Thank You for a Great Year!
December 2024
Dear Friend,
As many of our neighbors get ready to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or other Holiday traditions, I want to thank you for another wonderful year serving as your District 3 King County Councilmember! We made our goal this year of prioritizing community health and safety, infrastructure investments, environmental protection investments, farms and small businesses, and housing development and affordability. We have expanded and addressed these priorities together with, and in support of, our communities well past 2024.
These investments help guide our collective long-term vision for both incorporated and unincorporated communities across District 3 and King County. I’m looking forward to the partnerships that we can continue to work on together in 2025 and beyond!
As we enter a new year with new goals, please consider joining me for a cup of coffee, or an online conversation — I’d love the opportunity to connect with you and hear your priorities! Please reach out by email, sarah.perry@kingcounty.gov, or phone at 206-477-1003, and we’ll find some time to connect.
Wishing you all the best,
WHAT A YEAR! Here are our Top 24 Accomplishments for 2024!
District 3 includes the cities and towns of Issaquah, Sammamish, Redmond, Woodinville, Bothell, Duvall, Skykomish, Stevens Pass, Carnation, Fall City, Preston, Snoqualmie, North Bend, and Snoqualmie Pass.
As I wrap up my third year on Council, I'm excited to celebrate some of the major accomplishments that we achieved together in 2024 for our District 3 communities, and all of King County!
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SAFETY
💵 Funded critical human services in our district for organizations such as the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank, Eastside Seniors, and SnoValley Pride
🏥 Championed initiatives to support our first responders with behavioral health and substance use response needs, including who to call, who will come, and where to go in a crisis
⛑️ Distributed $2 million in overdose prevention grants from opioid settlement funds and invested in 6 new community navigators for public safety and community care
👨🚒 Initiated roundtable conversations on fire safety and emergency response in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and insurance challenges with elected officials and first responders to create preparedness plans and recommendations to legislators
🚓 Led roundtables that helped reestablish Washington State Patrol’s North Bend and Snoqualmie Pass detachment, including plans for a sergeant and eight troopers by early next year
🏫 Supported Empower Youth Network and the Snoqualmie Valley School District to empower local homeschool communities with behavioral health resources and services
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS
🧾 Led the 4,000-page 10-year Comprehensive Plan Update for Growth Management Act compliance, including significant improvements in housing, businesses, environment, salmon restoration, and more
🚧 Invested in $65 million worth of projects in Snoqualmie Valley in our 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update, focusing on capital improvement and maintenance projects
🗺️ Enacted policy in the comprehensive plan in support of voices of community members who shared their priorities on sustainable rural growth in the zip codes of the Snoqualmie Pass, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Fall City, Preston, Carnation, and Duvall areas
🛣️ Engaged a Carnation coalition meeting to reduce road congestion with State Senate and House Transportation Chairs and committees in Olympia to advance the construction of a roundabout at Tolt Hill on SR 203 and successfully added it to our 2025 Legislative Agenda
🚵 Secured $25 million in federal RAISE grant funding as Co-Chair of the EasTrail Advisory Committee to complete this 42-mile regional trail
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION INVESTMENTS
🌊 Sponsored the Flood Management Plan 20-year update, outlining a vision for reducing county flooding and flood-related risks, our most common natural emergency
🐟 Allocated over $100M in critical flood capital and operating funds as Vice Chair of the Flood Control District to protect rivers, streams, and salmon through restoration projects
🔋 Sponsored legislation regulating and promoting Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to ensure our county meets safety standards while bolstering our clean energy economy
🏞️ Approved $125K in Parks Grants funding to District 3 organizations to help keep our parks, trails, open spaces, and recreational facilities flourishing
🌲 Led conversations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about reducing barriers to habitat restoration projects across District 3
PROMOTING FARMS AND SMALL BUSINESSES
👩🌾 Directed a robust study to support our farmers and agricultural workers to help sustain this vital industry
🎨 Collaborated with District 3 Mayors and community leaders on the Doors Open program, investing $94 million annually toward science, heritage, arts, and cultural organizations
🚜 Visited farmers and agricultural workers in the Snoqualmie and Sammamish Valley in our weekly “Farm Friday” tours to lift up farmworker needs in council discussions
🏪 Worked with small businesses to promote rural workforce stability and funded a study to explore tourism and support a sustainable and vibrant rural economy
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND AFFORDABILITY
🏗️ Wrote legislation to enact SB5290 standards to reduce permitting timelines from 119 days to 65 days and invested in staffing to promote efficiency in housing development and cut red-tape
🦺 Secured funding for four new code enforcement staff for 2025, substantially improving our ability to enforce existing development and environmental ordinances
🏠 Designed an affordable housing program using inclusionary zoning policy in our 2024 Comprehensive Plan to incentivize building affordable units and address our housing crisis
🏘️ Prioritized farmworker housing on farms in the Sammamish and Snoqualmie Valley, workforce housing at Snoqualmie Pass, emergency and multifamily housing, and childcare in the Comprehensive Plan update
2024 Comprehensive Plan Update!
Last week, we passed our King County Comprehensive Plan 10-year update, which shapes all aspects of unincorporated county growth and development! As Chair of the Local Services and Land Use Committee, it has been an honor to lead the Comprehensive Plan update this year.
A 10-year update is required by the Washington State Growth Management Act, and ours included more than a year of committee work, extensive public engagement, development of a final version, and line amendments by Councilmembers. With this, we have made it possible to increase housing stock, strengthen transportation, and improve environmental protections while also planning for resiliency against inevitable climate changes. You can read more about the plan here!
This has been a huge undertaking, starting in January and culminating in our final vote. We have been hearing from residents all year, and I am so grateful to everyone who leaned into conversations that helped us shape this immense and vital policy.
I want to thank all of my Council colleagues, and especially those on the Local Services Committee, including Councilmember Reagan Dunn, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, with a special shoutout to CM Mosqueda who put an incredible amount of work into ensuring her district (including White Center and Vashon Island) had the needed changes for success in the plan!
This has been an important reminder of the work we can do together; work that has the power to improve individual lives through community effort. Thank you to each and every person who helped to make this happen: Libby Hollingshead, Robby Paige, Erin Auzins, Jenny Ngo, Jake Tracy, members of the Executive’s team and so many more. You have impacted the quality of life of all of our King County residents for the next decade. Well done and Thank You!
2025 King County Budget!
After months of conversations with community and in our Budget Leadership Team meetings, on November 19th, our King County Council approved a $10.2 billion, one-year county budget that invests in critical regional priorities, including ensuring an effective public safety response, emphasizing our infrastructure investments such as roads and culverts, prioritizing environmental protections for salmon, waterways, and our open spaces, and advocating for support in housing and development, including the much-needed investment toward permitting and code enforcement.
I'm honored to have led the addition of key investments for District 3, including but not limited to:
-
Funding for four Code Enforcement Officers in the Department of Local Services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the code enforcement process to reduce the case backlog and increase the ability to address both critical and low priority violations at a higher quality level.
-
$330K to elevate the Comprehensive Plan’s Rural Economic Strategies, reviewing how the rural economy has changed since 2014 and is anticipated to change in the next two decades. It will also evaluate housing needs for permanent and seasonal farmworkers, tourism and economic development, and existing strategies to create a sustainable and vibrant rural economy.
-
$150K to the Issaquah Teen Garage to support two part-time licensed mental health counselors who offer both wrap-around and drop-in models of care.
-
$100K each to Pride Across the Bridge and SnoValley Pride to help them in staffing and events in supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community on the Eastside in both urban and rural communities.
-
$50K to further efforts to support salmon and habitat in Lake Sammamish and working to support the work of the kokanee work group through the removal of invasive weeds in the lake.
-
$50K for a study to explore alternatives to driving alone to Snoqualmie Pass particularly in the winter, to reduce congestion, reduce safety hazards, and expand access to the Pass.
-
$20K to support Empower Youth Network in their work around youth suicide prevention.
In this budget, we prioritized limited resources in response to the highest priorities for our community members. I'm particularly excited to share our investments in District 3 and am looking forward to seeing the impact of these investments for years to come!
On the Subject of Property Taxes
Click the image above to watch a video of my remarks on this vote.
Over the past few months, our Council has had the opportunity to discuss operations, maintenance, and capital expansion for Harborview Medical Center through a property tax increase. I have valued the chance to meet so many interested parties to listen and learn on this topic. I acknowledge the need for operating and capital support at Harborview is great as is the need for stability and resources at our King County Public Health Clinics.
I have also been hearing from many residents on the challenges that they have been facing with high property taxes in King County. I want to let you know that our team has heard this feedback. We recognize that we need solutions that don't fall predominantly onto our residents.
Unfortunately, there is more need in this county than there are resources available. After thinking carefully about the ways that our residents are impacted in District 3 and across the county, ultimately, I did not support the vote for a brand-new property tax. If you are interested, watch the video here where I talk about my vote.
Free Storm Debris Drop-off During Select Weekends
The King County Solid Waste Division is pleased to announce that their operations teams have been able to clear adequate space at our stations to allow free collection of storm debris to resume at select stations during the following upcoming weekends: December 21-22 and January 11-12.
King County residents can drop off tree limbs, and other woody debris for free at the Bow Lake, Enumclaw, Factoria, and Shoreline facilities during these periods. Yard debris brought to other facilities or outside of the designated weekends will be charged the standard fee.
Free disposal is exclusively for wood debris from the recent storms. Stumps, logs and limbs no longer than six feet in length are allowed. No grass clippings, sod or soil will be accepted. Customers must live or do business within King County's 37-city and unincorporated service area to use these solid waste facilities.
More information is available at kingcounty.gov/recycling-transfer or by calling 206-477-4466. Local cities and haulers are also offering debris collection services. More information is available through King County's Emergency News website.
Recognizing our 2024 Spellman Award Winners!
This month, I had the honor of attending King County's 23rd Annual John D. Spellman Awards for Achievement in Historic Preservation! Each year, we gather to recognize exceptional individuals, programs, projects, and businesses that preserve King County’s heritage and contribute to the health and vitality of our communities. This year, we recognized five award recipients who have done work restoring or preserving the legacy of some of the many historic properties across King County that tell the rich history of our region. Congratulations to the awardees, which included:
- Ashley Toney, McEvoy House in Skykomish (pictured above), Award for Achievement in Rehabilitation
-
Kenmore Air, Award for Legacy Business
-
King County Flood Control District, City of Kent; Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Suquamish Tribe; King County Dept. of Natural Resources & Parks, Award for Achievement in Preservation Partnerships
- Nancy Ousley, Award for Career Achievement
Please join us in congratulating this year's amazing recipients of the 2024 John. D. Spellman Awards for Achievement in Historic Preservation!
Resources that Make a Difference!
Check out the resources below to access important services your investments have made possible. Need something else? Email sarah.perry@kingcounty.gov — we’d love to help!
Stay Connected!
Please forward this email and invite others to sign up to receive email updates. Also, make sure that you follow our Facebook account, Instagram account, and Twitter page to stay up-to-date on everything we are working on together!
Finally... a reminder that I’d love to grab a cup of coffee and talk. Just reach out to our team member Mason at mason.thompson@kingcounty.gov or at 206-477-1003 and he will set us up!
 Sarah Perry
King County Council
District 3
|
