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Summary
Executive-elect Zahilay and Executive Braddock today outlined a timeline and process for the abbreviated transition leading up to November 25.
Story
Today, King County Executive-elect Girmay Zahilay announced the Co-Chairs of his Transition Committee and Executive Director of the transition team, and released the full 100-person list of Transition Committee members. These announcements on Monday followed Zahilay being declared the election winner late Friday.
Speaking at the Chinook Building with current King County Executive Shannon Braddock, the two leaders outlined the process and timeline for the transfer of power. Zahilay will be formally sworn in on November 25 following the certification of election results, taking office 5.5 weeks earlier than a typical transition period following the early departure this year of former Executive Dow Constantine.
The Transition Committee reflects a broad coalition of community, labor, business, and civic voices throughout King County. Their charge over the next several weeks will be to develop key budget and policy recommendations to guide the start of the administration, beginning to fulfill Executive-elect Zahilay’s campaign platform of addressing the biggest issues facing our region.
Zahilay announced the following leaders as Co-Chairs of the Transition Committee:
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Katie Garrow, Executive Secretary-Treasurer at MLK Labor
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Esther Lucero, Chief Executive Officer at Seattle Indian Health Board
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Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft Corporation
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Doug Baldwin, Chief Executive Officer at Vault89, founder of Family First Community Center
Along with the four co-chairs, Zahilay appointed Karan Gill to be Executive Director of the transition team. Gill most recently served as King County Deputy Executive and has stepped down to take on this new role. Raised in South King County, Gill brings a diverse background of experience and familiarity of the county’s operations to help support building a new structure and administration in the short transition period.
Executive-elect Zahilay also introduced a transition website at GirmayTransition2025.com. The website outlines a 60-day roadmap for the transition leading to the start of the full term on January 5. It also includes an application portal to express interest in joining the Executive-elect’s administration. More announcements about the process for hiring and staffing will be updated on the website.
The full 100-person Transition Committee can be found here. The Committee’s first meeting will be in person on Thursday, November 13, followed by breaking into four subcommittees that will produce a final report by December 8.
The four subcommittees are designed to be complementary and interdisciplinary in addressing the greatest issues facing the county:
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Breaking the Cycle - We will seek to break the cycle of homelessness, addiction, crime and incarceration that is harming too many people in our region.
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Building More - We will prioritize building the infrastructure needed to meet the needs of our growing population. We believe more supply will lead to more affordability. That means increasing the supply of housing, child care, transit, and business opportunities by accelerating permitting timelines, investing public dollars in infrastructure, and coordinating more effectively across the region and sectors.
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Boots on the Ground - We will push King County to be a more customer service oriented government with more of its personnel outside in high impact, external facing positions. Zahilay wants to see his team outside, connecting and solving problems in a very tangible way: doing community clean ups, stocking up food banks, conducting outreach in low income communities, activating physical spaces through the arts to prevent gun violence, and more. He also wants to capture the civic energy of the region through more volunteer opportunities for our constituents.
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Better Government - We will implement my King County Delivers plan to make our government better, more accountable, more efficient, and more transparent.
More information about the subcommittees and their scope will be released later this week.
Statement from King County Executive-elect Girmay Zahilay:
“I am honored to be the King County Executive-elect. I am thankful to the people of King County for placing their trust in me. This region raised me, gave my family a chance to succeed, and made my story possible. To now have the opportunity to serve and give back at this level is the honor of my lifetime.
Right now, we’re facing some of the toughest challenges in our region’s history - from homelessness to a skyrocketing cost of living, from public safety issues to a federal government that continues to cut off vital resources. Yet the only thing greater than the scale of these challenges is our capacity to come together to meet them.
This is our moment to reset - to unite across cities, sectors, and communities, and to build the partnerships that real progress demands. I will lead with integrity, listen to every viewpoint, and measure success by the real outcomes we deliver: safer communities, more housing, better health, and a government that earns your confidence every day. Together, we will reset the region and build a King County that works for all of us.”
Statement from King County Executive Shannon Braddock:
“I want to give my heartfelt congratulations to Executive-Elect Zahilay who worked tirelessly throughout his campaign and traveled to every corner of the County to listen to and understand the challenges facing our region. He stands ready to protect King County values and will be a tireless advocate for our unincorporated areas, our cities, and for every person who calls our community home.
I know King County will be in good hands once we complete the transition and officially certify the election on November 25, but there is much work to be done. Members of my team stand ready to support a seamless handoff and we look forward to working with the transition committee and the Executive-Elect in the coming weeks.”
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