 King County’s local indoor mask order will end after March 11. This decision, which coincides with Governor Inslee’s state-level mask order, reflects the continuing decline in case rates in King County, as well as the high rate of vaccination and subsequent booster shots in our community. Vaccinations have kept thousands of people from becoming seriously ill and from dying.
Our continued success in fighting COVID-19 relies on everyone getting vaccinated and getting boosted when it’s time. While we can look forward to the expiration of the mask order after next Friday, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over. We should consider taking precautions, including mask wearing, in certain settings.
Learn more about what prevention steps you should take based on the COVID-19 community level tracker from the CDC here:
 Read more about the end of King County’s local indoor mask order:
Investing in housing to make our community safer for everyone
I have heard from a number of constituents about the potential purchase of the former La Quinta Inn & Suites in Kirkland as part of King County’s Health through Housing program, which aims to house up to 1600 of our chronically homeless neighbors in permanent supportive housing. Yesterday, Executive Constantine announced that the purchase of this former Kirkland hotel has been completed. Now, King County will move into the next phase of the process, which will take several months and include extensive work to engage with the neighbors and the city, adapt the building, and identify an experienced, successful operator in preparation for the opening of this Health Through Housing location in East King County.
We are facing a regional homelessness crisis. Here on the Eastside, people have been sleeping in their cars and our parks, struggling to stay safe and to stay hopeful, for years, and the problem is only getting worse. I am proud that East King County is standing up to be part of the solution for our many local neighbors who are suffering without places to live. Permanent supportive housing is a proven solution to reduce the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness—it provides housing along with the supports residents need to stay housed.
As I have said to many of you, the announcement of the final decision to purchase this property is the start of the community process. I am committed to working with the community and the City of Kirkland to address concerns and make sure this project is successful for everyone, both the residents of the facility and the surrounding neighbors. Together, we can take this opportunity to make our community safer, more welcoming, and more inclusive for all.
Fighting climate change with greener buildings
 King County Solid Waste Division’s South County Recycling and Transfer project is pursuing Living Building Challenge Energy Petal Certification as part of the County’s Strategic Climate Action Plan
On Tuesday, the County Council unanimously passed an ordinance I co-sponsored to update the County’s green building code. The new rules apply only to county-owned, leased and financed buildings, and infrastructure such as roads. These rules represent an important part of how we as a government are fighting climate change. In the Puget Sound region, about 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change are attributed to the building sector.
King County’s green building policy was first established in 2001 and we’ve been updating it as green building techniques have evolved. With this update, we added new green standards that can be applied to constructing new building, remodeling existing buildings, and to infrastructure projects that don’t involve buildings. The change means projects won’t have to get a waiver to use green building standards, such as Envision, Salmon Safe, Living Building Challenge, SITES, Passive House, WELL, Fitwel, and Greenroads that are tailored to specific types of projects. Providing this flexibility in our code means we are reducing bureaucratic barriers so that we can implement climate-friendly construction and operations more easily.
Read more about green building tools here:
I want to hear from you!
I want to know what you think about the big issues facing King County and the Puget Sound region, such as COVID recovery, housing, climate, transit, and law enforcement.
Please take my King County Council District 6 survey and share your priorities for 2022:
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
District 6
|
