| Dear Neighbor,
It has been a busy start to the month of May at the King County Council. From parks to improved animal control and care policies to ensuring all children in King County have access to health care, we are taking on issues important to the quality of life in our region. I hope you have had a chance to get out to a park or on a trail during this beautiful stretch of Spring weather. It is days like these that remind us all how lucky we are to be residents of King County!
Thank you for reading my May enewsletter and as always, please
don't hesitate to contact me with your questions and feedback.
Julia
Patterson |
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| Working to Improve Animal Welfare Last Monday, that King County Council's Committee of the Whole held a hearing on my legislation to improve animal welfare in King County.
This legislation will make the following important and needed changes:
In addition, my companion legislation will ask the King County Executive and the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, to develop:
I look forward to their recommendations so we can make positive changes that will result in neglected animals finding healthy, loving homes. Find a great new companion at King County Animal Shelters by clicking here. Helping Ensure that all Children Have Access to Health Care Last Monday, the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously adopted the Children’s Health Initiative, an effort to increase the number of children with health insurance and health care in underserved communities throughout King County. As Chair of the Board of Health I co-sponsored this legislation because I believe that all children in this county should have access to health care. Our children may be the first generation ever to have shorter life expectancies than their parents, due to obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and heart disease. Linking children to health care and providing them with access to preventative doctor and dentist visits is an important step we can take to reverse this troubling trend in our community’s worsening health. The Children’s Health Initiative will involve four teams each comprised of community health workers, health educators, application workers, and care coordinators at clinics. Those teams will work in four targeted areas with the most uninsured or low-income populations: East King County; Seattle, White Center and North King County; South King County from Des Moines to Renton; and South King County from Federal Way to Kent and Auburn. The teams will work with health care providers, community programs and human service agencies to improve health outcomes through both education and improved access to health services. The Initiative will involve both public and private agencies in the outreach and would leverage county funds to bring in additional resources. Maintaining and Improving Our World Class Parks System This August you will have the opportunity to vote on two countywide parks levies.
The first measure replaces the four-year parks levy voters approved in 2003 and would restore funding of parks maintenance to pre-2003 levels. The measure would fund the operation and maintenance of regional facilities and parks and pools in unincorporated areas. The second measure would fund acquisitions for King County regional trails and open spaces; city trails and open spaces; and Woodland Park Zoo green space, education and conservation programs in the county. I put forth an amendment that would prioritize parks and open space projects in areas that experience high rates of disparities, or inequities, in health. If the levy is approved by voters, my amendment will provide for the acquisition of more parks and open space in areas where residents suffer from disproportionately poorer health. This amendment received unanimous support from my colleagues. Proceeds from the two levies would be reviewed by a citizen oversight committee that would provide the Council with annual reports on how the levy funds are used. King County park land has increased from 150 acres in 1938 to more than 25,000 acres today. The system currently maintains more than 180 parks and 175 miles of trails. Learn more about King County Parks and the upcoming levies by clicking here. Sound Transit Making Progress! On Tuesday, May 8th, Sound Transit’s 300 foot long tunnel boring machine broke through the East Side of Beacon Hill. This completes the first of two 4,300 feet tunnels under Beacon Hill as part of the first phase of Link Light Rail.
The machine excavated more than 50,000 cubic yards of soil as it made its way through Beacon Hill and installed more than 800 pre-cast concrete segments forming the lining of the tunnel. In June the machine will be transported back to the west side of Beacon Hill to begin drilling the second tunnel. With the completion of this tunnel Sound Transit is on track to deliver light rail to the airport by late 2009. In April , the Sound Transit Board, on which I sit, finalized the proposal for the “transit” portion of the upcoming Roads and Transit ballot measure. If approved, this proposal would add over 50 miles of light rail to the current system under construction. Plan on hearing a lot more about this exciting plan as we move toward the vote in November. Learn more about Sound Transit by clicking here and the Roads and Transit plan here. I want to invite you to join the King County Council at the Olympic Sculpture Park, PACCAR Pavilion for a special Town Hall Meeting on cleaning up Puget Sound.
Puget Sound provides habitat for numerous plants and animals, supports a wide variety of economic activities, and is a source of recreation and pride for millions of Washingtonians. Unfortunately, development, toxic chemicals, and leaking septic systems have collectively destroyed 80 percent of the Sound's estuary habitat and altered more than one-third of the shoreline. On May 8th Governor Christine Gregoire signed a bill creating a task force to clean up Puget Sound. This bill is the result of a panel the Governor appointed in 2005 to study how best to clean up and restore Puget Sound. You can learn more about the panel and its recommendations by clicking here. Please join us at our upcoming Town Hall as we discuss how this region can make Puget Sound clean, protected, and productive. Cleaning Up Puget Sound Tuesday,
May 29 Olympic
Sculpture Park
If you vote at the polls, you recently should have received a letter from King County Elections requesting you to update your voter registration signature by signing and returning the enclosed form. King County Elections is taking steps to prepare for the transition to all mail voting next year. Voting by mail is similar to voting at the polls, except when voting a mail ballot you will be required to sign your return envelope. The signature on the ballot envelope will be compared to your signature on file. By law, the signature on your ballot envelope must match the signature on file for your ballot to be counted. Because handwriting styles can change over time, King County Elections is providing an early opportunity for you to update your signature. While updating your signature is not required, doing so now may save you a trip to the Elections office if there is an issue with the verification of your signature. For more information on King County's transition to all mail voting, please click here. If you have any questions about updating your signature, please call King County Elections weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 206-296-VOTE (8683). |
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| About my ENewsletter Click here to remove yourself from my enewsletter list. Click here to subscribe yourself to my enewsletter. If you have any questions or comments, please email me, julia.patterson@metrokc.gov. To review my recent e-newsletters, click here. |
