File #: 2020-0234    Version:
Type: Ordinance Status: Passed
File created: 9/1/2020 In control: Mobility and Environment Committee
On agenda: Final action: 2/9/2021
Enactment date: 2/19/2021 Enactment #: 19234
Title: AN ORDINANCE naming the park complex of Preston Athletic Fields, Preston Park and Preston Mill as the Jim Ellis Memorial Regional Park at Preston in honor of the late James Reed "Jim" Ellis, considered one of King County's greatest civic leaders.
Sponsors: Kathy Lambert, Rod Dembowski, Dave Upthegrove, Claudia Balducci, Pete von Reichbauer, Reagan Dunn, Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Indexes: Parks and Recreation
Attachments: 1. Ordinance 19234, 2. 2020-0234 transmittal letter, 3. 2020-0234 Fiscal Note, 4. 2020-0234 KL_Signed_Intro Slip, 5. 2020-0234 Intro Slip, 6. 2020-0234 Intro Slip - Jim Ellis, 7. 2020-0234 Intro Slip - Balducci, 8. 2020-0234 Intro Slip - Jim Ellis Park, 9. 2020-0234 Legislative Review Form, 10. 2020-0234_ATT2_AMD1_Technical Amendment.docx, 11. 2020-0234_SR_Jim Ellis Park.docx
Staff: Tracy, Jake

Title

AN ORDINANCE naming the park complex of Preston Athletic Fields, Preston Park and Preston Mill as the Jim Ellis Memorial Regional Park at Preston in honor of the late James Reed "Jim" Ellis, considered one of King County's greatest civic leaders.

Body

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

1.  James Reed "Jim" Ellis, born in 1921, is known as one of the greatest and most visionary civic leaders in King County.  He has led the way in preserving forests, rivers, farmlands, parks, lakes and mountains and enhancing the livability of King County.

2.  Jim Ellis shaped much of what is beloved in King County today.  In the 1950s, he led the charge to clean up Lake Washington and sparked the formation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, earning him the nickname the "Father of Metro."

3.  Jim Ellis was a leader in the Forward Thrust campaign, a series of bond measures to finance parks and trails, mass transit and other public facilities across the county in the 1960s.  In the 1980s, he was instrumental in the development and expansion of the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

4.  Jim Ellis was the founding president of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, which brought together a broad coalition of interest groups to conserve and enhance the landscape from Seattle across the Cascade mountains to central Washington.

5.  Jim Ellis worked with residents and King County after the historic twenty-two acre Preston Mill site was purchased by King County parks and recreation division of the department of natural resources and parks in 1997 to envision a future park.  He also provided a generous donation to help move the project forward.

6.  Jim Ellis passed away on October 22, 2019.

7.  Jim Ellis's selfless spirit and activism lives on in King County and he will be remembered for his tireless efforts to preserve King County's rich landscape and provide access to nature for all residents.

                     BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:

                     SECTION 1.  We do hereby honor and memorialize Jim Ellis by naming the park

complex of Preston Athletic Fields, Preston Park and Preston Mill parks as the Jim Ellis Memorial Regional Park at Preston.