King County’s Department of Local Services begins operations

Unincorporated King County rang in the new year with its own department

By Stephanie Quiroz • January 16, 2019 5:30 am
From left, director of local services John Taylor welcomes Danielle de Clercq as deputy director and Jim Chan as director of the permitting division. Photo courtesy of King County Local Services
From left, director of local services John Taylor welcomes Danielle de Clercq as deputy director and Jim Chan as director of the permitting division. Photo courtesy of King County Local Services

King County’s Department of Local Services officially became a standalone department on Jan. 1. Nearly 250,000 residents and businesses in unincorporated King County now have a county department focusing on their needs.

After a year of planning, the King County Council unanimously approved Executive Dow Constantine’s proposal. The Department of Local Services now serves as a “virtual city hall” that will help deliver those services.

“I’m deeply honored to lead this new agency and am grateful to the council, the county executive, and the transition team for the trust they have emplaced in me,” Taylor said in a press release. “My hope is that local services’ role in unincorporated communities becomes essential for connecting residents with opportunities and services. We are focused on meeting the diverse and unique challenges of residents and also preparing a foundation for expanding our services to meet the needs of unincorporated area residents for years to come.”

The council approved John Taylor as the first director of the department on Dec. 10.

Taylor will focus on coordinating with councilmembers of the rural areas (Bear Creek/Sammamish, Snoqualmie Valley/northeast King County, Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain, Greater Maple Valley/Cedar River, southeast King County, west King County, and Vashon/Maury Island) to deliver streamlined and responsive relationships with unincorporated King County communities, coordinating and collaborating in service delivery to unincorporated communities with partnering agencies including state, county and local organizations.

The 500-employee department will focus on solely serving and communicating with the unincorporated areas.

The department consists of three divisions/programs: The permitting division will focus on development of permit reviews, code enforcements and subarea planning; the road services division will be responsible King County’s 1,500 miles of road and 182 bridges; the community service areas program that coordinates directly with unincorporated area residents and groups.

Following his appointment, Taylor announced the local services leadership team.

Danielle de Clercq will serve as deputy director, Cheryl Binetti as chief of staff in the Department of Local Services director’s office, Jim Chan as the director of the permitting division, Rick Brater as the director of the road services division, Bill Greene as chief financial officer, and Mary Louis as the human resource manager.

The Department of Local Services will be funded by existing revenues.

The divisions will operate from 35030 SE Douglas St., Suite 210 in Snoqualmie. The road services and the community area program will operate from 201 S. Jackson St. in Seattle.

Unincorporated residents can contact Local Services at ASKLocalServices@kingcounty.gov or go online to the new Local Services webpage at www.kingcounty.gov/local-services.