Big steps taken to advance fairness and opportunity in
King County
We continue to make progress in advancing equity and
social justice in King County. Since the launch in 2008, the King
County Equity and Social Justice Initiative has celebrated many accomplishments.
Among them, all executive departments in the county have taken
concrete steps, based on annual commitments, to address equity and
social justice. For example:
- Managers
and supervisors in Executive Departments have received training
on equity and social justice, and all current Executive's Office
staff has received equity and social justice training.
- Executive
Constantine and his senior leadership team have embraced the
principles of equity and social justice.
- As
an outcome of King County's Equity and Social Justice
Initiative, the Countywide Strategic Plan incorporated equity
and social justice considerations throughout the adopted 2010 -
2014 plan.
As a next step in advancing the work, last week the
Executive transmitted an equity and social justice ordinance to
the King County Council to integrate equity and social justice
principles and practices into all agencies and branches of King
County government.
"This ordinance ensures that equity and social justice are part
of the very fabric of our daily work at King County," said
Executive Constantine. "It is the next step in advancing the
efforts of county employees to remove barriers to equity."
"Our economy depends on everyone being able to contribute, and
we should remove barriers that limit the ability of some to fulfill
their potential," added Constantine. "When all can
participate, we have true competition that leads to excellence."
Some of the highlights of the ordinance include ensuring that equity
and social justice foundational strategies and practices are
integrated into:
- county's
strategic, operational and business plans
- management
and reporting systems for accountability and performance
- budgets,
to assure address inequities and create opportunities for all
people and communities
The ordinance also establishes a structure and support
system for this work.
View the proposed ordinance which is being discussed again in the September
28 special meeting of the Law, Justice, Health and Human Services
Committee of the King County Council.
