The Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously voted to adopt Initiative 24, enabling creation of informal community networks of citizens to discuss countywide issues.

“Thank you for giving us this opportunity, and we’ll make you proud,” Jim Spady, co-sponsor of the I-24 campaign, told the Council at its special meeting today at Mercer View Community Center on Mercer Island.

“Any program that encourages people to become involved with their government is a positive program,” said Council Chair Larry Gossett. “The Spady’s have been committed to the goal of establishing these networks. I look forward to seeing the results of their efforts and the ideas presented to the Council that are the result of our ‘citizen councils.’”

The Council ordinance establishes “Citizen Councilor Networks,” groups of 4 to 12 people who will meet in informal settings to discuss issues of public importance. The issues discussed would come from a list of topics selected by the King County Auditor and presented to the Councilor Networks, who would then choose what they consider the most important issues to discuss.

After their meetings, members of the Councilor Networks would answer questions and provide comments on the issues discussed. Answers to their questions, along with the opinions and ideas presented during the meetings, would be tabulated by the Auditor’s Office. This information would then be provided to the members of the County Council, giving them an overview of issues that citizens consider a priority.

“The Councilor Networks are a logical extension of the massive community outreach in which the Council is already engaged,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “Enhanced citizen involvement is at the heart of our monthly Town Hall meetings and our citizen engagement workshops on the county budget. This presents an opportunity for the public to help guide and shape their government.”

“The large turnout and enthusiastic participation in the Citizen Budget Priorities initiative shows that the public wants to be involved in the process and not on the ‘outside looking in,’” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson. “Citizens are looking for one more way to participate in government, and this measure promises an interesting new vehicle for citizen participation.”

“I look forward to progress reports on this exciting new approach to voter outreach,” said Councilmember Jane Hague. “It will better inform councilmembers in their deliberation of major policies.”

The funding for the Councilor Networks would come from donations. The program would not begin until $20,000 had been raised and 1,000 people had volunteered to participate in the program. On September 4, Dick Spady, author of the initiative, told the Council’s Committee of the Whole that if members were to adopt Initiative 24 without going to the ballot, he would donate the $50,000 he planned to spend on a voter campaign toward the first year of operations for the Councilor Networks. Spady also pledged to contribute an additional $260,000—the estimated cost to implement the program within the Auditor’s office for the first two years—to prevent taxpayers from having to fund the network.

“This measure is a great opportunity to see if meeting in informal settings will augment public participation with their government,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson. “Since this is a pilot project, we can come back in two years, look at the effectiveness of the networks, and decide which direction we want to go in the future.”

“We are very much looking for ways to engage the citizens. I do believe this will be helpful as long as we are not using taxpayer dollars,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert. “I will look forward to working with our citizen volunteers to come up with topics for review and to ensure unincorporated areas are well represented.”

“We have opened another door today for citizens who want to be more involved in their local government,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn. “In addition to our boards, commissions, and citizen task forces, more voters will now be able to access their government through an open process.”

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system.
Type in “2007-0437”