Thumbs up to Metropolitan King County Councilman Reagan Dunn for his efforts to reach out to constituents through other local governing bodies.

A cynic would say – and correctly so – that the recent actions of Dunn are what he’s supposed to do. But that doesn’t diminish the significance of what he terms his annual swing through his council district (No. 9) by visiting the City Councils of Maple Valley, Covington and Black Diamond. He talked to them about issues of mutual interest, many (if not all) of which can best be handled with cooperation between the municipal and county governments. There’s no other way, considering that District 9 is larger geographically than the state of Rhode Island and full of critical issues involving land-use, transportation, public services and economic development.

Dunn, who lives in Maple Valley, also met with representatives of the Four Creeks and Greater Maple Valley area councils, which serve as advisory groups for the County Council, and with homeowners associations and chambers of commerce. All of those have a stake in the communities around them and are taking an active role in how they evolve day-to-day and in the future.

Dunn, who’s in his fourth year as a council member, has consistently shown collegial and people-oriented instincts for governing. Take, for instance, his comment that “to best serve” his broad-based district, he must “build relationships and have open channels of communication with community leaders.”

An obvious way to go about it, for sure. But it’s still good to know that he’s doing what he means.

Editor Pat Jenkins