By The Herald Editorial Board
Like the conductor of a 19th-century steam train watching speed and schedules — all the while with an eye peeled for obstacles and coal consumption — Sound Transit needs a chief executive who can manage similar complexities as the regional transit agency extends its Link light rail service and other transit services in a three-county area over the next two decades.
With service that began in 2009 between downtown Seattle and the Sea-Tac International Airport, the light rail service has expanded to include 45 miles on three lines between Angle Lake, south of Sea-Tac, and the Lynnwood station that opened last summer; another between Bellevue and Redmond; and a third in downtown Tacoma.
Between now and 2044, further extensions will connect those existing lines and add more than 65 miles of rail to connect Everett, Tacoma, Issaquah and other communities in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.
The job of Sound Transit’s CEO is consequential; with a salary to match, possibly as much as $675,000 annually, compared to that of the governor’s $234,000 salary and that of state Supreme Court justices at $269,000.
Later this month, the office of Sound Transit’s chief executive is expected to have a new conductor, selected by Sound Transit’s board of directors, 18 individuals who serve elected positions as city and county officials.
In recent weeks, however, concern has grown regarding a process that has been conducted by that board and its executive search committee in executive — nonpublic — sessions and without a chance for public notice of final candidates or review and comment; with one exception. In mid-February, Dow Constantine, King County executive and a former chair of the Sound Transit board confirmed he was one of five finalists for the position, following the release of Constantine’s name by Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, who serves as chairman of the agency board. Earlier, Constantine had recused himself from any decision-making role regarding the next CEO, including service on a seven-member executive committee, six of whom will make a recommendation to the full board.
The board’s executive committee met Thursday — again, in executive session — but without any announcement of a final recommendation to the larger board, although it’s believed the committee has narrowed the field of candidates to two or three finalists, including Constantine.
At least two transit advocacy groups — Seattle Subway and the Transit Riders Union — have raised two tracks of concern; one about the opaque process and the other regarding consideration of Constantine among the finalists, specifically for a potential conflict of interest in considering the political official for the position.
Track one: “Sound Transit must release the full list of finalists and invite public dialogue before any final decision,” said David Scott of Seattle Subway in a letter to the Sound Transit board in February. “Riders deserve to know who will shape our region’s transit future, especially given ongoing issues like disruptive maintenance closures, weak real-time bus data, and significant schedule delays.”
Track two: A Transit Riders Union letter to the board noted that Constantine, as King County executive, has appointed 10 of the 18 members of the board. “While we expect and believe that people can act impartially, humans are subject to all forms of influence, intended or not. The public would likely feel the same way,” the group’s letter said.
Constantine has said the agency and its attorney have concluded that consideration of Constantine as a candidate does not pose a conflict or interest, so long as he is not involved in the decision. Constantine also noted that other transit board members have applied for the position in the past without concern for a conflict of interest.
Such searches for key executive positions for public agencies — conducted outside of public view and comment — are not uncommon; it’s seen as necessary to attracting quality candidates who might not wish to reveal their plans to current employers.
But once Constantine was known as a finalist, that train had left the station.
Out of fairness to Constantine and the other finalists — as well as a duty to taxpayers and passengers — Sound Transit’s board should now open the review process of its final candidates to the public, reveal the final candidates and provide for public meetings and an opportunity for comment that can guide the executive committee and the full board in its final decision.
To lay a third track of concern — and provide candidates an opportunity to express their views on the subject — candidates, in particular Constantine, should provide insight into what they see as priorities for the future projects that Sound Transit is expected to complete in the next 20 years.
When the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure was proposed to voters in 2016, the plan was to extend the Link light rail to Everett by 2036. That arrival has since been pushed out to 2037, if not later. As well, the transit agency has — in part because of the pandemic — had to push out timelines throughout the ST3 project list because of increasing costs of land acquisition and construction. As well there have been proposals for construction of new stations within the existing Seattle line that also threaten to force choices that could delay work elsewhere.
Adding to financial concerns is a presidential administration — key to providing congressionally funded federal grants for the system — that is as cool to public transit projects as it is to blue states.
Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, who with Somers and Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell are the board’s three Snohomish County representatives, wouldn’t speak to the hiring process or its candidates, but did reiterate her priorities for the next chief executive.
Whether that’s Constantine or someone else, Franklin said the next CEO must place a priority on “completing the spine,” the point-to-point-to-point light rail lines that are to connect the region’s major population and employment centers of Everett, Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma.
“That’s the way the plan was drawn out,” Franklin said. “This is the promise that the voters voted on for ST3, and that’s the commitment that needs to be top priority,” Franklin said, referring to the ballot measure that approved a package of taxes to extend light rail service to Paine Field, the Boeing industrial center and downtown Everett, as well as Tacoma and communities in between.
“That’s the regional transportation system that we all voted for and that we all need and want,” the Everett mayor said.
All are concerns that potential conductors of Sound Transit should address directly to the public prior to that person’s hiring.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
