Notes from Shoreline Council Meeting May 13, 2019

Shoreline City Hall
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Shoreline Council Meeting 
May 13, 2019
Notes by Pam Cross

Mayor Hall called the meeting to order at 7:00pm

All Councilmembers were present.

Mayor Hall declared May 18, 2019 as Armed Services Appreciation Day (Armed Forces Day).

It has been celebrated nationally since 1950 to acknowledge the important sacrifices that members of the United States military and their families make to ensure freedom and liberty for all citizens.

Sergeant Ryan Benson, Marine Corps Career Counselor, and future Marines accepted the proclamation.

Report of the City Manager, Debbie Tarry

• Volunteer park work parties meet Saturdays and Sundays in May. Check online for times and locations.
• Saturday May 18th will be Middle School Night for 7th and 8th graders from 7:00 to 11:30pm at Richmond Highlands REC with a lot of activities and food. No charge. 
• Shoreline Social Justice Book Club meets Sunday May 19th in the City Hall Chamber. This month’s book is Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.
• June 6th, Thursday, is the State of the City Breakfast at City Hall. Join Council from 7:00 to 8:30am for a free breakfast and learn about the City’s accomplishments and plans for the future. RSVP to Heidi Costello at hcostello@shorelinewa.gov or call 206-801-2214. Space is limited. 

Public Reminder
The Planning commission will meet on Thursday May 16th at 7:00pm in the Council Chamber.

Council Reports
Councilmember Scully attended the Continuous Care Board Meeting. This is a regional homelessness advisory council. They are still on schedule to come up with a regional authority by September.
He also presented Resolution No. 437 (see below) to the King County Regional Policy Council and received a favorable response. King County is ready to put this on the ballot.

Mayor Hall stated several councilmembers attended the Richmond Beach Strawberry Festival and the Gala for the Arts. Mayor Hall attended the Cities Climate Summit. The Climate and Sustainability Director for the City of Portland was there talking about how Portland has decreased its carbon emissions during this period of growth.

Public Comment

Tamarah Lee, Shoreline Hopelink Center Manager, presented comments about lack of affordable housing and resultant homelessness. She thanked the Council for proclaiming May 13-17, 2019 as Affordable Housing Week. On May 16th from 4:00-5:30pm there will be a presentation at Ballinger Commons providing an overview by King County Housing Authority of its properties and its impact on the community.

Laethan Wene thanked all of those who attended the Special Olympics last weekend.

The Agenda was approved unanimously.
The Consent Calendar was approved unanimously.

Action Item 8a Public Hearing and Discussion on Resolution No. 437 - Approving Placement on the Ballot of a Countywide Levy Proposal for Funding the Medic One/Emergency Medical Services Levy for the Period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2025

Jim Hammond, Government Relations, introduced Michelle Plorde, Director of King County Emergency Medical Services Division, Public Health – Seattle and King County. Ms Plorde provided the report.

They use a tiered system that is common. What is unique here is the 911 dispatcher determines the level of care (tier). This is standardized throughout the County with all dispatchers using a designated protocol.

King County has a 56% cardiac arrest survival rate. This is one of the highest survival rates in the world. This is a complex situation requiring rapid dispatch and response, and performance of multiple tasks.

King County goes from dense urban areas to wilderness in mountain passes. The goal is to provide the same level of service regardless of location. There are four dispatch centers and medic units are distributed throughout the County. There are partnerships with various EMT providers and with hospitals. With the focus on patient care, this is not the cheapest system.

The current six-year 33.5 cent Medic One/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Levy will expire on December 31, 2019 and must be renewed to maintain the current system. The contours of the proposed Medic One/EMS Levy were shaped by the EMS Advisory Task Force. The Task Force convened on January 18, 2018, and the City of Shoreline was represented on the Task Force by Councilmember Scully.

Shoreline is one of 11 cities in King County with a population greater than 50,000. Formerly all 11 had to approve the Levy's placement on the November ballot. Last year a legislative change reduced it to 75% or 9 of the cities. (rounded up per Washington rules)

Recommendations

ALS

• Continue using the unit allocation to fully fund Advanced Life Support
• Include a placeholder for adding a potential future unit because of region growth just in case. There is a complex process to allocate to a location. A placeholder is used so the location can be decided by that process.
• Explore options to address paramedic workforce needs and other efficiencies 

BLS

• Continue the BLS allocation; streamline the BLS funding sources and distribute it using agencies’ current AV and service levels
• Commit $4 million a year of levy funding to exploring a Mobile Integrated Healthcare model to address community needs; distribute to all agencies (CMT pilot program will extend from Shoreline)
• Establish guidelines to create consistency around data collection, measures and program reporting

Question: What is a CMT? A Community Medical Technician doesn’t respond lights/siren but spends more time on scene. These calls often involve  people who need help with housing, or referral to mental health or treatment programs. After 6 years as a successful pilot program in Shoreline and other cities in South King County,  it was decided to expand it to the entire County.

There were no questions from Council.

Mayor Hall opened the Public Hearing for public comment. There was no public comment.

Resolution No. 437 is scheduled to be brought back to Council for adoption on June 10, 2019, but since there were no Council questions or public comments, a motion was made and seconded to suspend the rules to allow consideration tonight. Motion passed unanimously.

There was a brief recess to allow staff time to review.

Resolution No. 437 is now an Action Item. There was a motion and second to adopt this Resolution with an amended 26.5 cent rate as proposed by staff in lieu of the 27 cent rate.

The motion passed unanimously.

Study Item 9(a) 2018 Police Services Report
Presented by Shawn Ledford, Chief of Police

The City of Shoreline Police Department (PD) consists of 53 full-time employees assigned to the City, of which fifty (50) are commissioned positions. Additionally, Shoreline PD draws upon the King County Sheriff’s Office for other resources when needed including Major Crimes for robbery and homicide incidents, SWAT, Air Support and other services. Mutual Aid agreements help when our canine unit is unavailable, and we help other cities when they need additional canine support.

Requests for service are increasing over the years with 2018 having 16,567 dispatch calls and on-viewed 13,535 details, for a total of 30,102 police related contacts for 2018. “On-viewed” are self-initiated field activities by the officers when they notice a suspicious vehicle or a suspicious person. This is evidence of a proactive police department.

The four top dispatches are area checks, suspicious circumstance, trespass and welfare status.

The PD mission is safe schools, park safety, neighborhood traffic safety, and property crimes.

Shoreline is a very safe city. Violent crime has gone down significantly over the years.
Based on perceptions from social media it appears that crime is increasing, but in reality it is decreasing. Robberies, larceny thefts and car prowls are all down in 2018.

In response to a comment from Mayor Hall, Chief Ledford confirmed that these are actual numbers - not per capita. So in spite of the increasing population, crime continues to decrease.

The Response Awareness De-escalation and Referral (RADAR) program started in Shoreline in 2016 and has expanded to the cities of Bothell, Lake-Forest Park, Kirkland and Kenmore. It deals with individuals who often suffer from mental illness, drug and/or alcohol addiction.

This program is an effort to try and connect people in need to the proper services, improve public safety and reduce unnecessary calls for emergency services.  There will be an analysis to see if use of force has decreased since starting RADAR.

The Complete report is available online.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.