Much has been written and said of the widening income inequality in America.  But even with the press coverage the issue has been receiving recently, most Americans still don't realize how extraordinarily unequal our country has become since the 1970s.  These misconceptions are captured in this 6 minute video on Wealth Inequality in America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM. 

This distressing trend unfortunately exists in King County as well.  And the impacts extend beyond income inequality itself - race, income, neighborhood are each major predictors of whether we graduate from high school, become incarcerated, how healthy we are, and even how long we will live.  Given the national and international factors leading to income inequality, is there anything we can do about it locally?

King County is working to address this through their Equity and Social Justice work (see the “King County Equity and Social Justice Annual Report”, which is found on this website www.kingcounty.gov/equity (on right of the page)).  The county is committed to implementing our equity and social justice agenda to work toward fairness and opportunity for all and to remove barriers that limit the ability of some to fulfill their potential. Our economy and quality of life depends on the ability of everyone to contribute.  Solutions that build equity and opportunity rely on us all getting involved. 

Guest Speaker:  Carrie Cihak 

Carrie S. Cihak is Chief of Policy in the King County Executive’s Office.  She develops solutions for issues that are complex, controversial, cross-agency, or of particular concern to King County Executive Dow Constantine.  Carrie leads a team of advisors known informally as the “policy pod” to guide implementation of the goals of the King County Strategic Plan.  She comes to the Executive Office after eight years as a senior-level policy and budget analyst for the County Council.  Carrie is trained as a PH.D-level economist and worked on international trade and finance for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Adviser.   

Additional Info on Forum:

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Earlier this week, King County Executive Dow Constantine delivered his annual State of the County address, in which he highlighted the threat income inequality poses for our region.  He also announced a proposal called Best Starts for Kids that would put every child in King County on a path toward lifelong success and the ability to contribute their fullest to our region.  Best Starts for Kids would fund prevention and early intervention strategies based on the latest brain science with a property tax levy costing the average homeowner about $1 per week.  You can view or read his State of the County address and learn more about Best Starts for Kids here:  http://1.usa.gov/1bRrqTr.  

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Many thanks to our speaker Carrie Cihak, Dave Gamrath for organizing and emceeing, and Candy Sullivan for hosting this important discussion.