News from King County Executive Dow Constantine

February 2018 

Uniting as a community to confront the homelessness crisis

I was honored to join nearly 1,000 volunteers who participated in Count Us In, King County’s annual snapshot-in-time homeless count. The fact that so many people came out on a frigid January night demonstrates that our community is uniting to confront the homelessness crisis. 

Just days earlier, we experienced that same sense of shared purpose, commitment, and urgency at the first meeting of One Table, a high-level work group that I convened along with Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus. Together, we are synchronizing the efforts of governments, businesses, nonprofits, and philanthropies to address the root causes of homelessness in our region.

This is an addition to a successful new initiative we launched as part of our Best Starts for Kids that prevented more than 3,000 people from becoming homeless in just its first year. 

The homelessness crisis is a daunting one, but our region has a proud tradition of working together to achieve audacious goals. We have the will, the ingenuity, and the resources to tackle the root causes of homelessness and ensure that everyone in our community has a safe, warm place to sleep each night.

Thank you, as always, for the opportunity to serve.

Sincerely,

Dow Constantine
King County Executive

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Experts and community members reviewing the police shooting inquest process host public focus groups

The committee of experts and community members that Executive Constantine created to review and reexamine King County's inquest process for fatal shootings by law enforcement officers hosted its first public focus group last month and will host two more in February. By the end of March, the Review Committee will determine what, if any, changes could or should be made to improve the process both for the public and the affected parties.

Participate in one of the public focus groups >>

A strategy to better serve the 250,000 residents of Unincorporated King County

To develop new and better ways to serve Unincorporated King County, Executive Constantine proposed a new Department of Local Services to improve the delivery of services in rural areas as well as the major remaining urban unincorporated communities. The combined population in Unincorporated King County is larger than that of Spokane or Tacoma.

“The quarter-million people who live in Unincorporated King County make up what would be the state's second-largest city, with its own particular challenges and priorities. The Department of Local Services will improve how we provide direct and contracted services, including roads, public safety, clean water, and access to opportunity. The department director will have a seat on my cabinet to ensure we bring a focus on performance and accountability to all that we do for the residents of Unincorporated King County.”

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Connecting a thriving new Des Moines' business park to high-capacity Sound Transit light rail 

Executive Constantine launched a new Metro Transit shuttle service that connects Des Moines' thriving new business park to Sound Transit Link light rail. It is one of eight innovative partnerships Metro Transit initiated last year to meet the specific needs of communities.

"Our newest shuttle service represents a nimble, responsive transit system that better connects our region – one that promotes sustainable economic growth, and improves the quality of life for the people of King County."

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