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-I'm Maritza Rivera here

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today with King County
Councilmember Rod Dombroski.

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Thank you
all for being here today.

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Just to let you know
how this will go,

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I'll be making
a short statement

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followed
by Councilmember Dombroski,

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and then we'll take questions
for 10 minutes.

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The King County Regional
Regional Homelessness

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Authority is responsible
for important work.

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We must do right

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by the people
who are on our streets

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and in urgent
need of shelter.

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Every dollar that toward

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that effort
needs to be spent wisely.

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And unfortunately,
we all know that the King

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County Regional Homelessness
Authority has had problems,

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real problems for years.

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It left contractors unpaid,
unpaid for months in 2023.

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Leadership has come and gone
and calls for the agency

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to rework their accounting
systems have gone unheeded.

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This latest
forensic evaluation

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is just the last straw.

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The evaluation

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shows a pattern
of mismanagement of funds

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that can no longer
be tolerated.

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It is time to find
a different way

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to make this very important
work happen.

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Councilmember Dombrowski
and I will be issuing

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companion
resolution resolutions

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to officially call for
the dissolution of KCRHA

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and a plan for the future

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that includes all of us,
the city and the county

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continuing to work together
to find a better way.

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Councilmember Dombrowski.
-Thank you very much

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Councilmember Rivera.

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My name is Rod Dombrowski.

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I chair the Budget
and Fiscal Management

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Committee at the King
County Council.

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You know,

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they say that

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the road to hell is paved
with good intentions,

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and the King County Regional
Homelessness Authority

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was set up six years ago
with the best of intentions

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to tackle our region's
most pressing problem,

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and that is thousands
of unsheltered people

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on the streets all over King
County, night after night

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with hundreds every year
dying.

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We wanted to do time

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to bring a regional approach
to this problem,

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but the tool that was set up

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has been given

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more chances than it deserves
at this point.

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And it has failed again
and again and again,

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not only on the finances,

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not only with respect

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to the stewardship
of public dollars,

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but with respect to its core
mission to shelter people.

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Let's just go through
just a little bit of history.

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This was a proposal
that came from philanthropy.

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It was advanced by the former
mayor of the city

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and the former county
executive.

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They came over to our council

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and the city council
where we modified it.

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I worked on that legislation
at the time to make sure

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that we changed it
from the proposal

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that would have had it as
a standalone, separate entity

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governed by folks
with lived experience.

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To that,

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it would be impossible
to dissolve

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to a partnership
between the city

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and the county overseen
by elected officials

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that could be dissolved
if it didn't work.

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Sadly, with after hundreds
of millions of dollars

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put into it

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and a series of audits
in 2023

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where the homelessness
authority

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responding to a state audit,

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a county oversight
audit and federal review,

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said that they were going
to get their house in order.

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They have not done it.

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We have advanced them
tens of millions of dollars.

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They have overspent
their budget.

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They cannot account for the
dollars on a material basis.

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And our problem and challenge
with respect to unsheltered

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people on the streets
has not gotten better.

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It has gotten worse.

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There is no justification

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to continue
this organization.

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We need
to have an orderly transition

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back to devolving
the responsibilities

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to our respective
governments.

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Seattle
being the lead in City

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King County,
is the regional government

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playing an important role
throughout the region

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and partnering
with our 38 suburban cities.

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As Councilmember Rivera said,
I have asked our staff to

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prepare legislation.

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We call it a motion.

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You have call it a resolution

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and introduce it
before our council

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that under
the INTERLOCAL agreement

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starts a one year period
or up to a year

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to in an orderly way,
dissolve this.

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There have to be some work
with respect to the finances

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partnership to look at that
between the city

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and the county

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because they're in the hole

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and we're going
to have to work together

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to figure out
how to get out of that.

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But it's it's it's time
to head in a new direction

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and to acknowledge that
this process has not worked.

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It has added an unnecessary,
ineffective

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layer of government
that has not been accountable

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on our region's
most pressing challenge.

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And it's time to end it.

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-And I'll just add,
Councilmember Dombrowski,

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that both the city
and the county are committed

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to working together
to solve this problem.

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That's what

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led to the original creation
of the King County

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Regional Homelessness
Authority.

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So thank you for your words.

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We'll take questions now.

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Either of us. 
-What's the big idea in another year?

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-That's a great...

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That's a great question,
Chris, and that will rely on

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the mayor and the county exec
along with

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both of our council bodies

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coming together
and figuring out

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what the next steps
are to continue

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to address
our homelessness problem.

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-Yeah, I would say that
I think you're seeing a shift

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from Mayor Wilson and policy

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where she is

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taking the reins

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I think
was support of her council

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to open up
a significant number.

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Hundreds of new shelter beds.

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King County Executive 
Zahilay,  his very his second

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his first executive order
was on accountability.

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The second on shelter
and housing.

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So already
our governments are taking

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the reins in this policy area
and taking action.

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And frankly, that's

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evidence of a failed KCRHA.

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And we have our health
through housing program.

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The city runs its staffing
and we have great

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trusted community partners

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in this space
that know what they're doing.

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The Salvation Army, DESC.,

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Lake City Partners
Ending Homelessness.

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We have folks out there that
we can and do partner with.

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This is a matter
of administration

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and how to effectively
administer

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the dollars that we have

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with accountability
and with some results.

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-What is your message
to taxpayers,

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especially when they're

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now seeing that their money
has not been properly

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tracked?

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And who should be held
accountable for this?

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-You want to take that one
first?

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-I would say to taxpayers that
that's why Councilmember

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Dombrowski and I are calling
for the dissolution of KCRHA

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right now is because
we are holding both

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our cities and the county
accountable to the taxpayers

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and because we need to act
swiftly.

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This didn't work.

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And to Councilmember
Dombrovskis, point,

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this started out
with the best of intentions.

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Both the county
and the city had for years

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been tackling
the homelessness issue

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and what to do about it
separately.

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And we had funding that
we had allocated to it

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and it just made sense

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since to do this
regional approach.

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So we did enter it
with the best of intentions.

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Now that we see
via the audit in ‘23 and ’24

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and now

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with this latest forensic
evaluation between ‘23

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and now, some things had been
put in place to try to give

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the KCRHA an opportunity
to fix the issues.

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But now we see
those have not been fixed.

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So this is why we want
to take swift action now

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to dissolve this entity
and continue to work.

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And as Councilmember Demovsky
said, both the city and the

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county are doing

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homelessness
work and helping folks

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who are unhoused across
both the city and the county.

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So we want to make sure
we are accountable

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to those dollars
that we're using

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for that purpose
and making sure

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that they are going toward
actually

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helping
folks on the ground. Rod.

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-So you think you can still
take a stance like that?

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Can we drill down
a little bit more

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because you just
rely on the work

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that you're doing that

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you will do in response to
what do you say to taxpayers?

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My question is,

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what does the taxpayer
who’re waking up this morning

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cost of living is
is higher, affordability

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issues is what all of you are campaigning on...

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and now that we've learned
that the $13 million

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of their money is being
wasted.

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Is the appropriate response.

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I'm sorry,
man. Who says I'm sorry?

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-The response
is this is not acceptable.

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This is egregious,

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and we need to do something
about it.

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And that's why we're calling
for the dissolution

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of this K...

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KCRHA. We we agree
with the taxpayers.

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This is not OK. It's not

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OK. So we found out about this
report yesterday.

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I did yesterday.

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And that's why

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I'm calling today for
a dissolution of this entity.

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And we need to do something
different

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because the mismanagement
of funds is never okay.

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-How specifically can city
or county manage

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the money better
than the Regional Homelessness Authority did?

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-That's a great question.

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-Well, I think
both of our governments

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have, while not perfect,
much better track records.

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We are audited
regularly by the state

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auditor's office. At the county.

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we have our own
internal auditor.

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We have our
our own structures.

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We know how to administer
and manage

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for the most part, contracts.

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And in the housing space,
we're pretty good at it.

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Look, every now
and then there's a stumble

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or somebody does mess up.

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But the challenge with the KCRHA

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is you had devolved multiple

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and removed accountability.
And we had this Federated

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Board of Electeds
that met once a month,

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and if you go
and look at the minutes,

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much of the recent meetings
seemed to be more

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about internal problems
and executive sessions

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and not about driving a
solution toward homelessness

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and helping folks
that are on the street.

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So the structure

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of how you oversee federal or
these dollars is important.

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And this was too complicated.

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You had two boards,
the elected board,

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you had the implementation
board.

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You saw fighting
for years on those boards.

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We have more transparency.

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We have public hearings.

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We have accountability,

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direct, more direct
connection to the taxpayers.

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(reporters talking)

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-I want to ask,
do you all have any

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expectation, are either of
you looking toward

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anything close
to a criminal investigation?

258
00:10:47,413 --> 00:10:49,749
-I've I've seen nothing yet

259
00:10:49,749 --> 00:10:51,484
in the financial reviews
that would indicate

260
00:10:51,484 --> 00:10:53,152
there has been
any criminal conduct.

261
00:10:53,152 --> 00:10:55,354
I can't say that there hasn't
been.

262
00:10:55,354 --> 00:10:57,356
One of the things
that was very concerning,

263
00:10:57,356 --> 00:10:57,890
and I know

264
00:10:57,890 --> 00:10:59,125
Councilmember Rivera
and I talked about

265
00:10:59,125 --> 00:11:00,526
this was the state of

266
00:11:00,526 --> 00:11:03,529
the recordkeeping
is apparently so bad

267
00:11:03,763 --> 00:11:05,564
that they well,
they didn't find fraud.

268
00:11:05,564 --> 00:11:08,567
They couldn't assure us
that there wasn't any fraud.

269
00:11:09,168 --> 00:11:11,704
So, you know,
I've got legislation

270
00:11:11,704 --> 00:11:14,006
that I've been introducing
with Councilmember Dunn

271
00:11:14,006 --> 00:11:14,940
and Council Chair

272
00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:17,943
Perry to set up an inspector
general's office

273
00:11:17,977 --> 00:11:19,378
at the county

274
00:11:19,378 --> 00:11:21,514
to make sure
that all of our contractors

275
00:11:21,514 --> 00:11:23,416
and internal functions
can be investigated

276
00:11:23,416 --> 00:11:25,718
if necessary, that
that'll be a strong office.

277
00:11:25,718 --> 00:11:27,586
City has one of those already

278
00:11:27,586 --> 00:11:29,755
largely
focused on public safety.

279
00:11:29,755 --> 00:11:31,357
But to answer your question
directly,

280
00:11:31,357 --> 00:11:32,792
we haven't seen any criminal

281
00:11:32,792 --> 00:11:33,993
activity yet,

282
00:11:33,993 --> 00:11:36,996
but I think there's probably
more work to do.

283
00:11:37,196 --> 00:11:38,864
-Let me ask
you really quickly here.

284
00:11:38,864 --> 00:11:40,866
So this was established
in 2019.

285
00:11:40,866 --> 00:11:43,069
You just said you've seen
fighting over the years.

286
00:11:43,069 --> 00:11:44,503
Why has it taken this long

287
00:11:44,503 --> 00:11:45,838
after all
these systemic failures

288
00:11:45,838 --> 00:11:48,240
to come up here and say,
let's pull the plug now?

289
00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,510
-Well, there was that thing
called the pandemic that

290
00:11:52,044 --> 00:11:53,879
slowed their start.
So it was formed.

291
00:11:53,879 --> 00:11:56,182
It took them a while
to stand up the operation.

292
00:11:57,583 --> 00:11:59,552
And so, you know, you
wanted to give it some time.

293
00:11:59,552 --> 00:12:01,554
It took a little longer
than was expected.

294
00:12:01,554 --> 00:12:02,321
You stood it up.

295
00:12:02,321 --> 00:12:04,090
They started
their operations.

296
00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:06,225
You were building
something from scratch.

297
00:12:06,225 --> 00:12:08,527
We did not, frankly,
I think, have the right

298
00:12:08,527 --> 00:12:10,129
initial leader.

299
00:12:10,129 --> 00:12:13,132
And that was there
were a lot of problems there.

300
00:12:13,666 --> 00:12:17,069
And then, you know,
the first warning shots came,

301
00:12:17,303 --> 00:12:19,171
I think, from our providers
in the community

302
00:12:19,171 --> 00:12:21,073
who said
we're not being paid on time.

303
00:12:21,073 --> 00:12:21,607
We're out here

304
00:12:21,607 --> 00:12:23,142
delivering
services on the street

305
00:12:23,142 --> 00:12:25,444
and this organization
can't get us paid.

306
00:12:25,444 --> 00:12:27,446
There's
months and months of delay.

307
00:12:27,446 --> 00:12:29,014
Some audits were done right.

308
00:12:29,014 --> 00:12:30,449
The state
audit, the county audit for

309
00:12:30,449 --> 00:12:32,752
which they raised some flags,
they had a response.

310
00:12:32,752 --> 00:12:34,153
They said, here's
what we're doing.

311
00:12:34,153 --> 00:12:35,121
We're going
to take care of this.

312
00:12:35,121 --> 00:12:36,756
That was 2023.

313
00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:40,025
It's now this this audit
is through July of 2025.

314
00:12:40,259 --> 00:12:42,361
It says they haven't
taken care of these things.

315
00:12:43,763 --> 00:12:45,998
Cats get nine lives
this organization has had

316
00:12:45,998 --> 00:12:47,867
ten one more than it should
have.

317
00:12:47,867 --> 00:12:49,135
It's time for it to go.

318
00:12:49,135 --> 00:12:52,204
-KCRHA’s issues
notwithstanding, unwinding

319
00:12:52,204 --> 00:12:55,908
it would be very complicated
and time consuming.

320
00:12:56,342 --> 00:12:59,311
Are you confident that
the prop at that process

321
00:12:59,645 --> 00:13:03,182
will will end in a result
that will better serve people

322
00:13:03,182 --> 00:13:05,084
living outside like you said,

323
00:13:05,084 --> 00:13:08,521
it's the complicated process
of unwinding that's going to

324
00:13:08,954 --> 00:13:10,022
lead to a better result?

325
00:13:10,022 --> 00:13:11,657
Are you confident that?

326
00:13:11,657 --> 00:13:12,491
-I don't think there's any way

327
00:13:12,491 --> 00:13:14,059
to predict
that with certainty.

328
00:13:14,059 --> 00:13:15,694
Right.

329
00:13:15,694 --> 00:13:17,630
But there is one thing
that certain,

330
00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:19,965
and that is that
this organization has failed,

331
00:13:19,965 --> 00:13:22,501
failed to manage money
responsibly

332
00:13:22,501 --> 00:13:23,702
and failed on the mission

333
00:13:23,702 --> 00:13:25,738
to reduce
unsheltered homelessness.

334
00:13:25,738 --> 00:13:28,741
Remember, they started their
first five year plan

335
00:13:29,408 --> 00:13:32,111
with a $12 billion proposal.

336
00:13:32,111 --> 00:13:35,815
It was so out outside
the realm of any reality

337
00:13:36,682 --> 00:13:39,051
that it really we wondered
what was going on over there.

338
00:13:39,051 --> 00:13:41,954
Now, recently they reset
that, they've refocused.

339
00:13:41,954 --> 00:13:43,789
What I think
most electeds here want

340
00:13:43,789 --> 00:13:45,791
is a focus on unsheltered
individuals

341
00:13:45,791 --> 00:13:48,194
living on the streets
to get them inside

342
00:13:48,194 --> 00:13:50,830
and not a bunch of bigger
picture social issues

343
00:13:50,830 --> 00:13:52,298
that they this organization

344
00:13:52,298 --> 00:13:54,800
tried to take on in
the beginning. I think that

345
00:13:56,101 --> 00:13:57,937
when you have more
direct lines of authority

346
00:13:57,937 --> 00:14:00,039
from the county executive,
the mayor

347
00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:02,308
and the two councils,

348
00:14:02,308 --> 00:14:04,944
we can drive a better
a better result

349
00:14:04,944 --> 00:14:06,145
than what we're seeing here.

350
00:14:06,145 --> 00:14:10,049
Without a hundred staff
layered in

351
00:14:10,983 --> 00:14:15,487
to administer 200 contracts
and 150 $200 million.

352
00:14:15,888 --> 00:14:17,756
-Over the last six years
been a waste of time?

353
00:14:17,756 --> 00:14:20,492
-No, I don't think it's
been a waste.

354
00:14:20,492 --> 00:14:23,495
Look, they did do they have
done some some good.

355
00:14:24,096 --> 00:14:27,099
We we
we have delivered shelter.

356
00:14:27,533 --> 00:14:29,268
We are housing people.

357
00:14:29,268 --> 00:14:31,570
We have saved lives.

358
00:14:31,570 --> 00:14:33,105
That work has gone on.

359
00:14:33,105 --> 00:14:34,473
It just has not gone

360
00:14:34,473 --> 00:14:36,475
as effectively
and efficiently

361
00:14:36,475 --> 00:14:37,309
and with the right levels

362
00:14:37,309 --> 00:14:38,878
of accountability
as we should have.

363
00:14:38,878 --> 00:14:40,479
And it's not a close call.

364
00:14:40,479 --> 00:14:42,648
-From the city
and the county perspective,

365
00:14:42,648 --> 00:14:45,618
seeing everything
that's kind of gone down.

366
00:14:45,618 --> 00:14:46,518
How likely

367
00:14:46,518 --> 00:14:50,356
or hesitant will you be after
KCRHA is dissolved?

368
00:14:50,356 --> 00:14:52,224
Should it head that way?

369
00:14:52,224 --> 00:14:55,728
Are you guys likely to allocate funds for homelessness?

370
00:14:56,962 --> 00:14:59,632
-We'll continue to allocate
funds for homelessness.

371
00:14:59,632 --> 00:15:01,367
The question is
whether we do it

372
00:15:01,367 --> 00:15:03,435
in-house at the city
and the county

373
00:15:03,435 --> 00:15:05,671
or we continue
this regional approach,

374
00:15:05,671 --> 00:15:07,072
I think a regional approach.

375
00:15:07,072 --> 00:15:08,340
And I think

376
00:15:08,340 --> 00:15:10,142
Councilmember Dombrowski
and I agree

377
00:15:10,142 --> 00:15:10,976
a regional

378
00:15:10,976 --> 00:15:12,711
approach is warranted

379
00:15:12,711 --> 00:15:14,880
and we should continue
to work together.

380
00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,783
I mean, to me this just shows
there was an effort.

381
00:15:17,783 --> 00:15:20,152
We tried
this particular effort

382
00:15:20,152 --> 00:15:21,720
in this particular way.

383
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,390
We this is why I'm always
calling for audits.

384
00:15:24,390 --> 00:15:26,191
And I think
audits are so important.

385
00:15:26,191 --> 00:15:28,560
They are report cards.
How well are we doing?

386
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,430
If we're not doing well,
then we need to shift gears

387
00:15:31,430 --> 00:15:32,765
into something else.

388
00:15:32,765 --> 00:15:34,700
And that's
what you're seeing here

389
00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:36,435
and that's
what we're calling for.

390
00:15:36,435 --> 00:15:38,237
We've got to
change the approach

391
00:15:38,237 --> 00:15:41,240
because we can't keep
throwing good money after bad

392
00:15:41,340 --> 00:15:43,976
because we do need to do
homelessness work.

393
00:15:43,976 --> 00:15:46,512
We do need to house
folks on the street.

394
00:15:46,512 --> 00:15:48,580
We have a lot of needs
in this city

395
00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:50,482
and there isn't a person
in the city

396
00:15:50,482 --> 00:15:52,284
that doesn't
want to help folks

397
00:15:52,284 --> 00:15:54,720
that are living unsheltered
in the street.

398
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,589
It is just simply not
compassionate.

399
00:15:57,589 --> 00:16:00,559
And we need to make sure that
the money we allocate for

400
00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:04,563
that is actually going
to house folks and help folks.

401
00:16:04,663 --> 00:16:05,364
-What part of that...

402
00:16:05,364 --> 00:16:06,165
You two are here right now

403
00:16:06,165 --> 00:16:08,567
with lots of other
counselors, both in the city

404
00:16:08,567 --> 00:16:09,101
and the county,

405
00:16:09,101 --> 00:16:11,103
with different perspectives
on priorities.

406
00:16:11,103 --> 00:16:12,771
How do you ensure that
if the city

407
00:16:12,771 --> 00:16:16,075
and the county separate this,
this leads to the solution

408
00:16:16,308 --> 00:16:17,843
that the city and county
are going

409
00:16:17,843 --> 00:16:20,512
in different directions
or overlapping services

410
00:16:20,512 --> 00:16:23,615
and spending
that would not create another

411
00:16:24,783 --> 00:16:25,617
KCRHA with

412
00:16:25,617 --> 00:16:28,620
just a different name
in a year's time?

413
00:16:28,754 --> 00:16:31,657
-I'll say prior to King County
regional homelessness

414
00:16:31,657 --> 00:16:32,491
Authority,

415
00:16:32,491 --> 00:16:34,460
both the city
and the county were doing

416
00:16:34,460 --> 00:16:37,062
their own work with their
you know, in our case,

417
00:16:37,062 --> 00:16:38,263
it was the mayor and our city

418
00:16:38,263 --> 00:16:41,133
council at the county was the
executive and the council.

419
00:16:41,133 --> 00:16:44,536
So we have been doing
this work prior to KCRHA.

420
00:16:44,737 --> 00:16:47,306
So now it's a matter of
do we take it in-house?

421
00:16:47,306 --> 00:16:49,008
And that's what I mean again,

422
00:16:49,008 --> 00:16:52,111
or do we continue
to do a regional approach

423
00:16:52,111 --> 00:16:53,612
because that's
what was different

424
00:16:53,612 --> 00:16:56,815
about what was supposed
to be different about KCRHA.

425
00:16:56,849 --> 00:16:59,785
It was us pooling
our resources together

426
00:16:59,785 --> 00:17:01,653
and doing this
regional approach.

427
00:17:01,653 --> 00:17:02,888
So the question now is

428
00:17:02,888 --> 00:17:04,890
how do we do
the regional approach

429
00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:06,925
without this
particular entity

430
00:17:06,925 --> 00:17:07,926
so that the dollars

431
00:17:07,926 --> 00:17:12,131
are going to the efforts
that are joint legislative

432
00:17:12,131 --> 00:17:15,134
bodies are interested in
doing.

433
00:17:15,167 --> 00:17:16,301
-How do you ensure that
the city

434
00:17:16,301 --> 00:17:17,403
can work together on that?

435
00:17:17,403 --> 00:17:18,270
-Well, I would

436
00:17:18,270 --> 00:17:21,273
I would say from the county's
perspective, again, we were

437
00:17:21,673 --> 00:17:22,441
the modern version of the

438
00:17:22,441 --> 00:17:24,276
King County
was stood up in 1968

439
00:17:24,276 --> 00:17:27,279
with our current charter
as the regional government

440
00:17:27,846 --> 00:17:29,648
to work across
city boundaries.

441
00:17:29,648 --> 00:17:32,584
And so we have structures,
we have strategies,

442
00:17:32,584 --> 00:17:35,587
structures, practices
and a history of doing that.

443
00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:37,756
Just by way of example,
we have something called

444
00:17:37,756 --> 00:17:39,525
the Regional Policy
Committee,

445
00:17:39,525 --> 00:17:40,659
Regional Policy
Committee

446
00:17:40,659 --> 00:17:42,995
consists of King
County Councilmembers,

447
00:17:42,995 --> 00:17:44,530
Seattle City Councilmembers

448
00:17:44,530 --> 00:17:46,965
and Councilmembers
from the suburban cities

449
00:17:46,965 --> 00:17:48,100
It meets every month.

450
00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:50,402
It works on policies
of a regional nature.

451
00:17:50,402 --> 00:17:53,072
The Seattle
or Seattle in the county

452
00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:55,474
jointly operate
our public health department.

453
00:17:55,474 --> 00:17:56,508
That's by choice.

454
00:17:56,508 --> 00:17:58,710
We don't have to do that,
but we work together.

455
00:17:58,710 --> 00:18:00,112
And I think that

456
00:18:00,112 --> 00:18:03,148
we've got regional governance
structures in place.

457
00:18:03,148 --> 00:18:06,151
The response to homelessness
will still be regional.

458
00:18:06,218 --> 00:18:09,621
It just won't be through
a kind of an unconnected,

459
00:18:09,621 --> 00:18:10,489
separate entity

460
00:18:10,489 --> 00:18:14,359
with unworkable governing
strategies and structures

461
00:18:14,660 --> 00:18:18,330
and a repeated track record
of failing

462
00:18:18,330 --> 00:18:20,365
to watch out
for the public dollars.

463
00:18:20,365 --> 00:18:23,068
-And I'll say simply,
I do want to address that.

464
00:18:23,068 --> 00:18:23,669
You'll see.

465
00:18:23,669 --> 00:18:26,105
I mean, we have the city
and the county.

466
00:18:26,105 --> 00:18:27,873
We're here together.

467
00:18:27,873 --> 00:18:29,875
We have a great relationship.

468
00:18:29,875 --> 00:18:31,376
I have a great relationship

469
00:18:31,376 --> 00:18:32,711
with the King
County Councilmembers

470
00:18:32,711 --> 00:18:35,280
that represent the district
that I represent.

471
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,648
Across the board,
you're seeing

472
00:18:36,648 --> 00:18:39,651
a lot of collaboration
between the county

473
00:18:39,718 --> 00:18:41,520
and the city councils
and the mayor

474
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,188
and the exec for that matter.

475
00:18:43,188 --> 00:18:45,157
So I am actually

476
00:18:45,157 --> 00:18:48,360
I think that you're going
to see us to continue

477
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:51,563
to work together toward
finding the right solution.

478
00:18:51,964 --> 00:18:54,967
I'm I don't have reservations
about that.

479
00:18:55,134 --> 00:18:56,602
-I think they used to ask

480
00:18:56,602 --> 00:18:58,604
how the dissolution
would technically work.

481
00:18:58,604 --> 00:19:00,305
You need to persuade
your colleagues

482
00:19:00,305 --> 00:19:01,607
on the board of governors

483
00:19:01,607 --> 00:19:04,042
to to a majority of them
to vote to dissolve

484
00:19:04,042 --> 00:19:06,578
or in your resolutions
accomplish it?

485
00:19:06,578 --> 00:19:07,846
-Yeah, as I understand

486
00:19:07,846 --> 00:19:09,681
the terms
of the Interlocal agreement,

487
00:19:09,681 --> 00:19:13,085
if our motions are adopted
by our respective City

488
00:19:13,085 --> 00:19:15,420
and County Council's,
that will start the process.

489
00:19:15,420 --> 00:19:18,757
So the the, the work is
with our colleagues, right.

490
00:19:19,892 --> 00:19:23,061
-I think to actually kick off
a real dissolution process...

491
00:19:23,295 --> 00:19:24,730
-It's not, it's
not rhetorical.

492
00:19:24,730 --> 00:19:28,367
It's a legal document
envisioned in the agreement

493
00:19:28,367 --> 00:19:31,436
that established it
as a way to unwind it.

494
00:19:31,937 --> 00:19:33,505
-Have you been in touch
with the executive

495
00:19:33,505 --> 00:19:36,508
Zahilay, have you been in touch
with Mayor Wilson?

496
00:19:36,875 --> 00:19:38,243
-Do you want to go
first on that?

497
00:19:38,243 --> 00:19:41,246
-I've reached out
to the mayor's office, so

498
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,049
we've start I've started
that conversation

499
00:19:44,049 --> 00:19:45,884
and they know we're doing
this press conference.

500
00:19:45,884 --> 00:19:46,585
So I don't.

501
00:19:46,585 --> 00:19:48,654
-Have you heard back
from the mayor's office?

502
00:19:48,654 --> 00:19:50,355
-I talked to them
this morning,

503
00:19:50,355 --> 00:19:51,523
but I'll say that.

504
00:19:51,523 --> 00:19:54,526
-And I've been in touch with
Executive Zahilay’s office.

505
00:19:54,526 --> 00:19:57,029
He issued a statement
yesterday,

506
00:19:57,029 --> 00:20:00,399
I think, along with the Mayor
Wilson, with some interim

507
00:20:00,399 --> 00:20:03,569
first steps
about what needs to be done.

508
00:20:04,236 --> 00:20:06,271
So this is the beginning
of the process.

509
00:20:06,271 --> 00:20:08,040
And I think

510
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:09,841
there's a great interest
in making sure

511
00:20:09,841 --> 00:20:11,076
if there is a decision,

512
00:20:11,076 --> 00:20:13,879
the folks agree
with us to unwind it,

513
00:20:13,879 --> 00:20:15,414
that it's
done in an orderly way

514
00:20:16,481 --> 00:20:17,950
and a transparent way.

515
00:20:17,950 --> 00:20:18,517
-That's right.

516
00:20:18,517 --> 00:20:19,952
-Thank you so much, everybody.

517
00:20:19,952 --> 00:20:21,186
We're going to have to end
here.

518
00:20:21,186 --> 00:20:23,055
-Thank you very much for
coming.

519
00:20:23,055 --> 00:20:24,156
-Thank you so much.