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AN ORDINANCE relating to the structure and duties of a successor to the communities of opportunity interim governance group with respect to the communities of opportunity portion of the best starts for kids levy proceeds; and adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 2A.300.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Communities of Opportunity ("COO"), which was launched by the Seattle Foundation and King County in March 2014, is designed to improve equity by addressing the needs in areas in King County that have the most inequitable health and well-being outcomes, as defined in the Best Starts for Kids implementation plan approved by the council with Ordinance 18373, adopted September 19, 2016.
2. COO works in partnership with community leaders, community residents and coalition or partnerships, community-based organizations, intermediary organizations and other funders and partners that agree to work in a collective impact model, in which cross-sector partners share a common vision for change, as well as a shared agenda for measuring results, holding each other accountable, engaging in open communication and providing adequate backbone support for the work. A COO interim governance group, made up of King County and Seattle Foundation appointees and a cross-section of COO partners, has been in place since October 2014.
3. Under Ordinance 18088, the COO interim governance group shall serve as the advisory board for the COO elements of the best starts for kids levy and consistent with Ordinance 18220 shall serve until a successor group is established by ordinance. Accordingly, the county executive has been working with the initiative’s founding partner, the Seattle Foundation, and the COO interim governance group to plan for the transition to a permanent governance group that shall also serve as the COO-best starts for kids advisory board for the best starts for kids levy COO elements by the end of year 2016, with the intent to complete the transition by February 15, 2017. The same parties also worked on the development of an implementation plan for the expenditure of the funding associated with the COO element of the best starts for kids levy, as adopted by council as Attachment A to Ordinance 18373 on September 19, 2016.
4. The COO interim governance group members, as prescribed by Ordinance 18220, met at least eleven times over the first five months of 2016 to identify a proposed structure of the ongoing COO governance group. The ongoing COO governance group shall also serve as the ongoing COO-best starts for kids levy advisory board. The COO interim governance group developed policies for the COO-best starts for kids levy advisory board that include the structural elements requested by council in Ordinance 18220, Section 1.G.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
NEW SECTION. SECTION 1. There is hereby added to K.C.C. chapter 2A.300 a new section to read as follows:
A. The communities of opportunity-best starts for kids levy advisory board shall be the successor group to the communities of opportunity interim governance group and shall be structured as follows:
1.a. The board shall consist of a minimum of fourteen members and a maximum of eighteen members, as determined by the board, except that the initial group size of the board, also between a minimum of fourteen and a maximum of eighteen members, shall be determined by the interim governance group;
2.a. Members of the board shall possess specific context or content experience related to improving health and well-being outcomes in communities with the greatest need for improvement, and shall be committed to the communities of opportunity best starts for kids levy implementation plan, as adopted by the council by ordinance. The commitment shall include a commitment to the principles of equity and social justice articulated in the best starts for kids implementation plan as well as a commitment to evaluate and make potential decisions through the equity and social justice lens articulated in the best starts for kids implementation plan. Members shall reflect the diversity in King County and shall reflect a range of backgrounds, including living in or working in affected communities, working in a community-based organization, nonprofit agency, intermediary organization, business, or institution, and having experience in the relevant subject matter areas of housing, health, social and community connection or economic prosperity. Members shall recognize that strategies may vary for different populations and in different locations of the county where there are inequitable health and well-being outcomes.
b.(1) The board membership is constituted as follows:
(a) two members shall be appointed by the Seattle Foundation;
(b) one member shall be appointed as a representative of the county executive by the county executive, and confirmed by the council by ordinance;
(c) one member shall be appointed and confirmed as a representative of the county council by the county council by ordinance;
(d) at least twenty percent of the advisory board members, or three, whichever is greater, shall be community members who reflect demographic characteristics of the communities that qualify for funding in accordance with communities of opportunity funding guidelines, and who are grassroots organizers or activists in those communities or who live in or have worked in those communities. These members shall be recommended to the executive by the interim governance group, in the case of the appointees to the initial board, and by the board thereafter;
(e) at least two members of the board shall be members of the Communities of Opportunity community-based partnerships representatives group. Recommendations regarding appointments of persons to fill these positions shall be made to the executive by the interim governance group, in the case of the initial appointees to the board, and by the board thereafter. Recommendations to the executive regarding appointments of persons to fill these positions and regarding lengths of terms of any of those potential appointees shall be made after the community-based partnerships representatives group has made its recommendations to the interim governance group, in the case of the initial appointees to the board, and by the board thereafter;
(f) the interim governance group, in the case of the initial appointees, and the board thereafter shall make recommendations to the executive regarding appointments of the remaining board members; and
(g) the executive shall create an open application process that would enable individuals interested in serving on the board to submit a letter of interest via the King County website. The interim governance group, in the case of appointments to the first board, and the board, for appointments thereafter, shall review and take into consideration letters of interest received from individuals before making appointment recommendations to the executive.
(2) In addition to considering the recommendations from the interim governance group, in the case of appointments to the first board, and from the board, for appointments thereafter, the executive shall consider appointment recommendations from King County councilmembers of individuals who have applied for a board position through the open application process described in subsection A.2.b.(1)(g) of this section and who have been determined by the interim governance group or the board, as appropriate, to meet the membership criteria for service on the board outlined in subsection A.2.a. of this section. Members shall be appointed to the positions described in subsection A.2.b.(1)(d), (e) and (f) of this section by the executive within thirty days of receiving recommendations from the interim governance group for the initial board appointees, or from the board for appointees after the initial board is convened, and the council shall confirm appointments to these positions by motion.
3. A minimum of thirty percent of the members appointed to the initial board in 2017 shall be new members who have not served on the interim governance group;
4. The board shall be convened when the executive appoints all individuals who would fill the board positions described in subsections A.2.b.(1)(d), (e) and (f) to serve on the initial board, the number of which shall be determined by the interim governance group pursuant to subsection A.1.a. of this section.
5. The two members appointed by the county and described in subsection A.2.b.(1)(b) and (c) of this section and the two members appointed by the Seattle Foundation shall each serve until replaced by a new appointee.
6. The community-based partnerships representatives on the board specified in subsection A.2.b.(1)(e) of this section have terms of at least one year and no more than three years. The community-based partnerships representatives group, comprised of one individual from a funded entity participating in each of the funded community-based partnership collectives for geographic or cultural community-based partnerships, shall issue recommendations regarding the two or more potential appointees to fill the board positions specified in subsection A.2.b.(1)(e) of this section and the term length of those potential appointees.
7. All other board members shall have three-year terms that may only be renewed one time;
8. The board shall either use a formal consensus process, in which a majority of all appointed members must participate, and in which two or more members opposing a decision together may block it; or the board shall select and use another voting system. Meeting notes shall reflect all board decisions and the tally of members voting to accept or block a decision; and
9. The board shall have an established conflict of interest policy, requiring members to declare a conflict in advance of a board decision in which the members, their partners or spouses have a potential financial, fiduciary or employment conflict of interest, and to recuse themselves from that decision, and requiring members who represent entities with current communities of opportunity funding for geographic or cultural community-based partnership work to declare a conflict in advance and to recuse themselves from board decisions related to those partnerships.
B.1. The duties of the board are to review and make simultaneous advisory recommendations to the executive and county council concerning the use of levy proceeds for the communities of opportunity element of the best starts for kids levy, consistent with the council adopted communities of opportunity section of the best starts for kids levy implementation plan, to make appointment recommendations to the executive as outlined in this section and to evaluate letters of interest of individuals wishing to serve on the board to determine whether they meet the membership criteria under the requirements of this section.
2. The representative of the county council shall have the additional duty to seek input from all councilmembers before each meeting of the board on items known by this individual to be scheduled for discussion or decision at each board meeting.
C.1. Administrative support shall be provided to the board by the communities of opportunity staff team in the department of community and human services and the department of public health - Seattle & King County.
2. The support shall include the provision of all information and materials to the county council representative that may be needed to seek meaningful input from councilmembers on matters scheduled for discussion or decision at each board meeting at least forty-eight business hours before a scheduled board meeting.
D. Notice of meetings of the board shall be posted on the county communities of opportunity website and meetings of the board shall be open to the public to listen to and observe. In addition, when the board is considering or acting on determining the size of the board or making appointments to the board, it shall conduct its meetings in compliance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act of 1971, chapter 42.30 RCW.
E. This section expires December 31, 2021.
SECTION 2. A. The member of the communities of opportunity-best starts for kids levy advisory board appointed to represent the executive is Betsy Jones, who is hereby confirmed.
B. The member of the communities of opportunity best starts for kids levy
advisory board appointed to represent the county council is Katherine Cortes, who is hereby confirmed.