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Like so many of our neighbors nearby and nationwide, I sat glued to the television watching events unfold in my city of Bellevue, in neighboring Seattle and across the nation. I was proud of the large number of mostly young people who came out to protest and demand change after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, yet another example of how far we still have to go to combat racism in our country. I was glad to see our police Chief Steve Mylett kneel with the protesters and express the support of every member of our police force for their cause.
The looting and criminal activity that pulled focus from the essential pursuit of racial justice was saddening. But I want to encourage all of us to focus our attention, not on the worst behavior we saw on our televisions, but on the systemic changes we need to make to achieve true equity and peace.
The road ahead of us is long and difficult, but one first step is for white people to say, ‘no more’ and demand accountability.
More information about King County’s COVID-19 reopening
Since Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order ended yesterday, there’s understandably a number of questions about what comes next for reopening businesses and resuming activities safely.
Under the Governor’s new, 4-Phase recovery approach, called “Safe Start,” counties are allowed to progress through the phases, as determined by the prevalence of COVID-19 and the ability to mitigate community transmission of the virus. As counties progress from Phase 1 to Phase 4, they will be able to gradually expand business and personal activities. King County is currently in Phase 1 of the four phase approach and it has not yet met key criteria to enter Phase 2 today. Instead, the County will apply to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) for a modified Phase 1 variance to allow partial re-opening of some businesses and activities.
The County will apply to DOH this week for a modified variance to partly open business and other activities. We will need approval from the state to proceed, but we expect to receive a response on this application back shortly.
We at King County anticipate more information about the process soon and I will follow-up with more details then. In the meantime, learn more about Governor Inslee’s “Safe Start” approach, which was updated on Friday, May 29 here.
Spread the word
Please forward this email widely and invite others to sign-up to my email updates to receive important and timely information for District 6 constituents.
Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
Council Chair
District 6
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