King County Assessor: Constantine wouldn’t be Sound Transit CEO without appointing majority of board

The Sound Transit Board of Directors has officially appointed Dow Constantine to serve as Sound Transit’s newest CEO.

Constantine has been King County Executive since 2009 and has previously appointed many of the board members who were involved in selecting the new Sound Transit CEO. 

Jake Skorheim, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, asked King County Assessor John Wilson if this could be considered a glaring conflict of interest, posing the question: “Would he be even considered for this job if he had not put 10 of the 18 people on the board?”

To which, Wilson simply responded, “No.”

Is Dow Constantine’s salary worth it?

In the proposed contract shared by the Sound Transit Board, Constantine’s annual base salary will be $450,000, with a market study to be completed at the end of 2025 to determine a base salary for 2026. This comes after the board had previously authorized a salary as high as $650,000 a year for a newly appointed CEO, according to The Seattle Times.

Commenting on his salary, co-host of “Jake and Spike,” Spike O’Neill said, “If he’s not doing the job, I’m surprised there’s no evaluation of accomplishments. You’re already guaranteeing this guy is going to get the national average for market size.”

The proposed contract states that Constantine could see a 3 to 6% base salary increase based on an “annual performance rating” awarded by the board, as well as an annual contribution performance award of $30,000 based on the completion of “mutually agreed upon goals” in 2026.

“I’m hopeful that the Sound Transit Board is going to give us goals that are not just you showed up for work … You didn’t play golf on Friday afternoons,” Spike said. “You’re hiring a new sheriff, we want to see some of the bad guys get driven out of this town.”

Jake argued that these decisions should be treated differently when dealing with taxpayer money, adding that Constantine is expected to receive retirement funds and paid vacation hours.

“I have no problem with people like yourself, or anybody in private industry getting as much as they possibly can from their employers, if it’s not coming from tax dollars, because I’m not asking anything of the public,” he said. “I’m trying to provide them with things. In a private company, you have to do it by your own wits.”

In a press release issued by Sound Transit Thursday afternoon, Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair stated that “For every large organization, time is money, and we don’t have time or money to waste delivering on the promise of a truly regional mass transit system … our economy and environment will benefit from the success of Dow and Sound Transit.”

If the board terminates Constantine’s employment before December 31, 2028, he will be given severance equal to one year’s base salary and retirement benefits.