George Orwell’s novel, “Animal Farm,” said it succinctly: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” He could have been speaking about community councils.

Now a bill in the Legislature would do away with these anachronisms. It’s about time.

For years, Bellevue has had to put up with two of these entities: the Sammamish Community Council and the East Bellevue Community Council. (Another one – the Houghton Community Council – is in Kirkland.

Residents within the boundaries of the Sammamish Community Council had the good sense several years ago to vote their community council out of existence. It almost happened to the East Bellevue group, too.

Now the Legislature can finish the job.

Bellevue’s community councils came about when residents in east Bellevue were considering annexing to the city. However, the only way they would agree to become part of Bellevue was if they had veto power over land-use decisions within their boundaries.

Their fear was that Bellevue would dump undesirable housing in their neighborhoods because members of the City Council lived elsewhere. What’s actually happened is that Bellevue has treated all of its neighborhoods equally by providing benefits and improvements to all areas of the city on a rotating basis. No part of Bellevue gets more than others and no one is left out.

Still, the community councils existed, costing the city money for little, if any, benefit. Especially in these days of scarce resources, that can’t be justified.

A bill to end community councils already has passed the House by a 56-40 vote. The Senate held hearings on the measure this week.

There’s no reason for the Senate to delay. It’s time to eliminate community councils.

– Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter