CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, September 25, 2006 Shoreline Conference Center
6:00 p.m. Highlander Room
PRESENT: Mayor Ransom, Deputy Mayor Fimia, and Councilmembers Gustafson, Hansen, McGlashan, Ryu, and Way
ABSENT: none
STAFF: Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager; Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director
GUEST: Karen Goroski, Executive Director, Suburban Cities Association
At 6:15 p.m., Deputy Mayor Fimia opened the meeting and introduced Karen Goroski.
Ms. Goroski provided an overview of services and programs of the Suburban Cities Association (SCA). She reviewed the organization chart and pointed out the fact that the group’s agenda is driven by its membership. The SCA now appoints over 100 people to a variety of boards and commissions. The call for nominations for 2007 appointments is coming soon.
Continuing, Ms. Goroski explained how the appointment process works and also described the operation of the Public Issues Committee (PIC). She explained that many issues involve policies at the state legislative level. Since Pete Lewis, the Mayor of Auburn, took over chairmanship of this new committee, it has grown enormously in attendance and in the number of issues it is able to address. She pointed out that a main goal of the PIC is to make sure we’re taking a real regional view of issues and that committee positions are not at cross purposes. Ms. Goroski also reviewed various items from the 2006 Work Plan.
She also reviewed the organization’s “Long Range Goals through 2010,” including regional organization and governance; education; public policy leadership; and public benefit.
The organization is also looking at the issue of reinstating a part-time analyst position to provide additional resources and policy analysis to make the organization more effective. Implementing this may require a dues increase; this proposal will be brought forward later by the revenue committee of SCA.
The group is also working to define new membership categories to make SCA more of a regional association and to identify revenue sources that are not dependent on dues.
She mentioned the SCA-sponsored Sustainability Conference which will be held October 21 from 9 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community Center. The conference will look at what sustainability is, why it matters, and who should care about it.
Another area the SCA is focusing on is outreach to members of the King County Council, meeting with County Executive Ron Sims and Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Director Bob Drewell to keep the lines of communication open. She believes these meetings are benefiting all parties.
Councilmember Way asked about SCA’s total annual budget, to which Ms. Goroski responded that it is $450,000.
Councilmember Gustafson thanked Ms. Goroski for her excellent leadership and for moving SCA to a new level of effectiveness and influence.
Ms. Modrzejewski informed the Council that the Planning Commission requested a joint meeting with the City Council at 6:30 p.m. on October 30.
At 7:25 p.m., the meeting adjourned.
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Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director