Faster than a train over Tukwila, the Sound Transit board is recruiting a new CEO to be hired in March, in time to celebrate three new lines and face long-term financial chaos.
The CEO’s salary could go as high as $675,000, to oversee a staff of 1,600 and a budget exceeding $4 billion a year, while attempting to launch a dozen rail and bus megaprojects, mostly falling behind the voter-approved schedules.
King County Executive Dow Constantine, who is also a longtime transit board member and past chairperson, is among five finalists, confirmed current Chair Dave Somers.
The other four, whose names are being kept confidential, are currently employed as CEOs or comparable roles at transit agencies in North America, said Somers during an interview Friday.
A total 60 people applied, who were winnowed to 15 with advice by recruiting consultant Krauthamer & Associates, and board members picked the last five, said Somers, the Snohomish County executive.
Transit board members held two of their expected five hourlong, virtual interviews with candidates during a closed session Friday. Somers said the board hopes to meet the top two or three in Seattle for deeper live sessions.
The CEO nominee and contract details will be announced in early March, followed by a full board vote March 27, Somers reported to the board’s executive committee last week.
Board members in Friday’s interviews included Somers, Fife Mayor Kim Roscoe, Redmond Mayor Angela Birney, Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus and new Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello.
Constantine recused himself from CEO deliberations, said Somers. Two public commenters Friday said it would be unethical for the board to hire from its own ranks.
When asked last month about the job, Constantine replied, “I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire.” He’s been King County executive since 2010 and will not seek another term this fall. He declined a further interview request Friday.
Details on how stakeholders including business, pro-transit, government, tribal, labor union and social-equity organizations might meet finalists and give input have not yet been determined, Somers said. There are currently no plans for the general public to meet them before hiring.
Three years ago, before hiring CEO Julie Timm away from the small Richmond, Va., bus agency, Sound Transit convened virtual, secret meetings between finalists and stakeholders, who signed nondisclosure pacts under risk of being sued.
The $675,000 anticipated salary appears on a Krauthamer invoice, released through a Seattle Times public records request. The firm’s commission will be up to 30% of the CEO salary, with a limit of $220,000, its contract says.
Sound Transit’s public listing shows a range of $450,000 to $650,000, which exceeds the current $500,000 for CEO Goran Sparrman, who will retire May 15. It will probably leapfrog the $600,000 for Deputy CEO Terri Mestas, the project delivery leader Sound Transit hired away last year from Los Angeles International Airport. Former CEO Timm (2022-23) was paid $375,000 and former CEO Peter Rogoff (2016-22) $379,600 in their final year.
As of last fall, transit CEOs in Los Angeles and Portland were paid between $400,000 and $500,000.
The proposed CEO pay is meant to match “a comparable level of the industry, not only the Northwest but internationally,” for a 24/7 role under a constant microscope, Somers said. “I wouldn’t take it for that,” he joked.
The job demands technical talent to guide projects, he said, combined with savvy to navigate Seattle-area political relations. “We need somebody that’s been through what we are now.”
Sound Transit is attempting the largest local transit expansion in the U.S., rivaled only by the Los Angeles region, to spend more than $148 billion to build and operate current and future lines from 2017-46.
Constantine is obviously ready for the political side, Somers said. Despite unresolved tensions over strategy — Somers is constantly raising alarms that West Seattle and Ballard projects, on course to approach $20 billion, will erode Sound Transit’s ability to finance the regional “spine” to Everett and Tacoma — his mind remains open to hearing Constantine alongside other finalists.
In public comment Friday, David Scott, speaking for the volunteer group Seattle Subway, said public trust is damaged by recurring light rail maintenance closures, spotty arrival information for buses, this week’s Sounder commuter train reductions, and years of expensive delays to future corridors.
“The CEO will have to exercise great fortitude in standing up to this board, to ensure the user experience is not sacrificed for the sake of special interests,” said Scott, who concluded, “selecting any current board member as CEO would be a massive breach of ethical standards.”
If the hiring schedule sticks, the winning applicant will be onboard when new Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond stations open May 10, followed by Mercer Island and Judkins Park stations along I-90 next winter. To the south, Kent Des Moines, Star Lake and Federal Way Downtown stations should open in spring 2026, as well as the sparsely populated Pinehurst Station in North Seattle.
Between celebrations, there are dangerous grade-crossings in Rainier Valley; a tripling in cost for the four-station West Seattle line, now near $7 billion; and possible federal transit cutbacks, which all need solving.
In a ray of good news, Tony Raben, director of the nearly done Redmond project, reported Thursday that costs are trending $300 million below the $1.5 billion budget, while Mestas said streamlining in West Seattle, such as building bridge pieces off-site rather then pouring concrete 150 feet above the Duwamish River, might conserve nine figures.
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