A Second Look at Monday's Council Meeting

It doesn't seem to happen often but every now and then, the Enumclaw School Board of Directors meets at a time that overlaps the meeting of the Enumclaw City Council.

This was what happened last night and as I pondered how to juggle coverage, I was happy to see my Google alerts pop in shortly after 10 p.m. Monday that Kevin Hanson of The Courier-Herald had already posted his council wrap-up, which I've linked to from the Patch homepage and you can read by clicking here.

As I finished my report on the School Board - their meeting started an hour before the Council's did - I perused my notes from the Council meeting and decided to use this 'About Town' post to fill in the extra stuff from City Hall outside of the annexation issue.

In sequential order:

Appointment Held Up: Council again held the approval of Jessica Kinney for the Planning Commission until Councilman Sean Krebs, who was absent Monday, could discuss his reservations about the appointment.

Pro/Con Library Annexation: Council approved a resolution naming four individuals who will be writing the 'Pro' and 'Con' statements in your voters packet in the April elections concerning the annexation of the city library into King County Library System (KCLS). Those writing the 'Pro' statement will be Rich Elfers, Richard Hughes and Barbara Braun. Charles Sansone will be writing the 'Con' statement.

City Administrators Mike Thomas said the city solicited names of those interested in doing this. At this point, others may join the pro or con effort, but only the four listed above will be able to directly communicate with King County.

Otherwise, the process toward putting the item on the April ballot is well underway, he said.

The Grind: E.L.M. Landscaping is credited for helping the city grind up, chip and remove the large pile of storm debris that had been sitting at the Expo Center following the January storms, Thomas said.

The Legislature: Thomas told Council that has the state Legislature looks to wrap up its session on March 8, city staff continues to watch what implications there might be for municipal funding. The House budget "is not favorable to local government," he said. The Senate is expected to release its budget Tuesday. 

Among issues that cities like Enumclaw are watching include: 

• Liquor excise tax and profits: The state has proposed to reduce the amount of profits distributed to cities. Thomas, in an email to Patch late last year, said that liquor profits are used in part to help fund the police department.
• Criminal justice assistance funding: Again, the state is proposing to further reduce payments to cities, and according to Thomas, the city uses these funds to help support police activities.
• Training for Law Enforcement: While the state has been funding all of the cost to send a cadet to the state Police Academy, there is a proposal to reduce that support by 50 percent.

Councilman Jim Hogan asked if there were cuts from the state if it would affect the approved 2012 budget. Thomas answered the cuts would impact the 2013 budget.