Edmonds committee forwards police social-worker grant to consent after questions on hours, match and supervision

Edmonds City Council Committee B on Oct. 21, 2025, forwarded agenda item 2.1 — a social-worker grant for the police department — to the consent agenda after committee members requested clarifying information on staffing hours, local match and supervisory arrangements.

Commander McClure, presenting for the police department, said the grant "does not cover full time wages. It only covers about 30 hours a week, unless the levy passes," and that a full-time social worker position would be 40 hours per week. He said the packet included a 29-page grant submission and that further specifics could be provided on request.

The committee pressed staff for financial and contract details. Councilmember Olson asked whether the required local match had already been identified in the city budget; McClure said he did not have that information at the meeting and would provide it. Olson also pointed out an apparent inconsistency between an early statement that the grant covers 30 hours and other contract pages that list an 85 percent time allocation; McClure said he was relying on a summary and would obtain the precise contract language.

The committee discussed a $97 charge listed in the packet, which Olson read as potentially a per-trip fee tied to supervisory travel; members asked staff to confirm whether that fee is per trip and how the hours are accounted for so the per-hour cap in the contract is not exceeded. Committee members also asked about direct supervision: McClure and other speakers said the local social worker (identified in discussion as Erin Nathan) has supervisory contact with a supervisor based in Everett; the supervisory trips are reflected in the contract and the charges are intended to cover that travel.

Committee members raised administrative and legal clarifications. Jenna Ann asked why legal notices in the contract were directed to Chief Dawkins rather than to a title; McClure said staff would update the notice language to use a title rather than a specific individual following recent staffing changes. Councilmember Olson also asked whether the department participates in human-subject research and how informed consent would be handled; McClure said the department does not take people into custody for research and that the only external reporting he was aware of is de-identified use-of-force reporting to the state program referenced in the meeting (state reporting is anonymized and available on a public dashboard).

On the non-supplanting certification, staff explained the social-worker position was brought on through the grant after prior budget cuts and that the grant was not intended to supplant existing local funding. Olson also asked how staff identify American Indian or Alaska Native status in the field; McClure said officers record self-identified race/ethnicity on incident forms and in the records system.

Committee members asked that an agenda memo accompanying the item to the consent calendar address the outstanding questions (local match, precise contract hours/percentages, trip/fee calculations and supervision arrangements). The committee indicated consensus to forward the item to consent pending those clarifications.

The item was forwarded to the consent agenda by committee consensus; no roll-call vote was recorded and staff committed to provide the requested clarifications in the agenda memo.