After the map of District 1 is redrawn, north suburban cities may not need a megaphone in order to be heard.
Metro King County Council member Carolyn Edmonds, who was originally disappointed with four proposed options to redraw council district boundaries because she worried the cities would not have a strong voice, supports a final draft that was presented Jan. 8.
The final draft came as somewhat of a surprise, considering only one of four proposed maps included the majority of the north suburban cities Edmonds represents in District 1, which includes Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville. Two of the maps even divided Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.
“The redistricting commission listened to the testimony from the north suburban cities and kept them all together,” Edmonds said. “It is a great district for me, almost the entire district is intact.”
Edmonds said members of the districting committee, including Steve Ohlenkamp and Michael Mann, told her public input made all the difference in keeping District 1 intact.
It is important for the current cities in District 1 to remain together, Edmonds said, because they collaborate on a variety of projects, including Metro Bus service, Sound Transit, the Brightwater conveyance system, 522 corridor redevelopment and economic development projects.
“I would like to thank all the residents who provided testimony to the redistricting commission,” Edmonds said. “It worked, the commission listened to them.”
Lake Forest Park Mayor Dave Hutchinson, who testified at a public hearing Jan. 5 in Lake Forest Park, said he met with mayors from the north end cities on Jan. 10 and they support the final draft plan.
“I am glad they listened to us, because Woodinville was not in the original maps,” Hutchinson said. “Both the mayor of Woodinville and I testified on that behalf.”
Hutchinson said the cities in the north end have a functional relationship, rather than a political one. They do a substantial amount of planning, he said, due to their unique location across the bottom of the Snohomish County border.
One minor concern regarding the proposed map, Hutchinson said, is that 40 percent of District 1 is in Seattle.
“That is probably too much, if anything,” Hutchinson said. “It means it can get a little diluted, although as a suburban city, we like to associate with our neighbors.”
Shoreline mayor Ron Hansen was previously concerned with the four draft maps, and said only one looked reasonable at the time, which was the map that included all the north suburban cities except Woodinville.
Hansen said although the public process is a quick schedule, he realizes it is because the districting committee was charged with redrawing boundaries by the end of January.
“I don’t have any real problems with the process, other than that it is relatively short,” Hansen said. “But they are just going by what they are told to do.”
Hansen said he is in favor of redistricting, and general change at the county level, since he felt there were too many Council members.
The citizen Districting Committee was organized in response to County Charter Amendment A. The amendment was passed by voters at the Nov. 2 election and will reduce the number of Council districts from 13 to nine.
According to a press release, state law requires the committee to draw the boundaries of each district as close to equal population as possible, to ensure equal representation, to correspond as nearly as practical with the boundaries of existing municipalities, election precincts, census tracts, recognized natural boundaries and communities of related and mutual interest.
The initiative was originally proposed because unionized jail workers lost jobs due to county budget cuts, and the Council voted to put the decision to reduce the members from 13 to nine before the voters.
Voters created the present 13-member County Council structure in 1992, when the health and public safety services of King County merged with waste water treatment and regional transit obligations of Metro.
The draft proposed plan is available online at www. metrokc.gov/council/districting.
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