The full text of King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison's comments at a press conference on Tuesday are below.
But here are some highlights:
- "When the State Auditor released his audit report of King County government last week it exposed a deeply troubling level of mismanagement.
"Not a single department or division of King County government could adequately provide the information State Auditors requested in order to complete the report.
"More troubling, however, is the response from the Executive’s office which blamed the auditors – not the county – for the problems with the audit."
- "The reason I asked you to join me in front of the Benaroya Hall is because a few years ago, I was asked to chair the Seattle Symphony, a $22 million dollar institution on the verge of bankruptcy. We brought together the best leadership and staff we could find, worked with the city, labor, corporations and community leaders. And we stabilized the organization by balancing the budget two years in a row.
"That experience reconfirmed a belief I have always held. Problems are not solved by political partisanship – they’re solved by working together.
"As King County Executive I will approach my role with that same commitment to the people of this county. The severe problems we face will not be resolved by the same career politicians who created them."
• "I will require of each of my departments report back in three-month intervals to the auditor and the council on how her recommendations were implemented or improved upon."
• "I will work with the State Auditor to create protocols that ALL departments must follow to ensure they are capable of complying with audit investigations in a cooperative and transparent manner."
• "And I will work to expand our County Auditor’s performance audit resources and authority, to help guarantee that tax dollars are spent prudently and effectively.
But perhaps most interesting was this:
- "There is a reason our State Auditor, Brian Sonntag, a Democrat, has endorsed my candidacy."
Here's a press release County Councilman Dow Constantine, who, based on being in second place according to a KIN5/Survey USA poll, now calls himself the "leading Democratic candidate."
County Executive Dow Constantine today criticized conservative former TV anchor Susan Hutchison for offering vague sound bites and partisan rhetoric in dealing with the County’s budget situation.
Constantine, who tailored his initial campaign announcement around the need to streamline and improve performance in County government, has successfully pushed substantive legislation to accomplish those goals. He elaborated on those themes today after attending Hutchison's press conference.
“I went to Susan's press conference because I do not see her much on the campaign trail, since she ducks any forum where she might be asked tough questions. Today she again offered little of substance, instead relying on warmed-over rhetoric that sounds like it is borrowed right out of the conservative Republican playbook. Voters in King County rightfully rejected that sort of rhetoric before, and they will do so again in this election, because they know that Susan Hutchison lacks the qualifications to serve in such an important office, and because she so clearly intends to take this region in the wrong direction.
"I remain the first candidate in the race to propose real reforms in county benefit costs, I have passed performance measures that will create real cost savings, and continue to demand greater accountability in county government,” said Constantine. “Susan Hutchison has never held elective office before, and it shows. At her press conference today she offered no real solutions to the issues the County is dealing with."
Constantine has laid out clear priorities for the addressing the current budget, including prioritizing front-line public safety and programs that benefit the most vulnerable among us, including the elderly, the disabled, and children.
Constantine also is committed to cutting the administrative budgets of the council (and has already done so as Council chair) and of the executive offices, and has successfully passed legislation designed to better leverage federal stimulus and other external revenue sources to invest in jobs and offset cuts in human services.
“With the decline in sales tax and other revenues this year because of the recession, we do face a serious budget shortfall next year. That is going to require making some tough decisions,” said Constantine . “But we can not balance the budget on the backs of seniors and kids, and we cannot do it at the expense of our quality of life.”
He added, “We are not going to balance the budget with vague sound bites and half-baked conservative ideas. Balancing the budget while prioritizing core services is going to take careful work from an experienced leader committed to positive reform at the County, and that is what I offer.”
Constantine also expressed his skepticism about seeking new taxes—especially those that fall hardest on working families and those on fixed incomes struggling in a down economy.
- I have been a longtime and outspoken advocate for tax reform that helps families and small business, and I’ll work constructively to develop stable revenue sources to fund priority services.”
Constantine is the author of legislation in 2007 that strengthened oversight over major capital projects like Brightwater -- that oversight won strong praise from State Auditor Brian Sonntag in his recent audit of King County construction projects. Constantine plans to expand his oversight legislation to cover smaller construction projects where Sonntag found significant problems with Executive Office oversight.
And here are Hutchison's remarks in full:
The purpose of this gathering today is to announce a policy initiative that I believe is the first step to improving county government from the inside out.
When the State Auditor released his audit report of King County government last week it exposed a deeply troubling level of mismanagement.
Not a single department or division of King County government could adequately provide the information State Auditors requested in order to complete the report.
More troubling, however, is the response from the Executive’s office which blamed the auditors – not the county – for the problems with the audit.
This lack of accountability is also seen in several specifics listed in the report: Undeposited checks sitting in drawers, stacks of cash collected from Metro transit piled on tables, project managers signing work with fictitious names.
Although the attempted audit caused deep dismay among taxpayers, I was not surprised by the report. In 2005, I was one of ten community leaders selected by Ron Sims to oversee a King County Elections Task Force to restore voter confidence in King County elections following the recounts of the 2004 gubernatorial election.
We found an elections division lacking accountability, transparency, and safeguards to ensure integrity in the elections process. We made a number of recommendations to fix the problems, one of which resulted in our first elected King County Elections Director.
I am running for King County Executive because I solve problems and fix things, and King County needs fixing.
The reason I asked you to join me in front of the Benaroya Hall is because a few years ago, I was asked to chair the Seattle Symphony, a 22 million dollar institution on the verge of bankruptcy. We brought together the best leadership and staff we could find, worked with the city, labor, corporations and community leaders. And we stabilized the organization by balancing the budget two years in a row.
That experience reconfirmed a belief I have always held. Problems are not solved by political partisanship – they’re solved by working together.
As King County Executive I will approach my role with that same commitment to the people of this county. The severe problems we face will not be resolved by the same career politicians who created them.
As County Executive:
- I will require of each of my departments report back in three-month intervals to the auditor and the council on how her recommendations were implemented or improved upon.
- I will work with the State Auditor to create protocols that ALL departments must follow to ensure they are capable of complying with audit investigations in a cooperative and transparent manner.
- And I will work to expand our County Auditor’s performance audit resources and authority, to help guarantee that tax dollars are spent prudently and effectively.
There is a reason our State Auditor, Brian Sonntag, a Democrat, has endorsed my candidacy. He sees firsthand the disarray of King County Government and recognizes the need for new leadership – new fresh direction. He is joined by so many others in our community that see the need for change.
That is what I offer. That is my commitment. And that is what we, as a region, as a community, will accomplish together.
Thank you.
