The Governor and Washington legislators have bypassed, stymied, and limited citizen participation. Senate Bill 5808 was signed into law on April 10. It bypasses public participation in the annexation process and allows the County, City or Town, and affected Fire District officials to form an interlocal agreement that allows an annexation that cannot be challenged by citizens.

As I understand SB 5808, a referendum by the citizens is not available if all parties (fire districts, the county, and the city) are in agreement. If either the annexing city or town elected officials and the county elected officials disagrees, the process stops. If they agree, then the choice to annex is up to the Fire Districts. Getting agreements on salaries, jurisdictional boundaries, and levels of service will add to the costs to citizens. It will be expensive. However, It’s only when the fire districts disagree do the citizens get a chance to vote on their destiny.

The bill was apparently written to protect fire districts. It wasn’t written to allow citizen participation in the annexation process.

Will cities and counties use the interlocal agreement to force annexation? I believe they will. Counties are finding it harder to balance the budget and may solicit cities to initiate the interlocal agreement process. It does require an agreement on multiple issues including costs sharing and levels of service. Cities can require the county to repair and upgrade capital facilities. Counties will resist. That leaves the annexation process in the hands of elected officials, not citizens. If the interlocal process is used, it will be timed just after an election, not before. That will protect existing elected official from political exposure and accountability.

SB 5808 protects fire districts but it comes at the expense of the citizens of the annexing city or town, and the citizens in the proposed annexation area. If they can’t convince the fire district(s) to disagree with the interlocal agreement, citizens don’t get a chance to participate in the process. Also, the Boundary Review Board is still involved although the interlocal agreement process makes the decision for them. It negates the need for the Board. King County could save the $300,000 per year it cost to support the Board. It would help the county balance its budget.

Robert L. Style, Kirkland