Sims leaving for HUD job; wants "caretaker" to replace him

King County Executive Ron Sims confirmed today he'll be leaving the county position he has held for 12 years to become deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sims' announcement capped speculation that surfaced late last year that the Democratic official was under consideration for a position in the Obama administration.

"There is no leader more committed to our communities than President Barack Obama. I am truly humbled to be asked to join this team," Sims told reporters.

As deputy secretary, Sims said he would run the day-to-day operations of the department, overseeing 8,500 employees and an annual budget of $39 billion. The appointment, Sims said, requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Sims said he looks forward to the challenge of help the less-fortunate.

"We all need to own the reality of inequity and we need empowered community voices to partner with. ... I do not believe that these inequities are inevitable. I have devoted my life to reversing these courses."

If Sims is confirmed for the job, the Metropolitan King County Council would name a replacement until the November election. Sims told reporters today he hopes the County Council will appoint a "caretaker" to the job. Sims said that appointing someone who plans to run for the job would give that candidate an unfair "head start" in the election.

King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, a Seattle Democrat, said last week he is running for the executive's job, which, for the first time, will be a nonpartisan office this year under terms of a county charter change voters passed in November.

Sims, 60, a Spokane native, was first elected to the County Council in 1985 and was re-elected to that position twice. In 1996, he was appointed King County executive after then-executive Gary Locke was elected governor. Sims was easily re-elected as executive in 1997, 2001 and 2005.

He lost in two statewide races, to incumbent Republican Slade Gorton in a U.S. Senate race in 1994 and to Chris Gregoire in the Democratic primary for governor in 2004.

In an e-mail sent today by his county-executive re-election campaign, Sims said, "There are no words to express my heartfelt gratitude for your contributions of time and money; no measure of my appreciation for your passion and commitment to work with me on issues that affect our quality of life."

Despite Sims' longtime popularity, some people in politics, including state Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz, had recently urged Sims not to seek another term.

King County Council Chairman Dow Constantine issued a statement congratulating Sims and saying he would meet with colleagues "immediately" to "create a non-partisan process to choose an interim replacement."

In the statement, Constantine added that the county needs "an appointed executive who can devote his or her full attention and talents to the unprecedented financial challenges facing King County. It is the voters of King County — not this Council — who this November will select an Executive to serve them for the next four years."

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com

An article posted Feb. 3 on The Seattle Times Web site, www.seattletimes.com, and corrected Feb. 9, incorrectly reported that State Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz had said King County Executive Ron Sims has lost interest in the routine of managing the county. Although Pelz had urged Sims not to run for re-election, it was King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, who is seeking the executive's job, who said Sims had lost interest in the running the county.