Sheriff Sue Rahr has been sounding the alarm that proposed King County budget cuts are putting public safety “in peril”. City council received a notice, sent to a wide range of city officials, on this topic last week.
Tonight, she is hosting a meeting in Skyway to discuss what these proposed cuts could mean to the Sheriff’s office, and to citizens who rely on King County for local police protection (unincorporated areas). This is one of four “town-meeting” style forums she is planning on this topic.
The politics are interesting, since Sheriff is an elected position– just like King County Council and King County Executive. Hence, Sheriff Rahr is on solid ground making a pitch to constituents that she needs more money or else they will see a cut in services. How this will play to the King County Council budget writers remains to be seen.
Renton City Council and Mayor Law continue to make local public safety our highest priority, and we do not anticipate any police policy shifts or noticeable service shifts as a result of the current economic downturn. Bad guys in Renton won’t be getting any slack. But the county police issues can still affect us when we travel/work/shop/etc in unincorporated areas.
Tonight’s meeting details are as follows:
October 22nd
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Skyway United
Methodist Church
11800 Renton Ave S
Seattle, WA 98178
Here is a King 5 Story with more information about the proposed cuts
City is a definite improvement
Having just annexed into Renton from Unicorporated KC, the city police are a definite improvement over KC sheriff.
Dave