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Zahilay becomes the first elected leader of King County from outside Seattle.
SEATTLE, WA - Today, Girmay H. Zahilay of Tukwila, Washington took the oath of office to become the seventh person elected to the position of King County Executive.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay was sworn into office by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones in the chambers of the King County Council in Seattle.
Zahilay assumes leadership of more than 18,000 employees and representation of more than 2.3 million people in the 12th largest county in the United States.
He becomes the youngest person ever to hold the office, the first immigrant, the first refugee, and the first millennial. He is also the first person ever elected to the office to live outside of Seattle.
Elected by the voters earlier in November with a nearly 10-point victory, Zahilay takes office just three weeks after Election Day following the departure of former Executive Dow Constantine earlier this year. Constantine and appointed former Executive Shannon Braddock joined Zahilay in Council chambers today to celebrate the first county administration transition in 16 years. Zahilay thanked both leaders for their years of service to the people of King County.
In his remarks following his swearing-in, Zahilay outlined his vision for a new era of King County that brings government closer to the people it serves.
He outlined the four principal ideas that his administration will follow - the ‘Four B’s:’
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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 for Affordability – “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, childcare, 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 and efforts outside in high impact, external facing positions. I want you to see us outside, connecting and solving problems in a very tangible way: doing community clean ups, stocking food banks, knocking on doors in low income communities, activating physical spaces through the arts, setting up more customer service centers, and more. I also want us to capture the civic energy of the region through more volunteer opportunities for our constituents.”
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Better Government – “We want to deliver government services more effectively, more equitably. We want to make our government more accountable and more transparent.”
Earlier in the day, Executive Zahilay held a ceremonial inauguration event at NewHolly Gathering Hall in South Seattle, with over 200 community members who came together to celebrate his swearing-in. He was joined by his wife, Joyce Bruce, and daughter, Jazzy. He addressed the crowd before taking a ceremonial oath of office with Judge Jones. Seattle Housing Authority’s NewHolly development holds special resonance, because Zahilay lived in the neighborhood for part of his childhood as his family moved between affordable housing developments and experienced homelessness for a time in the Chinatown International District. He was introduced by Mayor of Redmond Angela Birney, and his longtime friend Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho kicked off the event.
The day before taking office, Zahilay announced his first major staff hires, naming Karan Gill as Deputy Executive and Jasmin Weaver as Chief of Staff, with Weaver’s appointment taking place in January. These appointments reflect his hiring vision of pairing county governance experience with newcomers to county government who can work together to bring forward innovation and new ideas. Even though he has taken office, Zahilay’s transition will continue into early 2026 as he, Deputy Executive Gill, and Weaver continue to build their new Executive office team.
Two weeks ago, Zahilay named the co-chairs of his 100-person Transition Committee, a large and diverse group of leaders from government, business, nonprofits, philanthropy, and other community members. The co-chairs are each facilitating subcommittees designed around the “Four B’s” and the entire committee will meet again in December before producing a final report of recommendations to the Executive. The co-chairs are Katie Garrow, Executive Secretary-Treasurer at MLK Labor; Esther Lucero, CEO at Seattle Indian Health Board; Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President at Microsoft Corporation; and Doug Baldwin, CEO at Vault89 and founder of Family First Community Center.
In taking office as County Executive, Zahilay departs his role as King County Councilmember for District 2, a seat he has held for nearly six years. One of his first acts as Executive will be to transmit three names to the Council as options to replace him as the District 2 Councilmember, from which the Council will make an appointment to serve out the remainder of the term. Executive Zahilay has stated he will only nominate individuals who do not intend on running in next year’s election, and will instead serve as ‘caretaker’ appointments.
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