May 2006 Meeting Summary

Area Council Discusses Community Services

      By Peter Rimbos, Corresponding Secretary

The Greater Maple Valley Area Council serves as an advisory body to the King County Council. It represents all unincorporated area residents living in the Tahoma School District. On Monday, May 1, the Area Council, at its regular monthly meeting discussed the following topics: (1) Teen Activities at the Maple Valley Community Center, (2) King County’s Department of Community and Human Services, and (3) Valley Medical Center’s Annexation Proposal and Levy.

Maple Valley Community Center Teen Activities

Ms. Haley Herr, a junior at Tahoma High School, eloquently described the many activities available to our local teens through the Maple Valley Community Center (MVCC) Youth Program. It offers diverse and innovative activities and programs that help to guide youth development, increase social skills, and promote opportunities for positive involvement in the community.

Ms. Herr serves on the all-volunteer Maple Valley Youth Council that is for teens and run by teens. The Youth Council helps develop teen and pre-teen programs such as: concerts, outreach, substance abuse, and healthy choices. The Youth Council helps to make a difference in our community through program advocacy, peer support, and youth activities. The group meets twice a month to discuss a variety of topics such as what youth programs to offer at the MVCC, diversity and leadership training, and drug and alcohol prevention.

The MVCC provides a safe place to go after school and offers a “drop-in” program twice a week. In addition, the MVCC conducts after-school programs Monday through Thursday at our two area middle schools. Ms. Herr mentioned that a new Teen Activity Center would soon be built on the MVCC site with the City of Maple Valley providing the building and the MVCC responsible for its operation. The new center will provide space for additional activities and after-school programs including student study groups, youth counseling, and indoor recreation.

More information on community teen activities can be found at the Youth Programs page of the MVCC web site: http://www.maplevalleycc.org/.

King County Community and Human Services

Ms. Jackie MacLean, Director of King County’s Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), described their mission to enhance the quality of life, protect rights and promote the self-sufficiency of our region’s diverse individuals, families, and communities.

DCHS has six major goals: (1) Assure food to eat and a roof overhead for vulnerable populations; (2) Assure supportive relationships within families, neighborhoods, and communities; (3) Provide a safe haven from all forms of violence and abuse; (4) Assure the availability of developmental and behavioral healthcare so that vulnerable populations can be as physically and mentally fit as possible; (5) Provide education and job skills to vulnerable populations so that they can lead independent lives; and (6) Provide indigent defense services.

Ms. MacLean stated that ~80% of DCHS services are contracted to local agencies and organizations that specialize in direct service delivery throughout King County. The Department has four divisions: (1) Community Services; (2) Developmental Disabilities; (3) Mental Health & Substance Abuse; and (4) the Office of Public Defender. Overall DCHS is comprehensive and is comprised of the following programs and services (listed alphabetically: Aging; Alcohol & Substance Abuse; Chronic Populations; Developmental Disabilities; Drug Prevention; Health & Community Development; Mental Health; Office of Public Defender; Veterans; Women; Work Training; and Youth & Family Services.

For 2006 DCHS leverages every tax dollar it receives nearly 4 to 1 (this is down from ~7 to 1 in recent years due to some one-time items in the budget). DCHS provided many services in the greater Maple Valley area in 2005 including: mental health support (crisis response and patient services) to 800 adults and children; chemical dependency services to 177 people (including 43 youth); employment programs (to help the developmentally disabled) to 37 people; public defense for 634 clients (including 141 at-risk youth and truants); domestic violence victim services to 37 people; work training programs to 41 at-risk youths and 101 dislocated workers; transitional housing assistance to 77 households; homeless prevention assistance to 37 households; and juvenile justice intervention programs to 62 youths and prevention programs to 367 youths. In addition, DCHS contracts with the MVCC to support their senior center programs and provides mini-grants to the Maple Valley Youth Council (see above). More information can be found at the DCHS website is http://www.metrokc.gov/dchs/.

Valley Medical Center Annexation Proposal and Levy

There is an upcoming annexation vote on Tuesday, May 16 that Valley Medical Center has proposed for Public Hospital District No. 1. The proposed annexation includes all of the Area Council's precincts with the exception of Hobart and a few of the lower density precincts in our NE corner (e.g., Hutchinson Rattlesnake). The proposed annexation also includes a permanent levy on property taxes of $0.59 per $1000 of assessed valuation, or $177 for a $300,000 home.

The Area Council discussed the proposed annexation and had previously approved a letter be sent to the King County Council voicing our opposition to the proposed annexation. More information can be found in recent issues of the Voice of the Valley and the King County Journal. Once again, the special election is on Tuesday, May 16. Absentee ballots have already been mailed. If you usually vote absentee, but have not received your ballot, contact King County Elections at 206-296-VOTE (206-296-8683).

Next Meeting

The Area Council meets on the first Monday of each month (except on legal holidays) in the conference room of Sheriff's Precinct # 3 Headquarters (at 231^st St & SR-169 across from Fire Station). The public is invited to attend. Each meeting begins with an Open Comment period to allow the public to voice issues of concern. Our next regular monthly meeting will be held on Monday, June 5, 2006, at 7:00 PM. The featured speaker will be Ms. Caren Adams from the Department of Public Health discussing King County's avian flu response plan. Comments on Area Council business may be submitted to GMVAC, P.O. Box 101, Maple Valley, WA  98038, or to Dick Bonewits, Chair, at gmvac_chair@hotmail.com.