Claudia Balducci re-elected Chair as County Council embarks on busy new year

Coming off a challenging past year and looking ahead to a busy 2021, the King County Council has re-elected Claudia Balducci as Chair, and Joe McDermott and Reagan Dunn as Vice Chairs.

“I’m proud of the work the King County Council accomplished in 2020 under unprecedented conditions and look forward to leading the Council in 2021 as we continue to respond and recover from the pandemic,” Balducci said. 

“As the pandemic raged, the King County Council adapted and worked together to support our constituents. In 2021, we will recover and build toward a better, more equitable future with economic opportunity and improved public and mental health for all.”

The council faces a full docket in 2021, including:

• Vaccine Distribution and COVID-19 Recovery – Job number one in 2021 continues to be saving lives, preventing the spread of the virus and getting to the other side of the pandemic. The council will continue to provide oversight and budget support to respond to the pandemic, while also working to deploy COVID-19 vaccines countywide.
• Best Starts for Kids Levy Renewal – Six years ago, the voters of King County approved the first Best Starts for Kids levy, dedicated to putting every baby born and every child raised in King County on a path toward lifelong success. In 2021 the council will review accomplishments, set priorities and determine investments for a levy renewal to be put before voters.
• Law Enforcement Reforms for Public Safety and Equity – With voter approval of charter amendments to improve accountability in law enforcement, the council will work with the Executive, community, stakeholders, and experts toward public safety and reduced racial disparities in law enforcement practices.
• Strategic Climate Plan Update – As the region confronts the realities of a warming planet, the urgency to act now as a County is even greater. In early 2021, the King County Council will review and approve a 5-year update to our groundbreaking strategic climate action plan.
• Rebuilding Transit – Access to frequent and reliable transportation improves economic opportunity. Following the wake of the pandemic, the council have a lot of work to rebuild our transit system, including planning and updating our policies to enable a more robust and equitable transit network throughout King County.
• Homelessness – Homelessness continues to be a crisis in all parts of our County. Councilmembers will work toward real progress putting roofs over heads as the County implements the Health through Housing Program approved last year. Council will also continue working with its partners to stand up a truly regional response to this humanitarian crisis.