"I'm in": Larry Phillips joins King County executive's race

"I'm in," Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips said Tuesday, as he became the second declared candidate for county executive.

But even as he made his announcement at the Labor Temple in Belltown, it remained unclear if the other candidate — incumbent Ron Sims — will stay in the race.

Although Sims' office last week denied a blog report and other rumors that he had accepted a senior position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he hasn't ruled out taking a job in the new Obama administration.

Sims' spokeswoman Natasha Jones tried to dampen continuing speculation about that possibility Tuesday, saying, "He's not considering a position. It hasn't been offered." She quoted Sims as saying, "I haven't gone after one and I'm focused on King County business."

Sims has waved off interviews, and did not make himself available for comment Tuesday on either the prospect of going to work for President Obama or on his campaign for a fourth term.

But Sims did sound rather like a candidate in a written statement issued through his campaign, welcoming Phillips to the debate over transportation, health care and Puget Sound cleanup. "I stand ready to vigorously make my case to the people of King County," Sims said.

So does Phillips see himself as running against Sims, a fellow Democrat, or for an open seat?

"I don't know," he responded after announcing his candidacy. "I know that there's strong interest in Ron Sims in Washington, D.C., and that Ron has strong interest in going to Washington. That's no secret around town or in the courthouse or among politicos.

"That's going to have to be decided between the Obama administration and Ron one way or the other. My focus is not on Washington, D.C. As I said this morning, there is no place I would rather be than in King County serving our citizens"

Until recently, Phillips and Sims were close political allies. Two issues that divided them were Sims' support of Southwest Airlines' 2005 proposal to move from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Boeing Field and Sims' 2006 proposal to trade county-owned Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle for a 42-mile Eastside rail corridor.

Phillips and his neighbors in the Magnolia area of Seattle opposed both deals, which they feared would bring heavy air traffic over their homes. Sims eventually backed away from both deals.

With family and friends at his side, including his one-time boss, former County Executive Randy Revelle, Phillips said King County under Sims had "lost the focus that we need in solving several substantial problems. ...

"By working together, I know we can do better and must do better to chart a new course for King County. ... I will be here every day making sure things get done."

He drew distinctions between himself and Sims, calling himself "a staunch supporter" of Sound Transit and saying Sims' opposition to the agency's 2007 and 2008 ballot propositions "made it much more difficult" to expand the light-rail system now under construction.

Phillips said the rail system, with "a substantial infusion of federal dollars," will create jobs while offering commuters new transit options.

A former state representative who helped draft the 1990 Growth Management Act, Phillips, 57, was elected in 1991 to the County Council, where he worked to implement the growth act at the local level. He has chaired the council's budget process four times, including last fall when the council unanimously adopted a revised version of the 2009 budget proposed by Sims.

Sims this month reported $139,991 in his campaign account, and Phillips showed $94,657 split between his county-executive campaign account and a County Council campaign surplus account.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com