's a
target on my back. If I should
ever go somewhere and I do not
return. When I said I would
know that, I would not just
leave my family. Or my loved
ones, I would never do that to
them. If I ever go missing,
something is wrong. Please look
for me. And that is on behalf
of all MMIWP. Thank you for
this.
>> Thank you, thank you. Joanna.
All right, counselors again.
Anne McEnerny Ogle. Mayor, that
concludes our proclamations.
This would be the opportunity
for community communication,
not the forum. We do not have
any preregistration, nor do I
have any cards for the
community communication portion
of our agenda. So we'll move
into the consent agenda. This
is the opportunity. We have
nine items. Councilors. Are
there items that you would like
to pull?
>> Yes, mayor.
>> Councilor.
>> Council member Stober. I
would like to pull item number
eight.
>> Item eight. Okay. Any other
items?
>> Item five.
>> Item five. Okay. All right.
Then I will accept a motion for
items one, two, three and four,
six, seven and nine.
>> This is Diana Perez move to
approve.
>> Perez seconded by Fox. Fox.
All those in favor say aye. Aye.
Opposed? Motion passes. Thank
you very much. All right,
Councilor Fox, item number five,
the interlocal agreement with
Wasch dot yes.
>> Do we have any staff to. Oh
we do, there's Aaron. Okay. All
right. Council member Fox here
just reviewing this particular
interlocal agreement. I do
recognize that it seems very
clear that it's about providing
the city some way to be
reimbursed for doing. Basically
outreach activities and our
right of ways that are not ours.
I guess Wasch Dot's right of
ways to our homeless population.
But I'm wondering, there has
been quite a lot of email
traffic and, and other concerns
about the trash that's left
behind with these encampments.
Will this interlocal agreement
reimburse us for cleaning up
those encampments?
>> Yes.
>> So good evening, Mayor and
Council. Aaron Lande, assistant
city manager. And I'm joined by
Tyler Chavers from our
Homelessness Response program,
who can speak more to the
details of our work with Wasch
dot on these washed up
properties. My understanding is
that the work that we conduct
for wash Dot and that we are
reimbursed for is limited to
the outreach. Wash Dot does not
want us doing cleanups, and so
that is not part of this work.
That's not work conducted by
heart. So if if there's cleanup
occurring by the city on Wasch
dot property, that'd be a
separate conversation. I assume,
with public works. Tyler, I
don't know if you have anything
to add there.
>> No, nothing further to add.
Okay.
>> This might be out of your
scope for this particular item,
but are there other agreements
in progress for Wasch dot
reimbursing us for doing any
cleanups within their right of
way?
>> I don't know, I apologize.
>> Maybe we can bring that up.
>> This is Tyler Chavers, the
homeless response coordinator
for the city. I know there have
been some discussions over the
years about cleanups with
regards to the solid waste
along the freeway system within
the city, but it's never
reached a point of Wasch dot
contracting with the city for
those services. They still
maintain the control and the
maintenance.
>> I'd say that we're not
getting really good marks for
how well they're keeping up
with that end of the bargain.
Okay, I don't have any other
questions on this particular
item unless other council
members do.
>> Other councilors seeing none,
I'll entertain a motion item
number five.
>> Move to approve item five.
>> Fox seconded by Perez. Those
in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed?
Motion passes. Thank you. Let's
move on to item number eight,
Councilor Stober. Go ahead.
>> Thank you mayor. So I think
this is a conversation with the
city attorney. So, city
attorney, when we set out in
March, one of the things we
want to do is to clear up
ambiguity in the. That, am I
correct? There is. We wanted to
clear up ambiguity. So as I
read this, I'm left still with
some ambiguity. And so I'm
going to relate this to
something else I'm going to
rate to our, our city charter.
And years ago, when I was on
the Charter Review Commission,
I wanted to get rid of or
redefine crimes of moral
turpitude.
>> Turpitude?
>> Yes. And two things came up
with that. One is realized that
was a $4,000 question. And at
least a $4,000 question. And
second, there is actually that
is a term of law. And there is
a clear definition that goes
with that. So I recognize that
sometimes words that may not be
in the common vocabulary can
still have very clear
definitions associated with
them. So I'm going to run
through three words in this
revision and want to hear if
there is clear definition or if
there is still ambiguity in
those. And I'm going to focus
in on independence, integrity
and impartiality. And can you
tell me, are there clear legal
definitions of independence,
integrity, or impartiality?
>> No. Council member Stuebe or
there are not clear legal
definitions of those three
terms like there is for
appearance of impropriety. But
those three terms, even though
they don't have a specific
statutory definition, they have
been interpreted in case law in
the state of Washington.
>> Okay.
>> So if we wondered what the
term independence met as it
relates to code of ethics, we
could find cases in other
jurisdictions where that was an
issue and where the court
defined that word as it related
to that action.
>> Okay. So I am I'm so that's
great. That's great to know.
And I would want to have it
cross-referenced into here. I
want somehow. Somehow that a
bridge to, to make it very
clear where people go, you know,
so an allegation comes forward.
I these still seem ambiguous to
me. I would love to be able to,
to have in the policy some
place saying. Here's where it's
been interpreted by the courts,
here's where. That's okay. So
that's where I'm coming from in
this is that I'm, I really want,
I don't want there to be
ambiguity. I want it to be very
clear exactly what is the
standard and that it is not
that we don't leave it open for
interpretation. Yeah.
>> Councilor Anne McEnerny Ogle
that that strategy would be
true for every policy, every RC
w every whack, the entire set
of laws and policies that we
have. So it wouldn't be just
for this particular item if
anyone had any concern about
ambiguity, they could go to
court cases in the state of
Washington for everything.
>> What do you say.
>> If I might, Nina Kolke, city
attorney. That is true, and it
won't be a surprise to you,
Council Member Stauber, that we
can do that. I could get a
definition from a case, but
another case could define it a
little differently. So if that
is because that is a concern,
because clearly it is a concern
and a legitimate concern, what
I might suggest is, as you know,
in section nine, the mechanism
by which this policy is
interpreted is the first level
of analysis goes to the city
attorney, and the city attorney
would apply those laws, cases,
definitions, interpretations to
the action, the alleged action
of the council member, and
include that in her report to
council, in which she's
recommending either a dismissal
or further action.
>> Any other comments from
councilors? Councilor Perez, go
ahead.
>> Thank you. Just to.
>> Please identify yourself.
>> Thank you. I will. Diana
Perez, Vancouver City Council.
Nina, thank you. And just to go
along the same conversation to
get clarity, really where the
concern is about the
objectivity and how this can be
weaponized and used against
anyone really staff or us or
city manager or city attorney.
So what, what processes do we
have in place to really meet
that threshold and fairness?
For example, what level of
evidence should be required
before an appearance of before
an appearance that triggers a
formal review? So that that
would be one question.
>> So if I might add, or did
you want to should I answer
that one?
>> And then the other one is,
are we treating optics the same
or differently. So that's that
difference of, of evidence and
connecting and anchoring it to
a legal definition. As far as
who makes the determination of
what's what triggers it. A
formal complaint?
>> Okay, let me see if I can
answer it. And you'll tell me
if there's some follow ups.
This is Nina Kolke, city
attorney again. So there are as
you see, we've always had
conflicts of interest and
appearance of impropriety. The
problem we encountered last
year, council struggled with
last year was, what the heck
does this appearance of
impropriety mean? It has used
that term throughout this
policy since 1999, and it
wasn't until last year when the
issue became front and center.
When we're like, what does that
mean? So getting to, I think,
your next level of inquiry,
what does that mean? That
definition that you see that I
proposed in section 5.0 for the
first time in our policy,
defines what appearance of
impropriety means. And again,
further to your point, it's
based on an objective standards.
So there are two ways to look
at a complaint subjectively. If
I think you did something wrong,
just based on my personal
belief and the objective
standard, which is what would a
reasonable person in this
situation think if you did
something wrong? So the bumpers
I've been speaking with some
council members about this. The
bumpers, the boundaries, the
parameters are a reasonable
person. So if I have an
unreasonable expectation that
if you sneeze, that violates
the code of ethics. That's my
subjective belief. But an
objective, reasonable person
would not believe that. Then
that's your legal standard. And
one of the other clauses I
added, you'll recall Council
member Perez in early March
when we discussed this rule and
others, we talked about being
alert or aware of cultural
biases and guarding against
those. The way I've crafted
this is with the help of other
jurisdictions. So I didn't make
up the definition in 5.0. Out
of nowhere, I included it from.
I did a survey maybe that's too
strong of a word, but I looked
at other cities of comparable
size in the state of Washington
to come up with this language.
And some of the bigger cities
included this other clause that
says, not only does it have to
be a reasonable person, but it
has to be a reasonable person
with knowledge of the relevant
facts. So I know those just
seem like words, and they
probably seem like mushy words
at that, but it actually really
tightens up the focus on what
appearance of impropriety means.
So even if objectively, people
would think your sneeze
violated the code of ethics, if
they had knowledge of relevant
facts that say you're allergic
to dust, and we just got a new
council chambers that's full of
it. Now we have somebody that
the objective standard is more
informed by that particular
fact.
>> Okay. Thank you. I
appreciate that clarification.
And so would I think is needed
is this clarification of a
definition of a reasonable
person? Tie those. When you
said words, they seem just like
words, but they're really
defined. I think in in some
legal terminology, to help
further tighten that ambiguity.
So defining what reasonable
person is. And then I think
there was a, the next subject
of that you added to that term.
So is there.
>> So much like council members,
this is Nina Kolke, city
attorney. Again, much like
Council member Stauber
mentioned earlier, there are.
And it sounds like his
unfortunate experience with
charter review. There are some
legal phrases that mean
something just based on that
phrase. Reasonable person is
that phrase. That phrase is
used more often or most often
in a legal context when there's
negligence or if there's an
injury to someone. Was that
usually it's the reasonable
person standard? Was it
reasonable for that person to
leave the ladder out in the
middle of the hallway so
somebody could trip over it? So
I guess that's my way of saying
it would. I would be hard
pressed to find more of a
definition of reasonable person,
because courts just say it over
and over, reasonable, as if we
know what that means. But it's
these other words, like the one
you were referring to earlier,
with knowledge of the relevant
facts. So in law, the term
reasonable person means we are
using an objective standard of
this fictitious reasonable
person. Because who really is?
I mean, we'd like to think we
are reasonable, but it's it's
generally what a reasonable
person would think, as opposed
to my subjective standard,
which could be really off the
mark. And then again, guided by
whatever the complaint is, that
first level of inquiry, because
reasonable person is a legal
term. The city attorney who's
charged with doing that initial
review would look into case law
that would apply reasonable
person in a similar situation.
So not in a situation where
somebody is injured, but in a
situation when where a council
member in another jurisdiction
was allegedly engaged in the
same behavior, and what did
that council do or what did
that court do? So that's
probably as close as we can get
to reasonable person as there
is.
>> Okay. Thank you. And if and
I know that examples always
help, if there was a way to be
clear on that definition, such
as your articulated with an
example, that can help. But the
intent in all of this really is
to, to reduce that
vulnerability to abuse of, of,
of the appearance of
impropriety. So those that's
what I'm basing my comments on
is how do we reduce that
vulnerability of abuse for that?
But I think that if we clarify
the definition as you
articulated and use an example,
I think that would help.
>> Any other comments?
>> I remember.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> Just to add on more to that,
just yeah, adding some
definitions would be incredibly
helpful. That's a lot of
legalese, you know, and it is a
assumption that, you know,
councils of the future would
take the time to really invest
in read through everything, the
real due diligence that would
be required. And it's a lot of
responsibility that isn't
always guaranteed, and it's not
guaranteed through the way that
it's written. So it's still
gives the option for councils
of the future to or others to
potentially misuse for other
alternatives or motives. It
just those because those
definitions aren't there
because it's not in layman's
terms, it's really reliant that
councilors of the future fully
understand to that depth. And
that's just not a guarantee
when it comes to this, these
kinds of decisions in the way
that it's written. And so
piggybacking off what's kind of
been said already, it seems
like there's a need for further
like putting it in simple
language. And although these
legal definitions have that
somewhere else, we need to
really make it as easy as
possible for councils of the
future to truly understand what
it is, instead of having to
deep dive in that way.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> Sure. I guess I'm listening
to, you know, the three
previous council members
provide thoughts and
introspection, but I'm not
hearing actual suggestions for
changes. And I feel as if this
is perhaps not sending any
actual direction to staff. I'm
I'm not in agreement that we
need a definition for
reasonable person. The. As our
city attorney described, that
particular term has a lot of
legal basis in many places, let
alone our own law enforcement,
where we have reasonable use of
force is another term.
Reasonable use is used a lot.
And I also understand that a
lot of construction of our. Our
legal documents rely a lot on
the standard definition found
in a dictionary as well. And so
I, I guess I'm, before we send
this back to staff, I'm not
hearing an agreement as
particular terminology that
needs to be further defined,
especially after our city
attorney, you know, explained
why we wouldn't wouldn't it
wouldn't be recommended to
define the term reasonable
person.
>> Thank you, Councilor Hanson.
>> I think staff did a great
job. But point of clarification,
Council or Mayor Pro Tem Fox
did send it back to staff.
Where were you?
>> There is not a motion.
>> Okay, because.
>> You said not sending it back
to staff. No. I'm asking.
>> You said.
>> It sounds as if there's
three council members that want
to send it back to staff for
additional definitions, and I'm
not hearing the specificity of
what those definitions are. And
so I'm asking for clarification
here before this is kicked down
the road some more.
>> Well, then let's put it in
the form of a motion. Do we
have a motion from the Council
on item number eight.
>> Move to approve item number
eight.
>> Fox. Is there a second?
>> Hanson.
>> Hanson, any further
discussion?
>> This is Diana. Diana. Perez.
>> Just just a moment,
councilor. I had I had
councilor over there first.
>> I I so one. Anybody can come
forward and make an allegation
no matter how the definitions.
Definitions or not. It's
there's anybody can come
forward and nothing that we're
going to do is going to stop
somebody from from doing that.
I am satisfied. I'm maybe not
fully satisfied, but I am
satisfied with the city city
attorney's explanation of
process in this term. So I'm
fine.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Perez.
>> Just a process check. This
is not a discussion to send it
back to staff. This is
discussion amongst us. So just
to clarify, Councilor Fox,
we're not asking for action.
We're actually discussing what
is above us here before us. So
every discussion we have isn't
just about action. It's about
sharing our thoughts on what is
here for us to vote on. So my
comments were about sharing
where I'm at in my thought
process on this. It's not to
send it back or ask for action.
So I just want to clarify that.
Secondly is I believe that
there should be a definition on
reasonable persons, and I
believe that there should be an
example. And that doesn't mean
that because it's not there
that I am against it. My
thought is that I think it
should be included. I
appreciate a lot of the work. I
think you did a great job
articulating and doing the
research on this, and it's a
better improvement than what we
had before. And that doesn't
mean that I'm not going to
approve it or ask for it to go
back. Simply sharing my
thoughts as a councilor here,
ready to make a vote. So thank
you for that. And my comments
stand as they are.
>> Any additional comments?
Councilor Harless.
>> I would like to propose an
amendment for discussion. You
know, and looking over the
information that's been
presented, as, you know, some
ways to fix it. You know,
something that has arisen as
another possible option to make
this policy better. And, you
know, spoke with Nina. Thank
you for your time to kind of
figure out, you know, go
through this, what's been
proposed and all of these
definitions and all the things.
So I really appreciate your
time. But something came up and
was that there are other
jurisdictions that have ethics
commissions. You know, what if
we amend, you know, approve as
is, but then bring it, have
something come back to us. And
that could be in the form of,
you know, a sub quorum that
comes together, that could be
just staff that comes back to
us about what it might look
like to go to an ethics
commission instead with
appointed public individuals,
like many other jurisdictions
have. So it takes the
politicians out of it and
brings it to the people to make
that to make that decision on
what a reasonable person is.
And so that is something I
would like to propose.
>> Mayor.
>> Just a moment. Council. I
don't have a motion.
>> You have a motion?
>> No, I do not have a motion.
>> She moved to amend, didn't
you?
>> Yeah.
>> She proposed. Are you
putting that in the form of a
motion? Please, please state
your motion.
>> I move to amend the motion
to add. I mean, it could be an
ethics commission. It could go
a number of different ways. So
I'd love to, Nina, what those
possible options are for an
amendment. If we were going to
be I don't know if that's
appropriate right now to amend
it to add a ethics commission,
because they're really an
either or thing. I just didn't
want this discussion to
conclude before being able to
have this discussion.
>> So I still do not have a
motion.
>> Point of clarification.
>> Yes, councilor Hanson.
>> Thank you. Mayor Council
member Hanson, if just a
friendly suggestion might be to
say that we would have staff
investigate what it would like
to come back with a sort of
ethics commission, and that
would be a form.
>> Yeah. I'm just not sure how
that's an amendment to the
motion that's on the table. So
I was asking for some
assistance.
>> Mayor.
>> Yes, councilor Fox.
>> Yeah. To the way that this
particular idea would have to
move forward would be to have
something as, as far as
pointing to a section that
we're reviewing tonight and
saying that this ethics
commission would somehow fit
within this policy, which would
take some time to develop. So
building upon Bart's suggestion
tonight would be that this
would be something that should
be brought back after some work
of your fellow council members
and staff not worked out on the
dais tonight.
>> So if anything was meant to
be an amendment to the motion
that is at the table, I do not
have a motion.
>> I guess it would be a amend
the motion to include that
staff investigate what having
an ethics commission might look
like.
>> Motion fails for lack of. A
second.
>> Point of clarification,
though, going back to Mayor Pro
Tem point, it would have to tie
back to something in in the
policy itself. So would it
would it be more appropriate to
decide on the motion, the
original motion, and then to
come back and direct staff to
do exactly what the council
member Harless, is trying to
achieve in an amendment?
>> Yes.
>> Good answer. Wow, that was
quick.
>> And if I might elaborate,
Council member Harless and I
did have a chance to discuss
this earlier. So the reasons
Council member Mayor Pro Tem
Fox and you and others have
mentioned it's hard to tuck it
into this policy. So one thing
that she and I discussed is
having this policy stand or
fail on its own. And then the
second thing we discussed is
reviewing or researching or
looking into the possibility of
having an ethics commission.
What I recommended, with her
request of mine, was to have a
sub quorum of Council join me
in that work, because it would
help guide it, just like we did
with redistricting. We had a
quorum that looked into the
different ways different
jurisdictions did, restricting
put together for council to
consider. So it would be
helpful if we have council
members and council member
Harless is obviously interested
in sharing with that with me in
that research or whatever we
would bring back to Council on
the Ethics Commission idea.
>> Thank you. I have a motion
and a second that are on the
table. Any further discussion
about the motion? Hearing none.
Roll call. Vote please.
>> Council member Harless.
>> I.
>> Perez I.
>> Fox I.
>> Stober I.
>> Hanson I mayor McEnerny Ogle.
>> I. Motion passes unanimously.
Now, is there an additional
motion to be made?
>> I would like to make a
motion that we form a sub
quorum to look into creating an
ethics commission.
>> Second.
>> Motion and a second further
discussion.
>> Councilor Soelberg.
>> I'll start off I have a long
list of additional commissions
I would love to form. And this
adds into the very bottom of
that. Yeah, I just there's so
many things, you know, I would
love a human rights commission.
I would love a housing
commission. I would love
there's a lot of commissions
I've been advocating for for
nine years. And this is very
bottom on my list. Thank you.
>> Additional comments. I have
a motion and a second. All
those in favor of the motion as
stated, would you please state
it, councilor Sarah?
>> Yes. A motion to create a
sub quorum to look into an
ethics committee.
>> Commission, Commission.
>> Thank you.
>> All those in favor, say aye.
Opposed? Nay. Motion passes.
Thank you.
>> Mayor.
>> Councilor.
>> I think what Council member
Diana Perez. I think what
council member brought up is a
very important piece because it
ties into our process across
the board, and perhaps we can
use the opportunity to see
where there's some overlap with,
like the Human Rights
Commission and other types of
commissions. So maybe Council
member silver, if you your list
of commissions, given your time
serving on City Council, I
think would add information to
this effort. I don't want us to
lose the opportunity to be
smart about the overall list of
commissions. As we look at
improving the overall systems
that we have. Perhaps there's
an opportunity here.
>> Any other comments?
>> We can look into that. Thank
you. I will talk with Joy
Fowler about the overall
context of these other
commissions as well. Thank you.
Mori oh, sorry. Deputy City
Manager Lisa Brandel apologies.
>> City attorney.
>> Thank you. Mayor Nina Kolke,
city attorney. I'll work with
the city manager's office. I
understand they are preparing.
Maybe Deputy City Manager
Randall has more information, a
list of priorities for Council
to consider in terms of
resources and staff time. So
I'll defer my role if that's
okay with council to the city
manager's office to coordinate
with Joy Fowler and priorities,
if that is acceptable to
council.
>> Yes. Thank you very much.
All right. That concludes our
consent agenda, and it brings
us into the public hearing.
This is a resolution relating
to the adoption of the city's
Community Development Block
Grant, Cdbg and Home Investment
Partnerships annual action Plan
for the 2026 program year
authorizing the City Manager to
execute agreements on behalf of
the City of Vancouver.
Consistent with the Cdbg and
Home Annual Action Plan,
providing for severability and
effective date. And we have
staff. Good evening.
>> Good evening.
>> Samantha Whitley, housing
programs Manager. And I'm
joined here tonight with Tasha
Slater, housing housing
coordinator, and Victor Saldana,
who is our small business
program manager. And I believe
we have a presentation to share.
Sarah. So we will talk about
tonight our timeline. Oh,
where's my slide timeline, how
the community has participated
with the development of the
plan, the resources and funding
we have available from HUD and
how we expect to award it, and
what those funding resources
will, what outcomes they'll
have in the community. And then
at the end, we have a
substantial amendment to our
2025 plan that we would also
like approval on before we
submit all of this to HUD. So
our annual timeline, we start
every year with a notice of
funding availability in October.
And this is a long lead up to
when we actually get the
funding, which is July 1st. So
even though it looks like a
short timeline on the slide,
you have three months where we
have the funding availability.
We are helping applicants
understand the funding and what
all of the federal requirements
are. We're looking at
Pre-applications before any
applicants spend a lot of time
on a full application. So we
review the Pre-applications in
November, and then we provide
feedback to the non-profits and
the community partners that are
proposing funds proposing to
receive funds, because we want
to make sure that they're what
they're proposing is going to
be eligible, and it's going to
meet all of the HUD and federal
requirements. So after the
Pre-applications are reviewed
and approved to move forward,
they submit a full application,
which is pretty extensive. I
think we have between 15 and 20
questions about their program,
their capacity, their other
funding sources. And so we
review these full applications
as staff, and then we provide
feedback on the full
application to the applicants,
because we want to make sure
that they have the strongest
application possible before
they are reviewed by our
committee. So between January
and March, we're reviewing
these with our committees. We
have a specialized housing and
social service committee that
is made up of people who have a
lot of experience in that realm.
And then Victor's team is made
up. We have a business
assistance review committee
that's specialized in that kind
of work, finance and small
business assistance. So we are
doing presentations with all
the committees. We're doing
risk assessments on all the
applications. We're looking at
each agency's capacity, staff
turnover, legal issues, their
ability to actually meet all of
these federal requirements and
carry out the activity
throughout the year. So that is
even though it's represented by
two little slides, two little
dots up there, it's six months
of work to look at these
applications and bring them
forward into our action plan
that we draft. And I'll say
this, I'm saying as we this is
Tasha drafted the whole action
plan. It's an extensive HUD
template document that we
shared out. We have to share it
for at least 30 days for public
comment. So that's been
underway this past month. And
then we bring it forward to you
for approval. We have to submit
it to HUD by May 15th, 45 days
to review it. They'll give us
feedback and sometimes ask for
adjustments. And then that
takes that full time before the
July 1st program year begins.
Which is not to say that we
always get our funds from HUD
then, but some of our programs
can begin based on funding that
we have on hand. And then it's
yeah. And then this full cycle
starts again. So with I
mentioned that we shared out
this action plan for public
review. We have an extensive
email list. We also work with
communications. They help us
with social media and the press
release. It was advertised in
the paper. We want as many
people as possible to review
this plan and give us any
feedback. We don't usually get
a lot of feedback, but we are.
We offer infographics and
trying to make it easier for
people to understand what we're
proposing and what we're
funding. So that's part of what
we're required to do with HUD,
and part of what we're happy to
do to get people's input. I
will turn.
>> It. Over to Kesha. Thanks.
>> Okay. Tasha Slater, senior
housing planner in 2026, we
have three major funding
sources with Cdbg, which is our
Community Development Block
grant. We have an estimated
award from HUD for about 1.3
million, and then another
350,000 from prior year
resources, for a total of about
1.7 million for home funding,
we were awarded a little less
than 700,000. We are expected
to receive about 50,000 in
program income and about 250
000 in prior year resources,
along with about 213,000 in set
asides for community housing
development organizations,
which I'll talk about in a
little bit. So that's about 1.2
million for home funds. And
then for our home ARP funding,
we were awarded about 2.1
million in 2021. Those funds we
were given, and they must be
spent out by September 2030.
And we are spending about five.
We will be spending 500 000 of
those funds. So the agencies
awarded. We were awarding Janus
Youth. We are awarding Janus
Youth and Share. They're each
getting 270,000 and we awarded.
Or we're putting aside 5000
each for implementation, for
staff time, for our capacity
building program, we partner
with the Community Foundation
of Southwest Washington to work
with five organizations in our
community, and they're
receiving for year two, 250 000
5000 of that will be
implementation. And then the
500,000 that I talked about
with home ARP is going to go to
Council for the homeless for
their coordinated outreach
program. $200,000 is going to
them, 200,000 is going to
outsiders in for their Hope
outreach and housing stability
program and Live Love will
receive 100 000 for their
street outreach.
>> Good evening, Victor Saldana,
small business and
entrepreneurship program
manager. And I am here to talk
about our agency awards for the
Microenterprise. I do believe
some of the information for the
memo was disseminated fairly
late, so I will be here to
answer any questions that you
might have on that as well. But
we have recommended for awards
for business Impact, Northwest
Fourth Playing forward and the
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber
as they are clearly aligned
with our strategies to promote
small business and
microenterprise programs, as
well as this year, align with
our five year economic
development strategy to support
child care and construction and
trades businesses.
>> Tasha Slater, again senior
housing planner for public
services. We are awarding 140
000 to council for the homeless.
They'll receive 75000 for their
Dynamic Diversion program, and
Foster Full will receive 665000
for their Heart and Home
services program. And then
there is a homeownership
program with Proud Ground,
where they will receive 250 000
with $5,000 of implementation.
We also have some funding set
asides that we set aside each
year. We have a homeownership
rehab program that the city and
our department run, and we are
giving $429,500.06 to that
program, about 266,000 will be
Cdbg funds, and then 161,000
will be home funds. We also
have a set aside that HUD
requires for us to set aside
for at least two years for
community housing development
organizations. It's a
percentage of our entitlement
funds. So this year for 2026,
it will be 318,000. We also
have two 2024 and 2025.
Allotted amount set aside. So
this year for 2024, since it
will be the second year, we
will ask for HUD to release
those funds so that we can
include it into our entitlement.
We also are paying for 340 000
for the section 108 loan for a
Fourth Plain Commons, and for
admin. We are also have another
percentage that we have to set
that we can set aside. The HUD
allows us to. And so that will
be $345,171. About 275 of that
will be 275,000 will be for
Cdbg, and then about 70,000
will be for home. Our proposed
outcomes with this funding is
that 324 people will receive
services through our public
service programs. 312 people
will. Experiencing homelessness
will be assisted through our
home ARP funding. 45 households
will receive rental assistance.
Ten homeowners will receive
home repairs through our home
ownership home rehab program.
Five community based
organizations will receive
technical assistance and
capacity building through that
program, and then 176
businesses Microenterprise
businesses will receive
technical assistance. As Sam
mentioned earlier, we also have
an action plan amendment to our
2025 Action plan. We received
cancellation of a program, our
public service program with
friends of the children. That
was $70,800 of Cdbg funds. So
we ask that that substantial
amendment be accepted, and then
we will reallocate those funds
to our 2026 awards. So next up
is this public hearing. We are
wanting. 2026 Annual Action
Plan approval. 2025 Substantial
Amendment approval. We will
have open public comment until
May 14th, and then I will
submit our finalized action
plan on May 15th to to HUD. And
then hopefully on July 1st, our
funds will become available.
Okay.
>> Thank you, thank you. All
right. Sam, just to kick this
off, you talk about the
committee that went through the
scoring and selection. Could
you tell us who is on that
committee?
>> We have about 15 people on
our housing advisory committee,
and we'd be happy to provide
you with that list. And then
Victor's business assistance
committee would also be
available.
>> Yeah. Victor Saldana and we
have eight people on the
scoring committee. They're made
up of small businesses,
providers for small business in
the city of Vancouver, as well
as individuals working with
small businesses within the
city of Vancouver. I can
provide that list as well.
>> Yes, I'm aware, but Sam,
let's go back to the advisory
who selected the advisory for
the housing advisory team.
>> We put out a request, an
open request a year ago, and
took in applications for people
who are interested. And then
our housing team chose the
advisory committee.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you.
>> Yes. All right. Counselors,
other comments, counselor Perez.
Go ahead.
>> Thank you. Sam, I have a
couple of questions. I was sad
to see Southwest Washington
child care not funded when they
are directly adding ten new
child cares versus the other
organizations, which I think
are doing great. Doesn't seem
like they're going to add new
child cares. So that was one
question. Question I have for
you. Do you have a little more
information on what child care
outcomes? The other the
organizations that are funded
compared to the loss of ten or
not having ten new child cares?
>> Yes. Thank you for that.
Council member Perez Victor
Saldana, Small Business
Entrepreneurship program
manager. Although the other
programs don't list
specifically child care, I can
discuss previous production. So
just an example, the Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber over their
recent Cdbg funding have been
able to support ten childcare
businesses, as well as 20 in
the construction and trades
businesses. So although they
might not have specific
childcare within the name of
the program because it is a
microenterprise program and
that's what they're serving,
they do have that support for
those businesses as well, both
startup as well as established.
>> Okay. Is there any way to
move the 70 K or allocate the
70 K that you got returned from
the cancellation to support the
Southwest Washington Child Care
Consortium?
>> So we knew that this this is
Samantha Whitley. We were aware
that the 70,000 was canceled
last year. And we planned that
as part of the awards that we
put forward already.
>> Okay. I I'm just finding it
hard to not support the
Southwest Washington Child Care
Consortium, which if you look
at slide, what's the slide nine?
Is it nine? Yeah. Slide nine.
Proposed outcomes from these
awards, you could put ten new
child cares in deserts, child
care deserts and continue to
address that. Whereas it's not
clear in the in the other ones
that are funded. So just want
to understand the logic why the
children's consortium is not
being funded. When you can
address a real child care
crisis with ten new child care
centers.
>> Sure. And I can.
>> Sorry, Victor. And just to
add to that, I know your
advisory committee. Were there
any child care providers or
somebody with that level of
experience and knowledge in
that? So I'll I want to add
that question to.
>> And I appreciate that.
Council member Perez Victor
Saldana, small business and
entrepreneurship program
manager. We do have individuals
on the committee that support
organizations that start child
care and fund child care, but
not specifically running child
care. So that will answer that
question. As far as the reason
of picking or having the
committee choose the
organizations that they chose,
they chose the ones that would
support a broad range of
individuals and businesses to
make sure that we were staying
true to the consolidated plan
that was done, but also to make
sure that child care, as well
as construction trades, which
is one of the five year.
Economic development strategies
that we were working on to
allow that within that. So not
to say that they're not
supporting five or 10 or 15,
just like even with fourth
plain forward, who's also on
here, has supported six in the
previous year with their
funding. They just don't have
specifically a number in there.
They do have a larger number of
businesses that they're going
to support, whether it be child
care, construction trades, as
well as the 2000 other
businesses that we have.
>> Okay. Well, I think you know
where my preference is to
ensure that we support the
Southwest Washington Child Care
Consortium.
>> That's Councilor Fox.
>> Sure.
>> Yeah. I'd sent some comments
and questions earlier, and I
was also focusing on on really
better understanding the
criteria for the, the scoring
of these awards, since we
didn't have the criteria to
review before this meeting.
That is something that I would
like. I will be making a motion
on this item. I know we still
have the actually open. Do we
have anyone for opening the
public hearing? But we have a
public hearing here, but there
I will be recommending to my
fellow council members that we
need more information on this
item. And one of them is the
criteria and the scoring for
evaluation of these
applications. I do appreciate
that staff got back to me. I
know I tend to do all my
homework on the weekends, and
so it doesn't give you much
time to prepare for Monday. So
I do appreciate that. But I the
information you returned to me
was information I'd reviewed.
It had been sent to us during a
weekend or weekend update by
the city manager, but that
wasn't really a way for us to
give you any advance feedback
before this meeting tonight.
And when I read it, at that
time, I had actually talked to
the city manager about it as
well. And so it isn't that so.
I don't think any of those
concerns got to you in advance
of tonight. Beyond beyond me
reaching out again on Sunday.
So that is a hole that needs to
be fixed as well as far as our
communications through the city
manager's office and to staff.
But it is you know, I read
through the entire action plan
and have some comments
throughout it. And it's not
something that I know we want
to walk through tonight. So I'd
rather share them with staff,
but they are things around
being more prescriptive. And
here's the conversation part
with staff is, you know, as, as
I hear you saying that you're
linking it to our strategies,
our council strategies for
business development in the
construction trades and in
child care. I'm not seeing that
reflected specifically in the
plan. It's very general as to
what what our focus areas are
for funding. So that might be a
strategy of the application to
the federal government. But you
know that part. I need more
understanding around why you
wouldn't be more specific. That
would also then be reflected in
the criteria and the scoring
criteria. If you're more
specific about those particular
activities that we want to fund.
And then, you know, just
focusing in on the plan itself,
there's also I had, and this is
just one item I'll just raise
up so that I'm being specific
with my fellow council. You
mentioned one of the agencies
that you reach out to to help
develop the plan, and you
mentioned the Department of
Commerce. I work for the
Department of Commerce, and I
thought it was interesting that
it seemed, and I can't imagine
this can be true, that you were
only reach out to the Broadband
Office of Commerce when this
plan, you know, touches on so
many other things. And the
Department of Commerce has
units specifically devoted to
housing, homelessness, business
development. And so I, I was
wondering if there is a need
for some more connections
within the Department of
Commerce, and I can help you
make some of those connections
as well. So I, I will wait to
make a motion, obviously, to
that time frame.
>> Thank you. Any other
comments? So, Tasha, it's May
4th. Public comment period
doesn't end for another ten
days. Why are we talking about
it now?
>> I do have so we leave public
comment open so that the public
is able to send in any comments
that they have even after this,
to get more kind of information
and accessible way through this,
rather than in addition to
reading the 45 page document.
But HUD does require a 30 day
comment period along and then
it is due by May 15th. Other.
If it goes past May 15th, it
could delay our funds or their
approval to our application.
>> If what goes past May 15th.
>> Our submitted submittal to
them.
>> So we could not submit this
at the end of May or May 20th.
>> We could. But it would just
it could potentially delay our
funds and their approval to for.
>> Okay. Because I believe in
previous times we have. And it
did seem. But as you know,
different administration
councilor I under. I understand
your concern. I guess my part
of my concern is the community
still has another ten days to
send us comments. And they
don't just send them to you, we
get them also. And so I, I
think it's a little bit early.
Lisa, we have council meeting
next week. Counselor Fox, what
specifically would you like to
see as soon as possible?
>> I would, I would really like
to review the criteria and the
scoring for these applications.
I, I would like to vet that it
is indeed, you know, reflecting,
reflecting our priorities. I, I
do have some concern that
organizations that are not
specifically focused on child
care are able to truly support
new and emerging and, and
sustaining the child care
businesses that we have in the
city. I, I don't know how
strong this application was, so
I, I would hesitate to fully
say I'm recommending that this
organization be added to the
list, but I would like to see
how these other organizations
address this particular aspect
of our priorities as well. And
if and as I was hearing tonight,
there was some examples of how
some of these organizations
have had a history of
supporting our the businesses
around construction trades and
child care. That would be
helpful if those aspects were
part of those applications. I'd
like to better understand that
as well.
>> City attorney this just
needs one touch. This is not a
first reading, second reading.
So if we had a if we added a
public hearing and moved item
number ten to next Monday, that
makes it the 11th, it still
meets all deadlines and it
gives us another week of public
comments. Okay, any other
comment on this before I open?
Go ahead, Councilor Silver.
>> Thank you. Mayor. City
Council. Why? Why isn't the 30
days already closed?
>> Hi, this is Samantha Whitley.
So it's very difficult and
takes quite a long time to put
all the information in the idea
system and pull it down, format
it and get it published. So
when we got the recommendations
from the committee in March, we
immediately started drafting
the action plan. And as soon as
we were able to publish it and
have it reviewed and ready to
go out was April 15th or April
14th, so that we could have the
full 30 days.
>> And why did we not get the
recommendations from the
committees until mid-March?
>> Yeah, I can share with you,
again, the timeline about all
of the review and the back and
forth with the different
agencies. So even though we
open applications in October,
it does take us through March
to review all of these, as well
as the agencies. We do
presentations that take about a
full day. And we want to give
our applicants plenty of time
to submit all of their
information. We want to give
our review committee plenty of
time to review through all of
these applications. It's not
just a one day look at the
application and put a score in.
It takes them several weeks to
get through all of them.
>> Okay. Thank you. And why do
we not open until October?
>> Well, I guess because it
already has taken us six months.
Our paper is in September, so
we finish reporting on the
prior program year in September
and then open the applications
in October. It's it's kind of a
full year, year round work.
>> Is there a way to adjust
things so that this doesn't
happen in the future?
>> We could back up the process
even further. Another thing
that I would say is that it's a
little bit frustrating for
non-profits that are planning
and submit their requests for
funding in October to not be
able to see the funding until
July, but we could push it back
even further.
>> It seems like we've got to
somehow figure out this process
because I, I, my big concern,
my biggest concern is we have
ten more days. And because we
get yelled at all the time for.
You for not taking into account
public comment. So this does
feel uncomfortable. Thank you,
but I so. Thank you for the
work. Appreciate the work,
appreciate what you're doing. I
appreciate the goals of the
program and we need more help
from from you all. Thank you.
>> I'm going to go ahead and
open the public hearing, but
then turn around and close it.
I do not have any cards. No one
has registered for the public
hearing, but for protocols that
is on the record. Bring it back
to council counselors. You have
any other discussion? I'll
entertain a motion. Councilor
Fox.
>> I my motion is that we bring
this back to council next week
with the information that we've
described in our comments and
whatever public comment we've
received up to that point.
>> Motion on the table. Is
there a second? Second motion
is second. Councilor Harless,
further discussion? Sam, we
have all of this documentation
already, right?
>> Hi. Yes we do.
>> So this is Monday. You can
throw it out there with the
agenda and the materials
tomorrow. Sure. Thank you. Okay.
Lisa will find a time to put an
additional public hearing on
next Monday's agenda.
>> Yes. Deputy City Manager
Lisa Bramel. Yes, we can do
that. Mayor and Council.
>> Thank you very much for the
discussion. Hearing none. All
those in favor say aye. Aye.
Opposed? Motion passes. Thank
you. Staff. All right. That
brings us into communications
from the council. Councilor
Harless.
>> Just May the 4th be with you.
>> Thank you, Councilor Perez.
>> Yeah, I was hoping to get.
An answer from somebody in the
urban forest or park planning,
but the article about the large
trees being removed on
Evergreen Highway and are
surprised. Neighborhood area
leaders in the neighborhood. So
is there was there an effort to
communicate with the residents
that this was going to take
place? I mean, the surprise
factor is, is the bad feeling
here? And I just wanted to know
if, if there was an effort to,
to work with the residents
there.
>> Councilor Perez Deputy City
Manager Lisa Brandel I can ask
Urban Forestry about that and
provide the information to
council.
>> Okay. Yes. I think it was
quite a surprise to learn about
that in the article. And it
just felt like our residents
were also surprised to see
these. Here we are trying to
protect our large trees with a
mission of that and our large
white oaks and such. And I know
that every time large trees are
going to be cut because of
feasibility or whatever, we
always hear from the public. So
we should know by now that
whenever we're going to cut any
trees, we should communicate
with the public and our
residents, and at least for us
to be aware that that's going
to take place. Also, just
wanted to thank Samantha as she
left. Last week, I attended a
webinar series on expanding
access to homeownership history,
solutions and resources and
speakers where the Department
of Commerce and the Washington
Homeownership Resource Center.
So I was glad to hear how
Samantha was able to add those
resources onto our city website
for folks in the public to be
able to access them easily. So
thank you to Samantha for, for
participating in that. And that
is it. I'm sure there's more,
but that's good for now.
>> Okay. Thank you, Councilor
Hanson.
>> Thank you, mayor
Councilmember Bart Hanson. I
wanted to thank all the folks
that emailed me about the
closure on the waterfront for
the street on May 2nd. Sarah,
thanks for getting all those to
us. I thought that was very
interesting that we did receive
those emails. And, and I always
love it when we do that as a
city. It really sends a message
to the pedestrians that are
going down there to visit the
park and utilize the services
that we really care about your
safety. And it adds so much
more space that's needed,
especially when we have big
events down there. So thank you
to those who sent those emails
out.
>> I bet. Councilor Stover.
>> Thank you, mayor
Councilmember Stover, I want to,
you know, maybe stealing
thunder, but there was recently
a big military event and
somebody else can talk about
that, I think, or do was
already talked about. But on
Friday morning joined the mayor
at CMac Community Military
Appreciation Committee and was
was really struck by a ceremony
that took place by an
organization called Quilts of
Valor, where they presented a
quilt to Terry Brown, who
served our country as in the
armed services, but then
continues to serve. And it just
I was struck because we are we
have a history of being a
military community and have
that strong tradition. And with
the with the base closed,
sometimes it's easy to forget
that that exists and, and that
these great military veterans
continue to service, serve our
community today. And so that
was just a really special
experience. And, and thank you
to Terry Brown and to quilts of
the valor. Thank you.
>> Counselor Fox.
>> Sure. Just wanted to say
that this week we have our
Children's Justice Center board
meeting on Thursday. And so
I'll come back to you on Monday
and let you know the things
that we've discussed at that
meeting, but also wanted to
share just kind of, I guess, a
personal privilege. I had the
opportunity to attend two
professional women's sports
events over the last week. And
it just struck me, I mean, in
my lifetime, how, how, I guess
how much women's sports has
grown. But I, you know, I was
at a thorns game last, I think
it was last Thursday night and
just outstanding. And then
Sunday there was a preseason
game for the women's. Our
women's well, our we're calling
them ours because they're just
across the river. But the
Portland Fire women's
professional basketball team.
So just amazing crowds that
show up for these events in
Portland. I, I feel like every
time they talk about the way
Portland supports the
professional women athletes,
it's humbling and it makes me
very proud. So I'm just putting
a shout out there that I'm. I
know that many of the folks
that are in the audiences are
also just coming across the
river like me. So I know
there's probably half the
crowds from Vancouver and I'm
just going to claim it. So
thank you.
>> Good job, councilor Harless
and I attended a housing
conversation with Hector
Hinojosa and three senators,
Monica Stonier, Sharon Wiley,
to discuss eviction processes
and particular RCWS59 .18
something or other. It was an
interesting conversation about
how many evictions we have
going on in Clark County right
now, and the lack of process
and defense attorneys for them.
But there are some wonderful
strategies that were discussed.
We just need to send our
senators and representatives
back up to Olympia to clean up
a couple RCWS to make it more
viable. This Saturday, we have
Spruce the Cove happening, so
we'll be out cleaning downtown,
uptown, Main Street and all the
way around. And I think we
still have a multicultural
festival on Fourth Plain from
10 to 2, so I'm looking forward
to it. I believe it's at
Hudson's Bay, but I am not
finding it on any of our
information. So, Miss Duller,
if you find a flier or such, I
know things are can get lost in
the mails. Would you send that
out to council and make sure
it's on our community calendar?
Okay. Thank you so very much.
City manager, Deputy City
Manager Lisa Bramel, do you
have any comments?
>> No, mayor.
>> Thank you, city attorney.
>> Nothing more for legal
tonight. Mayor.
>> Thank you very much. That
concludes the business forum of
the City Council. We now go
into our community forum, and
this is where we have the
opportunity to talk to
individuals about anything
that's on their mind. We audio
recorded but not video recorded.
So let's go ahead and turn off
CVTV