Vaccinated
More than 98 percent of county employees have provided proof of vaccination against the coronavirus, the county announced on May 12. The remaining roughly 2 percent lost their jobs over refusal to get the vaccine.
King County Executive Dow Constantine told county employees that they would need to get vaccinated in October 2021. All told, 83 people received temporary exemptions, and 290 people were fired.
The bulk of the people who left their jobs came from King County Metro, 103 employees in total, which included 51 transit operators. The second-largest number of separations came from the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) at 51 employees, including 36 deputies and seven sergeants. Although no department lost a large number of employees, KCSO saw the largest number of terminations as fraction of its overall workforce.
Acting Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall — whose confirmation process for the permanent position was expected to begin May 18 — told the King County Council’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee that 91 employees were denied exemptions for the vaccine.
King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn released a separate statement calling on the county to stop firing unvaccinated deputies due to the 172 open positions at KCSO. In the process, he asserted that the vaccine was “not the silver bullet some predicted it would be for stopping the spread of COVID-19.”
When he instituted the mandate, Constantine framed vaccination as part of a responsibility for public-facing employees to keep their colleagues and the public safe. Even with the emergence of the Omicron variant, vaccines have been effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.
Elections
The sun never sets on election season in Washington state.
The campaign emails from candidates hoping to represent Washington state have been stuffing inboxes for some time now, but those who want to go to Olympia will start putting their names in the hat the week of May 16.
Offices up for election include the U.S. Senate, Washington state legislative seats and the Secretary of State, among others.
King County voters will choose a replacement for King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, who announced in January that he wouldn’t run for a fifth term. Stephan Thomas announced early that he would vie for the seat, but withdrew in April citing family responsibilities, leaving two people — Satterberg’s chief of staff, Leesa Manion, and Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell.
Campaign watchers can keep up-to-date on current filings by visiting the King County Elections website. Lists will be posted daily no later than 12. p.m. as of May 16, and it will be updated at least twice daily between noon and 6 p.m.
Read more of the May 18-24, 2022 issue.