Item Number:      6f_motion 
Meeting Date:   June 23, 2020 
1                                                   MOTION 2020-18: 
2                                 A MOTION OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 
3 
4                           directing the Executive Director that competitive solicitation is
5                           not appropriate or cost-effective for youth opportunity services 
6                           and exempting such contracts from the requirements of Chapter
7                           53.19 RCW. 
8 
9                                                         PROPOSED 
10                                                 JUNE 23, 2020 
11 
12                                                 INTRODUCTION 
13 
14    On May 26, 2020, the Port of Seattle Commission directed the Executive to implement short-
15    term employment opportunities for youth 16  24 that enhance the mission of the Port of
16    Seattle and support economic recovery for the residents of King County from the COVID-19
17    pandemic. The program was directed to be implemented by July 1, 2020. 
18 
19    During that same timeframe, the Port has seen unprecedented impacts and shutdowns in the
20    airline and cruise industries, has taken extraordinary measures to protect its workforce, and has
21    reduced the Port budget by $70 million for 2020. The impacts of the pandemic on every aspect
22    of life at home and work are extreme. 
23 
24    The Port is making a strategic investment in opportunities for youth even in the face of a
25    $70,000,000 budget reduction. These competitive exemptions are necessary to allow the Port
26    to respond in a timely appropriate fashion to the extremely high youth unemployment rate, the
27    disproportionate impacts on communities of color, the lack of public or private summer youth
28    employment/internship opportunities due to the COVID-19 related shutdown, and the need to
29    get expediate contracts for qualified firms to address these issues this summer. 
30 
31                                              TEXT OF THE MOTION 
32 
33    The commission exercises its authority under RCW 53.19.020(5) to determine that a competitive
34    solicitation process is not appropriate or cost-effective to address the emergency nature of the
35    youth facing the highest unemployment rates in King County, among other indicators in King
36    County as directed by commissioners during the May 26, 2020, commission meeting and to assist
37    in these four areas: best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth unemployment, for youth
38    of color, and youth in South Seattle and South King County; connection with Port industries;
39    breadth of industries/opportunities; career trajectory for students, connecting to another
40    program; working with organizations that have strong track record and can deliver solid results;
41    and more money in hands of student achieved through lower overhead. 
42 


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43    To that end the Commission authorizes the Executive Director to execute contracts for Aerospace
44    Joint Apprenticeship Committee,  Partners in Employment, Seattle Goodwill,  Seattle Parks
45    Foundation, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle for up to a total of $1,500,000. 
46 
47    The Commission has determined that a competitive process for these agreements is not
48    appropriate or cost-effective based on: 
49        1.  Research identified the five non-profit organizations listed here have established youth
50            opportunity programs serving Port-related industries. Although there are sufficient non-
51            profit organizations with the ability to provide youth opportunities, the programs serve
52            non-Port related industries; 
53        2.  The non-profit organizations identified here have established programs developed to
54            support South King County youth; whereas others served youth outside of South King
55            County; 
56        3.  The  non-profit  organizations  identified  here  have  the  ability  to  launch  youth
57            opportunities during the summer months to provide rapid economic recovery, whereas
58            others required program development and implementation time limiting delivery of
59            service opportunities to youth.  Economic recovery is urgent due to COVID-19 impacts 
60            limiting youth employment, particularly youth of color.
61        4.  The nonprofit organizations identified here are qualified and operating during the COVID-
62            19 shutdown; where as others are operating at a limited capacity which impact their
63            ability to provide summer youth opportunities. 
64        5.  The nonprofit organizations identified have lower cost of overhead providing a more cost-
65            effective method to deliver the youth opportunities program. They also have the financial
66            capability to launch the program within the time frame limitations.
67 
68                                     STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION 
69    While workers in nearly every sector Washington's economy have been adversely affected by the
70    Covid-19 pandemic, the loss of employment opportunities for low-skilled workers between 16-
71    24 years of age is the most substantial.  The Port is expediting these contracts to meet this
72    emergency  through  a  competitive  waiver  for  these  five  organizations:  Aerospace  Joint
73    Apprenticeship Committee, Partners in Employment, Seattle Goodwill, Seattle Parks Foundation,
74    Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle organizations to meet the need for this population. 
75 
76    According to the Washington State Employment Security Department in May 2020, the highest
77    numbers of claims per capita were workers with a high school or equivalent education,
78    between the ages of 18 and 24, living in south Seattle and South King County area, and workers
79    of color. Works of colors are defined as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black/African
80    American and American Indian/Alaska Native workers. This resulted in these demographics 
81    being laid off at higher rates, have greater impacts from COVID, and have greater pre-existing
82    health and environmental conditions that negatively affect outcomes. 
83 
84    King County and the City of Seattle have largely cancelled their summer internship
85    opportunities. The Port of Seattle has had to limit our in-house internship opportunities to 20
86    down from almost 110 spots as staff are trying to figure out how to return to work.

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87    Opportunities in the private sector are also extremely limited in the industries where youth
88    work, for example, through the end of April, job losses within the leisure and hospitality sector
89    represented 42 percent of all job losses in the state.
90 
91    The Port of Seattle designed a summer employment Opportunity Initiative to respond to the
92    unprecedented impact in communities of King County The Initiative will connect youth between
93    the ages of 16 and 24 with paid learning opportunities designed to build skills to succeed in the
94    workplace, create learning opportunities that connect young people to a long term career path,
95    strengthen community, and support young people and their families during the COVID-19
96    pandemic. 
97 
98    Facilitated by community-based providers who specialize in employment readiness, cultural
99    enrichment, mentorship, educational opportunities, and career readiness training in the focus
100    areas of the Port of Seattle: Aviation, Maritime, green careers---the program offers participants
101    the opportunity to explore career interests, develop work-readiness skills through learning
102    experiences designed to strengthen civic and leadership abilities 
103 
104    The Opportunity Initiative has identified specific programmatic elements that must be met by
105    each organization supporting this effort: 
106         Best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth unemployment, for youth of color, and
107            youth in communities most impacted by Covid-19 (this data is provided by Seattle-King
108            County Public Health and Workforce Development Council) 
109         Connection with Port industries; breadth of industries/opportunities 
110         Career trajectory for students as part of a workforce development program 
111         Working with organizations that have established and effective youth employment
112            program, to support hire dates in time for summer employment, a strong track record in
113            youth employment and/or workforce, can deliver results that fall within Port authority,
114            and with lower overhead and cost-effective programs 
115         With a requirement of salaries/wages/stipend for youth at a $15/hour minimum wage. 
116 
117    Projects must provide youth with opportunities to participate in economic activities  like 
118    occupational job training and placement, job advancement and job retention, pre-apprenticeship
119    training, or occupational education programs associated with port tenants, customers, and local
120    economic development related to port tenants or port-related economic activities 
121 
122    Project staff must have at least five years demonstrated experience in education, mentorship,
123    leadership development, and empowerment of "opportunity youth" defined as young people
124    between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor
125    market. 
126 
127    Project staff must have demonstrated cultural competency and possess a strong understanding
128    of operationalizing racial equity. Project must evaluate outcomes with quantitative information
129    including: number of trainees, recruited, placed in jobs, and retained; the types of jobs and range

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130    of compensation; the number and types of businesses that are served; and any other tangible
131    benefits realized by the port, workers, businesses, and the public. 
132 
133    The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion created a working group with Port employees from
134    various departments with expertise with youth employment. This working group looked at the
135    following organizations with a strong understanding of the Commissioner's focus areas. 
136 
137    The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC). AJAC has over 10 years of experience
138    and direct ties to Port industries by creating a pipeline for aerospace careers and strong ties with
139    communities in South King County, workforce development, and expertise in youth employment.
140    It is uniquely equipped and positioned to create solid career paths for incarcerated youth, youth
141    at risk of entering the juvenile justice system, immigrant population, and low-income youth
142    within the South King County area. 
143 
144    Partners in Employment (PIE): This organization has strong ties with communities in South King
145    County, workforce development, and expertise in youth employment. It is uniquely equipped and
146    positioned to create solid career paths for incarcerated youth, youth at risk of entering the
147    juvenile justice system, immigrant population, and low-income youth within the South King
148    County area. 
149 
150    Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle: This organization will develop, own and operate housing
151    for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in Washington State. This
152    summer both programs will employ youth to help build tiny cottages for the homeless. These
153    programs are a bridge to link people of color to apprenticeships or pre -apprentice construction
154    training programs. The Port understands the construction industry is a hard trade to get your foot
155    into the door. 
156 
157    Seattle Goodwill: This organization is a strong candidate that demonstrate a long history (short
158    of 100 years) of understanding on how to execute student centered cultural competency within
159    King County. Seattle Goodwill has three dynamic programs: Youth Maritime Program (YMP);
160    Youth Aerospace Program (YAP) and Youth at Work (YAW) (all Port Industries) which center on
161    youth development design to help youth identify their strengths and set goals. The Goodwill's
162    partnerships with various established organzations helps this program to fastrack connecting
163    students with career opportunities within Port Industries. 
164 
165    Seattle Parks Foundation: This organization will be the cluster lead and fiscal sponsors for five
166    grass  roots  organizations  in  the  Duwamish  Valley.  This  funding  structure  helps  smaller
167    community-based organizations lead by people of color navigate the governmental overbearing
168    process and legislation. These programs will create internships within maritime, aerospace, and
169    environmental industries. The workgroup understood that smaller organizations have many
170    obstacles to overcome to develop quick rapid response proposals for government review. 
171 
172    The competition waivers are justified on the basis that it will help the Port expeditiously meet
173    the extremely high need for summer employment for youth, in particular, the emergency nature

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174    of the skyrocketing youth of color unemployment and secure the limited number of programs
175    that can meet the specific Port requirements. The Port conducted outreach to groups that could
176    handle a ramp-up of activities during the pandemic and identified those groups that could meet
177    our legal, financial, programmatic and emergent issues.
178 
179    Identifying projects and programs that can advance the Port's mission, including the creation of
180    short-term employment emphasizing this age group, will provide material benefit to the Port as
181    it looks to maintain, preserve and enhance the assets and programs of statewide significance that
182    are necessary to Washington State's economic recovery in 2020. 
















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