Puget Sound is the environmental heart of our region, providing habitat for numerous plants and animals, and supporting a variety of economic activities. But beneath surface, the health of Puget Sound is in jeopardy because of development, toxic chemicals, and leaking septic systems. The Metropolitan King County Council’s next Town Hall Meeting will focus on the multi-jurisdictional effort to make Puget Sound as clean, protected, and productive in reality as it appears on the surface.

The Town Hall, which is a meeting of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, will be on Tuesday, May 29 and will be held at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park PACCAR Pavilion, 2901 Western Avenue. The public is invited to meet face-to-face with King County Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 9:30 a.m. The Town Hall will begin at 10:00 a.m.

“Cleaning up the Sound is going to take an effort that crosses jurisdictions and boundaries, and we must act before it’s too late,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, chair of the Committee of the Whole. “Many Northwest marine creatures who call Puget Sound home are at a fraction of their historic levels – some are approaching the brink of extinction. The Town Hall will be an opportunity for the public and Councilmembers to learn about the Sound’s serious health problems and discuss an ambitious new plan to greatly improve conditions by 2020.”

“Puget Sound is a dazzlingly beautiful waterway that’s vital to our region’s ecosystem and economy,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, whose district is hosting the Town Hall. “It’s a source of recreation and pride for millions of Washingtonians. But development and pollution have destroyed 80 percent of the Sound’s estuary habitat and altered more than one-third of the shoreline. If we want this precious resource to be available for our grandchildren, we must get to work on protecting, cleaning and restoring the Sound.”

The Town Hall Meeting will feature briefings on:

• The current environmental state of Puget Sound.

• The multijurisdictional work that has been done to identify the major problems the Sound faces and what actions should be taken.

• The newly created state agency that will lead the effort to clean up Puget Sound by 2020.

Audience members will have an opportunity to question presenters and panelists.
At the conclusion of business, the Council will also take public testimony on any issue.

Town Hall Meetings are part of Councilmembers’ initiative to “get out of the courthouse” and into the communities they serve, in order to enhance local representation on regional issues. 2007 Town Halls have been held in West Seattle, Renton and Redmond. Each Town Hall is a special meeting of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, the only standing committee on which all nine members serve. It considers legislation and policy issues of interest to the entire Council.