King County’s Countywide Community Forums (CCF) is seeking participants for their upcoming Round 5 of forums, with “Public Trust: Customer Service and Public Engagement,” as the main theme, beginning May 1 and continuing through June 13.

The objective is to highlight efforts to improve how county government responds to citizens through the use of technology and traditional means. For the first time forums will be offered for 6 weeks throughout King County between May 1 and June 13, 2010. To register and find a forum near you, go to CommunityForums.org or call toll-free at (800) 369-2584.

“The issue of public engagement and open government continues to be a major area of interest for county residents,” says Matt Rosenberg, director for CCF, “This next round of forums will take a more comprehensive look at how people interact day-to-day with county services and employees, and whether people believe an initiative like this can make county government more responsive and accountable.”

“King County government must continue to increase government accessibility and transparency,” says Council Chair Bob Ferguson. “I am pleased to participate in this important conversation with our constituents and am looking forward to receiving their feedback.”

Titled “Public Trust: Customer Service and Public Engagement,” the CCF Opinionnaire® survey for Round 5 is the result of a comprehensive process involving the County Executive, Councilmembers, the King County Auditor, community leaders, and King County residents.

Forum participants will be asked to rate their experience with county employees and services, and register their concerns and opinions about how best to access information or provide feedback to county officials. Results of the CCF survey will be tabulated and released to the public and media in early July.

Results from past Rounds are available online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/auditor/communityforums

Over 1,800 people have registered to serve as a Citizen Councilor since the program began in 2007. In 2009, the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2.org) recognized CCF as an innovative project designed to encourage civic engagement.

Unlike a traditional public forum, CCF meetings are small, 4 to 12 people. Each forum lasts about two hours, includes a discussion and a survey, and begins with the viewing

The CCF program uses no taxpayer funds and is free to participants. Anyone living or working in King County is welcome to participate. The program is overseen by the King County Auditor’s office and is managed by the volunteer leadership of Dick Spady, co- founder of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants Inc., and his sons John and Jim Spady.

To register as a volunteer Citizen Councilor, attend a small group meeting, or host a meeting, go to www.CommunityForums.org or call (206) 296-1633, toll-free (800) 369- 2584, or email CommunityForums@KingCounty.gov.

Together with the King County Sheriff’s Office, Burien and SeaTac Police are continuing their twice-yearly “Citizen’s Police Academy” program with an orientation on Thursday, March 11th, and classes on Wednesday nights from 6pm-9pm.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Citizen’s Police Academy Training

WHEN: Starts Thursday, March 11th and continues through April 24th. Classes are held on Wednesday nights from 6pm to 9pm at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien.

Classes will run for 13 weeks, plus a graduation ceremony including a certificate of completion and pictures with police staff. A light meal will be provided for students. There are presentations by many of the Sheriff’s Office Units and several opportunities for hands-on experiences, plus a field trip to the King County Communications Center.

The training sessions are held twice a year in the spring and fall. The sessions require approximately 20 hours to complete. There is a minimal fee for tools supplied to students, enabling them to build their own emergency response kit.

WHERE: Initial meeting is at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Station, which is located at 15100 8th Ave SW in Burien; subsequent classes will be at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien.

COST: FREE!

INFO: From a press release:

Graduates of the Citizen’s Police Academy will have a better understanding of the law enforcement role in the criminal justice system and an appreciation for the many challenges facing law enforcement in today’s complex society. They will also be better able to assist offices in improving their neighborhoods and communities.

The goal is for emergency personnel to train members of neighborhoods, community organizations or workplaces in basic preparation and response skills. CERT members are then integrated into the emergency response capability for their area.

SeaTac and Burien Fire and Police Departments partner in offering this eight-week training held on weekday evenings, with a Practical Fianl Exercise held on a Saturday. Sessions require approximately 20 ours to complete. There is a minimal fee for tools supplied to students, enabling them to build their own emergency response kit.

Training is designed to cover the following:

• Disaster Preparedness
• Fire Safety
• Disaster Medical Operations (Triage, Treating Life Threatening Injuries, and Assessment, Treatment and Hygiene.)
• Light Search and Rescue
• Team Organization
• Disaster Psychology
• Terrorism

Graduates will also be eligible for the Ride-Along program, in which you can spend up to an entire shift riding with an officer.

This course is an unforgettable experience and it’s completely free for anyone who lives or works in the cities of SeaTac or Burien!

There are two sessions each year and they fill up fast, so register early with your local Community Service Officer.

If you are interested in attending the next session and would like an application sent to you by mail, please contact CSO Mechee Burnett at mechee.burnett@kingcounty.gov or 206.973.4917 (you can also download a PDF application here).

• SEATAC: If you are from the SeaTac area, please contact: CSO Eloise Kruger: 206-973-4915 or ekruger@ci.seatac.wa.us
• BURIEN: If you are from the Burien area, please contact: CSO Nicki Maraulja: 206-296-3333 or nicki.maraulja@kingcounty.gov

In King County, Countywide Community Forums are a network of small group meetings where people throughout the county can discuss current issues and provide feedback to King County officials.

Two to four times a year, registered Citizen Councilors meet in homes, libraries and other locations to learn more about an issue that matters to them, discuss it with the group and complete a detailed survey on their views.

The next round of forums will be held in February on the topic:

“Citizen Priorities for County Government:
Budget and Strategic Options.”

For more information on Countywide Community Forums, please go to this website.

Where and when are the forums?
Forums are organized by fellow Citizen Councilors at homes, workplace or libraries 2-4 times a year during a one-month participation window set by the Auditor. When notified of an upcoming round of forums, you will be able to select the time and place that works best for you on the Countywide Community Forums‘ website:

www.CommunityForums.org

If you prefer, the Volunteer Coordinators will help you choose the most convenient forum over the phone; just call (206) 296-1633 and they’ll set you up.

Here some more info from their website:

Do you want to get more involved?
If you would like to be more involved in Countywide Community Forums, you can volunteer to be a Community Forums Host/Convener. Conveners find a convenient meeting place and conduct a forum session. You can host your own meeting or become a guest at someone else’s meeting. “Please register as an official, volunteer, Citizen Councilor, or contact us to let us know that you are interested.

There are also opportunities to get involved as an outreach volunteer. Outreach volunteers help spread the word about the community forums to their community or organization. In particular, we are looking for outreach volunteers in South King County.

Contact us by email or by calling (206) 296-1633.

What to expect at a forum?
At each forum meeting, 4-12 participants:

• Watch a short video and/or review a brief written summary of the key facts and different perspectives on the issue under discussion.
• Take two minutes each to state their views on the topic, uninterrupted by other members of the group.
• Participate in an open group discussion.
• Complete an “Opinionnaire®”: a confidential survey tool that asks specific questions about the current topic and the forums process.

To attend this meeting, you must click here to Sign up/Sign in!

by Nicholas Wolfe

The Port of Seattle committed “fraud” by misrepresenting its actual plan for use of the third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport until after the controversial addition went into operation on Nov. 20, CASE (Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion) president Brett Fish of Burien charged at a meeting of the watchdog group Wednesday evening.

“I know that’s a strong term, but I don’t know what else to say….”

“A lot of heads should roll down the third runway,” Fish declared as he criticized port officials for using it 24/7 as a primary runway, even in good weather conditions, despite repeated pre-construction assurances that it would be used only in bad weather – and then primarily for landings to prevent flight delays. “They lied about not using it as a main runway…. Do we want to become a jet ghetto? I don’t think so. It’s our job to turn this thing around.”

And the first step in turning things around, both Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler and Fish emphasized, is for Highline residents who are experiencing negative impacts from third runway flight operations to speak out at a public meeting of the Highline Forum with port officials at 2 p.m. Thursday, January 8, at the port office on the mezzanine level of the main terminal at Sea-Tac. Parking will be validated upon request.

Sheckler also is co-chairman of the Highline Forum, which is comprised of the cities of Des Moines, Normandy Park, Burien, Tukwila, SeaTac and Federal Way, the Highline School District, and the port. The forum – which replaced the Airport Communities Coalition that for a decade tried to block the third runway – was organized after construction got underway to promote cooperative relationships between the Sea-Tac and neighboring cities.

“I never expected to be before you again on third runway issues. At least I hoped I wouldn’t be,” Sheckler told CASE members. But now it’s “very, very clear how it’s operating,” he observed. “It’s like a main runway … it’s obvious to me that the third runway will continue to be used as a main runway. So the focus needs to be on mitigation.”

In the past, Sheckler continued, “the port has been fairly good on addressing issues of mitigation. But this is really a big one…. When the third runway was built, they never looked at it in terms of impact by its use as a main runway…. We need to ask them, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”

Noting that “we were caught off guard” by the immediate use of third runway as a main rather than a backup runway – which Highline communities had been assured it would be – he added, “We weren’t prepared for this. The first thing we have to do now is see what the port’s response is. We hope to find that out” at Thursday’s meeting. “I want everyone to remember to ask, ‘Why did you tell us that?’”

Asked by one community resident about the possibility of suing the Port – and even the Federal Aviation Administration – for damages, Sheckler replied, “That’s what I’m hoping to avoid. I hope the port does not have a short-term memory loss…. But if the third runway becomes a major issue … there’s going to be hell to pay for it.”

While CASE membership is comprised of veterans of the anti-third-runway fight, an outspoken newcomer is Miriam Bearse of Burien, who moved to the city late last year. “We weren’t aware of the third runway when we bought our home,” she said. But the impact on their lives has “been astounding…. That roar (of jets flying low overhead). The whistling. It sounds like it’s getting so close…. No matter how hard I try, it strikes fear in me.

“That the port should be able to go back on their word is incredible,” Bearse declared. “I don’t think that we should stand for it.”

She said a meeting for affected homeowners and renters only, at which the possibility of legal action against the port will be discussed, will be held at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, at the SeaTac Community Center (full details here).

Burien Deputy Mayor Rose Clark, who lives close to the third runway, said noise from flight operations “is an increasing problem” that rattles her windows to the point that she is concerned they will break eventually. “We need to do something soon.”

Beyond the possibility of such damage, Clark is concerned about the negative impact on the value of neighboring homes. Her house “was devalued by $20,000 by King County” due to the second runway at Sea-Tac. “Now I expect its devaluation to be even greater.”

The impact of devaluation doesn’t stop with individual homeowners. “Property devaluation also impacts local cities and the Highline School District,” she noted, “because lower valuation results in less property tax revenue.”

One member of the audience noted that a port representative had told a long-time resident, who complained about the noise, “It’s your fault for living there.”

Another exclaimed, “Since the state is out of money and the feds are out of money, why don’t we just shut the goddamn runway down?”

But, observed a third, there is little community residents can do because the “jet airplane mobsters” operate under laws passed by Congress.

Both the port and the FAA are expected to study the impacts of the third runway – a process that could take months if not years. “In the meantime,” Fish suggested, “have them back off on the use of the third runway and do what they said they would.”

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The White Center Blog would like to welcome its newest Writer, Nicholas Wolfe, to our team. Wolfe is an investigative journalist who will be covering community issues. Look for more of his coverage of the third runway noise issue soon!]