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Dear Neighbors:
I am eager to hear your views on how the County should spend your tax dollars in 2008.
The Council is engaging in an exciting new public involvement process to capture your priorities to help shape the County budget. This process includes citizen workshops and public forums around the County.
The first forum will take place in North Seattle and will use electronic “interactive polling”. You will be given a hand-held device which allows you to enter your opinions on a variety of issues and spending priorities. Your input is recorded and reported to the group and the Council in real-time. Final results on spending priorities will be provided to the County Executive and Council before major budget decisions are made.
As chair of the Council’s Budget Committee, I hope you will join me and my County Council colleagues at this important event.
Town Forum on Your King County Budget Priorities
Wednesday, March 28th
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (Public reception at 6:30)
Olympic View Elementary School
504 N.E. 95th Street in North Seattle
I look forward to seeing you!
Council donates Metro vans to local charitable organizations
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As part of an annual King County Council tradition, I recently donated three used Metro vans to nonprofits in District 1. As always, it is difficult to choose just a few recipients from among the many organizations doing important work in our community. This year District 1 donated vans to three groups:
- Oxford Houses of Washington, a network of self-supported group homes for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.
- Compass Center, a long-established service provider for homeless and low-income adults in Seattle and King County.
- TeenHOPE, a Shoreline-based organization that provides shelter, services, and advocacy for teens and families in need.
I anticipate being able to donate 2-3 Metro vans later
this year. If you know of a non-profit organization that could use a van
please do not hesitate to call my office.
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2007 District 1 Arts Day
I enjoy any chance I have to interact with the arts and cultural heritage community. During my first term in office I held a brown bag lunch for arts and cultural heritage organizations in my district and had a great time meeting the passionate group of people who attended. This year, I wanted to recreate the experience in my new district which includes North Seattle, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell and parts of Woodinville and unincorporated areas.
Over 40 representatives of arts, heritage, and historic preservation organizations joined Jim Kelly and me for the 2007 Brown Bag Lunch at the Shoreline Historical Museum. Jim is the Director of 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency.
The lunch was an opportunity for the organizations to learn about each other, share project information, and to discuss the challenges they face—such as finding and keeping affordable space and fundraising.
True to form, the event was a great experience for all involved. By the end, we were on our feet, clapping our hands, and snapping our fingers to the rhythms of Edward Mulhern from the Seattle World Percussion Society.
Here is a link to an article written about the event for the Shoreline Enterprise, Arts awareness continues.
For more information about these organizations, check
out the community links page at www.metrokc.gov/Ferguson.
I have written previously about my proposal to address the challenge of assisting large numbers of mentally ill and chemically dependent people in our criminal justice and other crisis systems, and wanted to update you on my progress.
As chair of the Operating Budget, Fiscal Management & Mental Health Committee, I recently chaired a particularly moving meeting. Two brave and eloquent members of our community shared their personal experiences with mental illness and the criminal justice system. Click here to watch the meeting on KCTV. You can fast-forward to minute 42 of the meeting for the beginning to the personal testimony given by Tracy Meilleur and Clifton Turner.
The following is a link to my recent op-ed for the Seattle Times on this subject. The jail as mental institution.
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Contest Underway for Naming of New County Office Building
The contest to name the new County office building in downtown Seattle is officially underway and the deadline is fast approaching! Residents of King County who are in seventh through ninth grade are invited to submit their idea for a name, which can include significant County residents past or present, as well as, but not limited to, names of groups, social movements, artifacts, symbols, or activities significant to King County residents.
The deadline
is April 1st and a name will be selected by June, when the building is
set to open.
Learn more about the contest or submit an entry.
At the request of the City of Seattle, the March 13th advisory vote on the replacement options for the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be conducted entirely by mail. Here are some things you should know:
• Polls will not be open on Election Day (March 13th) and you must vote by mail.
• You must postmark your ballot by Tuesday, March 13th.
• If you have questions about how to complete your
ballot, or if you prefer to personally turn in your ballot, visit one
of the Seattle
ballot drop-off locations (PDF, 177KB).
Staff at the King County Elections Office in the King County Administration
Building can also answer questions and receive your ballot. The Elections
Office is located in downtown Seattle at 500 4th Avenue, Room 533.
If you have further questions, please call the King County Elections Office at (206) 296-VOTE (8683). Please forward this information to Seattle voters that you know.
To read more about my views regarding this all-mail election please click on the following link to my op-ed in the North Seattle Herald:
Viaduct vote: Ensuring poll voters don't get lost on the way to the mailbox
High Woodlands Community Association (Monday, March 5th, 7:30 p.m. Robert Frost Elementary School 11801 NE 140th Street, Kirkland)
- Representatives of the King County Department of Transportation and the Executive’s Annexation Initiative will also be on hand to answer questions from residents of unincorporated areas.
Budget Town Hall (Wednesday, March 28th 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St, in North Seattle)
Public Health Town Hall (Thursday, May 3rd 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Meridian Park Elementary School, 17077 Meridian Ave. N, in Shoreline)
Mental Health Town Hall (Monday, June 18th 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Shoreline Center, 18560 1st Ave. N.E., in Shoreline)
If your neighborhood or community group is interested in using this section to advertise meetings and events please let us know.
About
my E-Newsletter
I hope you enjoy my updates!
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Phone:
(206) 296-1001 | Fax: (206) 296-0198 | TTY/TDD: (206) 296-1024 | Toll
Free: (800) 325-6165
Mailing Address: King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200,
Seattle, WA 98104-3272