Public Affairs Videos

Voters will decide in August whether to support a $210 million levy to replace King County`s aging facility for cases involving children. Located in Seattle`s Central District, the new Children and Family Justice Center will cost a median homeowner $25 a year for nine years. Supporters say the building is deteriorating beyond repair, but with detention numbers currently down, is this the right time to construct a new complex? We hear from King County councilmember and levy sponsor Bob Ferguson; King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg; former state Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge; and Rick Lichtenstadter, Juvenile Division Supervisor of The Defender Association. We also go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the aging facility and hear from critic Ari Kohn about his concern over investing in a new building instead of more human services. In 2010, voters rejected a more ambitious sales tax hike to replace the juvenile justice facility. Will they be more supportive of a pared back property tax this time around?