In the 1980s, the Municipal League of Seattle branched out with an Eastside chapter, reflecting the growing population and clout of communities east of Lake Washington. As in the past, the League lent its voice to transit battles. In 1985, Executive Director Stephen Foreman launched a new Public Agenda program and revamped the design of League publications.

General volunteer interest and attendance at committee meetings had greatly declined from the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. Now, volunteers wanted to specialize in certain issues, and were less inclined to give administrative support. As a result, the League focused more on its products than on committees.

Issue Watch, Issue Brief, and Public Access publications tracked emerging issues and key players in King County. Thanks, to the Public Agenda program, the League’s membership boomed again, with up to one hundred new members joining a month.

In 1984, the Municipal League Foundation was reactivated (from its initial startup in 1973), allowing supporters and granting organizations to make tax-deductible contributions to the educational work of the League. By 1988, the Municipal League of Seattle and the Eastside Municipal League merged to become The Municipal League of King County. As a leading advocate of regionalism, the League felt that an effective, streamlined,, and inclusive countywide organizational structure was needed to surmount parochialism and involve the burgeoning north and south County regions.

The League took on jail overcrowding, of Seattle reorganization on, King County's Comprehensive Plan, and a study of the homeless mentally ill. By the late 1980s, growth and transportation, perennial League topics, were at the forefront of debate and study. The Growth Challenge project, launched in 1990, featured a series of forums and design projects to explore new models of growth management.

In the 1990s, League study committees looked at growth management, transportation, water supply, the merger of Metro and King County governments, and the Port of Seattle. in February 1991, the League published a report titled "King County Governance Reform" that helped define the debate about merging the King County Council and Metro. The League played a vital role in orchestrating the call for reform, which resulted in voter approval of the merger in the fall of 1992.

The League has monitored the merger of Metro and King County to ensure that when it is complete at the end of 1995, citizens will have a more efficient and accountable government. In August 1994, the League released a report on the regional policy committees, calling for better cooperation between King County elected officials and city officials and for more inclusive regional decision making.

The League's Governance Committee also assisted the Shoreline and Vashon corn unities with their Shoreline's options for governance. residents voted to incorporate in the fall of 1994, making it the fourth largest city in the county, and the League published a Voter's Guide in early 1995 to assist the citizens of Shoreline with choosing their first city councilmembers.

In response to concerns about declining voter turnout at the polls the League's Foundation launched a creative program during the 1992 elections aimed at educating the county's future voters. Voices on Tomorrow's Elections (V.O.T.E.) taught the electoral process to fifth and twelfth graders and "registered" the students so they could cast a Special Youth Ballot on election day.

The League's Port of Seattle Study Committee issued "Enhancing the Port of Seattle's Accountability to the Public" in May 1993. The report made several suggestions for how the Port could better work with its customers and constituents to set goals and priorities. The League met with Port officials and staff in April of 1995 to review the implementation of its recommendations.

In May 1994, the League's Foundation issued "Are We Going Dry? An Examination of Regional Water Supply and Governance." The report, the result of a 15-month examination of the adequacy of the region's water supply, received wide spread recognition for its detailed and unbiased analysis of a controversial topic.

During the 1990s, the Foundation's publication, Issue Watch, provided nonpartisan analysis of several complex issues, including: emergency preparation; panhandling; airport expansion at SeaTac; city council election by district or proportional representation; education reform; the King County Library System; growth management; health care reform; the homeless; regional jail siting; affordable housing; regional trails; and wetlands.

In December 1993; the League revived Municipal League News, which is now published 10 times a year and keeps members informed about League activities and policy matters of interest to King County residents.
Looking Ahead

As the League looks forward to the 21st Century, it faces complex challenges and opportunities. More nonprofit organizations are competing for financial support, volunteer hours, and membership base. As special interest groups' multiply on both sides of the centrist Municipal League, their spirited voices occasionally drown out the nonpartisan, consensus-based voice of the League. With this proliferation of causes to support and activities to join, is there a role for the Municipal League in the 21st Century?

The question answers itself: There is more need for such an organization than ever before. The alternative is community politics defined and dominated by extremes, by a political system where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The Municipal League looks beyond special interests and analyzes policy problems with the interests of the citizens and open, efficient, and accountable government in mind.

The challenges of growth, social need, corruption, government waste, and the abuses of power are not artifacts of the past. The problems of mass transit, urban sprawl, environmental degradation, poverty, and homelessness have not been solved; indeed, they have no permanent solution.

The future of King County depends upon the region's ability to achieve and maintain agreement on a common set of values and goals for self-government, economic development, and social improvement.

At a time when people are distrustful of elected officials and government, there is all the more need for an independent voice of responsibility that holds local government accountable to its citizens. The League has been critiquing politicians, analyzing issues, shaping policy decision for 85 years and it has developed a hard earned reputation for thoughtful, thorough, high-quality, nonpartisan work.

In the coming years, the League will continue to engender civic spiritedness throughout the region and to build a community of public-minded citizens dedicated to maintaining civil discourse and to solving the complex policy matters that will shape our region’s destiny.