EVERETT — The Sound Transit Board of Directors voted Thursday to select Dow Constantine, the current King County executive, as its new CEO beginning April 1.
Constantine has been a member of the Sound Transit board since 2006. He led the process to present Sound Transit 3 to voters, a release said, an intiative that passed in 2016. It set forth a $54 billion project to expand light rail across the Puget Sound region, and eventually to Everett.
“It is an honor to be chosen as the next CEO of Sound Transit,” Constantine wrote in a press release Thursday. “Much of my service as an elected official has been devoted to building the world-class transit system our region has long needed and creating vibrant, transit-connected communities throughout Central Puget Sound. I can think of nothing I would rather do than lead this agency into the future, and I thank the Board for their vote of confidence.”
Sound Transit provides regional transit service to much of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
Voters first approved the construction of light rail in Snohomish County in a 2008 vote. Link Light Rail arrived in Lynnwood by August 2024. After the passage of Sound Transit 3, light rail is set to arrive in Everett by 2037.
Constantine’s first term will run through the end of 2026.
“For every large organization, time is money, and we don’t have time or money to waste delivering on the promise of a truly regional mass transit system,” wrote Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair, in a release. “Dow can hit the ground running and intimately knows the inner workings of Sound Transit.”
Sound Transit will pay Constantine $450,000 per year, plus benefits.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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