There will be no deputy mayor role on the Federal Way City Council this year.
Council members reassessed the leadership structure of the city on the dais in an unplanned discussion at the Jan. 2 meeting of the Federal Way City Council.
Just after Mayor Jim Ferrell announced the beginning of the election of deputy mayor and council president, Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson opened a discussion to remove one of the positions completely. Assefa-Dawson said the deputy mayor position was redundant and caused issues by having two different leaders within the council.
In 2023, Councilmember Susan Honda held the deputy mayor role, while Councilmember Linda Kochmar held the role of council president.
Councilmember Hoang Tran said that before the position was added, he was opposed to its creation, but after seeing it in action, his mind had changed.
“For the past two years, I have seen both of them work within their responsibility to move the council forward, to move the city forward,” Tran said.
Kochmar added: “Maybe I could provide some insight. Susan is a wonderful person, she has worked hard,” but confirmed Assefa-Dawson’s sentiments that “it’s very difficult when you’re in a leadership position to have two prongs.”
After some confusion and discussion with City Attorney Ryan Call, the council moved forward with nominations for city council president.
Councilmember Jack Dovey nominated Linda Kochmar, Paul McDaniel nominated Susan Honda, and Lydia Assefa-Dawson nominated Hoang Tran.
When the mayor moved to begin the vote, Tran declined the nomination: “I am honored to be nominated, but I am respectfully declining because of the work that I do right now. I have a full-time job.”
The council then voted on the two candidates, and Kochmar won 4 to 3.
When asked if she would like to share a statement as she accepted the position, she simply stated, “God help us all.”
Kochmar elaborated that there was a lot of work to be done this year and expressed appreciation for Councilmember Honda’s hard work. Kochmar said that in the future, she would like to see the position rotate through the council rather than having one person hold the role for over and over.
“It’s not about personalities,” Kochmar said. “You really have to look at it as a thing moving forward for the future.”
Reallocated ARPA funding
Several public commenters shared their shock and dismay at the council’s decision to reroute American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that had been allocated for human services. ARPA was passed in March 2021 in response to the pandemic. The treasury website describes it as “providing fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, small businesses, and industries.”
The commenters were referring to a council decision on Nov. 21 to utilize $325,000 to replace equipment and add security after a major theft at the city’s maintenance facility.
The council distributed the other $325,000 that had been allocated for financial literacy and workforce development evenly to four programs that aligned with the initial stated intent of the of the ARPA funds, including Casa Latina, FUSION, YWCA and the xity’s own financial literacy program.
Aaron Walsh spoke at the Jan. 2 meeting as a private citizen, but is also on the Human Services Commission. He shared his disappointment that the city had reallocated half of the budget. He also said he was disappointed that the 11 applicants for grant funding went through a “fair and equal process” in order to be considered, and that he was disappointed that the city’s literacy program was selected to receive funding without going through the same process as the other applicants.
“How can we expect nonprofits to partner with our city if the council breaks its promises and funds organizations that don’t even apply for the grant?” Walsh asked the council. “Human services are not a luxury. They are vital to building a peaceful, just and thriving community. Social welfare, equality, equity and the common good must be our priorities as a city.”
The grant application process involved providing responses to 28 multi-part questions and the submission of at least six separate documents. The announcement of available funding and full application requirements can be found on the city’s website here.
Another commenter who is also on the Human Services Commission was in tears by the end of her three minutes: “It’s really harmful and it’s really hurtful,” Betty Taylor said. “We review grants that we don’t even have the funds to give.”
Commission member Gordon Bach read a prepared statement that he said represents the views of the Human Services Commission as a whole: “We would like to formally express our disappointment that the city council reallocated ARPA funds and re-prioritized funding based on other needs outside of the ARPA request for proposal priorities.”
Councilmember Jack Walsh responded to the public comments by commission members: “There’s a lot of time spent studying and everything, and I greatly respect the work that they do. I think that what occurred that was brought up is a basically quite a rare exception to what would normally happen.”
During his executive statement at the end of the meeting, Councilmember Jack Dovey suggested that the mayor go around to each commission to “make sure everybody understands that we appreciate them tremendously,” but that ultimately, the council will not always follow the recommendations made by commissions.
Were these ARPA funds the only option for replacing the $250,000 equipment stolen from the maintenance facility in November?
When asked if there was money available in the city’s budget outside of the ARPA funding at the Nove. 21 city council meeting, City Administrator Brian Davis stated that “ARPA is an option, but to your question of is there money, yes there is.” He added that what it comes down to is “just to the simple fact that it’s a priority … it’s a priority question. This isn’t something we can’t just debate about doing or not.”
Councilmember Dovey put forward a motion for allocation of funds to the maintenance facility. He proposed allocated $450,000 to the replacement of equipment and added security at the maintenance facility. After more discussion, the motion that was approved was McDaniel’s that included the even split of the $650,000 total in ARPA funds between the maintenance facility and the original intent.
Emergency housing policies
Community Development Director Keith Niven presented several updates to language in city ordinances related to the licensing of permanent supportive housing and transitional housing, and emergency housing and shelter.
The city council initially approved code amendments in October 2021 to respond to the passage of HB 1220 at the state level. In January 2022, the city council approved Ordinance 22-929 to create an operations and licensing program for emergency housing. Both of these updates were written with overnight housing and shelter uses in mind, and did not include clear language about how they would apply to day use facilities.
The changes presented by Niven included adding a line stating “except for emergency housing and shelter facilities that do not provide overnight accommodations.” Adding the word “guests” to areas of the document that already included stipulations for “residents” was another proposed change.
The day center doesn’t have residents, Niven said at the council meeting, so the city needed to add in that language. It also doesn’t make it clear that anyone visiting someone in a shelter or temporary housing would also be banned from using drugs, he said.
In response to a question about why someone might have guests while staying in a shelter, Niven clarified that some of the locations governed under these ordinances include short-term stays, up to 6 months.
Several public commenters also addressed the proposed changes, expressing general desire for strong licensing policies for emergency housing and shelters that supports public safety.
The changes were ultimately rejected as they were ,and a request made to have the city attorney draft another version of them based on the council discussion.
When it comes to the timing of these changes, Niven said in the meeting that the need became apparent recently while evaluating an application from Catholic Community Services for the use of the Stevenson Motel as an emergency overnight shelter. In looking at this application, the city had to review the ordinances around emergency housing and shelter as well as those definitions.
Niven said this prompted the city to realize that the language in the ordinance wasn’t clear, or in some cases wasn’t applicable to day use facilities.
This review also prompted the city to request that the Day Center, 33505 13th Pl. S., reapply for their license in order to continue to operate. Because the Day Center wasn’t thought about when initially drafting the emergency housing ordinance in response to the changes in state law, the city also did not initially require the Day Center to meet requirements within that ordinance in order to maintain their license.
The Day Center submitted an application, but it was incomplete, and the city is now working with the center to complete the other requirements — but for now, the “ball is in their court” said Niven. He explained: “We have one facility in town that is kind of a pre-existing situation,” and the city is now “getting an existing facility to come back and go through licensing.”
Councilmember Paul McDaniel asked what exactly the Day Center is not complying with that is required for their license to be approved, but Niven was unsure.
The council chambers had a full house at the Jan. 2 meeting. Photo by Bruce Honda
The council chambers had a full house at the Jan. 2 meeting. Photo by Bruce Honda
Hailey Renae Howell shared public comments advocating for the inclusion of youth voices in decisions impacting youth in Federal Way, using the example of the Federal Way High School pedestrian incident as an example. Photo by Bruce Honda
Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson takes her oath from King County Superior Court Judge LeRoy McCullough with community leaders Pastor Berhanu Feleke and Father Abiye Belay. (Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror)
Community Development Director Keith Niven presents on changes to language around emergency housing and shelters in Federal Way at the Jan. 2 meeting. Photo by Bruce Honda.
