By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last week, the King County Council unanimously selected Councilmember Girmay Zahilay as its Chair for 2025. Zahilay takes over from Councilmember Dave Upthegrove, who served as Chair for the past two years.
“Serving as chair of the King County Council and leader of the legislative branch is an honor,” Zahilay said. “I’m grateful for the trust of my colleagues, and the work of our outgoing Council Chair Upthegrove.”
During his time on the council, Zahilay, who represents King County’s District 2, has focused his efforts on improving access to health care, enhancing public safety, and addressing the housing affordability crisis in the region.
With the Council having a robust agenda in 2025, with expected votes on several legislative appointments, levy renewals, independent agency reappointments, the next biennial budget, and more, Zahilay has laid out the following priorities for the upcoming year, including:
Balancing the county budget
Collaborating with local and regional partners to tackle cross-jurisdictional issues such as homelessness, public safety, economic development, behavioral health, climate change, and transportation
Strengthening county governance, public accountability, and transparency
“We have a big year coming up this year,” says Zahilay. “We have to balance the county budget in the face of a $150 million shortfall in our general fund. We have to vote on several legislative appointments, that means we’re selecting people to serve in the state Senate and state representatives. We have to do a bunch of levy renewals, like the parks, the King County Parks levy, and we have to again manage this big budget shortfall that’s coming up that’s going to impact our county operations and services.”
Zahilay underlines highlighting the issues King County residents continue facing, such as the housing crisis, public transportation safety, and behavioral health.
In addition to the number of legislative tasks that must be addressed, Zahilay reaffirmed his commitment to addressing many of the pressing concerns of residents in King County.
“In addition to those big things that we have to tackle, I also want to continue to address the region’s biggest problems like the housing crisis, gun violence, behavioral health issues, expand public transportation for all of our communities, really just keep our neighborhoods as safe as possible,” said Zahilay. “This is a pivotal moment for our community, and I’m committed to advancing policies that help all our residents, businesses, and the environment thrive. Together, we will tackle the challenges that lie ahead — whether improving our public services, making neighborhoods safer, addressing the housing crisis, or strengthening our economy.”
This week, as the community celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Zahilay takes this moment to reflect on the values of Dr. King and the promises to the residents of the region that were made when they officially made Dr. King the namesake of the county.
“I will be doing my best to try to make King County as accessible and inclusive as possible when it comes to solving problems,” says Zahilay. “I would love it for the residents of our region to have the same sense of civic responsibility and civic participation that Dr. King inspired. And so I’ll do my best to get our communities activated, to bring them in to help solve problems, to take the business of the King County Council seriously, attend council meetings as often as possible, and I will work to really show people where the levers of power are so that they can advocate for themselves and create the changes that we all want to see in King County.”
