A short to-do list for new King County Executive Dow Constantine

TUESDAY is transition day in King County government, with new Executive Dow Constantine taking the helm. First order of business: memorizing the phone number for the daily weather and river status conference call, which provides four days of information about the Howard Hanson Dam.

Constantine should also visit the Regional Justice Center in Kent to have a clear idea of when and under what conditions he might call for evacuation there and other parts of the Green River Valley.

Of many other early steps, the new executive must take advantage of the skills of his top-notch leadership team and get quite real about the challenges of the budget.

Constantine wisely hired state Sen. Fred Jarrett, a primary opponent, to be his deputy and both are setting the right tone for the new administration. Leading by example, executive staff will be reduced by more than 15 percent. Salaries of new hires in the office will be slashed by 10 to 15 percent compared with salaries of their predecessors.

That creates the appropriate environment for talks with county employees, who will be asked in the months ahead to expect no salary increases certain years and pay more toward health benefits. Employees will pay $70 a month more for health care beginning in January, but not in the form of premiums.

Constantine benefits from being completely familiar with both the dam and budget. By law, he becomes executive in November rather than January because Ron Sims vacated the position early.

Interim executive Kurt Triplett, who did not run for the job, deserves a huge round of applause for stepping into a minefield of county woes last spring and providing bold leadership. His budgeting was open and transparent. He had the guts to push the county out of the animal-control business it could no longer afford and he took charge of flood preparation.

In the weeks ahead, Constantine ought to use his cachet with unions to make sure all the departments understand the many changes that need to be made in employee contracts.

And he should lead a team to Olympia and plead for authority to levy the equitable utility tax — only in unincorporated King County — to pay for services such as parks and cops in those areas.

During the campaign, Constantine's opponent Susan Hutchison suggested the county move to zero-base budgeting — starting at 0 and making each department justify spending from there.

This may or may not work but it could produce significant savings and efficiencies, so it is worth a try.

Constantine can move quickly because he doesn't face a huge learning curve. He should make good on his campaign rhetoric about being a reformer and take the many steps needed to promptly shore up county finances.