King County honors budget director for distinguished service

The King County Council a former county employee with the MLK Medal of Distinguished Service, only the fourth county employee to have such an honor.

At the Jan. 13 council meeting, Councilmember Rod Dembowski led a proclamation recognizing departing King County Budget Director Dwight Dively for more than 15 years of working for the county.

“We are grateful for your management through a tremendous period of growth for the county, where we now have a biennial budget of some $20 billion, one of the very largest local governments in the country, and frankly, probably larger than many states,” Dembowski said. “You managed us through a national pandemic where billions of federal dollars came into this government on a very short timeframe and we had to figure out how to put it to use in the most effective way. You were instrumental in that.”

Dively was appointed director of the Office of Performance Strategy and Budget in 2010. Dively has also served as a distinguished practitioner at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and co-authoring the textbook “Benefit-Cost Analysis in Theory and Practice.” Dively will be moving to the role of finance director for the city of Seattle, where he worked before his King County appointment.

“Whereas we recognize and honor Dwight Dively for his exceptional service to King County, his steadfast leadership in safeguarding our fiscal health, his enduring contributions to building effective and accountable government, his remarkable knowledge, and his role as teacher to all of us for keeping the public informed through countless town halls and community engagements,” Dembowski read from the proclamation.

The council awarded Dively the MLK Medal of Distinguished Service, council’s highest recognition, which is granted annually to nine community members. Only three others have been awarded the medal for their service to the county: Patty Hayes, Jeff Duchin and Shannon Braddock.

“Public service is what brings us all to this work, and it’s been my privilege for essentially my entire career to be in public service,” Dively said.

Dively said the relationship with the council was “not so good” when he first started, but through very hard work, they changed that so the “executive branch and the legislative branch were working together very effectively on behalf of our residents.”

District 9 Councilmember Reagan Dunn and District 7 Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer both served on the council when Dively began.

“I remember when you first came on board, we were still dealing very much in the throes of the Great Recession and, I think it was your first year, maybe the second year in, we had a $230 million something like this general fund shortfall in that particular year, maybe it was more,” Dunn said. “You’ve been a fabulous steward of King County’s dollars. There is a secret place that nobody knows about. It’s the King County Employees Hall of Fame, and in that place, there is now a bust of Dwight Dively with the light shining down on it.”

Pete von Reichbauer said he knew Dively before his current job by working with his “roommate,” Dwight’s wife, in the Federal Way Public Schools.

“In meeting Dwight, I already had a predisposition to trust him,” von Reichbauer said. “Everything that we’ve dealt with over the years has validated that trust that your roommate put in you and I put in you because of your roommate.”

King County Executive Girmay Zahilay appointed Aaron Rubardt to serve as chief budget officer with Dively’s departure. Rubardt has served six years as the deputy budget director. Before joining King County in 2007, Rubardt worked in health care and employment benefits consulting and brokerages, both in the Pacific Northwest and Washington, D.C.

Dwight Dively and the 2026 King County Council. Photo courtesy of King County

Dively shakes Councilmember Rod Dembowski’s hand after being honored for more than 15 years of service. Photo courtesy of King County