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Dear Neighbors,
This year, I am continuing to chair the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee for the King County Council. We will again work on several supplemental budgets related to coronavirus relief (depending on Congressional action), and I would like to obtain your thoughts on how you believe the Council can best prioritize its spending of these funds. Below you will find a short google poll to complete, the responses to which will be very helpful to me as I consider the decisions ahead. I thank you in advance for taking the time to share your opinions with me. Please respond by February 1st at midnight.
https://forms.gle/SWsPZ7zVXjrHy5KAA
For some background, as you may know, in May the King County Council passed a motion to outline its priorities in the allocation of the $262 million coronavirus relief fund to King County that was established by Congress’ passage of the CARES Act. This motion identified expenditure priorities that we forwarded to the Executive to give our preferences to include in his budget proposals allocating the coronavirus relief fund. They also guided our own amendments.
We placed the highest priority on significant investments in public health and making sure the county's public health response was comprehensive and effective, as well as presciently ready for this second wave of infections that started towards the end of 2020 and continues to intensify.
After investing in public health, the Council priorities focused on immediate relief before long-term recovery, foremost on meeting our residents' basic needs for food and housing stability. We requested the Executive branch create immediate solutions that were sufficiently thoughtful to ensure lasting impacts and to use an equity and social justice lens to ensure assistance would be provided where needed the most.
Beyond Public Health’s direct emergency response, our priorities for the CARES Act funds were the following:
Food security and access---These services took the form of food banks, organizations providing meals -- such as senior centers, community centers and schools -- or organizations connecting farmers with the market and those most in need of food, while ensuring culturally-appropriate food options remained available.
Housing stability and homelessness services--These services kept people in their homes by providing protections for those unable to cover their housing costs and thereby avoid facing eviction or foreclosure. The Council also prioritized increasing the number of twenty-four hour, seven days-a-week non-congregate sheltering and continued efforts aimed at shelter deintensification.
Economic recovery--After meeting the immediate needs of residents, priority was given to assisting private business, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, cities and the unincorporated area. Attention was also paid to services connecting and preparing individuals who were economically impacted by the public health emergency for the job market, with technical support for language access and communication, digital access and child care.
Mental health, behavioral health, safety and security programs--The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency hit vulnerable populations particularly hard. Services providing support for those suffering from domestic or intimate partner abuse, substance abuse and child abuse were prioritized.
Hopefully that brief summary is enough information to help you respond to this short poll, intended to solicit your feedback on the established priorities and your ideas for changes or additions to our priorities in 2021. You can click the link below to read the full motion and see other details. Your answers will help to shape my perspective as I work with my fellow Councilmembers to set our 2021 objectives.
Link to motion: https://mkcclegisearch.kingcounty.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4542448&GUID=211D445D-DA0A-4117-9E5B-AB84FA784250&Options=Advanced&Search=
Link to survey: https://forms.gle/SWsPZ7zVXjrHy5KAA
As always, I would like to hear from you. You can call me at 206-477-1004 or you can reach me by email at jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov.
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