The wait is finally over
L to R: Redmond City Council Vice President Jessica Forsythe, Sound Transit Interim CEO Goran Sparrman, Redmond City Council President Vanessa Kritzer, me, Redmond Mayor Angela Birney, Councilmember Melissa Stuart, and Councilmember Angie Nuevacamina
This week, I was thrilled to join other local leaders to finally open the Overlake Village Station Pedestrian Bridge in Redmond. This new bridge is a crucial link across SR 520 for people who live, work, and recreate in the Overlake neighborhood. It’s also a precursor to the 2 Line light rail opening in spring 2024, which will connect South Bellevue to Redmond Technology Station in advance of the full line opening across I-90 and to the 1 Line.
The pedestrian bridge, along with the 2 Line, will enable residents and workers in the neighborhoods along the light rail line to easily access major destinations by walking, biking, buses, and soon, light rail. Thank you to Sound Transit, the City of Redmond, and the Washington Department of Transportation for their tireless efforts in making this long-awaited bridge a reality.
Honoring the victims of the Holocaust
We presented the proclamation to Mina Miller and David Sabritt from Music of Remembrance, an organization that remembers the Holocaust with concert performances, educational programs, recordings, and composition commissions
On January 27, 1945, the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. The largest of its kind, more than 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Holocaust as part of the Nazi regime’s systematic, state-sponsored extermination of six million European Jews and millions of other people targeted based on their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, disabilities, and sexual orientation.
On Tuesday, I sponsored a proclamation recognizing January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in King County, inviting all King County residents to join us in remembering the victims of the Holocaust and reflecting on the lessons of the Holocaust. We can all commit to standing up against hate, discrimination, and antisemitism in all its forms to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
Making transportation safer and more equitable
Today, the four-county Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) approved the plan for how to distribute approximately $740 million in federal transportation dollars across King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. PSRC is a crucial contributor to transportation funding in our region and it plays a big role in enhancing livability, economic competitiveness, and opportunities for residents.
As PSRC’s president from 2021-2023 and as current immediate past president, I have been leading regional work to fight the traffic safety crisis, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure that transportation projects benefit all residents.
What we did at PSRC today represents a real step forward in achieving our safety and equity goals, by adopting recommendations to incorporate equity in how we select transportation projects and by fully funding a new set of equity pilot projects worth over $6 million. We are also transforming our roadway safety approach by tying PSRC safety planning to a Safe System Approach. This approach to safety works by building and reinforcing multiple layers of protection to both prevent crashes from happening in the first place and minimize the harm caused to those involved when crashes do occur.
And we are still having to fight tooth and nail for a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her reproductive health without government interference. This week marked 51 years since the Supreme Court recognized the right to safe, legal abortions with Roe v Wade, but a year and a half ago our current Supreme Court overturned that decision, setting women’s freedom and access to reproductive healthcare back decades.
After the overturning of Roe v Wade, I joined Executive Constantine as he signed the ordinance to provide abortion access funding
In the lead up to the Court’s decision to take away women’s rights to make their own reproductive health choices, I led the Council in passing legislation to declare our support for reproductive freedom. In the wake of the decision, I sponsored an ordinance to provide $500,000 to help people obtain abortion care. Women cannot be truly free and equal members of our nation if they do not have autonomy over their own bodies and I will continue to fight for every woman’s right to make her own reproductive health choices, including accessing safe and legal abortion.
As your councilmember on the King County Council, I need to know what’s important to you. Please consider taking a short survey to share your priorities for 2024 and your ideas about how we can work together to make King County a safe, welcoming place for all.
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Sincerely,
Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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