Editing Ron Sims (section)

==King County issues==

===Brightwater sewage treatment plant===
{{Main article|Brightwater sewage treatment plant}}
The Brightwater sewage treatment plant built by King County across the county line in neighboring [[Snohomish County, Washington|Snohomish County]] caused a number of issues, including a lawsuit between the counties over impact mitigation; cost overruns; and concerns over earthquake [[fault line]]s running through the site.

===Tent City 4===
On April 29, 2004, Sims announced his intention to temporarily locate a [[Tent City 4|tent city]] on county-owned land near [[Bothell, Washington]] and gave the King County Council 90 days to determine a more permanent location within the county for the tent city to be located. Opponents of the plan filed a lawsuit that resulted in the move being cancelled. In May 2005, the council voted to have a one-year [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] prohibiting the siting of homeless encampments on public land pending a review of the availability, suitability, and appropriateness of using county-owned land. Sims never conducted this review, and the moratorium remains in place, but the homeless encampment is currently moving from church property to church property throughout east King County.

===Critical Area Ordinance===
On October 26, 2004, the King County Council passed the controversial Critical Area Ordinance (CAO) to protect environmentally sensitive areas (such as [[wetlands]] and [[streams]]) and restrict development in hazardous areas (such as [[floodplains]] and [[landslide]] prone steep slopes).  The plan drew the ire of many [[property rights]] groups, rural landowners, and developers as the [[Local ordinance|ordinance]] prevented land owners from developing areas of their property that met the critical area definition. This included a requirement that landowners in rural areas that haven't already cleared their land must keep 50% to 65% of their property in its "natural state".<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/local/199779_growth16.html Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 'Critical areas ordinance' provokes bitter 'rural vs. urban' dispute]</ref> Three referendums to repeal the ordinance gathered over 17,000 signatures each, far more than the 6,900 required to qualify to be on the ballot.<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002133729_criticalareas29e.html Seattle Times: Critical-areas ordinances challenged]</ref> However, a lawsuit filed by King County and a pro-[[growth management]] group prevented the referendum from being put on the ballot, and the state Supreme Court ruled that a state law requiring local governments to protect critical areas prevented local referendums from overturning critical area ordinances.<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003490019_criticalareas22m0.html Seattle Times: Justices reject local vote on critical-areas rules]</ref>
On July 7, 2008, a Washington State Appeals Court found that the portion of the CAO known as the clearing and grading ordinance is an indirect and illegal "tax, fee, or charge", and that prior to restricting the clearing of land for lawn or pasture, King County must demonstrate how that act could cause harm.<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008038535_criticalareas08m0.html Seattle Times: King County's rural-land restrictions go too far, court rules]</ref>

===Rails to trails proposal===
{{See also|Woodinville Subdivision}}
On May 16, 2005, Sims announced a controversial plan to purchase the {{convert|47|mi|km|adj=on}} Woodinville Subdivision railroad that runs through the east King County roughly parallel to [[Interstate 405 (Washington)|Interstate 405]] and replace most of its track with a bicycle trail.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060520050747/http://dnr.metrokc.gov/dnrp/pa/bnsf/fact-sheet.htm Facts on King County’s Efforts to Save the
BNSF Eastside Rail Corridor</ref>  Although there is support for  purchasing the railroad in order to prevent its current owner, [[BNSF Railway]], from selling off the right of way piecemeal, the plan to remove the tracks has raised concerns from rail transportation advocates, environmental groups, and the owners, employees and customers of the popular Spirit of Washington dinner train (which ran on the tracks). It has also resulted in the formation of a [[grassroots]] movement, Eastside Rail Now!, which is aimed at stopping the removal of the tracks and at using them to begin a rail transit service in addition to their current freight and dinner train functions. In 2007, the [[Port of Seattle]], King County, and BNSF signed a preliminary agreement in which the Port would purchase the rail line from BNSF and then exchange the line plus $66 million to pay for removal of the tracks and replacement by a bicycle trail for [[Boeing Field]]<ref>[http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/02/26/daily5.html Seattle BizJournals: County, port and railroad sign preliminary land-exchange deal]</ref>

===Boeing Field airlines proposal===
In July 2005, [[Southwest Airlines]] formally proposed plans to spend $130 million on a passenger terminal and other facilities and move the airline's operation from [[Seattle-Tacoma International Airport|Sea-Tac Airport]] to Boeing Field after several months of negotiations with Sims.  The proposal from Southwest prompted [[Alaska Airlines]] to announce it would seek a similar agreement with the county.<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/business/233645_boeingfield22.html Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Southwest's $130 million plan for Boeing Field]</ref> The proposals were met with opposition from residents of [[Georgetown, Seattle, Washington|Georgetown]], the Seattle neighborhood north of Boeing Field, many of Washington's state and federal legislators, and the Seattle [[Chamber of Commerce]].<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002421712_southwest05m.html Seattle Times: Lawmakers against Southwest's proposal]</ref> After months of pressure from the opposition, Sims killed Southwest's and Alaska's proposals in October 2005, stating that while the area around Boeing Field might have been able to support Southwest's bid with only minor road improvements, it could not support both the Southwest and Alaska proposals without major infrastructure improvements.<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/local/244262_southwest12.html Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Plan won't fly: Sims kills Southwest's Boeing Field hopes]</ref>

=== Armen Yousoufian and Qwest Field ===
On May 30, 1997 Armen Yousoufian, the owner of the University Plaza Hotel in Seattle, requested documents from Mr. Sims’ office concerning the upcoming election (June 17, 1997)  about and financing documents for Seattle’s [[Qwest Field]].  It took Mr Sims's office nearly four years to provide Yousoufian with the documents.  Yousoufian eventually sued to be given the documents, and was also awarded five dollars a day for the delay, plus $87,000 in attorneys’ fees.  In 2005, after further appeal by Yousoufian, the amount was increased to 15 dollars a day bringing the total to $122,000, plus a further $171,000 in attorneys’ fees, which some claim to be the highest such fine ever assessed in state history.<ref>[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2002460046_rulinged31.html Seattle Times: Right to know, Part 1: a county's negligence]</ref>  Yousoufian appealed further, and in January 2009 a divided [[Washington Supreme Court]] agreed that the $15 a day fine was insufficient.  Two justices recommended that the [[King County Superior Court]] award $100 a day, the maximum provided for under the law.<ref>[http://www.theolympian.com/109/story/737022.html The Olympian: Large fine may deter records withholding]</ref>