Drafter
Clerk 10/23/2007
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AN ORDINANCE naming the new county office building.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County is nearing the end of construction of a new King County office building in downtown Seattle in close proximity to the King County Courthouse and adjacent to the King County Administrative Building.
2. The new office building will house critical county functions including the Seattle-King County department of public health, the King County finance and business operations division and the King County office of information resource management.
3. King County citizens will visit the new office building to access county services and conduct business with county officials and employees.
4. King County citizens and taxpayers should, whenever possible, be provided with opportunities to feel a greater sense of connection and relation with their King County government, its functions and its public facilities.
5. Citizens of King County have paid for the construction of the new office building and should therefore have a role in the naming of that building.
6. The name of the office building should reflect broad citizen values as well as any one or more of county issues, persons and symbols.
7. The metropolitan King County council passed Motion 12336 in September 2006, which laid out the process encouraging young King County residents to participate in naming the building by writing essays proposing the building name.
8. Among the one hundred forty names generated by the request for essays was "The Chinook Building," which was submitted by King County resident Megan Drews.
9. In her submittal essay Megan Drews described how the Chinook name would make honorable cultural references to both the Chinook Indian Nation and to the species of salmon that is a valuable resource to our state and community.
10. In one submittal essay a student offered the idea to name "certain rooms or wings [of the building] for individuals, groups or symbolic logos." This idea could be developed and implemented by naming the thirteen individual floors of the new building.
11. The current Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Chinook Indian Nation have recently expressed their support in naming the new county office "The Chinook Building."
12. We wish to honor and recognize the Chinook name and to allow for the individual floors of the building to honor such individuals, groups or symbolic logos as recommended by the county council and the county executive.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. A. The Chinook Building is hereby approved as the name of the new county office building.
B. The county executive will work in collaboration with the county council to name the thirteen individual floors of the Chinook Building. Each council member will select a name for the building floor number that corresponds to the respective council district number, allowing for the naming of floors one through nine. Each council member and the executive shall file with the clerk of the council a letter designating each
name. The county executive will select the names for the remaining four floors of the building.
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