CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Annual Strategic Planning Workshop
Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, 2022
The Lodge at St. Edward State Park, 14477 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore, WA 98028
And Via Zoom
March 4, 2022 – 8:30 a.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Keith Scully, Deputy Mayor Betsy Robertson, and Councilmembers Doris McConnell, Laura Mork, Eben Pobee, John Ramsdell, and Chris Roberts
ABSENT: None
STAFF: Debbie Tarry, City Manager; John Norris, Assistant City Manager; Randy Witt, Public Works Director; Margaret King, City Attorney; Melissa Muir, Human Resources Director; Rachael Markle, Planning and Community Development Director; Sara Lane, Administrative Services Director; Colleen Kelley, Recreation, Cultural and Community Services Director; Ryan Abbott, Interim Shoreline Police Chief; Nate Daum, Economic Development Program Manager; Pollie McCloskey, City Council Executive Assistant; Christina Arcidy, City Manager’s Office Management Analyst; and Rick Kirkwood, Tax and Budget Supervisor
GUESTS: Allegra Calder, Principal, BERK Consulting, Workshop Facilitator; Brook Buettner, North Sound RADAR Navigator Program Manager
At 8:35 a.m., the Special Meeting was called to order by Mayor Scully. Mayor Scully welcomed everyone to the Strategic Planning Workshop and then turned over the meeting to Allegra Calder, the workshop facilitator, to review the agenda and conduct introductions. Ms. Calder then led the participants through an introductory exercise.
Following the introductory exercise, Assistant City Manager John Norris highlighted some of the City’s and the Council’s significant accomplishments for 2021, and asked participants what accomplishments from 2021 were meaningful to them, if any accomplishments were missed from the list staff put together, and if any accomplishments required explanation. Both Councilmembers and staff shared accomplishments that were meaningful.
The Council then began discussing their Council Goal Work Plan. City Manager Debbie Tarry began by providing an overview of the City’s progress on accomplishing the Council’s current 2021-2023 Goals and highlighted that many Action Steps under the Goals are still ongoing. Ms. Tarry also highlighted which Action Steps were completed.
The City Manager then reviewed the staff-proposed 2022-2024 Council Goals and Action Steps and highlighted a number of the new proposed Action Steps for Council’s consideration and discussion. Councilmembers provided feedback and proposed edits on some of the staff-proposed changes to the Work Plan and asked questions about the proposals. Mayor Scully discussed Council Goal #5 and stated that he would like to see stronger language somewhere in the Goal regarding the City ensuring that there is adequate homeless shelter capacity in the City. Councilmember Roberts stated that he felt Council Goal #4 should include language focused on anti-discrimination, in addition to the City working to become an Anti-Racist community. There was also a question about why Action Step #3 under Council Goal #5 was proposed to be removed, and the City Manager explained that this Action Step was expanded and moved under Goal #4. Finally, there was also a discussion about adding language into the Council Goals about the City exploring Age Friendly Community policies. It was suggested that this could potentially be included under Council Goal #1. There was also a discussion about the unification of utility services in the City but it was agreed that it was not the right time to add anything to the Council Goals on this topic.
Following the Council Goal discussion, the City Manager opened the discussion of the 2022 Levy Lid Lift reauthorization. Ms. Tarry provided an overview of the City’s financial sustainability goals and Administrative Services Director Sara Lane and Tax and Budget Supervisor Rick Kirkwood provided a PowerPoint presentation that outlined the topic and provided information on the 10-Year Financial Sustainability Plan and the reality of the City’s structural revenue imbalance with the limitation on property tax inflation without a levy lid lift. Councilmembers asked questions about the drivers of expenditure cost increases and how property taxation works given the increase in assessed valuation that is occurring in the community.
Staff then walked through policy questions for Council consideration regarding a potential 2022 Levy Lid Lift, including what the initial levy rate and levy inflation rate should be if the Council were to place a levy lid lift on the ballot this year. A question was asked by Council about the level of participation in the property tax exemption program run by King County. Staff responded that this is generally an underutilized program.
Staff then walked through some various scenarios looking at economic forecasting for various levy inflation rates and initial levy rate resets. Councilmembers asked questions about revenue growth and expenditures. A question was also asked about the plan for funding the North Maintenance Facility and whether the surpluses from a higher levy rate reset could be used to help fund an upgraded maintenance facility. Mayor Scully provided comments that he feels the Council should move forward with the levy lid lift. He also stated that he would like Council to discuss the emerging program and resource needs staff provided information on in the agenda materials and whether staff should model the impact of the levy rate if various expansion areas are included for funding. Mayor Scully called out Code Enforcement as a service that should be considered. Councilmember Roberts agreed that there should be an inflationary factor in a levy lid lift, but he stated that he is hesitant to go over a certain level for a levy rate reset, and that he would be comfortable with an initial levy rate range of $1.30 to $1.39 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Deputy Mayor Robertson and Councilmembers McConnell and Mork also stated that they support looking at cost modeling for the potential service expansion areas identified by staff and that Council can prioritize services for potential inclusion in a levy lid lift in the future.
Ms. Calder summarized the discussion by stating that Council is supportive of the moving forward with placing a levy lid lift on the 2022 General Election ballot for Shoreline voter consideration, and that Council is interested in looking at the expansion alternatives identified by staff and costing them out. Following the conclusion of this discussion, participants broke for lunch around 11:55 a.m.
Following the lunch break, Ms. Calder reconvened participants at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the update of Council Goal 5, Action Step 5 – Effective and Efficient Delivery of Public Safety Services. For this discussion, the Council and staff were joined by Brook Buettner, North Sound RADAR Navigator Program Manager. The City Manager provided a short introduction of this topic and then turned the discussion over to City Manager’s Office Management Analyst Christina Arcidy who provided a PowerPoint presentation on this item. This began with a discussion of the proposed expansion of the RADAR Program and included a discussion of the King County Mobile Crisis Team and a proposed North King County Crisis Triage Facility. Deputy Mayor Robertson then provided an update of a recent meeting she and the City Manager had with Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and the other North King County RADAR cities on a possible Crisis Triage Facility.
Mayor Scully asked a question regarding the needed funding contribution from Shoreline to expand the RADAR program and provided a comment that he feels that navigator response should ideally be provided outside the umbrella of law enforcement when safe to do so. Councilmembers Ramsdell also asked follow-up questions regarding the Crisis Triage Facility and provided his strong support to continue working to site a facility in North King County. Overall, there was strong Council support to continue working to expand the RADAR program.
Ms. Arcidy then provided information on other types of law enforcement and community services that could potentially be responded to in an alternative way and Council discussed some of the challenges of addressing the inequitable treatment of low-income misdemeanant defendants and lowering the Court failure to appear rate. Staff explained that this would require more information and data from the City’s criminal justice and judicial partners.
The City Manager then introduced the final topic of the day’s agenda, which was a discussion of the Planning Commission and Planning Department Work Plan over the next three years. Planning and Community Development Director Rachael Markel provided an overview of the role of the Planning Commission, identified the types of issues the Planning Commission addresses, and walked through four broad categories of regulatory and legislative issues the Commission works on. Ms. Markel also provided an overview of staff work needed to support the work of the Planning Commission.
Deputy Mayor Robertson asked about the intersection of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan and the Comprehensive Plan Update, which is on the 2023 Planning Commission Work Plan. The Deputy Mayor also requested that the Council receive a similar update on the work plan of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (PRCS)/Tree Board for the next couple of years at a future Council meeting. Councilmember Mork asked about the Energy Code update and Clean Buildings Act. Ms. Markel responded that Building Code Updates in Title 15 of the Shoreline Municipal Code generally are not reviewed by the Planning Commission, but that staff could provide an update to the Commission on the Building Code updates. Councilmember Roberts provided a comment that he feels that the City should do something more about the ‘missing middle’ housing issue to provide more housing options in Shoreline. He also stated that he is going to propose to allow duplexes and triplexes throughout the City as part of the Comprehensive Plan Docket Amendment process that is forthcoming before Council. Deputy Mayor Robertson asked a clarifying question about what this type of proposal would mean given potential state legislation that may mandate missing middle regulation for communities statewide. Councilmember Ramsdell stated his support for exploring this type of regulation. Councilmember Pobee then asked about renter protections and Deputy Mayor Robertson also expressed her support that the Council explore renter protection regulations in the future.
Councilmembers also asked when an update on the pilot program regarding regulations for ground floor commercial spaces in multifamily buildings should be looked at. Staff provided some thoughts on this as something to continue to monitor. Councilmember McConnell asked about the City’s housing affordability work and if there is anything else the City could do to support this. Council and staff had a discussion of actions already taken by the City and some of the new affordable housing projects coming online. There were also some questions about the City’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption Program. Councilmember Mork then discussed the Deep Green Incentive Program and the importance of other sustainability programs. Councilmember Mork also discussed the idea of the creation of an environmental sustainability board. Councilmember Roberts suggested that this be discussed on Saturday as part of the discussion of compensating Board and Commission members.
At 4:00 p.m., the Councilmembers and staff reflected on the first day of the Workshop, and the special meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
March 5, 2022 – 8:30 a.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Keith Scully, Deputy Mayor Betsy Robertson, and Councilmembers Doris McConnell, Laura Mork, Eben Pobee, John Ramsdell, and Chris Roberts
ABSENT: None
STAFF: Debbie Tarry, City Manager; John Norris, Assistant City Manager
GUESTS: Allegra Calder, Principal, BERK Consulting, Workshop Facilitator
Mayor Scully called to order the Special Meeting at 8:33 a.m. to continue with the second day of the Workshop. Mr. Calder began with a quick recap of the agenda and led the group through a warm-up introductory exercise. The Council then reviewed the Council Goals and Action Steps that were discussed the preceding day and reconfirmed the proposed edits to the Goals and Action Steps that they would like staff to make. Staff reconfirmed that the proposed Council Goals and Action Steps would return to Council for another review at a forthcoming regular Council meeting later in March.
The Council then discussed the Council policy issues listed on the agenda, and the City Manager and Assistant City Manager provided overviews of each topic. The initial topic was a review of the designated SODA (Stay Out of Drug Area) and SOAP (Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution) Ordinances. Some Councilmembers stated their feelings that street-level prostitution is not an issue in Shoreline, and they want to continue this good track record. Mayor Scully and Councilmember Roberts stated their concerns with the underlying philosophy of these types of ‘stay out of area’ ordinances. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated that she would want to hear more from the Police Department regarding the value of these types of ordinances before eliminating them. Other Councilmembers, including Mayor Scully, agreed with the Deputy Mayor that hearing from the Police Department would be important. After further discussion, Councilmembers McConnell, Mork, and Pobee and Deputy Mayor Robertson were comfortable with reviewing this topic at a future study session but did not think that this was an issue that required a proactive review now. Mayor Scully and Councilmembers Roberts and Ramsdell were also interested in holding a study session on this topic and felt that this should be looked at more closely by the Council in the near term. Given the position of the majority of Councilmembers on this issue, it was agreed that this would not be a high priority but would be an issue the Council would review in the future.
The Council then discussed the update on the Equity and Social Justice Workgroup, listening sessions, and community outreach. Deputy Mayor Robertson and Councilmember Pobee both stated their support for this work and their appreciation for the work of the staff and community on these topics. Other Councilmembers also provide comments of support to continue this work as proposed by staff.
The Council then discussed the Council resolution policies and guidelines. Some Councilmembers stated their support for the current Council guideline that there be a ‘local connection’ for City Council resolutions. Other Councilmembers stated that this should be addressed on case-by-case basis, but there should also be an understanding of the impact of the time it takes to put Council resolutions together and to discuss whether a resolution should be considered. Overall, the Council was generally supportive of keeping the current Council policy on resolutions in place. The Council also discussed the topic of a resolution for supporting the federal Medicare for All Plan, which generated this discussion topic, and Council stated that this could be discussed between Councilmembers and the City Manager to see if there was support for bringing a specific resolution forward.
The Council then discussed City mailed communications provided to renters in the city. A few Councilmembers discussed the concern of postal carriers not distributing citywide mailings, such as the Currents Newsletter, to individual mailboxes in apartment buildings, and the mailings being left in a common space of the building. Councilmember Roberts also discussed the City reviewing our regulations to make sure that community members have access to apartment building lobbies to distribute flyers and written communication with permission from a property manager. Councilmember Mork stated that mailings getting to individual residents of apartment buildings was also an issue for the Ronald Wastewater District and suggested that the City continue to promote Alert Shoreline as an alternative. Councilmember Pobee stated that he did speak with multiple residents of three apartment buildings, and they did receive the Currents Newsletter in their individual mailboxes at their buildings. Other ideas shared by Councilmembers included providing mailed communication to renters to inform them how to connect with the City and providing grant funding for clustered locked mailboxes to help prevent mail theft. Council was generally supportive of the current staff protocols about sending mailed communications to renters in the community, and asked staff to continue to look at these alternatives in the future.
The Council then discussed point-of-sale sidewalk repair programs. Mayor Scully provided comment that he is concerned about equity issues with this type of program, including when the City pays for sidewalk repair using existing funding sources and when individual homeowners would be required to repair the sidewalk adjacent to their property at the point of sale. Councilmember Roberts explained his interest in this issue and that he would like staff to continue to explore this. Councilmember Mork stated that if this concept were to move forward, while sidewalks are repaired, side sewers should also be reviewed, as some sewer utilities are looking at similar point of sale regulations for side sewer repairs. Councilmember McConnell stated that she has some concerns with this concept. Staff stated that they would continue to explore this type of program in the future.
At 10:40 a.m., the Council took a 10-minute break. Councilmember Pobee also left the Strategic Planning Workshop at this time due to an unexpected emergent issue. The Workshop resumed at 10:50 a.m.
Following this short break, the Council continued with the Council Policy issues, with the next topic being considerations for in-person Council meetings. The City Manager walked through this topic and the policy questions identified in the material provided to Council. While some Councilmembers were hesitant to return to in-person meetings, the majority of Councilmembers stated that they would like to return to in-person meetings as soon as it made sense to do so, but no specific return date was set. This included making sure all of the hybrid meeting technology is in place in the Council Chambers before an in-person Council meeting is advertised, and that Councilmembers have an opportunity to test the equipment in the Chambers prior to an actual Council meeting. The majority of Councilmembers also agreed that they would not require meeting attendees to wear masks/face coverings and would follow the City’s current COVID-19 protocols for all City facilities.
Similarly, the majority of Councilmembers were comfortable returning to in-person Council Workshop Dinner Meetings in the coming months, but no specific date was set for Dinner Meetings to resume. Council did state that they would like Dinner Meetings to be held in-person and not include a remote option for invited guests or staff to participate. Council also agreed that the public would be allowed to attend the meetings in-person or remote, but the Dinner Meetings would not be recorded.
Council also generally agreed that the Planning Commission and the PRCS/Tree Board should return to in-person meetings when it makes sense for those boards to do so, which includes making sure the hybrid meeting technology in the Council Chambers for the Planning Commission and City Hall Conference Room 303 for the PRCS/Tree Board are installed and ready to use. Deputy Mayor Robertson also stated that the PRCS/Tree Board could be given the option to utilize the Council Chambers for their meetings until City Hall Conference Room 303 is ready for hybrid meetings.
Council then took a short break at 11:45 a.m. to get lunch. At 11:55 a.m., Council resumed the Workshop and held a working lunch to discuss the final two Council Policy Issue topics. The first topic discussed was compensation for members of boards, commissions, and other City advisory committees. Councilmember Roberts began the discussion by stating he feels that the City should provide some sort of per meeting stipend for board and commission members. Deputy Mayor Robertson agreed and suggested exploring a need-based stipend for those members of boards or commission that would qualify. The majority of Councilmembers agreed that that members of standing boards and commissions should receive a stipend but that they should not be needs based, and if a board member felt they did not need the stipend, they could decline it. The majority of Councilmembers also felt that if a stipend is provided, it should not be an hourly rate, but rather paid at a per meeting rate, as the number of meetings varies by advisory board. Council also discussed if advisory boards should be paid the same rate per meeting. Council agreed to further review this issue as part of the budget review process for the 2023-2024 Biennium, and that if approved as part of the Biennial Budget, stipends would commence for the Planning Commission, PRCS/Tree Board and Salary Commission in January 2023. It was also discussed that staff would explore whether Municipal Code amendments would be needed to include the stipend language in the Code sections establishing the City’s three standing Advisory Boards.
Deputy Mayor Robertson also discussed the idea of expansion of the Planning Commission and PRCS/Tree Board to a size of nine (9) members to expand the Boards’ areas of expertise. Mayor Scully stated that potentially expanding the PRCS/Tree Board may make sense given their various roles and responsibilities. Councilmember Mork also discussed the concept of an additional advisory board focused on environmental sustainability, but that it is understood that, if approved, it would take some time to establish the board and staff it. Councilmember Mork also asked about board sub-committees. The was general agreement that looking at board size expansion as a policy question is something that that the Council would be interested in exploring in the future. Councilmember McConnell stated that she is generally supportive of the City’s current advisory board structure.
The final policy topic was a discussion on the prohibition on the use of public facilities in support or opposition of ballot measures. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated that she requested this topic and appreciated the information provided in the agenda packet materials. Other Councilmembers agreed with that it was helpful to be provided with this information again and that the State statutes and rules on this topic were very clear.
The Council wrapped up the Special Meeting with their reflections on the Strategic Planning Workshop. Councilmembers also thanked the staff and facilitator Allegra Calder for their support during the Workshop. The Special Meeting was adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
/s/ Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk