|
As we think about how we can best prepare our communities to become more resilient, this is a great example. They have turned an old, paved parking lot into a 1.5-acre garden with about 50 individual plots. What was once unused concrete now hosts fruits, vegetables, native plants, rain gardens, and stormwater infrastructure.
The garden is especially intended to serve refugees, immigrants, and all our other neighbors who may lack land or a safe space to grow food. It’s also done with ecological purpose, cisterns and rain gardens reduce flooding and build a healthier local ecosystem.
Across our region, food security for our residents remains a top priority. With the recent closing of Fred Meyer in my district, residents will have to travel longer to reach a full-service grocery store prompting serious concern that the neighborhood could slip into “food desert” conditions.
That is precisely the kind of structural stress that community gardens help address, by offering local, fresh food that people can reach and rely on.
In the interest of sharing what we know about current events and how they impact King County residents, I’ve been including updates here on state and local leaders’ response to what can best be characterized as political attacks on ‘blue cities’ and states by the Trump Administration. Many recent federal actions have been challenged in court and found to be out of alignment with existing law and the U.S. Constitution.
I share this information with you because it’s important to note that, despite the highly irregular, and for many of us disconcerting, messages from our nation’s capital, state and local leaders are resisting in order to defend the rule of law, the relevance of the U.S. Constitution and the rights of all Americans. They’re resisting the revocation of federal dollars from states that will harm industries and families across the state. They’re challenging unconstitutional actions that, whether they take place in our county or not, have an impact on all King County residents by setting a legal precedent. And they are defending the voting rights of all Americans. To that point, my staff have assembled updates on key events.
Oregonians and others await a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on whether it will overrule a lower court’s ruling that Trump may not deploy National Guard troops to Portland. On Wednesday of this week, Judge Immergut extended her temporary restraining order for an additional two weeks while the parties wait for the 9th Circuit. Meanwhile, Portland continues to demonstrate to the nation how to protest in style.
The Supreme Court is hearing a case that could have a huge impact on midterm elections next year. The case focuses on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in voting practices on the basis of race. The case comes from Louisiana and is the culmination of a long-running battle over the representation of black voters in Congress. Roughly one third of the population of Louisiana is black, however only one of the state’s six congressional districts has been drawn to be majority black by the Republican controlled legislature.
And in Rhode Island, Bush appointee, U.S. District Judge William Smith accused the Trump administration of trying to bully states into accepting conditions that require them to cooperate on immigration enforcement actions in order to receive disaster funding.
Remember that good trouble is sometimes the only way to make things right. John Lewis says go make some good trouble.
The goal of the D5 e-news* is to share information about King County business, upcoming community events, access to services, opportunities, and ways for us to build an even better King County.
*To translate this week’s e-news into another language, scroll down and click on the language of your choice. Whether you would like to read this e-news more easily or whether you are studying a new language, we are bringing you language technology to help us stay connected.
On Monday, King County was officially closed in recognition of Indigenous People’s Day. My staff and I gathered to review budget priorities and I had a lunch meeting in Federal Way.
The budget panels are used to identify issues the council would like more information about and changes the council would like to make.
Tuesday afternoon, the council approved the Strategic Climate Action Plan ordinance. The council chose to delay consideration of the Strategic Climate Action Plan motion including two amendments until next Tuesday.
The Council also recognized the month of October as National Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Left to right: CM vonReichbauer, CM Dunn, CM Zahilay, Shwetha Panchal (Director of Gender-based Violence Services), CM Dembowski, Amarinthia Torres (Co-Executive Director-Policy), CM Quinn, CM Perry, CM Baron and CM Mosqueda
On Wednesday, I participated in the 2nd Law and Justice Budget Panel. We discussed the Executive’s proposed budget for multiple agencies including Sheriff, Prosecutor, Courts – Superior and District Court, Public Defense and Jail.
I then joined the Budget Leadership Team which is a smaller working group of four councilmembers established to find solutions to budget challenges to propose to the council. Budget Director Dwight Dively attended at the beginning to answer questions.
On Thursday, my staff covered the Health, Housing and Human Services Budget Panel which reviewed the Executive’s proposed budget for agencies such as the Department of Community and Human Services. This panel also covered the use of funds including the Mental Health and Drug Dependency (MIDD) fund and the Veterans, Seniors, Human Services levy fund.
I also met with Metro Transit General Manager Michelle Allison.
On Friday, my staff and I prepared for the week ahead at our district office in Kent.
You are welcome to attend the following meetings. You are also invited to write emails, letters, or request appointments with your representatives to share your thoughts about the items on the agendas for these upcoming meetings. You can find a list of councilmembers here.
Monday, October 20, 2025 9:30 AM: The Committee of the Whole will consider the Coalition of Labor Unions proposal, legislation regarding Harborview, the sewer rate and an ordinance regarding Pacific Raceways. For more information, click here.
Tuesday, October 21, 9:30: The Health, Housing and Human Services Panel chaired by CM Teresa Mosqueda will continue to review funding proposed for these services.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 1:30 pm: The Council will meet to discuss: 2025 Strategic Climate Action Plan Motion and related amendments
Thursday, October 23, 1:30: The Sound Transit Board of Directors will meet to discuss proposals for the implementation of the voter-approved Sound Transit III.
|
