King County Executive: Top five candidates state their views

• Name: Dow Constantine

Age: 47

Marital status: Partner, Shirley Carlson

Children: None

Education: Master’s Degree, Urban Planning, University of Washington, 1992; Law Degree, University of Washington, 1989; Bachelor’s Degree, Political Science, University of Washington, 1985; West Seattle High School, 1980

Occupation: Chair, King County Council

Campaign Web site: www.DowConstantine.com

Campaign e-mail: info@dowconstantine.com

Top 3 endorsements: Sierra Club, Washington Education Association, King County Democrats

What are the two biggest issues facing King County and how do you plan to address them if elected?

To meet the challenges of a new economic era we must make difficult decisions, requiring strong leadership, a true regional focus, and an emphasis on lasting solutions—not gimmicks and quick fixes that saddle taxpayers and future generations with even greater problems.

Top priorities include:

Building 21st century transportation. In the wake of the defeat of the Roads & Transit measure in 2007 I was the first regional leader to lay out a detailed argument for an immediate public vote on Sound Transit 2 (Seattle Times op-ed, March 13, 2008). I spent the succeeding months on the Sound Transit board working to craft a ballot proposal. My work as chair of ST’s Transit Operations Task Force will help assure that the agency can save millions as it transitions from primarily building systems to becoming an efficient transit operator.

As executive I’ll build on this track record of action to assure construction of Phase 2. No other candidate in this race can match my record of consistent commitment and action on transit, transportation and smart growth.

Smart government reform. A serious difference between my opponents and me is my commitment to positive, worker-driven reform of county government. As costs rise and revenues stagnate, King County is faced with a structural deficit no amount of new taxes will “fix.” We have to innovate to provide critical services, and I have a strong track record as the prime sponsor of successful legislation creating performance measures, whistleblower protections, capital oversight, and the hiring freeze.

• Name: Fred Jarrett

Age: 59

Marital Status: Married 20 years to Susan Jarrett

Children: Amy, Aric, Keith and Catherine – and 4 grandchildren

Occupation: Recently retired from Boeing where I specialized in Finance, manufacturing and systems management

Education: MBA – Seattle University

Campaign Web Site: www.vote4fred.com

Campaign email: info@vote4fred.com

Top three endorsements: Renton Mayor Denis Law, 41st and 45th District Democrats, Representative Judy Clibborn

What are the two biggest issues facing King County and how do you plan to address them if elected?

King County has a spending problem. The fiscal crisis created by the county’s unwillingness to make hard choices and touch decisions threatens its ability to deliver important services and create an environment that encourages responsible investment and job growth.

I will instill in the county a sense of fiscal and management discipline. I will:

Stop any new county programs and spending until the budget crisis is resolved.

Put the county’s foot ferry system on-hold and focus on stabilizing the finances of the Metro bus system. Now is not the time to create another bureaucracy to operate a ferry system while the bus system that moves far more people is facing a $100 million budget shortfall and service cuts.

Set and enforce accountability and performance standards focused on customer service.

Aggressively reduce bloated overhead. There has been a proliferation of middle management and policy staff positions. My priority will be delivering services to citizens, not overhead.

Get the cost of employee health care under control by asking county employees to pay a portion of their health care premiums, like most working people do.

The county also needs to do more to encourage investment and job growth. I will make this a priority and take immediate steps to streamline the county’s permitting system so people and companies who want to invest in this region can have predictability. I will make our environmental regulations less prescriptive and more focused on results rather than process.

• Name: Susan Hutchison

Age: 55

Martial Status: Married – Andy (for 33 years)

Children: John (19) and Brian (16)

Education: Bachelor of Science – Journalism, University of Florida

Occupation: Executive Director – Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences

Campaign Website: SusanHutchison.com

Campaign email: Susan@susanhutchison.com

Top Three Endorsements: Attorney General Rob McKenna (R), State Auditor Brian Sonntag (D), Former Governor Dan Evans (R)

What are the two biggest issues facing King County and how do you plan to address them if elected:

King County is facing a crisis. Our budget deficit is projected to reach $110 million over the next two years and a recent audit of the county revealed a lack of accountability, unnecessary cost overruns and inadequate internal controls.

Eliminating the deficit and reforming county government are priorities of the next executive. When the State Auditor released his audit report of King County government it exposed a deeply troubling level of county mismanagement. We are in need of immediate reform and as King County Executive, I will identify waste and restructure the budget to ensure tax dollars are spent effectively without risking the safety and protection of our citizens. Our county needs to be on a meatloaf, not a steak diet in order to get spending under control.

We also need to ensure our economy recovers and I’ll do that by helping businesses create jobs. When we launched our campaign, I announced my intention to work toward reducing the B&O tax burden that makes it so difficult for small businesses to operate and succeed. 50,000 small businesses in the county would benefit – meaning more family wage jobs.

Our county’s problems will not be solved by the same career politicians who created them. However, with new leadership, new vision and a new direction, we can achieve real solutions and change the way the county operates. That is what I have done as the Executive Director of a $100 million arts and sciences foundation, and that is my commitment as County Executive.

• Name: Ross Hunter

Age: 47

Marital status: Married 20 years, Tricie

Children (and ages): Two children, Emily 16, Jack 18

Education: Yale, BS Computer Science

Occupation: State Representative District 48

Campaign Web site: www.rosshunter.com

Campaign e-mail: info@rosshunter.com

Top three endorsements: The Seattle Times; Grant Degginger, Mayor of Bellevue; Eastside Business Alliance

What are the two biggest issues facing King County and and how do you plan to address them if elected?

1. In this difficult budgetary dynamic it is crucial that we maximize the level of service we offer to the citizens of the county, spending as little as possible on overhead. There are two pieces, in particular, that I will begin with to achieve this:

* Work with the cities, water/sewer districts, fire districts, etc. to finalize the annexations of unincorporated land inside the urban growth boundary. This will improve the efficiency of county government operations and save money that could be better spend on direct provision of services.

* Re-organize the county government to clarify the relationship between countywide services and those that are provided to the unincorporated areas. This will necessitate replacing the county’s antiquated accounting system with a more modern one, a project undertaken by the previous executive that failed at the cost of tens of millions.

2. Transportation planning and growth management. These are related in deep ways. In short, we all share a common vision of a verdant, productive county, blessed with high-paying jobs and smoothly flowing transportation systems. Without major corrections in how we tie housing and jobs together we are unlikely to achieve this vision. We must agree and take action on a plan that links housing goals and job growth so that people aren’t forced to drive for hours to go to work, and so that we don’t have to pave everything to build the roads to support this broken model. We cannot afford the cost of building all these roads, nor do we wish to support the environmental consequences.

• Name: Larry Phillips

Age: 58

Marital status: Married

Children: Brett Phillips, 23

Education: B.A University of Washington, J.D. Willamette University, M.A. Labor Law, George Washington University

Occupation: King County Councilmember

Campaign Web site: www.LarryPhillips.com

Campaign e-mail: info@LarryPhillips.com

Top three endorsements: M.L. King County Labor Council, King County Democrats, Alki Foundation (Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce)

What are the two biggest issues facing King County and how do you plan to address them if elected?

Strengthening our economy: I am the only candidate supported by both business and labor groups, because I strongly believe elected officials at all levels must play a more aggressive role in revitalizing our regional economy and creating family-wage jobs. As King County Executive, I will fight for significant infrastructure investments to create jobs and improve our communities. I will also increase job training opportunities and promote the development of green jobs.

Fixing county government: As a former chair of the King County Council budget process, I have had to review and ultimately propose more than $200 million in cuts to general fund expenses. More work remains to be done to make King County more efficient and productive for taxpayers. As King County Executive, I will streamline county government, call for audits to make sure the money King County has is used efficiently and explore all options to reduce the county’s expenses.