SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Ron Sims, who lied to you on-air, claims to be man of God

Apr 8, 2019, 6:27 PM

Ron Sims...

Ron Sims as King County executive in 2008. (MyNorthwest.com/Jamie Griswold)

(MyNorthwest.com/Jamie Griswold)

I did something Saturday night that I hardly ever do. I try to keep things pretty positive on Twitter, because there’s just no value in engaging negativity on Twitter. I don’t need that in my free time. But Ron Sims wrote a Tweet on Saturday that I just couldn’t ignore.

Ron Sims was King County executive and the chair of the Sound Transit board during that agency’s absolute worst period. He wanted to be governor of Washington. And so he finally agreed to come in and do an in-studio interview with me.

What he did not know was that I had a rock-solid source who had access to Sound Transit finances. This was back when they were trying to get Sound Transit 2 passed. Sound Transit 1, known as Sound Move, was a disaster — 13 years behind schedule and billions over budget — and Ron Sims was one of the main reasons why. They promised they would get light rail to the U District with the phase 1 dollars. I knew, from my source, that that was an absolute impossibility. And even now, they still aren’t to the University District, just Husky Stadium.

RELATED: Is this why former county executive resigned Obama admin job? 

So I asked him on-air if he’d be able to get to the U District with the money the taxpayers had already given him. He looked me right in the eye, and spoke to you right over the microphone, and said yes. I devastated the man because I had access to the Sound Transit books and knew he was lying. It was a horrible moment for him, stuttering and trying to defend himself. I’d like to say it was one of the reasons that Ron Sims never became governor.

I bring all this up because of what happened Saturday evening on Twitter. Ron Sims — who, like his father, is an ordained Baptist minister — has always talked about how faith has guided him in his political career. This weekend, he Tweeted the following:

I went crazy when I saw that. This lying scoundrel. He lied to me and to all of you, the taxpaying listeners, so that he could secure another multi-billion-dollar vote from the most criminally corrupt public agency in our nation’s history.

And so I wrote back on Twitter. I’m not proud of it. This is not how I usually roll. But I couldn’t leave it alone.

“I’ll pray for you.” Those are words that I do not say lightly. A lot of people say, “You’ll be in my prayers.” I don’t just throw that around unless I really do mean that I’ll take the time to pray for someone.

On Sunday morning, my wife and I were at church, and there was a moment for silent prayer. I thought, “I’m going to live what I said on Twitter last night.” So I prayed for Ron Sims, who so easily lied to bilk people out of billions of their hard-earned dollars. I prayed for Jay Inslee, who lied about never raising taxes, and has signed off on the three biggest tax increases in our state’s history. I prayed for Donald Trump, who lies all the time.

I felt helpless and sad in that moment. As a believer, I think God can do incredible things. But I don’t think politics is save-able. The kind of people who are attracted to it, and their addiction to power and money — I don’t know how we can change that. Maybe we can get some good people in who actually have faith.

As Ron Sims prays for a change in immigration policy, does he pray for the family of Deputy Ryan Thompson, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant? His party has gone radically in favor of infanticide. Do you pray about that, Ron?

I’m so sick of hearing politicians use faith for their own personal gain. This happens on both sides. Donald Trump, on the campaign trail, proclaimed his deep faith. When asked what his favorite verse from the Bible was, he said he wouldn’t cite anything specific. I’m sure it was because he couldn’t. I’m so tired of people who pretend to have faith as a way for them to exhibit their politics.

And so, in that moment of silent prayer on Sunday morning, I felt so helpless and hopeless about the kind of people who are attracted to politics. It’s all a game. I don’t know if Ron Sims prays about immigration, but I do know that he lied to take billions from the people of this region.

How can you pray about border policy, when you have proven to have so little character in the arena of politics?

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Dori: Ron Sims, who lied to you on-air, claims to be man of God