Ron Sims
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Ronald Cordell Sims, born July 5, 1948, is currently the King County Executive. He has run unsuccessfully for higher office twice: United States Senator in 1994 and Governor of Washington in 2004.
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[edit] Early life
Sims was born in Spokane, Washington, to Reverend James C. Sims Sr. and Lydia T. Sims. He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and attended Central Washington University in Ellensburg, where he earned a B.A. in psychology. Between graduation and his election to the King County Council he worked in the office of the Washington State Attorney General, for the Federal Trade Commission, for the juvenile offenders program of the city of Seattle, and as an aide in the state senate. He is an ordained Baptist minister.
[edit] Political life
In 1985, Sims was first elected to the King County Council and was subsequently re-elected two more times, 1989 and 1993. During his first term, he and fellow Councilman Bruce Laing successfully led a campaign to have the county rededicate its name in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. [1] (this change was not officially recognized by the state until July 25, 2005). [2]
In 1994, he was defeated soundly by Republican incumbent Slade Gorton in an election for the United States Senate.
In 1996, he was appointed King County Executive after the previous holder of the office, Gary Locke, was elected governor of Washington. He was re-elected by wide margins to the position in 1997, 2001 and 2005. As King County Executive, Sims has been instrumental in maintaining a balanced budget for the county by encouraging unincorporated areas of King County to incorporate into new cities or join existing cities and by slashing the county budget while maintaining core services. The county currently has the highest available credit rating of the top three US rating companies. [3]
On July 29, 2003, he announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for Washington state governor in the 2004 elections. Sims made news in the campaign when he proposed replacing the state sales tax and business and occupation tax with a progressively graduated income tax. In the primary election held on September 14, 2004, Sims lost to state Attorney General Christine Gregoire.
Sims is outspoken in his support of legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington state. Although he has refused to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples, stating that it was not the business of state officials to practice civil disobedience, he has encouraged same-sex couples to sue the county in order to have the courts decide.
Sims serves as president of the National Democratic County Officials.
[edit] Brightwater sewage treatment plant
In August 2002, Sims announced that a billion-dollar regional sewage-treatment plant named "Brightwater" would be built in neighboring Snohomish County and provide service for parts of King and Snohomish counties.[4] Since its proposal, Brightwater has been the subject of numerous lawsuits, including a lawsuit by King County against Snohomish County that was settled when King County agreed to pay $70 million for public safety, habitat protection, and parks in Snohomish County.[5] The project has also had many cost overruns totaling over $272 million.[6] In December 2006, the project had resolved all its lawsuits and only needed building permits from Snohomish County. However, concerns remain over the siting of the project, both from its future neighbors worried about the smells associated with sewage treatment and geologists due to at least one active fault line running through the site, and concerns over whether a new plant was necessary when eliminating stormwater and wastewater from the sewage system.[7] King County countered these concerns by stating the plant will feature advanced odor control, 40-acres of wildlife habitat will be restored, the plant has been designed to withstand a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, and that the project will be paid by new customers.[8]
[edit] Tent City 4
On April 29, 2004, Sims announced his intention to temporarily locate a Tent City on county-owned land near Bothell, Washington and gave the King County Council 90 days to determine a more permanent location within the county for the tent city to be located. [9] Opponents to the plan filed a lawsuit that resulted in the move being cancelled. In May 2005, the Council voted to have a one year moratorium prohibiting the siting of homeless encampments on public land pending a review by the Executive of the availability, suitability, and appropriateness of using county-owned land. [10] Sims never conducted this review and the moratorium remains in place, but the homeless encampment is currently moving from church property to church property throughout east King County.
[edit] Critical Area Ordinance
On October 26, 2004, the King County Council passed the controversial Critical Area Ordinance [11] to protect environmentally sensitive areas (such as wetlands and streams) and restrict development in hazardous areas (such as floodplains and landslide prone steep slopes). The plan drew the ire of many property rights groups, rural landowners, and developers as the ordinance prevented land owners from developing areas of their property that met the critical area definition.[12] This included a requirement that landowners in rural areas that haven't already cleared their land to keep 50% to 65% of their property in its "natural state".[13] Three referendums to repeal the ordinance gathered over 17,000 signatures each, far more than the 6,900 required to qualify to be on the ballot.[14] However, a lawsuit filed by King County and a pro-growth management group prevented the referendum from being put on the ballot and a ruling by the state Supreme Court decided that a state law requiring local governments to protect critical areas prevented local referendums to overturn critical area ordinances.[15]
[edit] Rails to trails proposal
- See also: Woodinville Subdivision
On May 16, 2005, Sims announced a controversial plan to purchase the 47 mile Woodinville Subdivision railroad that runs through the east King County roughly parallel to Interstate 405 and replace most of its track with a bicycle trail. [16] Although there is support for purchasing the railroad in order to prevent its current owner, BNSF Railway, from selling off the right of way piecemeal, the plan to remove the tracks has raised concerns from rail transportation advocates, environmental groups, and the owners, employees and customers of the popular Spirit of Washington dinner train (which runs on the tracks). It has also resulted in the formation of a grassroots movement, Eastside Rail Now!, which is aimed at stopping the removal of the tracks and at using them to begin a rail transit service in addition to their current freight and dinner train functions. [17] In 2007, the Port of Seattle, King County, and BNSF signed a preliminary agreement in which the Port would purchase the rail line from BNSF and then exchange the line plus $66 million to pay for removal of the tracks and replacement by a bicycle trail for Boeing Field.[18]
[edit] Boeing Field airlines proposal
In July 2005, Southwest Airlines formally proposed plans to spend $130 million on a passenger terminal and other facilities and move the airlines operation from Sea-Tac Airport to Boeing Field after several months of negotiations with Sims. The proposal from Southwest prompted Alaska Airlines to announce it would seek a similar agreement with the county.[19] The proposals were met with opposition from residents of Georgetown, the Seattle neighborhood north of Boeing field, many of Washington's state and federal legislators, and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.[20] After months of pressure from the opposition, Sims killed Southwest's and Alaskan's proposals in October 2005, stating that while the area around Boeing Field may have been able to support Southwest's bid with only minor road improvements, it could not support both the Southwest and Alaskan proposals without major infrastructure improvements.[21]
[edit] Personal
Sims and his wife, Cayan Topacio, live in the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle. They have three sons: Douglas, Daniel, and Aaron.
