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Kirkland council reviews draft 2025–26 city work program, delays final adoption until retreat
Summary
City staff presented eight proposed initiatives for the 2025–26 biennial work program. Councilmembers raised questions about scope, funding and timing and directed staff to return with a refined draft and more detail at a February meeting and the late-February retreat.
City Manager presented a draft 2025–26 city work program to the Kirkland City Council on Jan. 21, outlining eight cross-departmental initiatives intended to advance council goals such as a thriving economy, attainable housing and community safety.
The draft assembled by the City Manager’s office proposed actions that ranged from catalyzing redevelopment of the 80th Street station area to continuing implementation of the city’s homelessness action plan. The package also includes completing projects promised by the voter-approved Proposition 1 (fire station renovations and a training facility), advancing a suite of multimodal transportation projects, and preparing an equitable, sustainable 2027–28 budget that identifies options for long-term funding of streets, human services and parks operations.
Council members asked for clarifications on several items and suggested additions. Councilmember Falcone urged the council to weave equity and sustainability more explicitly through the program. Councilmember Sweet and others pushed for stronger emphasis on economic development in and beyond the station area and for transit access that reliably serves riders. Councilmember Paschal asked staff to reserve capacity to engage with the county if Kirkland is selected for the Northeast regional transfer station. Councilmembers also urged continued attention to the city’s DEIB roadmap and the city’s homelessness response, and flagged Houghton Village planning and a “health-through-housing” supportive housing effort at the former La Quinta site as items to preserve staffing capacity for.
The council spent notable time discussing a proposed review of the Kirkland Municipal Court and criminal justice practices. Several councilmembers said they favored a broader review of the local criminal justice system rather than a narrowly court-centric review; others cautioned against expanding scope so far that it would require operational work the city does not control. Councilmembers repeatedly said they wanted to ensure victim and survivor services were included in the review’s scope.
On budgeting, the City Manager reminded the council that elements funded with one-time revenues in the current budget — including street maintenance, human services backfill and parks operations — will need plans for sustainable funding once those dollars expire at the end of 2026. The City Manager said the work program should include near-term planning for any of those three items that the council wants sustained.
Several councilmembers supported taking more time to define the work program. Multiple members suggested the council refine priorities at the Feb. 28 retreat and either adopt the final work program in March or return an updated draft to the Feb. 4 meeting for more discussion. The City Manager said staff would bring a refined draft to the Feb. 4 council meeting for discussion (no formal action requested that night) and would expect to return to the retreat with a proposal to adopt or further scope items.
No formal votes or policy adoptions occurred during the study session; the council’s direction was procedural: staff should return with a refined draft and additional detail and the council will consider formal adoption after retreat discussion.
