On Wednesday, I joined my colleagues on the Law and Justice Committee to unanimously approve advancing legislation declaring the intent of the Council to maintain operations of the youth detention facility at the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. The motion was advanced without recommendation and will next be taken up for consideration at a full Council meeting in August.
From my time as the director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention and now as a King County Councilmember, I believe we need a “yes, and” approach to juvenile justice. We need to do everything possible to intervene early with at-risk youth to prevent crime in the first place, including providing strong community supports, mental health services, early childhood education, and eliminating access to firearms. At the same time, some young people in our county commit serious crimes and cause great harm. The 61 young people being held at the Children and Family Justice Center today are charged with serious violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, rape, and child molestation, making it necessary to continue to have secure detention for youth.
I am committed to supporting our youth in and out of detention with robust programs and services to improve outcomes and we also need secure detention for youth who have harmed others and pose a threat to public safety. I look forward to the continued discussion and deliberation on this legislation at an upcoming Council meeting.
Last week, King County Elections mailed ballots for the August 6 primary election. If you are registered to vote, you should have received your ballot by now. If your ballot hasn’t arrived, you can call 206-296-VOTE (8683) to request a replacement ballot.
If you aren’t registered but are eligible to vote, there’s still time! Register to vote online or by mail by July 29 or at a vote center location up until 8:00pm on Election Day.
Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day (no postage necessary!) or returned by 8:00pm on Election Day at one of 81 drop boxes across the county. If you need assistance to vote, visit a vote center. Once you have voted, track your ballot through King County Elections’ ballot tracker—make sure your voice is heard!
 Click the image to watch the recording of the discussion at Commitee of the Whole
On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole, which I chair, unanimously approved my Safe System approach legislation, which aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries due to traffic accidents through better roadway infrastructure. The Safe System approach recognizes that humans make mistakes and that humans are vulnerable and builds a transportation system that mitigates human errors, encourages safer behaviors, and effectively responds when crashes occur.
Improving transportation safety has been a priority of mine for a long time, from 2015 when I introduced Bellevue’s Vision Zero policy, to recently at the Puget Sound Regional Council where we adopted a Safe System approach policy, to just today at Sound Transit where the Board authorized the acceleration and expansion of work to improve at-grade crossing safety. We don’t have to accept death, injury, suffering, and grief as a necessary part of our transportation system. We have the tools to save lives and this legislation will help ensure King County is using those tools to eradicate serious injury and deaths on our roads, trails, bike lanes, and sidewalks.
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