Committee refines legislative priorities; flags county cuts to crisis intervention training

Members of the Snoqualmie Committee of the Whole asked staff to revise the city’s legislative priorities to respond to several state- and county-level issues, including a reported King County proposal to cut funding for crisis intervention training at the police academy by 75%.

A councilmember told the committee the proposed reduction would decrease available crisis intervention classes and noted the academy’s ongoing requirement that at least 25% of police staff receive 40 hours of crisis intervention training. Committee members asked staff to prepare language for the legislative priorities that would call for maintaining funding for crisis intervention training and appropriate recruitment and retention tools for small municipalities.

Committee members also discussed transportation priorities, including continued requests for funding for State Route 18 improvements and the I‑90/Highway 18 interchange (divergent-diamond interchange). Staff suggested revising wording to request funding for Highway 18 widening generally and to keep other longstanding requests, such as local parkway funding, on the list.

On the community center expansion, members debated whether to keep a $5 million placeholder in the priorities or to present a nonbinding “about $5 million” (tilde) figure with an inflation note; staff agreed to draft updated language and bring it back to council for approval at the next meeting.

Staff will draft proposed edits and return to the council for final approval.