By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
King County Council members raised questions about employee advancement, the representation of women in the county workforce and whether recommendations from the county’s Black Women’s Experience study are adequately reflected in a proposed four-year Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Plan.
The council’s Committee of the Whole deferred action on the proposed 2026-2029 EEO/AA Plan as legal review continued, leaving questions about how the county will address advancement and workplace equity before the proposal returns for further consideration.
The plan would establish King County’s equal employment opportunity and affirmative action goals for a workforce of approximately 17,000 employees working across agencies and services ranging from public transit and wastewater treatment to courts, parks and jail health services.
King County is required to maintain an EEO/AA plan under county code and as a recipient of federal grant funding. The proposed plan addresses workforce representation and the county’s efforts to provide equal employment opportunities.
During the committee’s review, Councilmember Rhonda Lewis questioned county officials about who participated in developing the plan and whether it sufficiently addresses advancement opportunities for employees already working for the county.
“For that staff report, I have a couple of questions, and they may be questions for executive staff,” Councilmember Lewis stated. “The first question is, how were the EIB managers, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Managers involved in the creation, updating of this report? And the other question, I’ll ask it now, as I read the report, there was a lot in the report about recruitment and retention. And I’m interested in where the report addresses advancement for people of color and women, and also how it addresses the recommendations of the Black Women’s Experience study that the county invested quite a bit of resource in having that done.”
Gloria Ngezaho, King County workforce equity manager in the Department of Human Resources, said Equity, Inclusion and Belonging managers were not directly involved in drafting the proposed plan, although they participate in ongoing discussions about workforce equity and implementation.
“In crafting the plan, we did not engage the EIB manager, but in ongoing efforts to continue to diversify workforce through our advisory committee, the EEOAA advisory committee, there are ongoing conversations that include conversations with HR managers and EIB managers,” Ngezaho explained. “In terms of implementation and making sure that not only are we meeting our hiring and retention goals, but we are also looking into data that is ongoing, advisory committee members do have those regular meetings to continue to make sure that departments are being held accountable.”
Ngezaho said the Department of Human Resources intends to involve EIB managers more directly in future plan development while continuing to work with human resources managers on recruitment, retention and advancement.
Lewis’ questions also brought attention to the county’s Black Women’s Experience study, an initiative examining the workplace experiences and disparities faced by Black and African women employed by King County and developing recommendations aimed at improving workplace equity.
Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda also raised the Black Women’s Experience study during the discussion and suggested council members review its findings and recommendations as they consider the proposed EEO/AA plan.
Council members separately questioned changes in the gender makeup of the county workforce.
Committee of the Whole Chair Jorge Barón pointed to workforce data showing that the percentage of county employees who identify as women has declined in recent years and called on the executive branch to address the trend.
“One of the areas that we have, I would say, backtracked as a county workforce in the past few years has been the issue of gender percentage of our workforce,” Chair Baron noted. “Identifying women is going, I would say, in the wrong direction. I urge the executive branch [that this is] something that I think we want to monitor closely, and perhaps when we take action, I would love to hear from our executive branch specifically on that issue, on what steps we’re taking to reverse that trend.”
The proposed EEO/AA plan is intended to guide county departments through 2029 as they monitor workforce representation and compliance with equal employment opportunity requirements.
Because legal review of the plan remains underway, the Committee of the Whole deferred action on the proposal. The ordinance remains before the committee for further consideration, leaving council members’ questions about employee advancement, gender representation and how recommendations from the Black Women’s Experience study will be incorporated into the county’s workforce equity efforts unresolved.
