City takes stance on proposed facility

Published 12:54 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND – The message the City Council wants to convey to state and King County officials is clear: Keep your sex-offender halfway house out of North Bend.

At its Tuesday, Feb. 18 meeting, council members approved a cover letter and resolution aimed at stating the city’s case against the Department of Social and Health Services’ (DSHS) consideration of placing a sex-offender halfway house in a remote location off Exit 38. City officials are hoping that the documents, to be sent to state and county officials, will be enough to convince the parties involved that North Bend is not the ideal place for the facility.

“It seems like every time you talk to somebody [about the issue] you come up with a new reason to oppose this,” said Councilman Ed Carlson.

Earlier this month state officials announced they were looking at 13 new locations as potential sites for the facility that would house convicted sex-offenders who have served their time and are making the transition back into the community. Two King County sites – Federal Way and SeaTac – were targeted late last year, but public outcry led state officials to revisit the issue. A Carnation site was dropped from the list because of a nearby school bus stop.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record