Drafter
Clerk 06/08/2023
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the organization of the executive branch and assignment of administrative duties and responsibilities; amending Ordinance 12075, Section 3, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.025 and repealing Ordinance 18652, Section 2, and K.C.C. 2.60.052.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. In King County, inquests serve a public function of determining the cause and circumstances of a death involving a member of a law enforcement agency in the performance of the member's duties. The findings of an inquest help the public, family members of decedents, and policy makers understand the causes and circumstances of the decedent's death. The inquest process is a formal legal proceeding, involving discovery of evidence and examining of witnesses, including law enforcement personnel and experts.
B. There is a public benefit in providing publicly financed legal counsel to families of the decedents wishing to fully participate in the inquest process, including all families to fully and equitably participate in the inquest process regardless of financial means. Public financing of legal counsel for all families of decedents will better ensure each party to an inquest will have equal opportunity to participate. Increasing such participation will bolster the transparency of the inquest process, thus furthering the recognized public function of an inquest.
C. Under K.C.C. 2.35A.090.B., the authority to hold inquests is vested in the executive. Inherent in that authority should be the ability for the executive to allow for a fuller participation in an inquest by the family of the decedent, regardless of the family's financial means.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 12075, Section 3, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.025 are hereby amended to read as follows:
A. The county executive shall manage and be fiscally accountable for the office of performance, strategy, and budget, the office of labor relations, the office of climate, the office of economic opportunity and creative economy, and the office of equity and racial and social justice.
B. The office of performance, strategy, and budget functions and responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to:
1. Planning, preparing, and managing, with emphasis on fiscal management and control aspects, the operating and capital project budgets;
2. Monitoring revenues and preparing forecasts not produced by the office of economic and financial analysis;
3. Monitoring expenditures and work programs;
4. Developing and preparing expenditure plans and ordinances to manage the implementation of the operating and capital project budgets throughout the fiscal period;
5. Formulating and implementing financial policies regarding revenues and expenditures for the county and other applicable agencies;
6. Performing program analysis, and contract and performance evaluation review;
7. Developing and transmitting to the council, concurrent with the biennial proposed budget, supporting materials consistent with K.C.C. chapter 4A.100;
8. Performance management and accountability:
a. providing leadership, guidance, and coordination of the executive branch performance management and accountability system;
b. overseeing the development of strategic plans and operational plans for each executive branch department and office;
c. overseeing monitoring of the performance management and accountability system, including review of operational and budgetary performance;
d. developing and using community-level indicators and agency performance measures to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of each executive branch department and office; and
e. overseeing the production of an annual performance report for the executive branch;
9. Interagency coordination:
a. coordinating and staffing executive initiatives across departments and agencies;
b. facilitating interdepartmental, interagency, and interbranch teams on multidisciplinary issues;
c. negotiating interlocal agreements as designated by the executive; and
d. serving as the liaison to the boundary review board for King County;
10. Leading the county's continuous improvement activities; ((and))
11. Leading the county's regional planning work, including:
a. coordinating the county's participation in multicounty planning at the Puget Sound Regional Council, including serving on the Puget Sound Regional Council's regional staff committee;
b. coordinating countywide planning at the Growth Management Planning Council consistent with the Washington state Growth Management Act, including leading the Growth Management Planning Council's interjurisdictional staff team in accordance with the interlocal agreement authorized by King County Motion 8495;
c. managing updates to the county's Comprehensive Plan in coordination with the department of local services in accordance with K.C.C. Title 20;
d. coordinating the development of demographic and growth forecasting data and information including census data, growth targets, and buildable lands;
e. facilitating annexations and joint planning with cities, including developing annexation proposals, drafting interlocal agreements, and serving as the liaison to the boundary review board for King County; and
f. coleading with the department of local services’s permitting division, an interbranch regional planning team that supports the council and executive through the provision of information and data, development of policy proposals and options for regional issues related to growth management, economic development, and transportation. Participation in the interbranch regional planning team shall include executive, department, and council staff as designated by the respective branches; and
12.a. In the case of deaths that are subject to an inquest under Section 895 of the King County Charter or RCW 36.24.020 that is investigating the causes and circumstances of the deaths and that involve a member of a law enforcement agency within King County, develop and administer a program by which the county shall select attorneys to provide legal representation at public expense to the family participating in an inquest, regardless of the income level of the members of the family. However:
(1) legal representation shall not be provided if the family does not wish to be represented by the attorneys selected under the program; and
(2) legal representation shall be limited to preparation for the inquest and participation during the inquest and shall not include any representation for the purpose of potential related civil litigation.
b. For the purposes of this subsection B.12.:
(1) "A member of a law enforcement agency" means a commissioned officer or noncommissioned staff of a local or state police force, jail, or corrections agency; and
(2) "Family" refers to the group of those individuals determined by the person conducting the inquest to have a right to participate as the family of the decedent.
C. The office of labor relations functions and responsibilities shall include:
1. Representing county agencies in the collective bargaining process as required by chapter 41.56 RCW;
2. Developing and maintaining databases of information relevant to the collective bargaining process;
3. Representing county agencies in labor arbitrations, appeals, and hearings including those in chapter 41.56 RCW and required by K.C.C. Title 3, in collaboration with the department of human resources;
4. Administering labor contracts and providing consultation to county agencies regarding the terms and implementation of negotiated labor agreements, in collaboration with the department of human resources;
5. Advising the executive and council on overall county labor policies; and
6. Providing resources for labor relations training for county agencies, the executive, the council and others, in collaboration with the department of human resources.
D. The office of climate functions and responsibilities shall include:
1. Coordinating the integration of climate change into county operations in partnership with executive branch departments and offices, King County cities, partners, communities, and residents;
2. Advising the executive and council on climate-related policies, programs and activities; and
3. Leading and fostering climate innovation among county agencies.
E. The office of economic opportunity and creative economy functions and responsibilities shall include:
1. Coordinating the county's efforts to develop a strong equitable economy that creates opportunities for all residents;
2. Developing and implementing strategies to promote economic revitalization and equitable development; and
3. Assisting communities and businesses in creating economic opportunities, promoting a diversified economy, and promoting family-wage job creation.
F. The office of equity and racial and social justice functions and responsibilities shall include:
1. Defining the county's equity and racial and social justice outcomes with communities most affected by inequities;
2. Developing the county's strategies, practices, systems, and processes to achieve equity and racial and social justice outcomes;
3. Providing strategic consultation to county agencies, and the communities they serve to achieve equity and racial and social justice outcomes;
4. Assisting county agencies to fulfill their responsibility to achieve equity and racial and social justice outcomes; and
5. Operating the civil rights program, which shall include the following duties:
a. enforcing nondiscrimination ordinances as codified in K.C.C. chapters 12.17, 12.18, 12.20, and 12.22;
b. assisting departments in complying with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, and other legislation and rules regarding access to county programs, facilities, and services for people with disabilities;
c. serving as the county Americans with Disabilities Act Title II coordinator relating to public access;
d. providing staff support to the county civil rights commission;
e. serving as the county federal Civil Rights Act Title VI coordinator; and
f. coordinating county responses to federal Civil Rights Act Title VI issues and investigating complaints filed under Title VI.
G.1. The county council hereby delegates to the executive or the executive's designee authority to request a hearing before the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board and make written recommendations and objections regarding applications relating to:
a. liquor licenses under chapter 66.20 RCW; and
b. licenses for marijuana producers, processors, or retailers under chapter 69.50 RCW.
2. Before making a recommendation under subsection G.1. of this section, the executive or designee shall solicit comments from county departments and agencies, including, but not limited to, the department of local services, public health - Seattle & King County, the sheriff's office, and the prosecuting attorney's office.
3. For each application reviewed under subsection G.1.b. of this section, the executive shall transmit to the county council a copy of the application received with the applicant's name and proposed license application location, a copy of all comments received under subsection G.2. of this section, and the executive's recommendation to the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis board.
H. The executive may assign or delegate budgeting, performance management, and accountability, climate policy, economic development and strategic planning, and interagency coordination functions to employees in the office of the executive but shall not assign or delegate those functions to any departments.
SECTION 3. Ordinance 18652, Section 2, and K.C.C. 2.60.052 are hereby repealed.