King County board fails to appoint interim District 2 replacement; moves to closed session earlier in meeting

The King County board met in a special session Friday to consider resolution 25-453, a one-year interim appointment to fill the District 2 vacancy, but the proposal failed in a roll-call vote after extended debate about process and candidate selection.

Chair opened the meeting saying the purpose was "to find a potential candidate to fill our empty position." The chair said the interim appointment would last one year and described desired attributes for a nominee — younger representation, business experience and environmental interest — and announced she would bring forward "Matt" (identified in the record as Matthew Dingledon) for consideration. The chair also said that Mary Berman had withdrawn her interest in the vacancy.

Public commenter Brian Anderson of Sugar Grove urged the board to avoid appointing a candidate who is currently on the ballot, saying the optics would look poor: "she's not a candidate on the ballot, and so I'm not gonna select a candidate that is currently on the ballot because the optics would look bad," he told the board during public comment.

Several members raised process and fairness concerns during discussion. Member Miss Gumbs read a prepared statement saying, "We've not handled the District 2 vacancy process as clearly or transparently as the public deserves," and apologized to applicants who had stepped forward. Member Allen said supporting a candidate who had already filed to run would be "putting our thumb on the scale" against other contenders who gathered signatures to appear on the ballot; Member Bates said she would abstain and described feeling "embarrassed" by the process.

Board counsel John Frank advised the board on timing and legal constraints, saying "the law does not contemplate you not appointing someone past 60 days," and noted some legal issues would be better discussed in closed session. Following that advice, the board voted to go into a closed session to discuss the appointment of an individual to public office and matters related to pending or imminent litigation; the motion to enter closed session passed.

After returning to open session, Member Sanchez moved to amend the resolution to replace the chair's nominee with Kim Young; that amendment failed after a roll-call vote. A separate motion to table the resolution also failed. The clerk then called the final roll on resolution 25-453. The recorded votes show multiple "no" votes and several abstentions; the motion failed and no appointment was made.

The meeting closed after a motion to adjourn. Counsel earlier told the board that if the vacancy remains unfilled beyond 60 days the board will need to confront statutory timelines and decide how to proceed.