Jarrett, Constantine detail plans to fix King County woes

King County executive candidates Fred Jarrett and Dow Constantine rolled out separate proposals on Thursday for getting the county's fiscal house in order.

Jarrett, a Democratic state senator from Mercer Island, outlined a seven-step plan at a press conference in Seattle.

He said one of his first steps would be to delay expansion plans for the King County Water Taxi System until the county solves its financial woes, which include a $110-million general-fund deficit and a $168-million shortfall for Metro Transit.

Other proposals in the outline included new accountability measures, job cuts for management and policy positions, updating the county's payroll and accounting systems, and placing a heavier emphasis on regional services – something candidate Larry Phillips has suggested as well.

Jarrett prefaced his plan by making note of a recent state auditor's report that indicated the county's financial controls are a confusing mess.

He said the audit "exposed a system ripe for waste and abuse, and leadership either unwilling or incapable of averting an approaching financial disaster."

Jarrett's plan also called for all county employees pay a portion of their health care premiums in order to control the cost of benefits.

Constantine, a sitting county councilmember from West Seattle, has pitched a similar but less-drastic plan to reign in health-care costs by making the county's high-salaried, non-union employees pay a portion of their premiums.

On Thursday, Constantine proposed a hiring freeze that would last through the end of 2009 – a move he claims could save $15 million.

"We must cut spending immediately to offset costs for essential 'lifeboat' programs that were only granted partial-year funding in this year's budget," he said in a press release.

Constantine said his proposed hiring freeze would not affect the King County Sheriff's Office, corrections officers, county health-care providers, or the county judicial system.