Metropolitan King County Council members met June 16 in Federal Way to discuss amendments to how the county is governed.

The council discussed proposed county charter changes, some of which focus on anti-discrimination, the budget, elections and union negotiations, among other things. Comments and suggestions were also taken from citizens, including a Maple Valley-area advocate of increased representation for residents of rural areas.

The charter is the constitution for county-level government. It was adopted by voters in 1969 and outlines the county’s checks and balances, accountability and merit.

Once every 10 years, the charter is reviewed by a commission of citizens. Recommended changes to the charter are then forwarded to the County Council for possible approval. If the council passes the amendments, they are voted upon by the public. In the case of the current proposals, that would be part of this fall’s election.

Since its original adoption, only 19 amendments to the charter have been embraced, said Rebecha Cusak, the council’s liaison to the King County Charter Review Commission.

The 21-person commission finished its review of the charter in May, following 55 meetings in the past year. It has proposed 12 ways in which the charter could be improved. Ten are in the form of amendments and two were made as recommendations.

Proposed amendments include:

• Anti-discrimination: This would prohibit excluding a person from county employment based on disability, sexual orientation, gender or expression. The charter already includes non-discrimatory language, but this amendment would expand upon those efforts, commission member John Jensen said.

• Budget review timeline: Extend the time, by 20 days, the county council has to review the county executive’s proposed budget. The review period would be altered from 45 days to 65 days.

• Citizen initiative amendments: Clarify the process by which county citizens could amend the charter through an initiative. It would require citizens to gather the signatures of 20 percent of King County voters. Amending the charter “shouldn’t be an easy thing to do, because the charter is essentially the constitution of the county,” said Tara Jo Heinecke, a commission member.

At the town hall-style meeting in Federal Way, audience member Michael Nelson questioned the logic on requiring a large number of signatures to introduce a change to the charter.

“Making it difficult to bring a citizen amendment is very undemocratic,” he said.

• Elections deadlines: This would authorize the county to establish a deadline for submitting ballot measures to the county’s elections department.

• Elected officials and collective bargaining: Require the county executive to encourage and allow more involvement of elected officials, including the sheriff, in contract negotiations with employees.

• Open-space protection: This would provide protection for more than 100,000 acres of open space in which the county owns an interest.

• Regional committees: Reduce the number of council members serving on regional boards and committees. Also, establish a vice-chairman position to be filled by a non-council member and increase the authority of committees to initiate legislation. A need for this arose when the council was decreased from 13 positions to nine, commission member Allan Munro explained. “They were just breathlessly running from one meeting to another one and were unable to respond to citizens’ complaints,” he said.

• Unincorporated representation: Designate a position under the county executive to represent the interests of the county’s unincorporated areas. The commission received abundant feedback from citizens in those areas, Munro said, and they want better representation.

The county is growing too fast for the executive and the council to handle representation of all areas and people, said Richard Bonewitz, who resides near Maple Valley. He said he supports giving more representation to the unincorporated areas.

Council members walk a fine line between offering unincorporated residents representation while also providing them a desired lack of city regulations, said Councilman Pete von Reichbauer. Council members and other officials need to redouble their efforts to represent residents in unincorporated areas, he said.

• Commission procedures: This would streamline the charter commission appointment process.

• Qualifications of certain officeholders: Allow the council to establish a set of qualifications to be met by elected officials who head charter-based departments.

The council will decide no later than mid-September which of the amendments will appear on the ballot this November. The council can decline to send any of the amendments to the voters. Additionally, it may choose to phase in the changes over the coming years.