Countywide Community Forums

The Countywide Community Forums enhance citizen participation, civic engagement, and citizenship education in government.

• Latest News : The topic for the next round of community forums will be: “Citizen Priorities for County Government: Budget and Strategic Options."   The forums will be conducted during the month of February 2009.
  

• What you can do:  REGISTER!  The Citizen Councilor Network draws its strength from numbers.  We are seeking registrants who represent the rich diversity and complexity of views, priorities, and interests in the region. 

Countywide Community Forums is a network of periodic public forums where people gather in small groups throughout the county to discuss current issues and provide important feedback to county government and other public officials.
 

Using Opinionnaire^® responses, the program generates objective tabulated survey data that is communicated back to participants, to members of the Metropolitan King County Council, to other government officials, members of the media, and the general public.
 

Opinionnaire^® responses in new percentage indicators allow public officials to understand the opinions and ideas of forum participants. 
 

Through its unanimous adoption of Ordinance 15896, the King County Council created Countywide Community Forums in late 2007. The ordinance was previously King County Initiative 24, sponsored by Dick Spady, co-founder of Seattle’s Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants, to enhance citizen participation, civic engagement, and citizen education in King County.
 

The entire program, including county staff positions, is funded through voluntary donations. The program is led by the volunteer Coordinator, Dick Spady, and two volunteer Deputy Coordinators, Jim and John Spady, who are the authors of the initiative that created this program. They were appointed to these positions based on their extensive knowledge of the Citizen Councilor Network model of civic engagement. The Auditor’s Office oversees program operations and ensure the integrity of data collection processes and management controls over program funds. Chantal Stevens, the program manager within the Auditor's Office, also serves as the public’s primary county government contact for the program.
 

The program based on a model developed principally by Richard (Dick) J. Spady, President of the Forum Foundation. As discussed in The Leadership of Civilization Building that he co-authored, it enables citizens to participate meaningfully in providing feedback to public officials on issues of importance to the community.