Voters want non-partisan county offices

A proposal to make the elected offices of King County government non-partisan is winning in results from the general election Tuesday.

County Charter Amendment 8 was getting strong support in early returns. They were called a "clear message" by County Councilwoman Julia Patterson, who is one of the officeholders affected by the change.

The proposal went to the ballot after the council took no action on it.

“I am optimistic about the returns and optimistic about the direction this will take county government,” said the measure’s sponsor, Joe Fain, who has worked for all three branches of county government.

Council members and the county executive are among partisan officeholders in county government.

“The voters have sent a clear message that county government should operate on a non-partisan basis," said Patterson, the council's chairwoman. “I plan to move quickly to implement the will of the voters. We will examine the revision of our rules and operations in a number of areas, including how we organize ourselves to study and discuss legislation and how we fill vacancies as they occur in countywide offices.”

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