White Center Now: The blog about White Center

The new King County cabinet has been announced – mostly holdovers, including the leaders of two departments that matter a lot to White Center and vicinity, Local Services and Natural Resources & Parks. Here’s the full announcement:

Today, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay announced his full Cabinet, along with three new senior leaders to serve in the Executive Office.

“This is a strong, experienced team that knows King County and cares deeply about the people who live here. In many departments we are keeping steady leadership in place, and in others we are being thoughtful about transitions as we recruit for the future. I am grateful to the leaders who are stepping down for their service, and I am excited to work alongside this Cabinet and senior team as we focus on delivering real results for residents across the county. We will continue building out this administration, with additional senior leadership announcements in the weeks ahead,” said Executive Zahilay.

Eight cabinet departments will have leaders reappointed, while three will be led by current county leaders in an interim capacity as leadership recruitment processes are launched. The Cabinet members include:

-Patti Cole-Tindall as King County Sheriff to lead the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO)
–Dwight Dively and Susan McLaughlin to serve as Co-Interim Directors of the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS)
-Dr. Sandra Valenciano as Interim Director of Public Health — Seattle & King County (DPH)
–Megan Pedersen, appointed as Chief People Officer (see below), to serve as Interim Director of the Department of Human Resources (DHR)
–John Taylor as Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP)
–Allen Nance as Director of the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD)
–Matt Sanders as Director of the Department of Public Defense (DPD)
–Michelle Allison as Director of Metro Transit Department (MTD)
–Leon Richardson as Director of the Department of Local Services (DLS)
–Lorraine Patterson-Harris as Director of the Department of Executive Services (DES)
–Stephen Heard as Chief Information Officer, leading the department of King County Information Technology (KCIT)

Dr. Sandra Valenciano is currently the Health Officer for Public Health. Susan McLaughlin is currently the Division Director of Behavioral Health and Recovery in DCHS. Dwight Dively is transitioning to a new role with this interim co-director appointment and will also be Senior Advisor to the Executive. The Executive thanks Dwight for his leadership over the past 16 years in operations and budget in the Executive Office.

The Executive also thanks outgoing department heads Dr. Faisal Khan, Jay Osborne, and Kelly Rider for their years of leadership and dedication to the County.

Executive Zahilay is also excited to announce three more senior leaders in the Executive Office. They include Christopher Sanders as General Counsel, Megan Pedersen as Chief People Officer, and Aaron Rubardt as Chief Budget Officer. Full bios are below. These new team members are in addition to the two leaders announced in November – Deputy Executive Karan Gill and Chief of Staff Jasmin Weaver. With the exception of Gill, senior leaders’ appointments will begin in January.

Executive Zahilay will continue to build out his new administration over the coming weeks with additional announcements to follow.

Senior Leadership Bios:

Megan Pedersen will serve as Chief People Officer, leading the Labor Relations and Human Resources teams at King County. She has served as Acting Chief People Officer since June 2025 and brings an incredible depth of King County government experience to the role. Megan is a results-oriented and people-centered leader with more than 15 years of experience in operations, labor relations, people strategy, and employee engagement at the County.

Christopher Sanders will serve as General Counsel, the Executive’s chief legal advisor. Currently an attorney at Pacifica Law Group, his practice focuses on representing public entity clients in various stages of civil litigation. Christopher previously was an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington. He also worked as an attorney for the King County Department of Public Defense. As a seasoned trial attorney with experience in both civil and criminal law, Christopher has over a decade of experience representing clients at all stages of the litigation process in state and federal courts.

Aaron Rubardt will serve as Chief Budget Officer. Aaron is a leader in local government budgeting and financial planning, first joining King County in 2007 and most recently serving for the past six years as the Deputy Budget Director. His professional mission is to provide financial and operational management to public organizations. He believes in an accountable, transparent, and cost-effective government that is responsive to taxpayers, enhances lives, reflects community values, and creates opportunities for all residents. Before joining King County, Aaron worked in health care and employment benefits consulting and brokerages, both in the Pacific Northwest and Washington, DC.

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