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Committee forwards legislative priorities to council, reprioritizes Snoqualmie Parkway transfer
Summary
The Finance & Administration Committee agreed to forward a draft list of legislative priorities to the full council for consideration, removing a specific dollar amount for a community center expansion and moving the Snoqualmie Parkway jurisdiction transfer higher on the list to reflect local urgency.
Chair Johnson moved the committee's draft legislative priorities to the full city council for further discussion, saying the packet should be shared with legislators even though the short session is already underway. "I still think that this is worth sending along to our legislators as they are our representatives for the entire term that they serve," Johnson said, arguing the priorities should reach legislators whether or not they can act this session.
The committee agreed to avoid listing a specific dollar amount for the proposed community center expansion until staff can confirm a final cost. The city attorney (counsel) recommended striking the exact figure and instead "requesting state and county funding to support a pool and leave it as ambiguous as the exact dollar figure," to avoid sending potentially misleading numbers to legislators. Council Member Washington supported that approach: "I think since we don't know the dollar figure, it'd be smart not to put a dollar figure on there until we know the dollar figure."
Members also debated the order of priorities to ensure items would be visible to legislators. A member urged moving the Snoqualmie Parkway jurisdiction transfer higher on the list so it does not get lost, recommending it appear directly beneath priorities such as affordable housing and public safety. The chair said the committee would forward the revised list to the council as a discussion item rather than on consent so the full council could consider the order and language.
The action taken at the meeting was procedural: the committee forwarded the draft priorities package to the full council with the suggested edits and reprioritization. No formal vote on policy adoption occurred at this meeting; the full council will consider the item at a forthcoming meeting.
The committee also confirmed that staff would supply candidate names and liaison assignments to members before the next meeting so appointment decisions can be reviewed in advance.
