Council OK’s sale of old Kingdome parking lot

The Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved the sale of the north half of the former Kingdome parking lot to the development team of Opus / Nitze-Stagen. The developers will work with the City of Seattle to develop family-wage housing on the parcel adjacent to Qwest Field.

The proposed purchase and sale agreement allows Opus / Nitze-Stagen to develop and build a mix of rental and ownership units. The agreement calls for no fewer than 400 market-rate and affordable housing units, with 100 of those considered affordable family housing for rental by families earning no more than 60 percent of annual median income as defined by the Federal Housing and Urban Development Income Guidelines for King County.

The county advertised the north lot for sale in 2005, and in June of 2006 selected the proposal from Opus / Nitze-Stagen. The sale price is $10,110,000. Ten percent of the proceeds from sale of the parcel will be deposited into an arts and cultural development fund for capital fund expenditures.

This county council action authorizes the county executive to complete the sale of the property.

Sewer rate won’t go up

The rates paid for sewer service in King County will stay the same next year, as the Metropolitan King County Council voted unanimously to hold the 2008 sewer rate at the current level of $27.95 per month.

The county council also approved a wastewater capacity charge for 2008 of $46.25 per month, a charge that is $3.75 per month less than the estimate provided in 2006.

The sewer capacity charge is paid by owners of newly constructed homes and businesses for construction of new treatment facilities, including the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant. The monthly capacity charge is assessed for 15 years after connection, but property owners can save 5 percent of overall charges if they choose to pay a lump sum upfront.

The monthly sewer rate supports maintenance and operation of the county’s existing wastewater treatment system. It is paid by its customers in King County, south Snohomish County and a small portion of Pierce County.

Satterberg named Acting Prosecuting Attorney

The Metropolitan King County Council voted unanimously to appoint Dan Satterberg to serve as Acting King County Prosecuting Attorney, to oversee the duties and operations of the office following the passing of longtime Prosecutor Norm Maleng.

“I want to thank you for your confidence in me,” Satterberg told the Council, after he was sworn into office by Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie. “It is my commitment to you and the people of King County and the people of the prosecutor’s office to do my best every day to live up to this great honor. I will try to do what I think Norm would want us to do every day, to keep this being a professional, non-partisan office that provides justice.”

Satterberg has served as Chief of Staff to Norm Maleng since 1990, with responsibility for general oversight of the office as well as the administrative functions of budget, human resources, media relations, community and governmental relations, and legislative and policy matters. He was originally hired into the Criminal Division of the office in 1985, where he tried all types of criminal cases. Satterberg, 47, is a graduate of Highline High School in Burien, the University of Washington, and the University of Washington Law School. He lives in Normandy Park with his wife and two children.

“Dan has served as Norm’s chief of staff and has served King County long and well during his entire legal career,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert, chair of the Council’s Law, Justice and Human Services Committee. “I have no doubt that he will be able to carry on the legacy of justice with compassion that Norm Maleng established for King County. We are fortunate that Norm left us so well prepared, which was a hallmark of his incomparable service to King County.”

“Dan Satterberg was Norm Maleng’s handpicked chief of staff,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson. “He is the logical person to run the prosecutor’s office during this difficult time of transition.”

Maleng’s son Mark addressed the Council on behalf of his family and thanked the community for its outpouring of support. “He truly loved his job and the challenges he faced each day, including working with you to make King County the best it could be,” he said. “It is so important that his work continue, and there is no one more qualified to act as prosecutor than Dan Satterberg. He is a man of principle, integrity and humility.”

Council adopts proposal to protect citizens’ private information

The county council unanimously adopted legislation creating the King County Public Records Committee. This committee will focus on protecting the personal information of county residents by ensuring that public documents containing private information are safeguarded.

Last year Councilmember Reagan Dunn discovered social security numbers on public documents posted on King County’s Web site. His investigation netted the social security numbers of many high-profile King County residents, including those of statewide elected officials and former Seattle Supersonics, Seahawks, and Mariners.

“I was shocked to learn last year that King County was posting the personal information of our citizens on the King County Recorder’s Web site,” said Dunn, sponsor of the legislation. “The Public Records Committee will develop and recommend policy concerning the handling of public documents, particularly online documents to prevent a similar situation in the future.”

The creation of this committee is a result of legislation sponsored by Dunn and approved by the Council last year that removed deed of trust documents containing social security numbers from the Recorder’s Web site.

“The King County Council recognized the danger and quickly passed my legislation for a ‘quick-fix’ by removing these documents from the Internet,” said Dunn. “We have now created a committee that will comprehensively look at how King County handles its public documents.”

One of the first tasks of the Public Records Committee will be to develop a plan to safely repost online the documents that were taken down after they were discovered to contain social security numbers. The plan is scheduled to be presented to the council by March 1, 2008. The Committee will also be responsible for assisting in the development of county priorities and guidelines in protecting personal data when records are posted on county Web sites.

The Public Records Committee will be chaired by the director of Records, Elections, and Licensing Services, and will include representatives from the county council, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, the Assessor’s Office, the Department of Judicial Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Information Resource Management.