Resolution of the 46th District Democrats
Opposing the reduction in size of the King County Council
Adopted on November 20, 2003

WHEREAS in 1968, King County adopted a new "home rule" charter under state law creating a nine-member council and an executive, and

WHEREAS in 1992, a federal court decision found the 46-member Metro Council, the governing body for the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (METRO), to be unconstitutional. In response to this court decision, an election was held to merge King County with Metro, giving King County regional responsibilities for sewage and transit, and

WHEREAS to accommodate for the merger of the two governments, the election also merged the existing nine-member King County Council and the 46-member Metro Council to create a new combined 13 member Metropolitan King County Council, and

WHEREAS during the first ten years the 13 member council was in existence, from 1992-2001, the Council was under Republican control. During that time, no councilmember ever introduced legislation to reduce the size of the Council from 13 to 9. However, within six months of the Democrats gaining control of the Council, two Republicans introduced legislation to reduce the size of the Council, and

WHEREAS if the Council is reduced from 13 to 9, the subsequent redistricting may result in the Republican Party regaining the majority of the Council, and

WHEREAS King County has a total annual budget of approximately $3.2 billion and a current expense general fund budget of approximately $510 million. However, each Councilmember's office costs roughly $300,000 per year, including the salaries and benefits for the member and their staff, and the office budget for all communications expenses, postage, supplies, etc., and

WHEREAS King County has a population of approximately 1.8 million people. Currently, with 13 council districts, each councilmember is responsible for serving approximately 138,000 citizens. If the council is reduced from 13 to 9, then each councilmember will be responsible for serving 200,000+ citizens, and

WHEREAS the Metropolitan King County Council is responsible for setting policy and providing oversight for the largest local government in the state of Washington. The regional services and utilities are complex and include: transit, roads, sewage, wastewater, parks, solid waste, courts, sheriff, jail, prosecutor, emergency services, assessments, elections, human services, land use, public health and many other services.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT WE, THE 46TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS, oppose reducing the size of the Metropolitan King County Council from 13 to 9 members. We believe that reducing the size of the Council will dramatically decrease the democratic representation of citizens in King County while saving a relatively small amount of money.