Rotary

Kathy Lambert King County District 3 Councilmember returned to the club to give us a county update. She prepared all of us for a large tax increase as a result of education and transit decisions.

Many of the county bridges are in need of maintenance and improvements along with roadways. Kathy talked about a number of county efforts and also shared a chart on how much it costs to maintain a road versus a complete re-build which is exponentially higher.

Waste to Energy, Recycling, Upcycling and moving towards Zero Waste are going to be major issues as our current landfill will be filled within the next 20 or so years. She talked about options that many countries like Germany are employing as well as a few municipalities within the United States.

Learn more about county happenings on the county website.

Dr. Michelle Reid and several of her staff members paid a visit to the club today to give us an update on the school district and some additional details surrounding the upcoming bond and levies to be voted on in February of 2018.

The district saw unprecedented growth this past year and there are 98 different native languages spoken in the district. The differences between a bond and a levy were also detailed along with the current budget and how the new state funding is impacting the district.

Learn more about the 2018 Bond and Levies or check out the superintendent’s blog.

Willie Dickerson, a retired teacher who lives in Snohomish, is a RESULTS.org volunteer. Willie talked to the club about the organization’s charter and how they are having an impact on working toward an end to poverty and shaping policy.

RESULTS is not a high-profile organization, but it helps famous nonprofits get things done and it does this by harnessing the power of regular folks to influence the representatives we elect.

Its model for affecting the direction of government policy is especially relevant today when so many people are looking for a way to have their concerns heard and acted on.

RESULTS is dedicated to ending poverty, hunger and killer diseases, and to making the needs of children a priority for governments in the U.S. and around the world. It has a small staff in Washington, D.C., and depends heavily on its volunteers in 40 states and four countries. It has been credited with protecting Head Start, helping the microfinance movement get vital support, pressuring the U.S. to double its contribution to the Global Partnership for Education, which benefits poor children, and much more.

See a recent Seattle Times article featuring Willie title The nonprofit group RESULTS proves ordinary people can influence policymakers on big issues.