Council Process for considering Mayor’s proposal to contract with King County for City court service

From LFP Deputy Mayor / Council Chair, Catherine Stanford

On March 30, 2017, City Council held a special meeting of the LFP Committee of the Whole (COW) to hear from Mayor Johnson regarding his proposal to contract out our Court services to the King County Court system located in Shoreline. Click here to link to the Mayor’s memo.

At that meeting, we heard the Mayor’s rationale for his proposal. The Council had many questions, such as: Would a new service provider be able to provide the same or better innovations that our current court has brought, such as Youth Court? What would be the impact on our Police if the court moved? How many LFP citizens does the Court directly serve? What are the costs to the City under both scenarios?

The Council is the policy body of the City, and it is our responsibility to approve changes, if any, to our Court system. 

We are going to approach the Mayor’s proposal methodically and will make our decision based on verified facts and what we believe is in the best interests of our community, evaluating both the tangible and intangible benefits of our Municipal Court. 

As with all our decisions, discussions and deliberations will be made in public meetings.

I reached out to the Court and asked them to present their thoughts on the proposal and to respond to Council questions. Judge Portnoy and others will be meeting with us at our Work Session this Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 6:00pm in City Hall. The Community is welcome to attend this meeting and to make public comment at our regular meeting that begins at 7:00pm.

I am expecting the Mayor to bring back thorough answers to the Council’s questions during our regular business meeting on Thursday, April 27, 2017, beginning at 7:00pm. Council will require additional time to review these answers and to hear from the community before we make a final decision.

The Council appreciates hearing your thoughts on the matter. Please feel free to take advantage of the Public Comment time at each of our Regular Business Meetings, and/or contact us directly via e-mail at citycouncil@ci.lake-forest-park.wa.us.