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AN ORDINANCE establishing the King County veterans, seniors and human services levy advisory board; and adding a new section to K.C.C. chapter 2A.300.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. In 2005, Ordinance 15279 placed a six-year veterans and human services levy on the general election ballot. Ordinance 15279 provided for two citizen oversight boards to oversee and report on expenditures of veterans and human services levy proceeds. Voters approved the levy, enabling the creation of both boards. The veterans citizen oversight board was created to oversee funds for veterans and military servicemembers and their respective families. The regional human service board was created to oversee funds for a wide range of low-income people in need of such services.
2. In 2011, Ordinance 17072 placed a renewal of the veterans and human services levy on the primary election ballot, providing for continuation of the two oversight boards by incorporating the provision of Ordinance 15279 that created the veterans citizen oversight board and the regional human service board. Voters renewed the veterans and human services levy, effecting continuation of both boards.
3. In July 2017, the metropolitan King County council passed Ordinance 18555, placing a six-year veterans, seniors and human services levy ("VSHSL") on the ballot. On November 7, 2017, King County voters passed this measure with a sixty-eight percent approval. The approved ballot measure included a requirement for King County to create and prescribe the composition and duties of a board or boards to oversee the expenditure of VSHSL proceeds.
4. Section 6.A. of Attachment A to Ordinance 18722, which is the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy Governance Plan, requires the executive to transmit for council consideration and passage proposed legislation that would effectuate the plan.
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 definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
1. "Caregiver" means a person who, without pay, cares for or supervises another person who requires such care or supervision due to disability, chronic illness or, in the case of a senior, age-related decline. Government-provided benefits or financial assistance provided directly to a person for being a caregiver are not considered "pay" for this definition.
2. "Military servicemember" means a person who is serving as either an active duty or a reservist member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard, or in the National Guard;
3. "Senior" means a person who is at least fifty-five years old.
4. "Technical assistance and capacity building" means assisting small organizations, partnerships and groups to enable those entities to provide regional health and human services and capital facilities funded by the levy proceeds. "Technical assistance and capacity building" may include, but is not limited to, providing or funding legal, accounting, human resources and leadership development services and support.
5. "Veteran" means a person who has served as either an active duty or a reservist member of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard, or in the National Guard.
6. "Veterans, seniors and human services levy" means the levy approved in accordance with Ordinance 18555.
7. "Vulnerable populations" means persons or communities that are susceptible to reduced health, housing, financial or social stability outcomes because of current experience of or historical exposure to trauma, violence, poverty, isolation, bias, racism, stigma, discrimination, disability or chronic illness. "Vulnerable populations" include, but are not limited to: survivors of domestic violence; survivors of sexual assault; survivors of human trafficking, including labor trafficking and sex trafficking; survivors of commercial sexual exploitation; persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex; persons with a disability; African Americans and other persons of color who have been disproportionately impacted by policies and practices resulting in housing instability or housing insecurity; family caregivers for persons with a disability; immigrants and refugees; low-income residents of rural communities; persons living in poverty; persons at risk of or experiencing homelessness; youth involved in the child welfare system, including youth in the foster care system, and young adult alumni of the child welfare system; minors who have been separated from both parents and other relatives and are not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so; persons reentering society from criminal justice system involvement; and persons at risk of criminal justice system involvement due to disproportionate practices of enforcement, mental illness or substance use disorders.
B. As required by Section 6.A. of Attachment A to Ordinance 18722, the veterans, seniors and human services levy advisory board is created.
C.1. The board shall consist of thirty members. The executive shall appoint the members of the board in accordance with this section and subject to confirmation by the council in accordance with K.C.C. 2.28.002. Members shall be appointed to three year terms, except as provided in subsection C.4. of this section. Elected officials are ineligible for board membership while they hold office. All board members shall reside in King County. The board shall be constituted in a committee format, with three ten-member committees:
a. the veterans committee, which shall also constitute the entirety of King County's veterans advisory board required by chapter 73.08 RCW. In accordance with RCW 73.08.035, nominees to serve on the veterans committee shall be solicited by the council from either the local branches of nationally recognized veterans' service organizations or the veterans’ community at large, or both. Lists of nominees received by the council shall be provided to the executive who shall provide such lists to the city of Seattle and the Sound Cities Association for their consideration in nominating, in accordance with this section, persons to serve on the veterans committee. Members of the veterans committee must be veterans as defined in RCW 73.08.005(5) and no fewer than a majority of the veterans committee members shall be members from nationally recognized veterans' service organizations;
b. the seniors committee, which shall be comprised of seniors, caregivers for seniors or other community members with relevant expertise or experience serving seniors or their caregivers. At least a majority of the members serving on the seniors committee shall be at least fifty-five years old; and
c. the vulnerable populations committee, which shall be comprised of individuals who are members of a vulnerable population or other community members with relevant expertise or experience serving vulnerable populations. A potential vulnerable populations committee member's contribution to the committee's representativeness of the diversity of vulnerable populations in King County shall be considered in selecting a potential vulnerable populations committee member for nomination or appointment.
2.a. The King County council shall nominate to the executive for appointment to the board eighteen eligible persons. Six of the persons shall be nominated to serve on the veterans committee, six of the persons shall be nominated to serve on the seniors committee and six of the persons shall be nominated to serve on the vulnerable populations committee. Of the persons nominated by the council, each councilmember shall nominate for appointment two persons who reside in the member's council district. Nominations by the council for appointment to serve on the initial board shall include: a resident from each of council districts one, two, three, seven, eight and nine to serve on the initial veterans committee; a resident from each of council districts three, four, five, six, seven and eight to serve on the initial seniors committee; and a resident from each of council districts one, two, four, five, six and nine to serve on the initial vulnerable populations committee. When at least one council-nominated position on all of the board's committees becomes available, meaning the incumbent has served two terms on the board, is not nominated by council to serve an additional term on the board or declines nomination by council to serve an additional term on the board, the council may pass a motion to direct council district rotation for the council nominations for appointment to the available positions on the board's committees;
b. The city of Seattle shall nominate to the executive for appointment to the board three eligible persons, one to serve on the veterans committee, one to serve on the seniors committee and one to serve on the vulnerable populations committee;
c. The Sound Cities Association, or its successor, shall nominate to the executive for appointment to the board three eligible persons, one to serve on the veterans committee, one to serve on the seniors committee and one to serve on the vulnerable populations committee; and
d. The Seattle-King County Advisory Council for Aging and Disability Services, or its successor, shall nominate to the executive for appointment to the board two eligible persons to serve on the seniors committee.
3.a. If the executive does not appoint a person nominated under subsection C.2. of this section, then the executive shall request that the nominating entity nominate another eligible person. The executive shall identify in the appointment letter for each board member both the nominating entity and to which of the three committees the board member is being appointed.
b. In addition to those board members who the executive appoints after nomination under subsection C.2. of this section, the executive shall appoint two eligible persons to be members of the veterans committee of the board and two eligible persons to be members of the vulnerable populations committee of the board.
4.a. Of the board's initial veterans committee members, the six council-nominated members and one of the members appointed by the executive under subsection C.3.b. of this section shall be appointed to initial terms of two years.
b. Of the board's initial seniors committee members, the six council-nominated members and one of the Seattle-King County Advisory Council for Aging and Disability Services-nominated members shall be appointed to initial terms of two years.
c. Of the board's initial vulnerable populations committee members, the six council-nominated members and one of the members appointed by the executive under subsection C.3.b. of this section shall be appointed to initial terms of two years.
d. A person may serve no more than one additional term on the board after completing the person's first term, whether the first term is a partial or full term.
e. If a board member vacates before the expiration of the member's term a board position that was nominated by one of the entities listed in subsection C.2. of this section, the entity that nominated the person to the board position shall nominate an eligible replacement to serve out the balance of the vacated term. If a board member vacates before the expiration of the member's term a board position that was appointed by the executive under subsection C.3.b. of this section, the executive shall appoint an eligible replacement to serve out the balance of the vacated term.
5. The board shall:
a. oversee the distribution of veterans, seniors and human services levy proceeds dedicated to promoting housing stability, healthy living, financial stability, social engagement and service system access and improvement for veterans and military servicemembers and their respective families, seniors and their caregivers and vulnerable populations, consistent with Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.1. through 4.B.3.;
b. oversee the distribution of levy proceeds for technical assistance and capacity building investments, consistent with Ordinance 18555, Section 4.A.;
c. adopt bylaws governing how the board discharges its duties, which bylaws shall specifically provide for a procedure by which the board or any of its committees may identify and provide advice to the county council or the executive on matters that affect the veterans, seniors and human services levy specifically or the veterans, seniors and human services levy's priority populations generally;
d. transmit a report by July 1 each year, beginning in 2019, to the executive, county council and the regional policy committee, or its successor, on the state of the veterans, seniors and human services levy, the fiscal and performance management of the veterans, seniors and human services levy and on the veterans, seniors and human services levy's accomplishments from January through December of the preceding year;
e. elect annually from its membership a chair and two vice chairs. The vice chairs shall be elected from each of the two committees to which the elected chair does not belong so that board leadership includes all three committees; and
f. collaborate amongst the board's committees to achieve investment and oversight coordination of the entire veterans, seniors and human services levy, with each committee specifically focused on overseeing the expenditure of proceeds for its respective veterans, seniors and human service levy priority population and each committee specifically focused on providing advice on matters that uniquely affect its respective veterans, seniors and human service levy priority population:
(1) The veterans committee shall oversee the distribution of the portion of the veterans, seniors and human service levy's proceeds expended for purposes identified in Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.1. The veterans committee may also provide advice to the executive and council on matters uniquely affecting veterans, military servicemembers and their respective family members in King County;
(2) The seniors committee shall oversee the distribution of the portion of the veterans, seniors and human service levy's proceeds expended for purposes identified in Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.2. The seniors committee may also provide advice to the executive and council on matters uniquely affecting seniors and their caregivers in King County;
(3) Until such time that the conditions in either Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.2.(a) or (b) are satisfied, the seniors committee and veterans committee will jointly oversee the distribution of the portion of the veterans, seniors and human services levy's proceeds restricted by Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.2., which sets aside funds for capital facilities and regional health and human services for seniors who are also veterans or military servicemembers and their respective caregivers and families. After the conditions in either Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.2.(a) or (b) have been satisfied, the veterans committee shall not have any oversight responsibility regarding levy proceeds expended under Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.2.; and
(4) The vulnerable populations committee shall oversee the distribution of the portion of the veterans, seniors and human services levy's proceeds expended for purposes identified in Ordinance 18555, Section 4.B.3. The vulnerable populations committee may also provide advice to the executive and council on matters uniquely affecting vulnerable populations that are served by the veterans, seniors and human services levy in King County.
D. The board shall hold its first meeting by the later of March 30, 2019, or sixty days from the date on which at least six members have been appointed to each of the board's committees.
E. This section expires July 1, 2025.
SECTION 2. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.