When the King County Charter was first enacted, the mechanics of moving seamlessly to a new form of government was a major concern. Article 9 of the Charter, entitled “Transitory Provisions,” by its own terms is “related to the transition from the existing form of government to the form of government established by this charter.” In 1992, the County government merged with Metro and Charter section 350.20.30 was added to deal with the merger process. As Charter government has been in place for almost 40 years and the Metro merger is complete, these provisions are virtually all obsolete.

Removing obsolete material from the Charter makes the document clearer and more understandable to the public as well as less expensive to print and distribute. Citizens, including historians and other researchers, will retain archival access to the deleted material. The 2007-2008 Charter Review Commission, on which we each served, supported this amendment without dissent. We urge voters to support this essentially housekeeping measure.

STATEMENT PREPARED BY: Bryan Glynn, Doreen Cato, Lois North

No statement submitted.

Ordinance 16484

Proposed No. 2009-0259.2                                  Sponsors  Ferguson

AN ORDINANCE proposing an amendment to Section 990 of the King County Charter; repeal of Section 350.20.30 of the King County Charter, regarding the county’s prior transition to a metropolitan government; and repeal of Section 900 of the King County Charter, Section 910 of the King County Charter, Section 920 of the King County Charter, Section 920.10 of the King County Charter, Section 920.10.10 of the King County Charter, Section 920.10.20 of the King County Charter, Section 920.10.30 of the King County Charter, Section 920.10.40 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.20 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.30 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.40 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.50 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.60 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.70 of the King County Charter, Section 920.20.80 of the King County Charter, Section 920.30 of the King County Charter, Section 930 of the King County Charter, Section 940 of the King County Charter, Section 950 of the King County Charter, Section 960 of the King County Charter, Section 970 of the King County Charter, Section 970.10 of the King County Charter, Section 970.30 of the King County Charter, Section 970.40 of the King County Charter, Section 970.50 of the King County Charter and Section 980 of the King County Charter, regarding the county’s prior transition to home rule charter form of government; and submitting the same to the voters of the county for their ratification or rejection at the November 2009 general election.

            SECTION 1. There shall be submitted to the voters of King County for their approval and ratification or rejection, at the next general election to be held in this county occurring more than forty-five days after the enactment of this ordinance, an amendment to the King County Charter, amending Section 990 of the King County Charter and repealing Section 350.20.30, Section 900, Section 910, Section 920, Section 920.10, Section 920.10.10, Section 920.10.20, Section 920.10.30, Section 920.10.40, Section 920.20, Section 920.20.10, Section 920.20.20, Section 920.20.30, Section 920.20.40, Section 920.20.50, Section 920.20.60, Section 920.20.70, Section 920.20.80, Section 920.30, Section 930, Section 940, Section 950, Section 960, Section 970, Section 970.10, Section 970.30, Section 970.40, Section 970.50, and Section 980 of the King County Charter, as set forth herein:

            Section 990. Transition.

            ((Except as provided by this article, the terms of office of elective county officers subject to this charter holding office on April 30, 1969, shall terminate on the effective date of this charter. All appointed officers and employees holding office on the effective date of this charter shall continue in the performance of their duties until their successors are appointed or until their duties are transferred, altered or abolished in accordance with the provisions of this charter. All boards and Commissions whose functions have not been transferred by this charter to another agency of county government established by this charter shall continue to function for one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this charter, at the end of which time they are hereby abolished unless re-established or continued by ordinance.)) All ordinances, resolutions and other official actions of the board of county Commissioners ((which)) that are in effect on the May 1, 1969, effective date of this charter and ((which)) that are not inconsistent with this charter shall continue in effect until they are amended, repealed or superseded in accordance with the provisions of this charter. All rights, claims, actions, orders, obligations, proceedings and contracts existing on ((the effective date of this charter)) May 1, 1969, shall not be affected by the adoption of this charter.

            Section 350.20.30 repealed. Section 350.20.30 of the King County Charter, “Metropolitan Services Department Transitory Provisions,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 900 repealed. Section 900 of the King County Charter, “Effective Date and Elections.” is hereby repealed.

            Section 910 repealed. Section 910 of the King County Charter, “Councilman Districts,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920 repealed. Section 920 of the King County Charter, “Administrative Offices and Executive Department,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.10 repealed. Section 920.10 of the King County Charter, “Administrative Offices,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.10.10 repealed. Section 920.10.10 of the King County Charter, “Office of Budgets and Accounts,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.10.20 repealed. Section 920.10.20 of the King County Charter, “Office of Personnel,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.10.30 repealed. Section 920.10.30 of the King County Charter, “Office of Systems Services,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.10.40 repealed. Section 920.10.40 of the King County Charter, “Office of Property and Purchasing,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20 repealed. Section 920.20 of the King County Charter, “Executive Departments,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.10 repealed. Section 920.20.10 of the King County Charter, “Department of Public Works, Utilities and Transportation,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.20 repealed. Section 920.20.20 of the King County Charter, “Department of Public Safety,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.30 repealed. Section 920.20.30 of the King County Charter, “Department of Public Health,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.40 repealed. Section 920.20.40 of the King County Charter, “Department of Records and Elections,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.50 repealed. Section 920.20.50, “Department of Finance,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.60 repealed. Section 920.20.60 of the King County Charter, “Department of Parks,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.70 repealed. Section 920.20.70 of the King County Charter, “Department of Planning,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.20.80 repealed. Section 920.20.80 of the King County Charter, “Department of Building,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 920.30 repealed. Section 920.30 of the King County Charter, “Modification of Administrative Offices and Executive Departments,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 930 repealed. Section 930 of the King County Charter, “County Commissioners,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 940 repealed. Section 940 of the King County Charter, “County Assessor,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 950 repealed. Section 950 of the King County Charter, “Commencement and Terms of Office,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 960 repealed. Section 960 of the King County Charter, “Compensation,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 970 repealed. Section 970, “The Personnel System,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 970.10 repealed. Section 970.10, “Personnel Board Members,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 970.30 repealed. Section 970.30 of the King County Charter, “Elective County Officers,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 970.40 repealed. Section 970.40, “County Employees,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 970.50 repealed. Section 970.50 of the King County Charter, “Sheriff’s Civil Service System,” is hereby repealed.

            Section 980 repealed. Section 980 of the King County Charter, “Board of Appeals, is hereby repealed.

            SECTION 2. The clerk of the council shall certify the proposition to the county elections director, in substantially the following form, with such additions, deletions or modifications as may be required by the prosecuting attorney for the proposition listed below:

Shall the King County Charter be amended to remove no longer relevant transitional language relating to the county’s prior transition to a home rule charter and metropolitan form of government?

Ordinance 16484 was introduced on 4/13/2009 and passed by the Metropolitan King County Council on 4/27/2009, by the following vote:

    Yes: 7 - Mr. Constantine, Mr. Ferguson, Ms. Lambert, Mr. von Reichbauer,

    Mr. Phillips, Mr. Gossett and Ms. Patterson

    No: 0

    Excused: 2 - Ms. Hague and Mr. Dunn

Simple Majority (Washington State Constitution Art. XI, Sec. 4 and King County Charter Section 800)