There are 280,000 King County residents living in unincorporated areas – those gaps in the map not belonging to a city – and the King County Executive’s Office is putting together a “work group” to figure out how to better communicate and interact with that population.

The initiative to overhaul public engagement comes with a blow to the six unincorporated area councils (UACs) in King County, who received word in early July that their contractual agreement with the county and $10,000 in annual funding (for each UAC) will end starting in 2012.

To read more on the counties decision to cut UACs from the budget, please check out the West Seattle Herald story, North Highline UAC facing full budget cut in 2012.

Members of the North Highline and West Hill UACs met with Sung Yang, director of External Affairs and Government for Executive Dow Constantine’s office on Aug. 4 to learn more about the county’s engagement plan and express their discontent over the decision to cut UAC contracts and funding.

“We have just changed the framework of the county government from grassroots and bottom up to top down because everything is now coming down from the county to us rather than us taking things to the county,” West Hill Community Council President Bill Bowden said at the monthly NHUAC meeting.

Bowden echoed a unanimous reaction from the two UACs that a powerful voice originating from the community, which King County was contractually obligated to hear, is being effectively shut down. While UACs are welcome to continue operating in 2012 and beyond, the all-volunteer councils will have to come up with their own funding and question if and how the county will respond to their concerns in lieu of a contract.

NHUAC President Barbara Dobkin said the NHUAC plans to continue operating in 2012 without a contract or funding from King County.

As Dobkin put it, “So how are we to go forward? The county will have no obligation to respond to us … it’s a little ironic to me that you are trying to improve public engagement and we are a community group involved in public engagement and the county might not respond to us.”

Yang’s response was that the Executive’s Office was in favor of continuing King County’s funding and relationship with UACs, but the King County Council voted against it.

With UACs dropping out as a main point of contact for unincorporated area residents, Yang said “All the more reason why I think we create a good, important program to ensure outreach and public engagement.”

And that, Yang said, is what his work group formulated in August will attempt to do over the next year.

A preview of public engagement in King County moving forward
Yang said Executive Constantine ran for his office under the banner of “reform” to “improve county practices.” He said improving public engagement involves “ensuring the way we do engagement is more consistent and the quality is higher.”

Yang said public engagement improvements cover a wide swath, from improving the customer service of every county department and division to improving the website – all in the name of three goals: expanding opportunities to seek resident input, empowering people to play a more active role in shaping the future and improving public awareness of what the county does.

Yang referenced a 2009 survey that found 58 percent of King County residents thought the county website worked well, 38 percent were satisfied with their ability to participate in county decisions and 38 percent had a positive perception of their ability to influence county government.

Yang wants those numbers to improve through “a broad range of methods”, he said.

One of those methods from the King County Council’s “new model” is to preserve “the existing Community Service Centers that provide remote access to county services, as well as existing liaison staff for the UACs who would now serve as a single point of contact for residents.”

While additional specifics were not given at the NHUAC meeting (that is what the work group is for, according to Yang), he said there are several levels of engagement they are focusing on. Those include improving the clarity of writing and flow of mailings, brochures and the website, seeking consultation from unincorporated communities, providing forums for “outright dialogue,” “county and community working together,” and improving “legally mandated” action like public meetings and technical assistance.

Residing in theory for now, only time will tell what specific improvements to public engagement will be made.

For those interested in providing King County with feedback on their public engagement model, the county has contracted with Countywide Community Forums, according to Carrie Shaw with CCF. There will be a public forum held on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 6:30 pm at the North Highline Fire District Headquarters (1243 SW 112th St). For more information, visit their website here.