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Task Force Members
Claudia Balducci, Co-Chair
King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci is a mom, transportation leader and former public safety official. Since 2016, she has represented Council District 6, which encompasses all or part of Bellevue, Bothell, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Kirkland, Medina, Mercer Island, Redmond, Woodinville and Yarrow Point, Beaux Arts Village and the Sammamish Valley.
Claudia started her elected career on the Bellevue City Council where she served for 12 years, including two years as Deputy Mayor and two years as Mayor. A lawyer by training, Balducci worked for King County for over 16 years prior to being elected to the Council, including three years as the director of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention.
As an elected official, Claudia has championed transportation solutions, including the extension of light rail to the eastside. She currently serves on the Sound Transit Board of Directors and the Executive Board for the four-county Puget Sound Regional Council. Read more
Dow Constantine
Dow Constantine is the King County Executive. His second term is focused on meeting two of the greatest generational challenges of our time: building equity and opportunity, and confronting climate change. Guiding every initiative is the goal of becoming the most forward-looking and best-run government in the nation.
A Seattle native, Dow graduated from West Seattle High School and the University of Washington, where he also earned two post-graduate degrees in law and urban planning. Today, Dow lives in the same West Seattle neighborhood where he grew up.
Rod Dembowski
Rod Dembowski currently serves as Vice Chair of the King County Council, Chair of the Transportation, Economy & Environment Committee, and Chair of the Seattle-King County Board of Health. Rod’s priorities on the Council include investments in children and youth services, expansion of transit, environmental protection, and increasing shelter space and affordable housing to make a serious dent in King County’s homelessness crisis. Rod has not missed a single vote, casting over 3,000 consecutive votes since taking office.
Born to a Korean War veteran and small business owner, Rod worked his way through Georgetown University. After returning to Seattle, Rod worked for then King County Executive Gary Locke, and later in the private sector before attending law school. He graduated from University Of Washington School Of Law, in 2001, and worked for 12 years at Foster Pepper, where he became an equity partner before leaving the firm to join the King County Council. Rod lives with his wife, Lynna and their two boys, Evan (16) and Camden (12), in Seattle.
Jenny Durkan
Jenny A. Durkan is the 56th Mayor of Seattle and the first woman to lead the City in nearly a century.
She entered office on November 28, 2017, with the challenge of making Seattle affordable and inclusive for all. She is focused on the housing affordability crisis, helping those experiencing homelessness, providing free college tuition to Seattle’s high school graduates, and pushing reforms and restoring trust in the police department – while also delivering on basic city services. She also is committed to ensuring Seattle continues to lead the innovative economy and create new models for ensuring more security for workers.
Prior to becoming Mayor, Durkan was a civic leader and nationally-recognized attorney. From 2009 to 2014, she served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, becoming the first openly gay U.S. Attorney in our country’s history.
Larry Gossett
Larry Gossett serves on the King County Council representing many Seattle neighborhoods, including the Central Area, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, the Rainier Valley, Seward Park, UW, Fremont, Ravenna, Laurelhurst and the Skyway neighborhood in unincorporated King County.
Gossett represents an area where he has lived and worked on issues his entire life. He is a highly respected community leader who has long advocated for the underrepresented and underprivileged in King County. He is an advocate for programs that help inner-city youth and reduce racial and class disparities in our local criminal justice system. He has also spearheaded efforts to eliminate black-on-black violence and other manifestations of self-hatred by poor and disenfranchised populations.
Rob Johnson
Rob Johnson is a Seattle City Councilmember, representing northeast Seattle’s District 4. He is focused on making Seattle a more livable, affordable, and transit connected city. At Council, he chairs the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee.
He previously spent 10 years working for Transportation Choices Coalition, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to expanding multi-modal transportation infrastructure. Johnson earned a degree in Political Science from Willamette University and a Masters in Urban Planning from UCLA. He lives in Ravenna with his wife and three daughters.
Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles represents District 4 on the King County Council, which encompasses a large part of the City of Seattle, from Madison Avenue downtown to 145th Street, the northernmost border of the City with the City of Shoreline, and Puget Sound to I-5.
Councilmember Kohl-Welles joined the Council in January 2016 after serving in the Washington State Senate for 21 years. Her professional career has been as a sociologist, performing research and teaching courses at the University of Washington. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology of Education from the UCLA and is a published author. She has also been an expert witness in Title XI lawsuits and serves on multiple Boards.
Councilmember Kohl-Welles was the prime sponsor for the Best Starts for Kids Levy, approved by voters in 2015, which included a Youth and Family Homelessness Prevention Initiative aimed at preventing and diverting children, youth and their families from homelessness. Councilmember Kohl-Welles also co-sponsored the Veterans and Human Services Levy renewal and supports using levy proceeds for housing stability and capital projects across King County.
As one of her top priorities as Chair of the Health, Housing and Human Services Committee, Councilmember Kohl-Welles champions creating, increasing and preserving access to affordable homes. She looks forward to working with partners across the region to make sure everyone has a home that is safe, accessible and affordable. Read more
Ryan McIrvin
Ryan McIrvin is serving in his first term on Renton City Council. Prior to being elected in 2015, he served on the Renton Human Services Advisory Committee.
Ryan is the current Director of Government and Public Affairs for the Snohomish County-Camano Association of REALTORS where he has worked hard to find creative solutions to our planning and land use policies that balance the need for both a healthy environment and affordable housing.
John Stokes
John Stokes is a Councilmember for the City of Bellevue. He was first elected to the Bellevue City Council in 2011, and is the council liaison to the city’s Planning and Arts commissions. He represents Bellevue on the Cascade Water Alliance Board, Eastside Transportation Partnership Steering Committee and the Economic Development Council of Seattle & King County. He served as mayor, elected by the council, for 2016 and 2017.
During his time on the council, Stokes has advocated for affordable housing and livability in Bellevue and multi-modal transportation, as well as construction of an Eastside performing arts center. He chairs the King Conservation District Advisory Committee and serves on the advisory committee of the King County Flood Control District.
Pete von Reichbauer
Pete von Reichbauer is a King County Councilmember representing south King County, including the communities of Federal Way, Auburn, Algona, Pacific, and Milton. He previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate, where he focused on fiscal and consumer issues. As a state senator and councilmember, von Reichbauer has promoted expanding parks and recreation facilities as well as enhancing public and private support for education.
Some of his notable achievements on the King County Council include forging public/private partnerships to protect the Hylebos Wetlands and other natural resources, helping fund the construction of the South King County Baseball fields, and securing the acquisition of Bingamon Pond and other areas for recreation. Additionally, he brokered the sale of the Seattle Seahawks to Paul Allen.
Adrienne Quinn, Ex-Officio Member
Adrienne Quinn, Director, Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), joined King County in September 2013. She is responsible for managing approximately 375 employees and a budget of over $413 million annually. As DCHS Director, Quinn oversees a range of regional housing and human services that help King County residents achieve healthier lives, self-reliance and connections to community.
She came to the County from the Medina Foundation in Seattle, where as executive director she led strategic initiatives to build nonprofit capacity and improve services for vulnerable populations. Quinn previously served as vice president for public policy and government relations for Enterprise Community Partners in Washington, D.C., and as director of the City of Seattle's Office of Housing. Quinn graduated magna cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in 1996. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts in history from College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.