The Metropolitan King

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

, the legislative body of

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

, consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws, sets policy, and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure is the result of a merger of King County and the

Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

, better known as Metro, which was a federated county-city structure responsible for

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

and

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ation.

Councilmembers

As a result of a County Charter amendment passed by voters in the November 2008 elections, all elective offices of King County are officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

; that being said, all current council members have made their party affiliations a matter of public record. *District 1: Rod Dembowski (D), took office 2013 *District 2:

Girmay Zahilay Girmay Hadish Zahilay ( ; born May 6, 1987) is an American politician and lawyer who is a member of the King County Council from District 2 in Seattle, Washington. He was elected in 2019, defeating longtime incumbent Larry Gossett. Early life ...

(D), took office 2020 *District 3:

Sarah Perry Sarah Grace Perry (born 28 November 1979) is an English author. She has had four novels published: ''After Me Comes the Flood'' (2014), '' The Essex Serpent'' (2016), ''Melmoth'' (2018) and ''Enlightenment'' (2024). Her work has been transla ...

(D), took office 2022 *District 4:

Jorge Barón Jorge Eliécer Barón Ortíz (born Jorge Eliécer Varón Ortíz 29 June 1948 in Ibagué) is a Colombian television presenter, media personality and businessman. By the mid-1980s, he was already a media sensation in Colombia and was broadcasting ...

(D), took office on January 9, 2024 *District 5: De'Sean Quinn (D), took office 2025 *District 6: Claudia Balducci (D), took office 2016 *District 7: Pete von Reichbauer (R), took office 1994 *District 8: Teresa Mosqueda (D), took office on January 9, 2024 *District 9: Reagan Dunn (R), took office 2005

Meetings

The full county council meets weekly on Thursdays, except for the fifth Thursday in a month.

Public comment In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

s are permitted at the fourth meeting of the month. Meetings are held in the County Council chambers, Room 1001, on the tenth floor of the

King County Courthouse The King County Courthouse is the administrative building housing the judicial branch of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington's government. It is located in downtown Seattle, just north of Pioneer Square, Seattle, ...

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

Structure

The nine members of the council are elected by their district to four-year terms in

contests. Councilmembers in even numbered districts are up for election in 2023, while Councilmembers in odd districts are up for election in 2025. Prior to 2009, councilmembers were elected on a

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

basis, and had to declare their political party unless they filed as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. An independent candidate had to receive at least 20 percent of the vote in the

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

to qualify for the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

ballot. This changed upon the passage of Charter Amendment 8 by voters in 2008, which made all elections for county offices

. The Council uses its committee structure to consider the legislation before it. Ordinances and motions (policy statements) are assigned to a King County Council committee for consideration, and then are recommended to the full Council for action. Each year, the Council reorganizes and elects a Chair and Vice Chair. In addition, the Council decides yearly on its committee structure and makeup. Currently there are nine standing policy committees and three regional committees. Members of the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

and representatives from

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

cities and local sewer districts are also members of the regional committees. In addition, all nine members of the Council meet as a Committee of the Whole to discuss broad-reaching legislation and issues. The

King County Executive The King County Executive is the elected county executive of King County, Washington. The office was established with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter for King County on November 5, 1968. Previously the powers of the county executive w ...

is not a member of the Council, and is a separately elected official. The Executive submits legislation to the Council for consideration. Each year in October, the Executive submits a proposed budget to the County Council for the operation of County government for the coming year. The Executive has veto power over ordinances passed by the Council.

Redistricting

In the 2004 general election voters approved a charter amendment to reduce the size of the council from thirteen to nine, which went into effect January 1, 2006. With four fewer districts, the number of constituents per district rose from 138,000 residents to about 193,000.

Past councilmembers

:''As of 2024''

Notes

References

External links

King County Council
{{King County Council *

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

King County, Washington County government in Washington (state) County governing bodies in the United States