Renton City Council member Greg Taylor is a founding member of a national organization designed to advance progressive policies locally.

Taylor, who is in his second term as a Renton council member, joined about 40 other leaders from small and large cities last month in Washington, D.C., to launch Local Progress.

“I was hand-picked along with other council members who have a progressive policy history,” he said.

Progressive policy means “looking at policies that are fair, just, that create a good opportunity for everyone,” ranging from economic development to justice to immigrant rights, he said.

“It’s a host of things,” he said.

The benefit for him and for the city is that the program is “designed for people like myself and other policy makers on the council level to have peer access to like-minded individuals to share ideas, to share strategies that were proven successful,” he said.

His policy lens, he said, “is purely focused on what is in the best interest of our residents.”

Taylor pointed to another founding member, Seattle City Council member Nick Licata, who successfully worked for paid sick leave for employees of Seattle businesses. Licata is the chairman of Local Progress. That’s a possibility in Renton, Taylor said.

And Renton’s population isn’t that much different from other communities with large minority populations, he said.

“Certainly, we have populations that are underserved and at risk,” he said.

He also pointed to the concept of a community benefits agreement, in which the community is involved in development agreements to ensure their interests are better served.

“Policy decisions are made purely through the lens of how is this going to benefit the community across the board,” he said.

Some local governments have a “good-old boys” network with specific agendas  that aren’t “informed” by the community and its residents.

“A progressive-minded individual is more concerned about what is best for the community and seeks to get informed from the community in terms of how policy is shaped,” he said.

Taylor said the group will continue to meet regularly.