Democratic Governor Jay Inslee requested a meeting with the mayors of the largest cities in King County, the most populous county in Washington state, to discuss illegal immigrants and what assistance could be provided by the administration if the number continues to grow.
On Wednesday, Inslee met with the mayors of some of the county’s largest cities including Seattle, Bellevue, and Kent, to discuss “asylum seekers." Sources told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that an open question to the mayors by the Governor was: what do you need and how can we help if the number of asylees grows in King County?
The meeting reportedly had no action items, rather Inslee just wanted to hear the mayors’ thoughts on the topic. Sources familiar with the meetings told Hoffman, "They are trying to keep it (the meeting) quiet," adding that Seattle Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell "personally called each mayor on their cell phones to try and keep it off the radar and no staff involvement."
The mayor's office has not returned requests for comment.
The mayors and King County Executive Dow Constantine had written to Inslee in April about “the influx of migrants into Washington State” telling the governor that the state needed to lead “…coordinated efforts to optimize the impact of allocated funds, prevent service duplication, and ensure equitable resource distribution among local governments and community-based organizations.”
Inslee replied, “While the state can coordinate and partially fund the effort to serve new migrant arrivals, it cannot do so without the cooperation of its cities.”
