Speaker 4: The report of the Transportation and Utilities Committee Agenda Item on Council Bill 120145 Naming the pedestrian bicycle bridge across the Interstate five connecting North 100 Street to First Avenue Northeast as the John Lewis Memorial Bridge. The committee recommends that the bill pass.
Speaker 0: Thank you. As chair of the committee. I'll just say a couple of sentences before I turn it over to the chief sponsor, Councilmember Juarez. This is Councilor Juarez Juarez's proposal to name the North Quay pedestrian bridge after national civil rights leader John Lewis. At our committee, we heard powerful testimony from former County Councilmember Larry Gossett and the current president of North Seattle College, Dr. Crawford. Our committee unanimously recommended this item. Councilmember Juarez, you like to address this item?
Speaker 4: Well, thank you. Council President Lewis Pro-Tem guy. I also want to thank him for her role as a co-sponsor. So thank you very much for letting us bring this through your Transportation Utilities Committee. And it is correct, it was voted unanimously to recommend that the city council pass this bill. This bill, as stated, would establish the legal name of the pedestrian and bike bicycle bridge connecting North Seattle College to the North Gate Light Rail Station Opening October 2nd as the John Lewis Memorial Bridge. As a former community matter member and then a constituent and now an elected, I have been involved in the pedestrian bridge since at least 2015, and I think we raised we finally got it up to about $56 million with the city of Seattle putting in the most money to make this happen. This bill constitutes months, if not years, of collaboration with our community. We started by completing a citywide inventory of all the names of public infrastructures in the city of Seattle. And what we found was that there was very little bipoc representation citywide and in District five. There's currently not a single school, park, street, library, pool, community center or any natural habitat such as a river, lake creek or stream named after an African-American leader. And we do know that through sale public schools, we have the vocal staff, Robert Eagle Staff School, which I knew Bob and the Northgate Elementary School, I understand, will be changed soon to the James Baldwin School. So I'm working citywide and with community. We considered many names for this bridge and decided to put forward the name of the honorable U.S. Representative John Lewis, who we lost a year ago last July. John Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020, after serving as a U.S. representative for Georgia's fifth Congressional District for more than three decades . In honor of his incredible life and legacy as a civil rights icon and voting rights advocate, I'm sponsoring this bill along with Councilmember Purple, to name the pedestrian bicycle bridge in Northgate, the John Lewis Memorial Bridge. I was joined in committee by two incredible community members, former King County Council member Larry Gossett and president of North Steel College, Dr. Charmaine Crawford. Both Councilmember Gossett and Dr. Crawford support the naming to recognize and remembered the vital nationwide impact John Lewis made during his time as a civil rights activist, activist, advocate, and as a member of Congress. We have some interesting comments in during this period in the last year about naming John Lewis after this particular bridge. And again, I just want to point out something that it should be obvious, but this is why we have this opportunity to look at places and memorialize people and that we remember, to be honest to the history , not only about who gets remembered, but how they get remembered and why they get remembered. John Lewis was a friend of Councilmember Gossett, and Dr. Charmaine Crawford spoke both times about how she met Mr. John Lewis. But all of this side, I don't think that we should have to qualify any black leader, any indigenous leader, any Asian leader, any LGBTQ leader. I don't think that we have to qualify that. They have some incorrect, incredible, direct connection to the city of Seattle. I don't think George Washington was here or Lincoln or, you know, Franklin or, you know, Jason Lee or, you know, let's see. I can't think of other names. They're everywhere, as you all know. And I think we should also point out that John Thornton, where we have Thornton Creek in Thornton Place, was a railroad speculator who never came to King County or Seattle and actually lived and died in Clough County. But got his name, got the title for the creek up here through the Bureau of Land Management in 1889. And I'm not saying that to disparage people who wanted that name. I understand and I get it. And we have sorted creek and we have in place. But I think it's time that we we opened that that lens that there are other people that have made this country great and they didn't necessarily have to physically be here, though John Lewis did come to the University of Washington, I believe, in 2017, because in particular, when people of that greatness, of that magnitude change our minds and our hearts, we owe it not only to the Honorable John Lewis, but to everybody to remember who John Lewis was. I want to close up by saying something that I also shared in committee and I shared with other folks as well, is that we believe that when loved ones leave us that they don't actually leave us and they are alive as long as we say their name. So it's important that we say John Lewis's name so people know who John Lewis was, what he did, and what he did for this country and how he what he committed to, not only in his personal life, but his professional life. There are very few heroes that we have like that, quite frankly, that I actually believe in. So this bridge is both symbolic and poetic. When John Lewis led the civil rights march in from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, as you know, they were attacked by state troopers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The violent attacks were recorded and disseminated throughout the country and the images proved too powerful to ignore. That became Bloody Sunday as the day was labeled, which sped up the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And as I shared in committee, that was the 1965, 56 years ago. And as you all know, we are still fighting for the John Lewis Voting Act. We are still fighting for a bedrock of our democracy and people's right to vote. And that is still going on. And I'm hoping that this bridge will be a reminder and not just a reminder for the city of Seattle, but for anybody what this bridge means and also how we commemorate and honor those who have done great things for our country. So I know that some of you've heard that what they would call the Honorable John Lewis, that he was a conscious of the Congress, that he was a true bridge builder who could work across the aisle to achieve progress . And I believe that I hope that he inspires all of us as leaders and future leaders to do the same. So as I shared last Friday, Councilmember Larry Gossett and Dr. Crawford also appeared on Converge Media's Morning Show update, where they went to greater detail about this proposal and their relationship with the great John Lewis. And if you get a chance, I hope you can go back and look at that video. So with that, I want to thank all of you that have worked with us, and particularly you, Councilmember Lewis, who was an early believer in this. And some of the conversations I had with Councilmember Strauss, Councilmember Herbold and others. And with that, I would hope that we would pass that we would pass this bill today. Thank you.
Speaker 0: If you counsel or as colleagues, any other comments on the bill? Okay. Will the clerk please call the role on the passage of the bill?
Speaker 1: Lewis. Yes. Morales.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: Hi. So on. Yes.
Speaker 0: Strauss Enthusiastic. Yes.
Speaker 1: Herbold Yes. Suarez.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: And Council President Pro Tem. Petersen.
Speaker 0: Yes.
Speaker 1: Favor and unopposed.
Speaker 0: The bill passes and the chair will sign it. Will the clerk please affix my signature to the legislation on my tab? Yeah. Item ten Will the clerk please read the short title? Item ten into the record.
Speaker 4: Agenda Item ten Council Bill 120133. Granting Swedish health services permission to construct, maintain and operate the tunnel under and across Miner Avenue. The committee recommends that the bill pass.
AN ORDINANCE naming the pedestrian and bicycle bridge across Interstate 5, connecting N 100th St to 1st Ave NE, as the John Lewis Memorial Bridge.