Speaker 0: Knows by your vote we have given a do pass recommendation to ordinance 2020 203 will expedite that to full council next Tuesday. Takes us to item nine proposed ordinance 2020 204, which would place on the November ballot amendments to carry charter the would change the term citizen to public or resident. Brenda Luskin from the council's policy staff will provide a report and then we'll hear from Charter Review Commission members Toby Nickson and Linda Miranda.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Members of the Committee for the Record, Randall Askern and Council staff. The materials for this item, item number eight begin on page 39 of your committee meeting packet. As noted by the chair, this item, if approved, would submit a charter amendment proposition to the voters to update terminology and change references from citizen to either public or resident where applicable in the King County Charter. As a quick note of background, the word citizen currently appears in four areas of the charter in its preamble in Section 260, in Section 630 and in Section 800. Again, the proposed ordinance, if approved, would place on the November general election ballot a proposed charter amendment that would replace references to citizen to either public or resident. In the preamble in sections 260 and 800 of the County Charter. The proposed ordinance itself, which is consistent with the recommendation of the Charter Review Commission, shows the specific changes that the proposed Charter amendment would make in the charter language, and a copy of the proposed ordinance is in your packet on pages 43 to 46. Of note, the proposed ordinance and amendment would not make changes to Section 630 of the Charter, which relates to all elected officeholder qualifications. And just for context on this, as stated in the 2018 19 Charter Review Commission's report to this Council, as quoted, there is one reference to citizenship that will remain in the Charter if this amendment is passed. Currently, state law requires citizenship to hold elective office in the state unless state law changes. The Commission does not recommend removing this sentence. Similarly, for the last item in order to place this potential charter change amendment on the November ballot, the last regular council meeting date for adoption of this item would be July the 21st , as the deadline for elections to receive an effective ordinance is August the fourth. There there are amendments for this item, Amendment one and a corresponding title amendment Amendment One, which is located on page five of the committee's amendment packet and would make technical corrections and clarifications regarding the ballot title and the election date in which the proposed amendment would appear on the ballot. And then title the corresponding title of amendment, which then page seven of the amendment packet would simply conform the title of the ordinance to the changes made by Amendment One. As noted by the Chair, we are joined by members of the Charter Review Commission, including Linda Larson and Toby Nixon, who are on the line and will also speak to this item. Mr. Chair, that concludes my remarks.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Tusk and Ms.. Larson. Mr. Nixon. I'm going to go first.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the Council. It's good to be with you again, albeit virtually. For the record, I am Toby Nickson, member of the Charter Review Commission and of the King and of the Kirkland City Council.
Speaker 0: Each Council member.
Speaker 4: Thank you for this opportunity to address you today. Commissioner Larson and I will be presenting the proposed Charter amendment on revising use of the word citizen in the charter. I will first talk about what the proposed amendment does, and then Commissioner Larson will talk about why early in the charter review process, I carefully reviewed the entire charter and among other things, were surprised to see the word citizen used in several places where it didn't seem necessary and this amendment would change all but one of those instances to a more inclusive term. In the preamble, it changes the phrase enable effective citizen participation to enable effective public participation. In Section 260, it changes the name of the Office of Citizen Complaints to the Office of Public Complaints in two places and also changes citizen of the county to member of the public with regard to when the subpoena power of the office may be used. And finally, in Section 800, it changes the makeup of the Charter Review Commission itself from being citizens to being residents, which really is a substantive change. It does not change, as noted, the one instance of citizen in the charter where it refers to holding elected office, which under state law does require you to be a registered voter , which requires you to be a citizen. And this is a very simple charter amendment.
Speaker 0: I suspect there might be some.
Speaker 4: Controversy about it, but nevertheless, it's the right thing to do. And I believe it will be supported by the people of King County. I urge you to support placing it on the ballot this November. And I also want to thank Councilmember Adam Baffsky and Councilmember Caldwell's for sponsoring the ordinance. And to you all for hearing it. Now, I'll hand off to Commissioner Larson to explain why the commission made this recommendation.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm Linda Larson. I'm a member of a charter review commission and a lawyer and a partner at Norseman LLP in Seattle. As part of our initial work, the Commission looked at the changing demographics of King County. We learned that King County has grown by almost 300,000 people since 2010, and over three quarters of the population growth in that last decade has been people of color. And over half of our total population growth has been from people born outside of the you know, outside of the United States. One in four residents of King County over the age of five speaks a language other than English at home. So having a charter that was inclusive for all King County residents was very much top of mind as the commission went about its work. The citizenship of a person. And what that means in terms of access to government and government services has become highly politicized, as Toby just mentioned. However, the commission is not aware of any situations where the county denies access to government or services to individuals based on their citizenship. And we believe that the Charter should reflect this policy and this practice. Many agencies and protections exist to prevent discrimination based on citizenship. The 50 year old language in the charter does not reflect either the current demographics of.
Speaker 1: The county and is needed and.
Speaker 2: Is needlessly politically charged. It's also unwelcoming to new residents who we very much welcome to our community. The Commission strongly concurred with existing county policies that make access to government and government services.
Speaker 1: Available to all.
Speaker 2: Residents of King County. And we believe that the proposed amendment is both necessary and equitable to make sure.
Speaker 1: That.
Speaker 2: The words of this 50 year old document reflect the current reality. And I actually I agree with Toby that the majority of voters are going to want to adopt this amendment, and we hope very much that you will put it before them in November.
Speaker 0: Thank you to you both. Colleagues. Questions of staff or our commissioners. Three None. Council Member Dombrowski.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm very proud to move adoption of Ordinance 2020 DASH tool for.
Speaker 0: Council member Damascus moved adoption of Ordinance 2022 for Councilmember Dombrowski.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. Socrates said, I am a citizen of the world and my nationality is goodwill. This recommendation brought forward by the Charter Review Commission represents the best of goodwill and the welcoming spirit that we exhibit here in King County. Like many of you, I have had the privilege in elected office to attend swearing in ceremony for new citizens in Seattle down in Boston. And I think they are the most uplifting and heartwarming of public ceremonies that I am proud to have been able to attend an and entrepreneur. Wells often attended the one at the Seattle Center and speaks very fondly of it. And at those ceremonies I realized the privilege I had of being born here and being given citizenship. And I'm very proud to be an American citizen and to have all the rights and obligations that come with that. We have over 500,000 people. As Commissioner Larsson mentioned in some of her statistics, but in addition to the ones she mentioned, over 500,000 people living in King County, more than one in five were foreign born. And while many choose to become citizens, many aren't. But we in King County do not discriminate in our service provision or in our rights and duties as a government to be responsive to those living here based on their citizenship. And so this this this charter amendment really, I think, clarifies and corrects, perhaps an unintended use of the term from 50 years ago, because it is used in a number of contexts in the charter where clearly it doesn't apply. And Commissioner Nixon, you correctly pointed those out. Should somebody be precluded from making a complaint to the Office of Citizens complaint because of their nationality or their lack of citizenship or their citizenship? No, I don't think so. And so this change would would clarify that it does leave intact, obviously, the citizenship requirement around voting, but I think it is a step in the right direction. The wonderful thing about our charter is it's a lot easier to mend than some of the founding documents of our country where they had phrases like all men are created equal and how often do we wish that that was not as exclusive today as it sounds and and in many cases has been? So I think this is a great amendment. I think it's consistent with recent work done by our three female members of the council, Councilor Carlos Baldacci and Lambert, to remove gender, a language that was exclusive a couple of years ago. The community that residents of our county that voted for that overwhelmingly, I think appreciated it. And for those reasons and that the reasons articulated by the commissioners, I really think this is the right thing to do and I hope it will go forward. I'll say this as a proud American citizen, it does not diminish in any way all of what it means to be a citizen of this country. Instead, it means that we are more welcoming here in King County and not excluding folks based on some language put in our charter over 50 years ago. So thank you very much. And when you're ready, Mr. Charter comments, I'll move the amendments.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Carl Wells.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to join you in supporting this Charter Review Amendment, and I'd like to say that what is so one of the most amazing things about our country is our embracing of our equity and social justice principles, using that as a lens in evaluating everything that we do. And I am particularly gratified that the King County Strategic Plan, which was first adopted in 2010, brings out a guiding principle of our government of being equitable and fair and focusing on equity means that our people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to attain a folk potential. And I think that actually brings in another concept of equality and fair and just meaning. The county serves all residents by promoting fairness and opportunity and eliminating inequities through actions to reach equity and social justice. Foundational practices are applied, and that's what this measure is about. Every resident of our county deserves to have equal treatment. Every resident of our county deserves to be able to obtain their full potential. So I commend this to you and support this amendment. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Seeing no further discussion at this time. Councilmember Dombrowski.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move Amendment One technical amendment previously described.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Dombroski moves adoption of Amend one, which is on page five of our amendment packet. See no discussion of this. Please say I, I may. The ayes have it. The amendment is adopted.
Speaker 3: Councilmember Dombrowski moved the title amendment. Mr. Chair.
Speaker 0: Title moment to you one as before. I see no discussion others in favor. Please say I. I opposed nay. The ayes have it. The title amendment is adopted. Any further discuss, debate and conclusion. Councilmember Dvorsky.
Speaker 3: I just want to close by thanking our two commissioners who are here today, and in particular Councilmember Nixon, who jumped right in on the Charter Review Commission work. Councilmember Balducci made a very wise recommendation there in getting on the Charter Review Commission, but for catching this language and thinking about it critically, as he does on some of the issues and bringing it forward to today and hopefully to adoption in November. Thank you, Councilmember Nixon. And thank you, colleagues.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Madam Court, would you please call the roll?
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council member. Baluchi I Council member body Chief Council member Dombrowski. I thank the member Dombrowski about I Council Member Done.
Speaker 4: By.
Speaker 1: Item member Dan Goldstein Council Member Caldwell's High Council Member Caldwell Sports Ion Council Member Lambert I Council Member Lambert voted for Article II Council Member of the group I Council member von right there. I council member gone make the votes I council members all my.
Speaker 4: High.
Speaker 1: Council members are the line votes. Mr. Chair.
Speaker 0: Hi.
Speaker 1: Mr. Chair. But I the vote is 19 zero noes a vote.
Speaker 0: We have given a passed recommendation to ordinance 2022 or four as amended. Are we comfortable putting this on consent at full council? We will expedite to next week. Are we putting it on consent? Yes, gentlemen. Yes, I hear. Yes. So, yes, we will put it on consent next week. And colleagues have your attention about consent. Would we be also comfortable putting the previous item ordinance 2022 or three regarding housing consent as well?
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: Yes. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Yes. So we will put forth the ordinance we just adopted to a floor and the previous one, two or three consent, and both are expedited to full council. That takes us to the last item in our agenda, proposed ordinance 2020 207 which replacement of member ballot a charter amendment to the anti-discrimination provisions of the charter.
AN ORDINANCE proposing to amend the King County Charter to replace the word "citizen" to either "public," "member of the public" or "resident," as applicable in the King County Charter; amending the Preamble and Sections 260 and 800 of the King County Charter; and submitting the same to the voters of the county for their ratification or rejection at the next general election to be held in this county occurring more than forty-five days after the enactment of this ordinance.