By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
On Tuesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine addressed the County Council, county officials, and the media highlighting achievements from the past year and laying out a vision for the future on several policy fronts in his State of the County address.
“This address is about what we value, and who we fight for,” said Constantine. “This notion is ingrained in everything we do as leaders. Everything our 18,000 employees do every day. King County, I stand here today proud of all we have accomplished.”
“The list of hard-won victories is remarkable. The achievements of our employees form a roadmap that any government can follow,” he added.
During his address, Constantine emphasized that King County has an opportunity to create a progressive region that is worthy of our children and their children and provides opportunities for everyone.
“If we seize it, we can show this state, this nation, what it means for a government to be a catalyst for progress and in the progress to leave no one behind,” said Constantine.
Constantine began his speech addressing crime and homelessness and how the County is investing time, energy, and manpower to help individuals avoid incarceration and homelessness.
“Let’s start with the crisis of crime. This is one of the most obvious and impactful challenges in our community and, while its origins are many, it requires the policy and fiscal leverage of our government and the strength of our entire region to solve,” said Constantine. “Too many of our neighbors spend their days worrying about how they are going to survive the night or where they are going to get their next meal. But, unlike other places, we have decided that here in King County, we are not going to treat homelessness as an annoyance overlooked but as a challenge we can help people overcome.”
“Two years ago, I launched Health Through Housing and the acquisition of our first hotel. Since then, we have purchased ten more properties. And now, nearly 600 formerly unhoused people have a place to call home,” Constantine continued. “On top of that, together with our partners across the county, we funded another 640 homes last year for veterans and people transitioning out of homelessness.”
According to Constantine, the county is also working closely with cities in South King County to move people from encampments along the Green River into housing with the support to help them start again.
In addition, King County is investing in programs to help families, veterans, and those experiencing homelessness where they can earn a livable wage, move into a place of their own, and turn their skills and talents into a job.
“There is no escaping the fact that our region’s staggering economic success has been great for a lot of folks, particularly those at the top,” said Constantine. “But too many are left behind. We must make it affordable for everyone here to have a home. That is why we invested $25 million in housing that is affordable to working people with more modest incomes and more than a thousand of those units are opening up this year.”
“You know our mission, our truth, to make this a place where every person has not just what they need to survive but has the opportunity to thrive,” he added.
In recent years, the nation has engaged in a long-overdue conversation about genuine justice for all. Constantine declared that the county has been taking action towards this end, expanding its diversion programs to hold individuals accountable for their actions while helping to turn their lives around and reduce repeat offenses.
Regarding the crisis of crime, Constantine described in detail the steps taken to address police accountability, the war on drugs, and protecting communities to ensure citizens’ health and safety.
“In the next few weeks, the sheriff’s office will begin deploying body-worn and dash cameras, a critical tool of transparency and objectivity for the communities we serve,” said Constantine. “Under the leadership of Sheriff Patty Cole Tindle, we’ve hired more than 55 new deputies. We are bringing the latest de-escalation and anti-bias expertise to the hard work of keeping us all safe.”
Constantine emphasized that protecting health and safety requires constant vigilance. “Fentanyl has flooded American streets, including ours, in tragedy after tragedy,” said Constantine. “King County is fighting back. In the last year, the sheriff’s offices stopped more than 750,000 pills from hitting the streets. Public health connected 10,000 people with treatment. We have distributed over 13,000 overdose prevention kits.”
Constantine made it clear that through all of these accomplishments, King County is safer today than it was a year ago. The county executive also spoke about voters demanding the preservation and restoration of valuable and irreplaceable wilderness and open space. The county is investing in removing barriers along streets, opening up long-lost habitats for salmon, and investing in the health of Puget Sound. The county is working with the region’s tribes to protect the environment, the region, and its inhabitants – both human and animal. Constantine spoke on lowering emissions statewide, encompassing all of these efforts in the overall fight against climate change.
Constantine also spoke on the renovations of the halls of government that span several blocks in the downtown core between 6th Ave and 3rd Ave. Through investments from a collaborative effort involving all community, private, and public entities, the county aims to rebuild the historical buildings in which local government resides.
“Let’s keep showing the rest of the country what it looks like to get the difficult stuff done,” Constantine declared. “On every issue where Washington, DC, fails to act, Washington State has the chance to step up, with King County leading the way.”
