A bill that would put an end to Community Councils in Bellevue and Kirkland appears close to passage.
House Bill 2610 was scheduled for a vote in the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee Thursday, said Sen. Craig Pridemore (D-Vancouver). The bill cleared the state House of Representatives earlier this month. If it receives the necessary four votes it will move to the Rules Committee, and may be up for a final vote within a week.
Members of both Community Councils, Bellevue and Houghton, made the trek to Olympia Tuesday to try and convince the committee of the need for these elected bodies.
“All legislators are extremely busy, and land use is very difficult,” said Bellevue Community Council Chair Steve Kasner. “We have the availability to work on these issues for hours and hours. We have been told the time and effort is what avoids litigation.”
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Larry Springer (D-Kirkland), among others. It is similar to a bill presented at the 2011 session that would have put future existence of the councils up to city wide votes. This bill does not allow this option. It simply sets an end date for these councils of Jan. 6, 2014. Previously residents within the council borders were able to vote on the continued existence of the bodies every four years.
Springer, who testified in favor of the bill Tuesday, said these councils represent another layer of government for cities to work through. The councils have veto power over land use decisions within their borders, Springer said. As a result, residents within these areas are given more power than they should have, Springer said.
“The bottom line for me is these Community Councils in this form simply violate a fundamental tenant of government, one person, one vote.”
Proponents of the bill argued that there is no accountability for these boards because no residents would waive their “second vote.” But, Kasner said, the people have held their boards accountable. The Sammamish Community Council was voted out of existence in 2001, and the Bellevue council narrowly hung on, gaining only 53 percent of the vote. Since then, Kasner said, the body has regained touch with constituents and worked harder on their behalf, as shown by the 82 percent approval rating in 2009.
