King County charter reviewers needed

[eridani]

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

The second meeting of the King County Charter Review Commission will convene on March 27, 2007, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Seattle Municipal Tower (700 Fifth Avenue, Seattle), on the 40th floor. All meetings are open to the public.

Last month, King County Executive Ron Sims appointed 21 citizens to review the county charter. The charter serves as the constitution for King County government, and provides a long-term structure for an accountable, effective, efficient, and responsive government.

The King County Charter Review Commission will study the charter, gather feedback from the public, and make recommendations on any changes or improvements. Recommendations approved by the County Council will be placed on the ballot for voter approval in November 2008. The commission will dissolve after the general election. This is the fifth time the commission has convened since the charter was adopted in 1969.

In the coming months, the commission will begin to solicit comments on the charter from citizens and organizations.

Please visit the commission's Web site at www.metrokc.gov/exec/charter for the meeting agenda, future announcements, materials from our first meeting, and background information on the charter review process. For more information, you can also call the Charter Review Coordinator, Mark Yango, at [phone], or e-mail charter.review {at} metrokc.gov.

[Suich]

1. Have they written it in English yet,

so that the average person can understand it?



:)

[eridani]

2. This is the sort of thing that requires wonks.

Others will find more productive uses of their time.

[eridani]

3. Citizen review needed for potential county charter changes; meeting times and dates

King County residents have a chance to review and comment on proposed changes to the King County Charter at four meetings in April. A year-long review of the charter by a citizen committee has produced over a dozen proposed changes to the charter that was approved by voters nearly 40 years ago.


The charter, which serves as the county's constitution, has withstood the test of time with few changes. However, the county is required to convene a committee of citizens every 10 years to review the charter and consider whether revisions should be made to county government structures and operations to address current conditions. Public comment on the proposed changes is a critical part of the 10-year review process.

The 2007-2008 King County Charter Review Commission initially convened in February of 2007 under the leadership of co-chairs former Washington Governor Mike Lowry and former King County Councilmember Lois North. Public comment was an integral part of the 21-member Commission's exhaustive review of information while developing the proposed amendments. Before making final recommendations, the Commission's proposed amendments are now up for public review and comment.

Voters have final say

Residents may attend one of four public meetings in April to learn more and to provide comment. Comments will also be accepted by mail, web form, e-mail, or by phone.


Schedule of Meetings:

Tuesday, April 8, 6:30pm
The Hall at Fauntleroy, Emerald Room
9131 California Ave SW
Seattle WA 98136

Thursday April 10, 6:30pm
Shoreline Center, Rainier Room
18560 1st Ave NE
Shoreline WA 98155

Monday, April 14, 6:30pm
Preston Community Center
8625 310th Ave SE
Issaquah WA 98027

Tuesday, April 15, 6:30pm
RiverRock Grill and Ale House
4050 Maple Valley Highway
Renton, WA 98058

Proposed Amendments to the County Charter

Anti-Discrimination: Prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in county employment and contracting.

Budget Allotments: Remove the outdated requirement that county agencies submit quarterly estimates of spending to the Executive.

Budget Timeline: Provide the County Council with an additional 20 days to review the Executive's proposed budget, for a total of 95 days.

Citizen Initiative: Clarify the process by which citizens may amend the charter through initiative.

Commission Appointment Process: Clarify the Charter Review Commission appointment and confirmation process.

Commission Proposals: Require the County Council to review and take action on all Charter Review Commission recommendations.

Elections Deadlines: Authorize the county to establish ordinance deadlines for submitting local ballot measures to the Elections Division.

Open space: Establish an additional layer of protection for over 100,000 acres of county-owned, high conservation value open space property.

Qualifications: Permit the council to establish additional qualifications for the Assessor and Elections Director positions.

Regional Committees: Reduce the number of councilmembers on Regional Committees, and modify the authority of Regional Committees and their non-council Committee members.

Sheriff's Office: Require the Executive to provide for effective participation of separately elected county officials, including the Sheriff, in collective bargaining.

Transitory Provisions: Remove Charter language pertaining to the county's transition to a home rule charter government and consolidation with Metro.

Unincorporated Areas: Specify a high-level position within the Office of the Executive to represent the interests of rural and urban unincorporated area residents. Amend the charter preamble to reflect the county's commitment to unincorporated areas.

More information on the amendments can be found in the Commission's draft Report and Recommendations, available for download at http://www.kingcoun ty.gov/exec/ charter/. Residents can submit comments by attending a public meeting, sending email to charter.review {at} kingcounty.gov, using the web form at http://www.kingcoun ty.gov/exec/charter/feedback.aspx, or calling Charter Review Coordinator Mark Yango at [phone].

At the end of April, the Commission will discuss the public's comments and incorporate any appropriate changes into the proposed amendments. The Commission will then send its recommended charter amendments to the County Council in May 2008 to decide which amendments go onto the ballot for voters, as early as November 2008. After the election, the Commission will dissolve, and not convene again for up to 10 years.

The charter is currently approaching its 40th anniversary. Voters initially approved King County's charter in November 1968, and it took effect on May 1, 1969, making local voters the first in the State of Washington to adopt a home rule charter as allowed under the state constitution. The full county charter is available online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/charter/charterr.htm.


This release is also posted on the King County Executive's Web site, at www.kingcounty.gov/exec

[eridani]

4. Federal Way townhall meeting 6/16

Please join the King County Council for a special Town Hall Meeting on proposed amendments to King County’s Charter:


Charter Review

Monday, June 16
6:00 p.m. - Public Reception
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. - Program

Federal Way Community Center
876 S. 333rd Street, Federal Way

The King County Charter is the “constitution” for our county government. Every 10 years, a citizen commission reviews the Charter and suggests amendments to the County Council. The Council then reviews the proposals and decides whether to place them on the ballot for voter approval.

Please join the Council on Monday, June 16 for a presentation on the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations. Commission members will outline proposed amendments relating to protecting open space, amending the charter by citizen initiative, improving representation for unincorporated areas, and a variety of other issues.



View scenes from the last
Town Hall Meeting


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The latest Town Hall information is always available at
www.kingcounty. gov/townhall

Panelists will take questions from the audience and the Council will take open public testimony on any issue at the end of the program.

A summary (PDF, 88K) of the proposed amendments and the Commission’s entire final report (PDF, 6MB) are available online on the Town Hall website.

More about Town Halls

The County Council is a regional government committed to engaging King County residents in their local communities. Throughout the year, the Council holds local Town Hall Meetings on issues of public importance. Community members have the opportunity to meet Councilmembers, be briefed by local and regional experts, and provide public testimony.

Each Town Hall is a special meeting of the Council's Committee of the Whole (COW), the only standing committee on which all nine members serve. COW considers legislation and policy issues of interest to the entire council.

Since 2007, more than 2,700 people have met with Councilmembers at Town Halls held in Shoreline, Burien, Kent, West Seattle, Renton, Redmond, on the Seattle Waterfront, Maple Valley, Sammamish and Seattle's Central Area.

Questions? Please email CouncilTownHall {at} kingcounty. gov or call 206-296-0335

[eridani]

5. Final results

The 2007-2008 review of the King County Charter has concluded. Thank you for your interest and participation in the process! The King County Charter Review Commission convened in February 2007 and met for over a year, holding a total of 55 meetings to study charter issues and confer with the public.

In June 2008, the King County Charter Review Commission released its Final Report and Recommendations, recommending 12 amendments to the county charter. The report can be downloaded at http://www.kingcoun ty.gov/ council/issues/ charter.aspx. To avoid overloading the ballot with too many amendments in one year, the Commission proposed a schedule for phasing in the amendments over three general elections (2008, 2009, and 2010).

The County Council has placed five amendments on the November 2008 ballot (you can read more about these amendments at the end of this message):

- Anti-Discrimination
- Charter Amendment by Citizen Initiative
- Regional Committees
- Qualifications for Elected Officials
- Budget Timeline

The County Council may take action on the following amendments in November 2009 and 2010:

- Open Space Protection (originally recommended for 2008, now for 2009)
- Unincorporated Areas Representation (recommended for 2009)
- Elections Deadlines (recommended for 2009)
- Budget Allotments (recommended for 2010)
- Commission Procedures (recommended for 2010)
- Transitory Provisions (recommended for 2010)

Going forward, the Council will periodically update its charter review website at http://www.kingcoun ty.gov/ council/issues/ charter.aspx. If you have questions or comments about the amendments or the charter review process, you can contact Executive Office staff by emailing charter.review@ kingcounty. gov, or contact County Council staff via their charter review website at http://www.kingcoun ty.gov/ council/issues/ charter/ Testimony.aspx.

Sincerely,
Mike Lowry and Lois North
Co-chairs, Charter Review Commission


Amendments on the 2008 Ballot:

Anti-Discrimination : Updates the Charter's anti-discrimination provision to prohibit discrimination based on disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression in county employment and contracting.

Charter Amendment by Citizen Initiative: Streamlines the process by which citizens may amend the Charter, by eliminating the requirement to hold two separate public votes on charter amendment initiatives. This amendment also increases the charter initiative signature threshold to 20 percent of the votes cast in the previous election for County Executive. The Council added a provision to this amendment extending the time period for gathering charter initiative signatures to 120 days.

Regional Committees: Reduces the number of County Councilmembers on the Council's three regional committees, establishes a vice-chair position to be filled by a non-Council member, authorizes the committees to initiate legislation, and authorizes the Regional Policy Committee to adopt its own work program without the need for Council approval.

Qualifications for Elected Officials: Permits the Council to establish additional qualifications for separately-elected officials who head charter-based executive branch departments, as is currently permitted for the office of Sheriff. These would include the office of Assessor, as well as and the position of Elections Director if Initiative 26 is passed by the citizens in November 2008.

Budget Timeline: Provides the Council with an additional 20 days to review the Executive's proposed County budget, for a total of 65 days for review, in recognition of the increased scope and responsibilities of County government.

In addition to the amendments above, three additional charter amendments will appear on the November 2008 ballot:

Economic Forecasts: The Council and Executive worked together to create an amendment that establishes an economic forecasting council for King County and an Office of Economic and Financial Analysis.

Initiative 25: A citizen initiative that proposes to make the county director of elections an elected office. It is currently an appointed position.
Initiative 26: A citizen initiative that proposes to make elective county offices nonpartisan beginning in 2009. This would include the County Executive, Assessor and Council; the Sheriff is already nonpartisan.

Amendments Proposed for 2009:

Open Space Protection: Establishes additional protection for over 100,000 acres of high conservation value open space properties in which the county owns an interest. This amendment was recommended for 2008, and the Commission is now advocating that it be considered for 2009.

Unincorporated Areas Representation: Designates a high-level position and a structure within the Office of the Executive to represent and serve the interests of rural and urban unincorporated area residents, and amends the Charter Preamble to reflect the county's commitment to unincorporated areas.

Elections Deadlines: Authorizes the county to establish deadlines by ordinance for submitting local ballot measures to the Elections Division, in response to an Elections Division request for additional time to process such measures.

Amendments Proposed for 2010:

Budget Allotments: Removes the outdated requirement that county agencies submit estimates of spending to the Executive.

Commission Procedures: Clarifies the Commission appointment and confirmation process, and requires the County Council to review all charter review commission recommendations and decide at an open public meeting how to proceed on each recommendation.

Transitory Provisions: Removes obsolete charter language pertaining to the County's transition to a home rule charter government and consolidation with Metro.