SHERIFF’S ACCOUNTABILITY TO VOTERS

In 1996, King County citizens voted to make the Sheriff an independently elected official. The Charter leaves the King County Executive with authority to bargain with unions representing Sheriff’s Office employees. It defies common sense for someone outside of the Sheriff's Office to have authority over management rights and working conditions of sheriff’s employees without detailed law enforcement knowledge or direct accountability to the voters.

This Charter amendment aligns the accountability the voters intended with authority over management rights and working conditions, including matters such as limiting excessive overtime, imposing discipline for misconduct, and making job assignments. The County Executive would retain bargaining authority over wages and benefits.

The amendment is supported unanimously by the independent Blue Ribbon Panel on Sheriff’s Office management and endorsed by two former King County Executives (Randy Revelle and Gary Locke), The Seattle Times, The Seattle PI, and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. This bargaining structure has been used effectively for many years in the King County Prosecutor’s Office and Superior/District Courts, as well as the majority of Sheriffs’ Offices around the state.

Vote “YES” on Charter Amendment #3 to make the Sheriff’s Office independent and accountable to King County voters.

The current system is simple, and it works well: The County Executive negotiates all aspects of public safety labor contracts. This amendment unnecessarily complicates the negotiation process by artificially splitting bargaining authority between the Sheriff and the County Executive.

Compensation, benefits, and working conditions are a package deal. Sadly, the Amendment does not define the boundary between working conditions and compensation & benefits. Defining that boundary could be a difficult problem. At a minimum, it will require collaboration between the Sheriff and the County Executive—collaboration which may or may not exist. And if that collaboration exists, there is no reason why the Sheriff cannot have input to the negotiations conducted under the current system.

How would this amendment affect collective bargaining between the county and unions such as the King County Police Officers Guild? There is no clear answer. Why make this change, when the consequences are largely unknown?

This amendment is about changing collective bargaining. Although accountability and authority within the county government will be shifted, the primary question is: how will this amendment affect collective bargaining for public safety labor issues? If you do not know the answer to that question, how can you vote for it?

The collective bargaining system does not give the Sheriff the ability to deploy crime-fighting resources in the most effective ways to protect the public’s safety. The charter amendment requires the King County Executive and the Sheriff to consult and collaborate on collective bargaining. Other elected officials – the Prosecutor and county judges – have the right to negotiate working conditions for their employees. Let the Sheriff do the job we elected her to do.

Statement submitted by: Sue Rahr, Randy Revelle and John Jensen

This amendment has NOT BEEN ENDORSDED by any of the politicians, newspapers, etc. claimed by the proponents. The so-called “independent” blue ribbon panel was requested by the Sheriff, and included zero representation by the affected unions.

Authority shifted to the Sheriff would be taken from the County Executive. This amendment would make the Executive LESS ACCOUNTABLE TO VOTERS.

Proponents offer NO EXPLANATION of its effects on collective bargaining. Vote “NO” on this poorly crafted amendment.

Statement submitted by: Mark P. Baldwin

Download the full text of resolution

Simple majority (King County Charter Section 800 and Washington Constitution Article X, Section 4)