Powerful discussions are happening each week at forums all over King County. Since it’s impossible to attend them all, we’ll be posting highlights here so that Citizen Councilors can get an idea of what others are talking about. Please add your own thoughts below and keep the conversation going!
Here is a link to the previous forum 7-minute topic video: http://vimeo.com/27886372
Selected anonymous comments from ONLINE respondents to the recent dialogue and survey on new public engagement strategies for unincorporated King County:
- Frankly, I’m conflicted! The rhetoric in the video certainly speaks loudly to the purported advantages of the new community involvement model…but, of course, no mention of any disadvantages.
One of the key disadvantages in my mind is the great opportunity the model provides to county government to dither on needed action(s). Anytime you try to make things happen via consensus it’s too often likely that either it won’t happen quickly or at all.
One of the advantages the UACs had was they were created by ordinance which essentially mandated county agency support when requested. This new model, though it purports to keep the UACs intact, will greatly lessen their former influence with County agencies as they will no longer enjoy the ordinance top cover they previously had; along with the fact that the county will, I judge, phase them out over time. This is not necessarily bad if the county does indeed listen and act upon the concerns of all “rural” residents; however, I’m not convinced at all that this will happen as advertised.
It will be too easy for county government/agencies to play “duck and cover” on any action by, as said above, dithering because of the enormity or the challenge of trying to help the now entire county rural world. As important, there is no lever I can see for rural citizens to utilize when this occurs… apart from raising their voices. And, as we know, this is only effective if and when those hearing those voices have some reason to respond.
Thus, I’ll await final judgement on the efficacy of this new involvement model until it’s proven that it works as advertised and the county’s rural community actually gains from the change.
- Good to get representation of rural areas, but important not to OVER- OR UNDER-weigh that 7% of the population. Seems good to provide more opportunities for rural citizens to communicate with government. At the same time, it’s not the time to spend more money on new commitments (without killing or reducing old commitments). We can’t afford to further cut critical commitments such as Metro transit.
- Seems like more lip service, and possibly yet another layer between unincorporated KC voters and their councilmembers. UACs have practically no visibility here, and I can’t imagine that changing substantially. Organizations like the Tea Party and Campaign for Liberty seem much more effective at legislative advocacy, even at a local level, by applying effective political pressure rather than “community linkage” that’s routinely ignored.
- This sounds great! I live right out side the area for the Maple Valley UAC and have always felt like I am lacking representation in county issues — its seems almost easier to lobby for state issues than for county issues. I have had issue where one side of the road is the city and the other side is unincorporated king county and couldn’t get either side to commit to a solution. The video is a bit long saying the same thing over and over and over you could have said this in 2 minutes 3 tops.
- There needs to be more public engagement within the King County Communities. Also, the public officials need to make more of an effort to engage the youth and build a relationship with the local universities. If you tried the associated student organizations from the local universities, you would be surprised how many students are interested to become involved as a civic participant.
- Well produced video. Unanswered questions raised in my mind include:
- Doesn’t the representative form of County Council already serve citizens within the districts?
- Is it a realpolitik influence issue, creating more political stakeholders to compete with cities over county resources?
- Is it costly, or does improved representation make county services more efficient?
- The point about the ineffectiveness of TWO council members to represent the 144-280K people (depending on the source of information) living in rural areas is great. There needs to be a frontline.
We need something like a midwestern township, real “local” government with some degree of power to govern it’s rural area. An entity that could use KC elections to actually be recognized by and engage people, unlike the current UAC model. The UACs are more or less unknown… even within their own boundaries, because they’re pointless, there is no power to do anything and the council members don’t even show up once a month. Let the KC council govern the whole, let the people govern themselves. Lauren Smith more or less said a meeting once a year to tell you what we’re going to shove down your throat.
- It was a good video.
The Unincorporated areas are the jewels of our county. They need to be preserved and the ‘greed’ of developers to residentialize these areas needs to be held at bay. If Hwy 605 every goes along the route of Hwy 203 I will have to chain myself to the roadway to prevent this type of invasion.
When you look at Monroe, Redmond Ridge, Trilogy, Snoqualmie Ridge — what are people thinking? Who is responsible to protect these rural areas? Please never stop the Snoqualmie from flooding. It is our flood plain that is keeping our area beautiful. The Snoqualmie Valley should never look like the warehoused pathway of the Kent Valley. I know the cities of Carnation and Duvall will grow in the future — but that growth must be managed by people who care deeply about the community.
I appreciate the work of our Council woman to protect our rural area – thanks Kathy Lambert.
- It’s all just talk unless a funding resource is planned for the new/extra/added services being discussed. Folks need to realize that becoming incorporated into a city may mean greater tax assessments to provide services. Folks also need to accept that paying for taxes to provide services should be welcomed rather than fought. So is the UAC a quasi city? And, what will the tax changes be that will provide new services? When you provide an open choice for services there will be an expectation that those services be provided. Individuals will have different expectations, and without complete funding to provide for everyone’s expectations, there will be conflict. Limits will have to be set, and it’s usually about the money.
- We don’t see many King county workers in my area. Local roads need paint and potholes need to be fixed, maybe repaved, ditches grow long grass and become a fire hazard. I hear complaints from a local dairy farmer (100 acres) and his troubles with elk in his area. It seems that everyone listens, but no one will help him, they keep pointing him to another agency. Maybe these area councils will be able to help him. I’ll tell him and hope he can attend a meeting. I didn’t know this level of reaching out to unincorporated county residents existed.
- I am happy to see some changes because we do feel that decisions made in Seattle usually don’t protect or help us. Most of the council is not concerned with rural unincorporated areas so we really have had no voice. I hope this new model will help us!
- I pay $7000 a year on my real estate taxes. I have poor police service, poor roads, no sidewalks, poor fire service ( I was told to plan on my house burning to the ground when we built it, should it catch on fire), libraries are small with little selection (unless you wait), and parks are closing. I like living remotely, I just hate that I pay and pay and pay… and what do I get? Heavy traffic from city dwellers on weekend. The council only cares about the core of King County and gettin re-elected. Our service is poor. I have worked for King County for over 30 years. I plan on taking my retirement that I earned here, and moving out of the county due to poor service.
- Some people in the City also feel disengaged from the County government. It’s all about providing equal access and educating people in multiple languages about how to gain access and exercise their rights. Are there fair and alternative ways to participate if you do not own a car or cannot get to meetings that are far away, etc? Who is participating and is at the table? Who is not and why? Those exclusions and issues need to be addressed.
- The folks who want to “be left alone” are a big part of the problem. The city centers are engaged which is why it can often times feel like “they get there way”. I would like to see the county just become Seattle and ride ourselves of all these tiny duplicitous bureaucratic organizations. Agreed with Kathy Lambert who described the problem as “residents don’t have a first line of contact”. Overall, a great overview of the issue and why “you” should care.
- I am skeptical about whether or not the Council will listen to the feedback from the CSAs. Typically Council members are only concerned with the constiuents in their own districts. Until we change the constellation of the Council, unincorporated citizens are going to be under-represented when important decisions are made by the Council.
- This was encouraging. My opinion of our county government has been that they are growth oriented and want to build, build, build. I want emphasis on the rural lifestyle I have chosen and I want emphasis on wildlife corridors and green area and help for the problems that we farmers encounter. I feel the city folks are unaware of where their food comes from and the importance of unpaved, tree covered or crop covered earth. The pavement gives nothing back to the earth. Rather, it contributes to the problem. Thank you.
- I live in a unincoriporated urban area. I suggested that the county charter be changed into making the current council into the Metropolitan Council then selecting a County Council (7 members) to govern the unincorporated County. The Metropolitan Council can specialize on regional affairs and sewage collection and work with the cities and the County Council can work on issues affecting rural areas. We dislike being ruled by city people who impose their views on the rural areas. I am also in favor of unincorporated councils since I live in a unincorporated area. Lets not assume all the incorporated county is rural.
- This video really opened my eyes up to public perception regarding decision making. The fact that rural areas in King County feel as though Seattle makes the decisions and they have to suffer through the consequences was a slightly rude awakening for me. It is likely very true that that is the case and unfortunate that rural areas feel as though their voice is not being heard.
- I agree that we need more and broader and more diverse engagement. This should include interpretation and translation at community meetings and ensurance that we hear from low income folks,small business owners, non profits, faith based groups and limited English speakers. This requires authentic engagement and outreach and a committment to the process and hearing what folks say and acting on it. City of Seattle has such a model for outreach. White Center CDA and Highline School District have done this as well.
- I think the frustrations that some people expressed were very valid. Ultimately, everyone just wants to know that their voice was heard. So I applaud any efforts for greater communication and trust-building.
- Really interesting commentary from Greg Wingard. As a person who has always lived in an urban area of King County, I have honestly never thought about how the rural areas would be represented in county government. The video opened my eyes to some of the issues those areas must face.