June 24, 2011

King County re-districting update

Redistricting King County Council districts affects District 3 the most because our district’s population has grown faster than the other eight Council districts during the past 10 years. District 3 must trim about 30,000 residents from its boundaries. These changes will be difficult for me because I enjoy serving all the citizens of my district. But we need to comply with the redistricting to align boundaries so that districts will be as close to equal in population as possible.

Several proposals have been made for your review. Each of the four draft plans uses a different approach in order to meet the redistricting requirements in state law and the County Charter. Changes in the four proposals affect mostly the residents of Woodinville, Redmond and Issaquah.

On June 20, the King County Districting Committee released the alternative plans for redrawing County Council districts. The plans are posted on the Committee website at www.kingcounty.gov/districting.

Before beginning work, the Committee conducted public hearings in Seattle, Kirkland, and Kent to gather community input. Now, the Districting Committee will host four more public hearings to discuss the draft plans and gather comments:

Wednesday, June 29
6:30 p.m.
Shoreline City Hall
Council Chambers
17500 Midvale Ave N
Shoreline, WA 98133

Thursday, June 30
6:30 p.m.
Bellevue City Hall
Council Chambers
450 110th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004

Thursday, July 7
6:30 p.m.
Highline Community College
Building 7
2400 S 240th Street
Des Moines, WA 98198

Tuesday, July 12
6:30 p.m.
Van Asselt Community Center
2820 S Myrtle Street
Seattle, WA 98108

Community members also can provide written testimony on the committee website or by writing to Districting Committee, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200, Seattle, WA 98104.

Following community input and further study by the Districting Committee, the draft plans may be revised or combined, or one proposal may be adopted as presented. A single, final district plan must be approved by the Committee by Jan. 15, 2012.

By law, Council district boundaries must be redrawn after each U.S. Census to make each district as nearly equal in population as possible. The County Charter places sole responsibility for redistricting with the independent, citizen Districting Committee.

The new district boundaries must be compact, contiguous, and composed of economic and geographic units. To the extent feasible, the districts must correspond with the boundaries of existing municipalities, election precincts, census tracts, recognized natural boundaries, and preserve communities of related and mutual interest. Population data may not be used for purposes of favoring or disfavoring any racial group or political party.

Thank you for taking the time to give your input on these redistricting plans.

Kathy Lambert