by Dean A. Radford
King County Journal

Proponents of a breakaway Cascade County are finalizing plans for a statewide initiative setting up a way to form a new county or combine existing ones that are struggling financially.

The Cascade County Committee was formed out of the anger some rural residents in eastern King County felt over the county's land-use regulations and what they see is heavy-handed rule from Seattle politicians.

Efforts to accomplish the initiative's goals through legislation have failed in a Democrat-controlled Legislature.

However, Kirkland Republican Toby Nixon plans to introduce a bill that contains the same language as the initiative to give the Legislature another chance.

``In any initiative campaign, one of the questions that arises is, ``Did you give the Legislature a chance to consider it?''' he said. ``We wanted to be able to say `yes.'''

By GORDY HOLT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

DUVALL -- On a list of things to think about before any secessionist breaks with King County is the possible need to consider land-use restrictions "of our own," said John Hearing of Maple Valley, a North Bend native now temporary chairman of the Cascade County Committee.

No one threw an egg at him, or even removed a shoe. But, clearly, the suggestion that land-use restrictions might be needed in a county created out of the hostility to government control was unexpected.

With plenty of other things to do on a rain-threatened Friday night, the Duvall fire hall was packed.

More than 50 people came to hear how a "Cascade County" might be carved out of east King County and cultivated to a point where its roots might reach clear across the state.

Suburban mayors say they're following the burgeoning movement to create break-off Cascade County, but they're not ready to throw their support behind the idea.

They'll need more information -- and directions from their constituents -- before they do that.

Not surprisingly, most of the momentum for the new county is coming from rural areas of King County, where residents chafe at what they say are heavy-handed county regulations and the disinterest of their leaders in Seattle.

Even rural County Council members, other than Eastside Republican Kathy Lambert, shy away from expressing strong support for a new county. First, they want to see the results of a financial analysis.

Lambert's support isn't lost on leaders of the Cascade County movement.

``We would like to see that level of support from all representatives who are in Cascade County,'' said John Hearing of Maple Valley, interim chairman of the Cascade County Committee.

NORTH BEND -- Rural rage found its footing Thursday night when about 75 people turned out for the first public airing of plans for a new Cascade County.

The meeting was important because it was billed as a gauge of the public's interest in breaking off suburban and rural areas from Seattle to form the new county.

Now the hard work begins.

Thursday's organizers hope that show of support will translate into volunteers for everything from a chair for the Cascade County Committee to others to reach out to all corners of the new county.

Their work was kept quiet purposefully so they could have a plan in place before they went public, triggering the 10-day clock to file paperwork with the Public Disclosure Commission.

Those in the Sallal Grange Hall in North Bend were united in their feeling of abandonment by King County officials and a widespread belief that they've lost control of their own future. They want that control back.

A group of mostly rural residents, burned by perceived missteps from King County government, are in the early stages of returning to an old idea: creating their own county — called Cascade County — out of the eastern section of King County.

Similar movements died in the 1990s, particularly after the state Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that the decision to create a new county "resides with the Legislature alone." But residents say they've learned from their mistakes and have gained momentum from recent actions by King County, including the new Critical Areas Ordinances (CAO), tent cities for the homeless in suburban areas and the handling of the governor's race.

Unlike the failed six-year effort to create Cedar County, the residents say they have a clear path mapped out through the legal system.

"We kind of guessed what it'd take to make Cedar County," said John Hearing, a Maple Valley resident and head of the new Cascade County Committee. "... Instead of shooting in the dark, we really have a specific goal to go after."

NORTH BEND - If sometime in 2007 King County is a fraction of its former self, and a large swath of the eastern and southern portions of the county bear a different name, then the campaign that made it happen started Thursday night in North Bend.

About 100 people packed the Sallal Grange hoping they were there for the birth of Cascade County.

John Hearing of Maple Valley led the group through a two-hour presentation to lay the groundwork for the latest effort at secession from Washington's largest and most populous county. He likened the effort to a "do-over," a chance he said to correct the problems he and others see in King County.

"We get a do-over," he told the crowd. "We basically can call a time out and we're going to get another chance at the ball. We get a chance to remake our government and maybe come up with a government that will pay attention to the citizens out here."

The divorce between Seattle and everyone else in King County could become final if the state Legislature adopts a bill to create Cascade County.

The legislation, House Bill 2074, was introduced by state Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, who represents the 45th Legislative District.

Rural residents have found an ally in Nixon in their fight to shake off control over their property and lives by what they say is a Seattle-centric county government.

Some rural leaders call the relationship between Seattle and rural residents a divorce waiting to happen.

Under the legislation, the interim seat of Cascade County is Kent, in part because it's home to another major county facility, the Regional Justice Center.

SCOTT HAMILTON
GUEST COLUMNIST

A bill introduced in the Legislature by state Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, would allow residents outside Seattle to secede from King County. They should have the chance.

The effort to divorce from King County is not new, of course. Residents in South King County tried for years to create Cedar County. That effort failed because the courts said the state law didn't allow counties to be created by a vote, and the Legislature wouldn't grant the right to do so. The Democrats now in control of the Legislature should not only allow this bill a vote on the floor, they should approve it.

Unfortunately, this is already seen as a Republican-Democrat issue. Republicans are behind the measure and Democrats have knee-jerk opposition to it. To be sure, the Cascade County effort is rooted in dissatisfaction with the Seattle/Democratic-controlled King County Council and the adoption (or imposition, depending on your viewpoint) of the Critical Areas Ordinance in rural King County. It should be an issue of self-determination, the very foundation of the United States of America.

By MIKE LEWIS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

While it's generally agreed that no man is an island, the notion of being an independent state holds a certain appeal these days to Justin Patterson -- maybe not by himself, but with a collection of like-minded people.

"Sometimes, especially after the last election, you get the idea we really can't get along," the 31-year-old liberal said while sipping a cappuccino in a Seattle cafe. "Maybe we're fundamentally different from the Eastside and from Eastern Washington."