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Who We Are:
Countywide Community Forums (CCF) is a nationally recognized program of King County designed to make democracy more user-friendly. The CCF model brings the public forum to your living room, neighborhood coffee shop, or workplace. It follows a high-tech, high-touch format that allows people to meet in small groups, learn about issues, and provide feeback to county officials.
How It Works — 3 Easy Steps:
Step 1: Register online at CommunityForums.org or by phone at (206) 296-1633
Step 2: Find a meeting near you. Once you are registered, log into your account and pull up the MAP page. Click "Find" and join a meeting near you.
Step 3: Forums occur 2 to 3 time a year. Stay in touch and get the latest news from Countywide Community Forums by adding "CommunityForums@KingCounty.gov" and "KingCountyCCN@mac.com" to your email address book (this prevents our messages from ending up in your spam folder.)
HOST your own meeting:
Log in and click the "Host a Meeting" graphic. As a host you choose the place and time and can invite friends, colleagues, or family to participate in your meeting.
To find out more and to RSVP, visit the MAP page.
Who can be a Citizen Councilor?
Anyone living or working in King County can register to be a volunteer Citizen Councilor and be eligible to participate in the forums. You do not have to be registered to vote to participate in a forum. To become a Citizen Councilor simply click the registration graphic on the left, or call (206) 296-1633 toll-free at (800) 369-2584 and a CCF volunteer will get back to you promptly.
Countywide Community Forums uses NO taxpayer money. The program is supported by volunteer efforts, individual donations and foundations, and is currently underwritten for 2010 by Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants and the Spady family.
The CCF Mission:
Engage: King County public officials want to know what people think about issues. The forums are offered 2 to 3 times a year during a 30-day window. Individuals choose the time and place. Whether it is a living room, workplace or a public space, forums are designed to be convenient gathering spots. Time at a forum is spent covering topics that are relevant to public policy and of interest to the people of King County.
Educate: Forum participants review background materials and view a video that presents diverse opinions from community leaders. After viewing the video, participants deliberate among themselves, learning from each other's experiences in a way that helps them structure and expand their views.
Inform public officials: Participants fill out a detailed survey on a selected topic. The surveys are compiled into a report that is published on the King County website and presented to the King County Council, the public, and to the media.
Who Oversees CCF?
The County Auditor oversees program operations and guarantees the integrity of the data collected from the surveys. The selection and approval of forum topics are done through an Advisory Citizen Councilor Steering Committee comprised of county elected officials, representatives from local colleges and universities, Superintendents of public school districts, tribal organizations, and other groups from across King County.
Additional reference links:
County Auditor: www.KingCounty.gov/operations/auditor/CommunityForums/topics
CCF video overview: www.canyons.com/KCCF/Orientation/KCCF.swf
Historical site of Initiative 24: www.EasyCitizenInvolvement.com/LatestNews
From the original Preamble of Initiative 24:
Freedom of speech, freedom of petition and freedom of assembly are hollow rights if people feel unable to be heard.
Freedom to be heard is not mentioned in the United States Constitution and thus is a right reserved to the people under the ninth amendment.
The purpose of this initiative is to enhance citizen participation, civic engagement and citizenship education in government. There is a need to create a citizen councilor network of small discussion groups, open to all citizens, self-funded and using symbolic and sustainable dialogue to communicate among political and other community leaders and the people at large.
One key to a sustainable community is an informed and sustainable dialogue among leaders and people. Citizens need new, more convenient and effective ways to share their opinions with other citizens and the leaders of their organizations, institutions and governments. This is a process of building social capital through both bonding and bridging dialogue and improving community mental health and happiness -- one of the goals of all governments, which seek, as they should, to protect and enhance the basic human rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
