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One King County and a Tale of Two Cities
Summary
My message during the campaign – which has remained the same throughout the first 18 months of my administration -- is that we need to unite our county—the 14th largest in the nation—around our common goals and values.
Story
Speech from Executive Constantine
Good Morning. Thank you for having me here today.
Crossing the bridge this morning, I was reminded vividly that the sun indeed rises just a little earlier on the Eastside. That may be one reason why so much gets done here in Bellevue—and why you seem to enjoy breakfast meetings so much.
The hard work of all of you in this room is what any visitor sees when they drive through—or, in the future, perhaps takes a train through—the community of Bellevue: a dynamic city that is literally on the rise.
It’s your hard work, vision, and commitment to innovation that inspired me two years ago to headquarter my campaign just on the other side of the highway.
My message during the campaign – which has remained the same throughout the first 18 months of my administration -- is that we need to unite our county—the 14th largest in the nation—around our common goals and values.
Since taking office, and with the able help of Deputy Executive Fred Jarrett, we have worked to execute on a clear and simple set of objectives:
First, REFORM county government to meet the needs and priorities of families, businesses, and communities throughout the county.
One of the first steps in this reform has been to put King County and its budget on stable footing. This required tough choices to close a $60 million-dollar gap in the county General Fund and to eliminate nearly 400 positions across County government.
And we worked with—not against—our employees, more than 90 percent of whom stepped up to voluntarily forgo cost-of-living increases this year, saving $23 million that could go back into services for the public.
These efforts, combined with a continual process of reform, put us on a path to break the pattern of dramatic annual service reductions that we’ve seen just about every year for the last decade.
Second, CONNECT our job centers, neighborhoods, recreation and rural areas through new policies that reflect true regional cooperation.
Our reform of how we allocate Metro Transit service is a great example—we are breaking down arbitrary political divisions to focus on connecting people to jobs, to education, and to vibrant retail centers like downtown Bellevue where they have opportunities to spend their money.
Third, PREPARE our region to be poised to take advantage of the emerging economic recovery, and position us for lasting success.
We will do this by investing in much-needed infrastructure improvements, and creating a foundation that will keep our region competitive and preserve our quality of life.
Throughout our offices are posters reminding employees of our King County Strategic Plan—the working document adopted last year to guide our reform agenda and set the tone for true regional partnerships.
At the top of those posters it says simply: Working Together for One King County. That is more than a slogan. It means that every action we take as a government needs to consider the impacts on the entire region.
Most of us share the vision and goals of One King County: every day, tens of thousands of our neighbors commute from Ravenna to Redmond, Bellevue to Belltown, South County to South Lake Union, and Kent to Kirkland.
Our communities are joined by roads and rail, buses and bikes. We pursue common interests, such as education and commerce, sports and culture, hiking and boating, and just spending time with friends and family.
Most of us in this room get it. The vast majority of our neighbors throughout the County get it. But there are factions in our two largest cities that just don’t get it.
Yes, within our story of One King County is a Tale of Two Cities.
In both of these proud, forward-thinking cities there is an odd undercurrent, an opposing force, that if yielded to results in: Gridlock. Transportation gridlock. Political gridlock. Economic gridlock.
In one city, the city across the lake, a small faction seems to believe that the key to the future lies in forcing traffic gridlock so that people abandon their cars.
This group is guided by a noble set of values: to address the realities of climate change, to fight overdependence on foreign oil, and to promote the fact that merely adding capacity is never a lasting solution in solving traffic congestion.
I share many of these values, but I disagree with them on a simple point.
I know that traffic congestion—even intentionally-created traffic congestion—has dreadful and unintended impacts to our economy, our quality of life—and our environment.
I don’t want a 6-lane, slow-motion, surface highway along Seattle’s waterfront. And we all know that freight doesn’t take the bus.
I support the bored tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct because I want to see a world-class waterfront, in a world-class city, that isn’t choked with buses, trucks, and cars sitting in gridlock.
I want to see a Port that can compete internationally, while creating family-wage jobs in the most trade-dependent state in the nation.
A contract’s been signed, let’s get the tunnel started and put people back to work.
On the flipside of the gridlock crowd in Seattle is a group here in Bellevue, whose opposite stance could create the same result.
Opposition to light rail – despite the will of the voters who approved East Link – has created an atmosphere of political gridlock and acrimony outmatched only perhaps by the Viaduct debate.
That gridlock threatens to create unnecessary delays in bringing voter-approved and voter-funded service to this vibrant, growing downtown community.
We owe it to the voters who spoke with a clear voice for light rail – we owe it to the employers and communities – those both in and beyond Bellevue – to move forward.
We must acknowledge that a car-only culture, the mirror image of that faction in Seattle, is simply not consistent with our shared vision for the future …. and it’s not, as I mentioned, how we prepare our region for the greatness we can achieve.
What then is our urban vision—how do we move forward to embrace that bright future?
It starts with how we develop our built environments and link our communities.
Like most of you, and like this region’s voters, I believe we are best served by a true, multi-modal transportation and transit network.
That means more transit and more efficient transit, cleaner cars, less congestion, safe routes for bikes and pedestrians, and walkable urban centers where we are closer to shopping, schools, and jobs.
We should not try to reduce our dependence on the car by creating congestion and harming downtowns—that merely forces frustrated residents and businesses to abandon the urban core and sprawl into rural and ex-urban areas.
Instead, we must direct capital investments into our downtowns to make them exciting, livable hubs of commerce and culture.
It’s happening here in Bellevue. It’s happening in South Lake Union and other Seattle neighborhoods. It’s happening in Renton, in Kent, in Burien.
Growth policies must be driven by thoughtful partnerships, NOT by narrow-minded obstructionism.
The recent census offers stark and important reminders of what happens when a region fails to invest in its urban centers, when transit is left to wither, and when jobs and people migrate to sprawling suburbs.
King County maintained its status as the nation’s 14th most populous county because two counties passed us—each going in different directions.
Wayne County, Michigan—home to the crumbling city of Detroit – has fallen behind us. Detroit lost 25 percent of its population over the past decade, and is now half the size it was when the Automobile capitol of the world was America’s 5th largest city.
Clark County, Nevada—that’s Las Vegas—pulled ahead of us - hardly a model for how a county can grow gracefully.
We should not believe we are immune from the struggles both of these counties face.
Regions that fail to plan ahead and prepare for economic change, also fail to adapt and evolve politically, fail to seize opportunities and fail to take chances in order to embrace the future.
Regions that allow or even encourage sprawl drive financial and intellectual capital first into the suburbs, then to states with more dynamic and vibrant urban communities. It is a cautionary tale.
Thankfully, here in King County our urban centers are doing it right by investing in infrastructure, attracting businesses, and becoming more vital and vibrant.
Recent statistics are hopeful harbingers of an emerging economic recovery:
- Boeing plans to hire at least 4,000 employees in each of the next two years, most of whom will be in Washington state.
- Microsoft just announced pay raises for its employees.
- A new report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment recently ranked the Puget Sound 2010 office market as the fourth-best nationally for improvement in office vacancy rates.
- And the Business Journals just ranked the Seattle Metropolitan Area 5th in the nation for small business vitality—up from the 10th position in 2010.
We are indeed poised for success—precisely because so many of us recognize the intrinsic value of our strong, diverse, urban communities.
Investments in our urban centers over the past decades are paying huge dividends—and present our best opportunity for future prosperity.
The average age in Seattle is now 36—in Bellevue it’s 38. These are young professionals drawn to high tech and biotech, trade and finance, non-profit and community services.
The Eastside remains a crucible of innovation and advancement, driven by a truly global community of leaders. These professionals represent the future— they are pro-density, pro-transit, pro-environment, and pro-education, and they want to get things done. They will stay here, and grow businesses here, and attract other employers to a region where government is a thoughtful facilitator and planner, not an impediment to progress.
The pace of change and reform we need allows no time for dithering and old-style divisiveness.
Your elected leaders must demonstrate that we are focused on results, on recognizing there is more that connects us as a region than separates us as political jurisdictions.
The bridges—and tunnels— that connect us are more than metal and concrete. They represent the true interconnected nature of our growing region.
They represent the fact that we are willing, as a region, to invest in the systems that connect our people and our jobs.
If we don’t build the deep-bore tunnel in Seattle, there will be consequences.
We will get regional gridlock. Our billion dollars in state highway money will go to another county, one less urban than ours, to facilitate sprawl and move jobs elsewhere.
Our cities, our economy, our quality of life, our people lose.
If we don’t build light rail on the Eastside, we not only break our pledge to voters, but we fail future generations.
We should not look backward at what divides us. We should look forward with an understanding that future growth will unite our region and make us stronger.
So how can we build on our shared successes and move confidently into the future as One King County?
First, let’s find our collective political voice.
We know we need to move people and goods more efficiently. We know we need more cooperation and thoughtful, results-driven leadership. We know we need accountability from elected officials and corporations. So let’s support and vote for those leaders who share what we know to be our vision and values.
Second, let’s recognize and market our urban centers.
Driving density and dollars into our built landscapes is not only more cost-effective than sprawl, it pays dividends in reduced commute times, in better access to transit, and less dependence on $4 or $5 a gallon gasoline.
And it acts as a magnet for culture, and commerce, and the “creative class” of younger, educated professionals who are essential to our community’s economic strength and diversity.
Third, let’s plan for the future.
Nearly two decades ago, our region adopted growth management policies and priorities that provided the foundation for the incredible growth of the past twenty years.
This year, the County and its cities – including Bellevue – are meeting at the table as the Growth Management Planning Council, to adopt new policies and priorities to accommodate two more decades of growth, in a manner that maintains and improves our quality of life and natural environment.
Tomorrow I have the honor of chairing a key meeting of the GMPC, where we will release the first public draft of Countywide Planning Policies that will shape how we can enhance our urban environments, preserve the character of our small cities, protect our wild areas, and link communities of all sizes.
Our approach to this countywide planning process will integrate the values and ideas I have shared with you this morning:
- Compact urban design where every urban center retains its own character, and each is noted for its livability, vibrancy, and healthy environment.
- Multi-modal transportation that will connect these centers and emphasize the efficient movement of people, goods and information.
- Economic diversity that provides for a predictable business environment, effective public-private partnerships, and robust economic development.
- Cultural diversity, where our children’s opportunities to thrive are dictated not by zip code, skin color, or parent’s income, but by determination and drive.
- Stewardship of our natural environment that protects our land, air, water, and energy resources for future generations.
- Protection and preservation of rural lands that keeps farmers farming, supports sustainable forestry, and meets our residents’ demand for healthy, locally-grown food.
Since I began by noting the incredible work ethic of the people in this room — and since your food, local or otherwise, is now consumed — before you get on with your day I want to leave you with a couple of thoughts.
Over the past two years we have faced challenges unlike any seen by the past two generations.
We have faced many of these challenges with strength and clarity for which our children and grandchildren may one day thank us.
The next chapter in our story is not pre-destined to be a tale of two cities, a tale of how we lost ground and undermined the foundations of our prosperity.
We can write our own next chapter as the story of One King County.
A region guided by forward-thinking, inclusive leaders in the private and public sectors. A region led by partnerships committed to reform and accountability. A region guided by the connections that bind our communities, where we are always poised to capitalize on opportunities that prepare us for a better future.
For our cities – and our region – that is our job.
Now, let’s get to work.
