King County Redistricting Plans Subject of Thursday Open House

Bellevue will continue to influence two seats on the King County Council, according to four different plans for redrawing the council district seats, which will be the subject of a public forum Thursday at City Hall, 450 110th Ave NE.

Right now, the city straddles two of the three Eastside county council districts -- District 6, represented by Jane Hague, and District 9, represented by Reagan Dunn.

District 6, which is a seat up for election this year, spans between Bellevue and Kirkland, and includes Redmond, Mercer Island, Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Beaux Arts, and Yarrow Point. District 9 spans between Bellevue and Enumclaw, and includes Kent, Maple Valley, Newcastle, Black Diamond, Covington, and Renton.

Earlier this month, Mayor Don Davidson sent a letter to the county districting committee outlining several principles that the city hoped the committee would consider, including:

• Keeping Bellevue in two county council districts
• Grouping Bellevue with Eastside cities that have similar interests, including fire protection services, emergency communications and other services
• Maintaining three council districts on the Eastside of King County

Some of the changes are needed to accommodate fast growth in District 3, which represents the fast-growing Sammamish Plateau. Each draft plan uses a different approach in order to meet the redistricting requirements in state law and the County Charter. The plans are posted on the Committee website at www.kingcounty.gov/districting.

Before beginning work, the Committee held public hearings in Seattle, Kirkland, and Kent to gather community input. The new target size of a County Council District, in terms of population, is approximately 214,583 people, up from 193,000 in 2005 when the King County Council reduced the number of council seats from 13 to nine.

“The Districting Committee is working to ensure that each County resident is fairly represented in King County government,” said Committee Chair Terrence Carroll. “These four plans are alternate approaches to drawing equally populated districts that meet legal requirements and take into consideration the public input we received. The Committee looks forward to a robust community discussion on which alternatives will provide the best representation to the people of King County.”

The Districting Committee will host four public hearings to discuss the plans and gather input:

Wednesday, June 29
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Shoreline City Hall
Council Chambers
17500 Midvale Ave N
Shoreline, WA 98133

Thursday, June 30
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Bellevue City Hall
Council Chambers
450 110th Ave NE 
Bellevue, WA 98004

Thursday, July 7
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Highline Community College

Building 7
2400 S 240th Street
Des Moines, WA 98198

Tuesday, July 12
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Van Asselt 
Community Center
2820 S Myrtle Street
Seattle, WA 98108

Community members can also provide written testimony on the committee website or by writing to Districting Committee, 516 Third Avenue, Room 1200, Seattle, WA 98104. 

Following community input and further study by the Districting Committee, the draft plans may be revised, combined, or one proposal may be adopted as is.

Candidate eligibility for the King County Council races this fall will remain unaffected by the changes, but if an elected official lives in a community that is redistricted, they must run for the district in which they live in the next election cycle. A single, final district plan must be approved by the Committee by January 15, 2012.

By law, Council district boundaries must be redrawn after each U.S. Census to make each district as nearly equal in population as possible. The County Charter places sole responsibility for redistricting with the independent, citizen Districting Committee.

The new district boundaries must be compact, contiguous, and composed of economic and geographic units. To the extent feasible, the districts must correspond with the boundaries of existing municipalities, election precincts, census tracts, recognized natural boundaries, and preserve communities of related and mutual interest. Population data may not be used for purposes of favoring or disfavoring any racial group or political party.