October 28, 2020

Dear Friends,

Our work on the proposed 2021-2022 King County Budget continues. While we have not been able to hold in person public meetings due to COVID-19, we remain committed to hearing your thoughts on the budget as much as possible. Looking ahead, there are opportunities to provide public comment at virtual meetings on November 10, November 12, and November 17. If you would like to provide public comment but are unable to attend any of the virtual meetings, you can email budget.council@kingcounty.gov. Please include your King County Council district number in the subject line and write your name and street address at the beginning of your message. You can read more about the public comment process here.

Earlier this month, we held an All Staff meeting of the King County Council. At the meeting, someone shared a TEDx Talk about being different, and I found it very encouraging. I wanted to share the video with you, and hope that you and your family might find it as enjoyable as I did! Watch the video here.

Keep reading to learn more about light rail construction, preparing for floods this season, tips for celebrating Halloween this year, and more!

As always, thank you so much for everything that you are continuing to do limit the spread of COVID-19 in our region.

Stay Healthy!

Kathy Lambert

In this Issue:

      1. Redmond light rail extension construction
      2. Retired Metro van deliveries
      3. Preparing for flood season
      4. Celebrate Halloween safely!
      5. King County charter amendments

1. Redmond light rail extension construction

Earlier this month, work on the Downtown Redmond Link Extension started to ramp-up, including tree removal, demolition, and utility relocation. This work will primarily be along SR 520, and light rail and station construction is planned to begin next year.

According to a recent press release from the agency, “Sound Transit will replant more than 12,000 trees to replace approximately 3,000 trees crews must remove for construction. Tree replacement locations include station areas, along streets in the City of Redmond, the Redmond Central Connector trail corridor, Bear Creek, King County wetland and stream areas, Marymoor Park, and along the SR 520 corridor.”

Learn more here.

2. Retired Metro van deliveries

Recently, I have had the pleasure of delivering two “retired” King County Metro vans, one to the City of Issaquah and the other to the Issaquah Highlands Council.

Each year, a few used vans are donated to organizations in the district to help the community.

The City of Issaquah’s Parks & Recreation Department is planning on using this van to support several of their programs, including transporting seniors from the Senior Center, increasing access to recreation opportunities for people with special needs, and transportation for many other day camps, sports, and more.

The Issaquah Highlands Council will use their van to expand their community outreach by providing free transportation services to seniors, students, and residents with mobility challenges or no personal transportation.

It was great to deliver the vans in person, and we used a rope to transfer the keys to make sure we could practice social distancing! Please note that the keys made it safely to the other side of the rope.

I am very happy to see these retired vans go to such great uses.

3. Preparing for flood season

With the end of October already upon us, we are well into the typical flood season for our region. Here is some helpful information regarding flood preparation from the King County Department of Local Services:

“Be prepared for flooding during King County’s wet months



Did you know that flooding is the most common natural disaster in King County? It can happen almost any time, but as we move toward months with more rain and snow, the risk increases. Even a few inches of extra water can be damaging and costly, so please take the time to prepare now and keep your loved ones and property safe.

Here are 3 steps you can take to prepare:

1. Learn your flood risk and buy flood insurance. Visit floodsmart.gov to learn more about buying a policy and finding an insurance agent.
2. Sign up for flood alerts.
3. Create an emergency plan and make or update your disaster supply kit (see article below for more details).


Learn more about recommended precautions on King County's how to prepare for flooding website.”

4. Celebrate Halloween safely!

It is time for purchasing candy and treats! It is hard to decide which candy will be the favorite this year... but my favorite trick is to buy candy I personally don’t like so there’s plenty of candy to give out! :)

Halloween is right around the corner, and celebrations will look a bit different this year as we continue to respond to COVID-19 in our region.

Thankfully, Public Health – Seattle & King County has a number of helpful tips to prevent illness while still celebrating the fun holiday! These tips include:

• Limit close contact with other people, limit touching points, and practice good hand hygiene.
• If you want to give out treats, consider using tape to mark waiting spots 6 feet apart on the way up to you door, and be sure to wear a mask when you answer the door for trick-or-treaters.
• Decorate a cloth mask to go with your Halloween costume!
• Carry hand sanitizer while trick-or-treating and wash your hands thoroughly when you get home.

Celebrating Halloween is a fun event for the family, and it is important that we all take some steps to keep ourselves and others healthy this year.

For more tips and other ideas if you choose to celebrate Halloween, click here.

5. King County charter amendments

With election season upon us and Election Day coming up on Tuesday, November 3rd, I wanted to inform you about the seven King County charter amendments on the ballot. As a reminder, charter amendments are changes to the county charter, which is like the county constitution. These changes are proposed every ten years after a review by the Charter Review Commission, or after a majority vote by the King County Council.

Below you will find links to information from King County Elections on all seven charter amendments, including factual details, statements prepared by individuals in opposition as well as in favor to each amendment, and more. Please note that Charter Amendment No. 6 was not a recommendation of the Charter Review Commission, but instead was a council-proposed amendment.

Charter Amendments Related to County Government Operations
• Charter Amendment No. 1
• Charter Amendment No. 2
• Charter Amendment No. 3
• Charter Amendment No. 7

Charter Amendments Related to Public Safety
• Charter Amendment No. 4
• Charter Amendment No. 5
• Charter Amendment No. 6

Conclusion

We hope to vote on the budget November 17. So we are hard at work and your input on what is most important to you for your local (if you live in unincorporated area) and regional needs is vital. So please join one of the budget town halls or send your ideas in!

Best wishes.