On his 100th day in workplace March 4, King County Govt Girmay Zahilay signed an Executive Order reorienting his authorities and emphasizing accountability and stronger administration practices.
Approaching the heels of his requirement that King County staff work from the workplace at the least three days per week — a mandate that was introduced a 12 months and a half in the past however by no means totally enforced — Zahilay is charting a brand new course that meets the second.
It’s been a tough few years for King County.
In 2024, KUOW found {that a} county staffer concerned with the Regional Peacekeepers Collective secretly acquired $323,000 in funds from a nonprofit to which he directed public funds. The King County Ombuds fined the worker $7,100.
Final 12 months, the King County Auditor found improper funds, together with potential fraud, throughout a number of contracts issued by the Division of Group and Human Companies.
Earlier this 12 months, the King County Auditor issued a report noting that grants from King County Parks and Recreation had expanded considerably since 2017, however “its oversight technique has not stored tempo with grant volumes.”
As an alternative of creating excuses or downplaying considerations, Zahilay created a brand new auditor place inside the government’s workplace to watch, search out and repair issues all through the assorted departments earlier than they metastasize into controversies.
“I needed to clarify that with a brand new administration comes new expectations, a brand new alternative for a reset,” stated Zahilay in an interview.
“We’re instituting an inside audit director and a sub-cabinet that focuses on these points in order that we’re proactively figuring out dangers, proactively instituting finest practices.”
The Govt Order additionally expands ethics and fraud prevention coaching for all county staff who handle contracts.
As well as, Zahilay directed all departments to determine price financial savings and scrutinize present spending.
“We will not measure success primarily based on how a lot cash we’ve spent or what number of packages we’ve launched. It’s how a lot gun violence was prevented, how many individuals had been housed, what number of overdose deaths had been reversed? And that’s baked into the Govt Order,” he stated.
To make sure, earlier executives have additionally emphasised good administration practices. Time will inform if Zahilay is ready to set up a brand new tradition of accountability and present concrete outcomes earlier than taxpayers are inevitably requested to dig deeper to fund huge regional bills.
Thus far, Zahilay is emphasizing all the correct notes. To make actual progress, King County’s 18,000 staff must observe his lead.
