Metropolitan King County Council 516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-296-1000 Toll Free: 800-325-6165 TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024 Fax: 206-296-0198 council@kingcounty.gov
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Nov. 7, 2008 Voter approval of charter amendments is a testament to two years of work by Charter Review Commission County Council praises citizens for developing proposals that appeared on November ballotOn November 4, King County voters allowed more time for review of the King County budget, reduced the number of elected officials on certain regional committees, permitted the establishment of additional qualifications for some county elected officials, and strengthened bans on unlawful discrimination.
These proposals were among amendments to the King County Charter recommended by the 21 citizens who served on the 2007-2008 King County Charter Review Commission, and today members of the King County Council thanked those citizens for their work over the last two years to develop proposals for the ballot.
“The charter review process reached an important milestone this week with voters approving four of the Commission’s proposed amendments,” said Council Chair Julia Patterson. “Voters worked their way down the ballot and recognized that these amendments will make King County more equitable, make the Council more efficient and better able to adopt the annual budget, and make our separately elected officials more accountable and qualified.”
Every ten years a commission is appointed to review the King County Charter, the “constitution” for the county, and recommend charter amendments for the King County Council to put before voters. After holding 55 meetings throughout King County in 2007 and 2008, the Commission proposed 12 charter amendments to the Council.
To avoid overloading the ballot in any one year, the Commission recommended phasing in the 12 proposals over three years. The County Council will consider the seven remaining proposed charter amendments for the general election ballots in 2009 and 2010.
“The successful passage of four amendments recommended by the Charter Review Commission shows that commission members are in tune with the voters of King County,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “Their careful work has resulted in thoughtful improvements to the county charter that will positively impact county government from this day forward.”
“I appreciate the thoughtful, diligent service provided by the commission which led to the voter approval of four important charter changes recommended by the commission,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson, who represents District One.
Of the five proposals from the Charter Review Commission that the Council placed on this year’s ballot, four were adopted by voters:
• Anti-Discrimination: Elevating to Charter status the existing prohibition in the King County Code against discrimination based on disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression in county employment and contracting – joining such other prohibited grounds as sex, race, religion and age.
• Regional Committees: Reducing the number of County Councilmembers on the Council’s three regional committees, establishing a vice-chair position to be filled by a non-Council member, authorizing the committees to initiate legislation, and authorizing the Regional Policy Committee to adopt its own work program without the need for Council approval.
• Qualifications: Permitting the Council to establish additional qualifications for separately-elected officials who head charter-based executive branch departments, as is currently permitted for the office of Sheriff.
• Budget Timeline: Providing the Council with an additional 20 days to review the Executive's proposed County budget, for a total of 65 days for review, in recognition of the increased scope and responsibilities of County government from the time the review period was originally established 37 years ago.
“With more than 78 percent of the voters agreeing, extension of the timeline for budget consideration will help improve financial planning and efficiency,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who serves as vice-chair of the budget adoption committee. “When we are faced with cutting critical services to meet budget shortfalls, these three extra weeks will allow more time for in-depth review and development of creative solutions to meet the needs of our citizens efficiently and cost-effectively.”
A fifth proposal to streamline the process for amending the county charter by citizen initiative and increase the signature threshold to 20 percent did not receive a voter majority. The successful charter amendment to establish an economic forecasting council for King County was proposed by the County Council, and amendments to elect the position of elections director and to make most countywide offices non-partisan were put forward by citizen initiative.
The members of the 2007-2008 King County Charter Review Commission were:
• Mike Lowry of Renton, Former Governor - Co-chair
• Lois North of Seattle, former King County Councilmember - Co-chair
• Trisha Bennett of Federal Way, Vice President of Government Affairs, Bennett Forest Industries.
• Juan Bocanegra of Seattle, Community Activist, NW Empowerment Institute
• Doreen Cato of Bellevue, Executive Director, First Place
• Jim English of Vashon, Unincorporated Area Council member
• Dan Gandara of Seattle, Attorney, Vandeberg Johnson & Gandara
• Bryan Glynn of Seattle, Legal Counsel for Cascade Land Conservancy
• Darcy Goodman of Seattle, former King County District Court Judge
• John Groen of Redmond, Attorney, Groen Stephens & Klinge LLP
• Kirstin Haugen of Bothell, Account Executive, Mercury, L.L.C
• Tara Jo Heinecke of Des Moines, outgoing chair, 33rd District Democrats
• Gregg Hirakawa of Seattle, Attorney and Deputy Director of the Washington Bar Association
• John Jensen of Newcastle, Past President, Newcastle Chamber of Commerce
• Terry Lavender of Woodinville, Citizen Activist, King County Conservation Futures
• Gary Long of Seattle, Suburban Cities Association
• Sharon Maeda of Seattle, President, Spectra Communications
• Allan W. Munro of Seattle, Attorney
• Sarah Rindlaub of Mercer Island, Washington Policy Center Board Member
• James Williams of Federal Way, Attorney, Perkins Coie
• Mike Wilkins of Seattle, former King County Deputy Assistant County Executive
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