March 8, 2023

King County Council Update from Rod Dembowski

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

I’m writing to share with you news and information as your King County Councilmember for North King County, representing the communities of Northeast Seattle, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell and North Kirkland. To ensure my e-newsletter updates are reaching as many constituents as possible, we’ve recently refreshed our email distribution list. I typically send an e-news about six times per year with occasional special updates in between. I understand that many folks like to limit emails and so if you wish to be taken off our email list, you can easily unsubscribe here.

As you may know, King County is your regional government. We provide public safety, public health, behavioral health and human services, transit, parks and open space, solid waste disposal, wastewater treatment, elections and other services to King County’s 2.25 million residents. King County owns Boeing Field, Harborview Hospital, and runs Medic One.

As a lifelong King County resident, I am dedicated to ensuring that we address our region’s most pressing challenges. These issues include protecting our environment and waterways, responding to the crisis we face in behavioral health, finding solutions for homelessness, enhancing public safety, and ensuring King County is an affordable and vibrant place to call home.

This e-newsletter includes updates on the following:

• King County District 1 Select Investments
• Behavioral Health Roundtable with Senator Murray
• News from Metro Transit Lynnwood Link Connections
• New District Court Judge Appointed
• Responding to our Region’s Homelessness Challenge
• King County Parks Levy Grants Now Open
• King County Resiliency Fund Now Open

Like always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of assistance. Send me your ideas, questions, suggestions, or other concerns. I look forward to hearing from and working for you.

Sincerely,

Rod

Rod Dembowski
King County Council
206.477.1001
https://www.kingcounty.gov/Dembowski

King County District 1 Select Investments:

At the end of 2022 I was busy serving on the Council’s Budget Leadership Team (BLT). The BLT consists of four Councilmembers tasked with reviewing and revising the County Executive’s proposed 2023-2024 biennial budget. I’m proud of the work we did to adopt a budget that reflects our values and priorities: safer communities, housing our unsheltered neighbors, protecting our environment, and making important investments to address the lingering impacts of the COVID pandemic and the response to it. The budget is balanced, protects our financial reserves, and aims to maintain our top-tier bond rating, which saves taxpayer dollars.

While cities are the predominant provider of local services in my district, King County is an important partner. In our budget, I was able to secure significant investments in North King County to invest in public safety, protect our environment, including our urban creeks and streams, acquire open space, improve safety and reliability at Metro Transit, invest in affordable housing, and support community organizations helping those in need. If you’d like to learn more about these investments, click to expand the District 1 map below. The map illustrates some of the investments I secured in the 2023-2024 budget as well as recent County grants.


View District 1 Map & Year in Review (PDF)

Behavioral Health Roundtable with Senator Murray

Ensuring that we have a responsive behavioral health system to support those with substance use and/or mental health challenges is a priority for my work at the County Council. This work takes partnerships from the local, regional, state and federal governments. In January, I had the honor of joining United States Senator Patty Murray in my district in the Northgate neighborhood, for a roundtable discussion regarding the mental health and substance use disorder crises we face as a nation and locally.

Photo: Senator Murray and Rod.

Like all parents, Senator Murray and I are particularly concerned with the drastic increases in youth suicides, attempted suicides, and mental-health related ER visits in recent years. A recent CDC Report found that “almost 60% of female students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year and nearly 25% made a suicide plan.” These statistics are deeply troubling. It’s clear that many of the necessary steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 disproportionately harmed our young people.

While there is still more to do, last year I sponsored and passed legislation to allocate a special $5 million in additional funds from our Behavioral Health Sales Tax Fund to help and support young people dealing with behavioral health challenges. These funds are now getting into the community and our schools to support our youth and help them heal.

You can read more about the roundtable discussion here or watch my remarks here.

News from King County Metro

Bus service in North King County is going to undergo a significant restructure related to Sound Transit Link Light Rail expansion. When Lynwood Link opens in 2024, bus routes in your neighborhood may look different. Metro hopes to improve connectivity to the new light rail stations, and increase east-west transit routes and service.

You can review Metro’s proposed bus routes and let us know what you think; a survey to provide feedback is open now through March 10. Visit the Lynnwood Link Connections webpage to learn more. If you would like to share your feedback with me directly, please don’t hesitate to do so. The Council will consider Metro’s final proposal in early 2024. I have already heard some concerns relating to the draft proposal (particularly in the Lake City area), and am working with Metro to address those in their revised route planning going forward.

Additionally, beginning this week, Metro’s popular on-demand neighborhood transit service, known as Community Ride, will have a new name, Metro Flex. Currently available in Juanita and Finn Hill, Metro Flex offers anyone point-to-point rides anywhere in the service area for the same price as a Metro bus fare. The service is offered Monday through Friday from 7am to 7pm. Whether you need a ride to a transit center, grocery store or lunch with friends, Metro Flex can get you there. The new Metro Flex app will allow riders to book trips in any of the seven communities where service is available. To learn more about where you can go and how to book a trip, click here.

New District Court Judge Appointed

When a vacancy occurs on the King County District Court, the King County Council appoints a successor judge. Our process is robust: we review detailed applications, consider ratings from bar organizations, listen to recommendations from community members and professionals in the legal community, and interview the applicants. We recently appointed Raul Martinez, a Kenmore resident, to the District Court serving North King County. Raul has a strong legal background, serving in private practice and most recently in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Please join me in welcoming Judge Martinez to the King County District Court.

Photo: Judge Martinez and Rod.

Responding to our Region’s Homelessness Challenge

A couple of years ago, King County, the City of Seattle, and our 38 suburban cities worked to establish a new structure to respond to our regional homelessness challenge. We set up the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (the “KCRHA”) and charged it with developing a region-wide plan and working with local jurisdictions and service providers to get our neighbors housed. The KCRHA recently released a draft plan, which you can review here. While I do not serve on the governing board for the KCRHA, King County provides a significant portion of its funding. I am monitoring its work closely, and believe that the Authority must develop, approve and implement a realistic, achievable and affordable plan to rapidly shelter those living outside.

In North King County, we are fortunate to have a strong partnership of cities who have joined forces to invest resources, collaborate and coordinate on developing our sub-regional plan. North King County cities are the first in King County to come together and enter into an agreement with the KCRHA to advance this work. A foundational resource for bringing people inside in North King County is The Oaks emergency housing facility in Shoreline. A repurposed former convalescent home operated by Lake City Partners Ending Homelessness (“LCPEH”), it now provides housing and services for sixty individuals nightly.

My staff and I recently met with LCPEH’s Executive Director, William Towey, to see how the facility is operating and to hear what additional support is needed for The Oaks to continue its efforts.

Photo: William Towey, Kristina Logsdon, Christina Fogg, and Rod.

News from King County Parks



There's still time to apply!



Submit an application by March 15 at 5:00 p.m. for the following 2023 Parks Levy Grant programs:

• Aquatic Facilities
• Parks Capital and Open Space
• Open Space – River Corridors
• Healthy Communities and Parks Fund (Tier 2)

For More Information

• Visit the Parks Grants website for recorded webinars and additional information on eligibility, awards, and how to apply.
• Grant application consulting may be available for small and emerging organizations. Submit a request.
• Sign up for the Parks Grants email list to receive updates about current and future funding opportunities.
• Email ParksGrants@kingcounty.gov or call (206) 848-0699 with questions or requests for grant application assistance, accommodations, or translation services.

$25 Million Total in Grants to Address Racism is a Public Health Crisis – Application Now Open

Following the declaration of Racism as a Public Health Crisis, the King County Council allocated $25 million in general funds to advance equitable economic recovery and racial justice through a community-centered, co-creative grant-making processes.

The application portal is now live via King County's Zoom Grants portal.

Learn more here.