King County Executive Ron Sims

I’m glad to share the news that our ‘green’ purchasing program is saving taxpayers big bucks.  Nearly $1 million in 2007. Recycled paper, recycled toner cartridges and hybrid cars are all part of our green bottom line.

Check out the 2007 Environmental Purchasing Program Report, at www.metrokc.gov/procure/green.

It’s official. The Port of Seattle Commissioners voted to approve the deal to purchase the Eastside Rail Corridor and preserve it in public ownership forever. You can read more about it here.

Monday, I joined Port Commissioner Tay Yoshitani, Port President John Creighton and the other Port Commissioners in Bellevue beneath the Wilburton Trestle along the rail corridor to thank them for their work on this effort. I also extended thanks to U.S. Senator Patty Murray for her support over the past couple years, Burlington Northern - Santa Fe CEO Matt Rose, King County’s Council and the community. It was wondeful to celebrate the historic moment.
We first started looking at this idea in 2006. After many discussions, changes, negotiations, and ideas from stakeholders, the King County Council unanimously approved the deal last week, followed by the Port. We had a signing ceremony in a fitting location along the corridor: beneath the Wilburton Trestle in Bellevue.

Now it’s your turn to weigh in. Plans are being made right now for a public process to gather the community’s thoughts on what the corridor should look like, how it will be used and what should be considered when making decisions about it for the future. The Port will manage the public
process so watch their site and local news media for updates over the next year.

If you drive to Taylor Mountain Forest, there’s a new parking area that opens May 12. Once you’re on foot, check out the new trails and bridges over salmon-bearing streams and wetlands. It’s an 1,845-acre forested playground that people will be able to enjoy today and 50 years from now. As a county official, part of my job is being a good steward of taxpayer money. That includes preserving and enhancing open space and forests in our region. It’s another way of investing for the future.

Get a map and more on the King County Parks Web site.

Sometimes the wheels of progress turn slowly, but they do turn. This week the King County Council closed the loop on an idea that I first started gathering input on in the fall of 2005: how to preserve what would come to be known as the Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC) in public ownership for future generations to enjoy.

This past weekend, the importance of the corridor was brought home to me again when a friend and I spent several hours biking the Cedar River Trail – another former rail corridor. We rode to the Renton Airport, then took the trail upriver to the Maple Valley area. Along the way, we passed people walking, biking, and pushing their kids in strollers as they enjoyed the morning.

Some people had clearly driven to the trail to take a walk, while others stepped right out their back door to stroll with a cup of coffee and enjoy their neighbors.

The Cedar River Trail connects to the Eastside Rail Corridor and they both offer amazing views of wildlife, forests and precious wetlands. The ERC also runs through six major economic centers on the eastside of Lake Washington, almost like a string of pearls on a chain. By keeping the corridor in public ownership, we are keeping open the possibility that true multi-use transportation, trail and rail, may one day link those pearls.

This project exemplifies the work we try to do in the county; bringing communities together, making it easy for people to have healthier lifestyles, preserving green space and wetlands and providing alternative ways of commuting.

In the end, just one vote away from preserving this land, we all feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment and look forward to the next journey.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to May Day march in Seattle yesterday; however the issue of citizenship is very important to me. Please listen, or read, my thoughts on pathways to citizenship.

Listen to my comments on May Day:
simsmayday2008 (MP3, 2 MB)

Everyone got to this county by boat, voluntarily or involuntarily, or by land bridge.

We are the only nation in the world to achieve such extraordinary greatness without a common gene pool. We are a nation of immigrants that made a decision to come here, resolve our differences peacefully, respect the cultures that we bring and the talents and skills, and I believe that our continued greatness will be based upon whether or not we provide pathways to citizenship. We were founded as a country that created pathways to citizenship. We have nothing to fear.

And I believe we can be an example to the rest of the world, which has been unable to be welcoming. A world that feasts on its differences, goes to war over its differences, creates classes of people on their differences, those who have opportunities and those who do not have opportunities based on their differences – we call them ethnic. We call them tribal.

And I believe that we can be a truer beacon of light by not ever descending into the depths of disdain for people who are different than us, worried about whether they can contribute to our great economy.

We should provide pathways to citizenship – celebrate our diversity as the strength it is.

This nation is diverse – no common gene pool. And it is an extraordinarily great nation. And quite frankly those people who wish now to close down our borders and tell people they’re not welcome are removing the very thing that made us a great nation – diversity of culture, opinion, language and religion.

But we all found a common purpose and that was what it meant to be an American. And being proud of being an American and being proud of being a citizen of the United States of America.

And I don’t want that door closed.

Housing costs have been on my mind lately. A Seattle P-I story today said Seattle house values at lowest since ’06 and the Seattle Times reports Home sales dive in King County, but prices don’t, showing that housing costs are still a stretch or completely out of reach for many people in our region.

I was pleased that on Monday the council adopted my expansion of the King County Credit Enhancement Program. We added $100 million in additional credit to create more workforce and low-income housing by leveraging King County’s credit rating to reduce financing costs for housing developments. In exchange for lower financing costs, developers or project owners agree to include affordable housing units in their project. This is the first major milestone of my Equity and Social Justice Initiative and I appreciate the council’s support.

Over the next five years, this will help develop or preserve about 500 to 800 affordable units in several different housing developments countywide. It helps, but I’m working with the county council and community housing partners to do more.

It may seem counter-intuitive with the grim economic news we read each day, but the low interest rates and high housing inventory actually make this a good time to buy a home for many people. Over the coming months, King County is going to be partnering with builders, realtors and others to educate people about the home buying process and its many benefits.

We want on-going efforts to make sure people at all income levels can afford to live in our beautiful region.

On Earth Day, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Bert the Salmon, EcoConsumer Tom Watson, the Yard Talk Guys and hundreds of folks who stopped by the 5th annual King County Earth Day Expo in Seattle’s Westlake Park. Our DNRP staff set up the King County booth and shared ideas on easy ways to go green, volunteer for Earth-friendly activities, reduce your carbon footprint and make your home and garden more environmentally sound.

Events like that are so fun for me because I can talk to people about how this fits into their lives and what it means for their family. Taking the bus more often or carpooling, shutting off the water while you brush your teeth, using low-flow water fixtures and energy-efficient light bulbs, recycling and composting are things most people can do to help.

As part of “living green” at our house, we recycle, compost our food scraps to use in our garden, bike to work when the weather permits, and use a hybrid car when it doesn’t. Sure, they’re small steps. But they have a big impact when we all pitch in.

The best part of the Earth Day Expo for me was seeing all the kids in the Children’s activity corner learning how to promote environmental awareness and learn fun ecological facts. I want kids like my granddaughter to inherit a world that’s better off environmentally than it is now. We have a lot of work to do, but the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks has some tips on making easy environmental choices at the website It’s Easy Being Green. Peace to you.

It’s easy being green. Even at a baseball game. Actually, it took a lot of planning and effort by the Mariner’s to celebrate Earth Day 2008 with the first carbon neutral major league baseball game in history! I was honored to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The M’s not only won the game, 4-2 against the Orioles, the earth scored with less carbon emissions as the team owners purchased carbon offsets for all energy use at the stadium and all travel including jet travel by both teams and the umps. They promoted recycling among vendors and fans and pitched the idea to thousands of fans that by making small changes in the usual way they do things we get a healthier earth including the air and water we depend on. The county’s DNRP had a booth titled “It’s easy being green” and saw a surprising amount of interest from fans who stopped by. It was an Earth Day home run!