During their June 8th business meeting, the Lynnwood city council approved the first appointments to the city’s new youth council. The appointments to the new advisory body complete a two-year long development arc that was spearheaded by council vice president Derica Escamilla and former council member Joshua Binda. This meeting also saw the council issue the mayor’s Juneteenth Proclamation before they received a briefing on potentially restarting the Economic Development Infrastructure Fund (EDIF).

The new youth council is made of of 15 teenagers from across the city (along with its outlying unincorporated areas) and they will serve two year terms – these initial appointments have staggered terms. Mayor George Hurst appointed the members of the body after they’d submitted applications in April of this year and then went through a process of interviews, and meet & greets with other applicants in May. All 15 members of the council were introduced at the start of the meeting before the city council held two votes to confirm the appointments based off of the term expiration dates.

Both confirmation votes passed 7-0 in a roll call vote.

SEAT	YOUTH COUNCIL MEMBER	TERM EXPIRATION
Position 1	Alice Pham	6/1/27
Position 2	Aryan Jadal	6/1/27
Position 3	Hasset Kassa	6/1/27
Position 4	Isabella McKenzie	6/1/27
Position 5	Jade Mok	6/1/27
Position 6	Jerico Magat	6/1/27
Position 7	Karas Younan	6/1/27
Position 8	Valerie Pena	6/1/27
Position 9	Yanet Mengistu	6/1/28
Position 10	Nana Abena Leo-Nkoah	6/1/28
Position 11	Brady Cooper	6/1/28
Position 12	Dawin Elliston	6/1/28
Position 13	Dzanan Dozic	6/1/28
Position 14	Maegan Thai	6/1/28
Position 15	Makayla Chappelle	6/1/28

Escamilla was the one who initially proposed the youth council back in 2024 as the city has grappled with a wave of youth violence that has dominated headlines. The goal with this new body is to increase the input of the young people who will be the city’s future. These new members will meet with department heads, the city council, and help increase the visibility of their government through mentoring, training, and community service projects; Escamilla will serve as the city council’s liaison with the youth council.

Before the confirmation votes, all 15 appointees stepped up to the microphone to introduce themselves, the high school they attended, and the reasons they wanted to join the new council. Overall, the consistent message was about their desire to increase representation for the city’s young and students. Dzana Dozic (Position 13) heavily emphasized the need for the city government to show young people that it actually cares about the youth community.

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Juneteenth Proclamation

As this is the last business meeting prior to Juneteenth, the council officially issued a proclamation to commemorate the holiday. The proclamation was read by council member Chelsea Wright. Wright was clear that to truly honor the holiday, local governments need to ensure that every resident experiences in their daily lives. This means equally opportunities to housing, jobs, and a voice in their local government. Which means that government leaders need to put in the daily effort to ensure that for all residents.

Present at the council meeting to receive the proclamation were members from the executive team from Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. along with a representative from the Washington West African Council. These speakers all affirmed Wright’s comments about the continual need to honor the holiday with investments in equal opportunity, housing, and an equitable justice system. It was noted that the youth council was a positive step in honoring the commitment to honoring Juneteenth.

On Jun 19th, from 10 AM to 3 PM, Project Girl will host a freedom festival to commemorate the holiday. The festival will start with an opening ceremony at 10 AM and there will be food, music, family events, fitness events and health screenings to help support a healthy life style.

If you’d like to attend it’s at Cedar Valley Community School Gym & Play fields: 19200 56th Ave W, Lynnwood, WA.

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The Economic Development Infrastructure Fund

Public Works Director Jared Bond a long with Development and Business Services Director Ben Wolters met with the council to brief its members on the Economic Development Infrastructure Fund (EDIF). The potential of restarting EDIF was raised in a finance committee meeting.

EDIF is essentially a savings account that the city fills with existing tax revenue and fees. When the fund was originally created in 2015, the first $1 million of revenue raised by the construction sales tax went to the city’s general funds and any income above that mark was diverted to the savings account (any building permits fees for projects assessed over $10 million were also diverted to the fund). The existence of this fund allowed the city’s infrastructure, park, and maintenance projects to have consistent funding available despite the up and down nature of sales tax revenue. It also meant that the city was able to fund projects while staff filled out grant applications – this fund helped pay for the multi-phase project at Scriber Lake trail.

The cyclical nature of sales tax revenue meant that when revenue decreased throughout 2019 and into the pandemic, the city’s general funds was deprived of a significant source of revenue. As the city confronted intense economic uncertainty, the council members voted to pause EDIF in 2020.

Despite the fact that the city ceased diverting money into the fund six years ago, there is still $100,000 in it. This fund has helped with the construction of the 33rd Avenue ring road, the addition of bus lanes on 196th Avenue SW, as well as ADA ramps and sidewalk improvements. According to Wolters, the last project to use the fund was the Meadowdale Play Fields which draw in overnight guest to the city’s hotels for sports tournaments.

The presentation was met with enthusiasm by the council members that spoke. Escamilla, Isabel Mata, Robert Leutwyler, David Parshall, and council president Nick Coelho all expressed a desire to further explore reinstating EDIF.

Wolter and Bond advised the council that the explosion of cost in terms of salary, debt servicing, and supplies had changed the calculus on how to manage the fund. They presented the council with five options on how to decide when tax revenue would be diverted to the fund; the “bar” was how it was referred to throughout the briefing.

Fixed annual amount
Have the new finance director adjust the bar every year by inflation
Finance director adjust at each year by basing it off the lowest annual revenue from the previous three years
Council adjust every two years to coincide with the budget process
The council set a predetrmined schedule for raising the bar

There is no rush for the council to make a decision right now. The two directors recommended that the council wait to seriously discuss moving forward with the EDIF until Q4 so that there would be a clearer picture of the tax revenue the city generated in 2026. Both Wolters and Bond advised the council that it would be best to have EDIF in place as part of the 2027 – 2028 budget cycle.

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Other news brought up in the meeting

This past Saturday was busy for the city, as Lynnwood Police Department hosted a kids event at Alderwood Mall and the parks department hosted the city’s first ever pride festival. Both events were a success that saw solid turnout and community engagement that the council found encouraging.

Hurst brought up the recent Seattle Times article on the partnership between Housing Hope and Edmonds School District to build 52 affordable housing units on school district land. ESD is leasing the land to the affordable housing developer for a $1-per-year lease (for 75 years) on a former practice field in Lynnwood near highway 99. The goal is to increase housing stability for students and their families while they also provide access to healthcare and onsite healthcare support.

LPD received a congratulation from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission as the sales and use tax verification had received final approval. These taxes were approved by the city council as part of their public safety sales tax earlier this year so the city could get access to a $100 million grant fund that was set aside by Governor Bob Ferguson.

There was also a brief update on the process for public hearings around amendments for the city’s comprehensive plan.

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