Title
A MOTION declaring the intent of the King County council to approve by June 1, 2009, an ordinance to submit a proposed charter amendment to King County voters concerning an elected county auditor and requesting recommendations from a charter review commission on certain matters related to an elected auditor.
Body
WHEREAS, the duty of supervising elections in King County has been assigned to the director of the department of records and elections, now the records, elections and licensing services division of the department of executive services of King County, a nonelective office, since the charter was established in 1969, and
WHEREAS, in its March 2006 Report on King County Elections, the citizens' election oversight committee recommended, as one of its top six recommendations, that elections in King County be conducted by a non-partisan elected county auditor, and
WHEREAS, in its February 28, 2006, Final Report, the King County independent task force on elections recommended having an elected auditor and that the charter review commission to be appointed in 2006 consider the issue of an elected versus an appointed county auditor, and
WHEREAS, on June 19, 2006, the county council adopted Ordinance 15523, authorizing vote-by-mail elections in King County beginning in 2007 or 2008 after certain conditions have been met, including the appointment and confirmation of a director of records, elections and licensing services and a superintendent of elections, and
WHEREAS, proposing a charter amendment to provide for an elected auditor to the voters this year will likely hinder the county's ability to immediately appoint and confirm a well-qualified professional for the position of director of records, elections and licensing services who can ensure continued implementation of critical, time-sensitive recommendations from the independent task force on elections, the Elections Center and the citizens' election oversight committee;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE ...
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