Council approves appointment of John Taylor as Director of Local Services

December 10, 2018

Summary

The Department of Local Services will be responsible for working with Councilmembers to improve municipal services in unincorporated areas.

Story

The 250,000 residents living in urban and rural unincorporated communities, if incorporated, would form the 2nd largest “city” in King County.

On January 1, those communities will have a County department that focuses on their needs. The Metropolitan King Council unanimously approved the appointment of John Taylor as the director of that agency, the Department of Local Services.

“I am very excited to see this long-term vision become a reality. I know from working with John that his team will focus on excellent customer service and helping citizens deal with day to day services as well as during emergencies,” said Council Vice Chair Kathy Lambert. “Working with the Executive and his leadership team on this has been very rewarding and I hope to expand the county theme of the best run regional government to also be the best run local government. There are lots of components to bring this department together and I look forward to taking these steps together as a team.”

The County Council is the “local government” for the people living in unincorporated communities. The Department of Local Services will be responsible for working with Councilmembers to improve municipal services in unincorporated areas.

As director of Local Services, Taylor’s focus will be on:

• Coordinating with councilmembers of the rural areas,
• Delivering streamlined and responsive services to unincorporated areas and communities of King County.
• Building and maintaining open and responsive relationships with unincorporated King County communities through a comprehensive community and customer-focused effort.
• Coordination and collaboration in service delivery to unincorporated King County communities with partnering agencies, including state, county, and local organizations.

A graduate of the from the University of Vermont with a Master of Public Administration, Taylor has worked for the County since 2013 as Assistant Director of the Water and Land Resource Division. Prior to starting at the County, he worked for other local governments, including the Governor of Vermont, the Seattle City Council, and Seattle Public Utilities.