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AN ORDINANCE relating to the management of the department of transportation; and amending Ordinance 11955, Section 12, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.100.
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PREAMBLE:
King County delivers on its metropolitan transportation function, as provided for in RCW 35.58.240, through the department of transportation, transit division. In accordance with Section 230.10.10 of the King County Charter, the transit division is operated as a distinct functional unit delivering the Metro transit system. The transit system delivers more than one hundred ten million rides per year and is funded through biennial appropriations in excess of $1.6 billion plus more than $100 million of annual capital expenditures. The system supports growth management, mobility, economic and environmental goals of the county, as well as the cities and people of King County.
This ordinance will enhance the accountability and performance of King County's metropolitan transportation function through the direct appointment of the director of the transit division, also referred to as the transit general manager, as a key subordinate unit.
The road services division is responsible for maintenance of one thousand five hundred miles of roads and one hundred eighty bridges in the unincorporated area, and faces an annual structural funding deficit estimated at $240 million, an amount necessary to significantly reduce the backlog of maintenance and preservation needs, improve the condition of the roadway system and most cost-effectively manage the system.
This ordinance will enhance the accountability and performance of King County's road services division through the direct appointment of the director of the road services division, as a key subordinate unit.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 11955, Section 12, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.100 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
A. Exemptions from the requirements of the career service personnel system shall be consistent with the provisions of Sections 550, 350.10 and 350.20 of the King County Charter. Key subordinate units, as determined by the county council, and departmental divisions shall be considered to be executive departments. Divisions of administrative offices shall be considered to be administrative offices for the purpose of determining the applicability of the charter provisions.
B. The county administrative officer, directors, chief officers and supervisors of departments, administrative offices, divisions, key subordinate units and other units of county government as required by law shall be exempt from the requirements and provisions of the career service personnel system.
C.1. The following are determined by the council to be key subordinate units due to the nature of the programs involved and their public policy implications and appointments to these positions shall be subject to confirmation by the council:
a. the chief information officer of the administrative office of information resource management;
b. the manager of the elections division;
c. the superintendent of elections in the elections division; ((and))
d. the manager of the records and licensing services division;
e. the director of the transit division; and
f. the director of the road services division.
2. When an ordinance is enacted designating a position as a key subordinate unit, no person then serving in the position shall continue to serve for more than ninety days after such enactment, unless reappointed by the executive and confirmed by the council.
D. If an administrative assistant or a confidential secretary, or both, for each director, chief officer of an administrative office and supervisor of a key subordinate unit are authorized, those positions are exempt from the requirements and provisions of the career service personnel system.
SECTION 2. The amendments to Ordinance 11955, Section 12, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.16.100 in section 1 of this ordinance do not apply to the directors of divisions of the transportation department serving in those positions as of the effective date of this ordinance.
SECTION 3. By July 1, 2016, the executive shall file a report detailing the costs, financial and county code changes, operational issues, and a timeline of council decisions necessary to transition the transit division from a subordinate division within the department of transportation to an executive department responsible for the operating and capital investments necessary to deliver King County's metropolitan public transportation function by January 1, 2017. The report shall be filed in the form of an original and electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an
electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council's chief of staff and policy staff director and the lead staff for the committee of the whole, or its successor.