Jake: Sound Transit board votes unanimously to give Dow Constantine a raise? And a bonus? For what?!

I saw a headline this morning in The Seattle Times: the Sound Transit Board voted unanimously, in their infinite wisdom, to give CEO Dow Constantine a raise, plus a $30,000 bonus tied to completion of the cross-lake line. That’s the same line suspected of electrocuting thousands of fish, including salmon, in Lake Washington. I wonder if he gets to take any of the fried salmon home as part of the deal.

Extensions are hard to come by at Sound Transit (sorry, Ballard). Apparently not for executive contracts, though. Dow’s new deal locks him in for three more years as CEO of the taxpayer-funded agency, at a cool $509,689 a year. That’s $42,474 a month. And it doesn’t stop there — he’s set for another 3-6% raise at the start of both 2028 and 2029.

So here’s my question: is he worth it? The agency is $35 billion in the hole on ST3, on pace to run roughly four times what voters approved back in 2016, if it ever gets finished.

I can’t put my finger on it, but something really bugs me about a unanimous vote here. Not one board member looked at the overruns, the years of delays, the financial hole, and thought maybe we hold off on the raise? Is there really a risk he walks for another job paying just as well?

The answer seems obvious to you and me. But we’re not ST board members — board members Dow himself had a hand in placing. And that’s the problem.

Dow Constantine got a raise with barely a day for public input

This has the feel of backroom politics: scratching each other’s backs and handing out bonuses with the public’s money. The Seattle Times noted the agency gave taxpayers, who foot Dow’s salary, all of one day’s notice before the vote, barely enough time for anyone to weigh in or testify.

If the board is truly unanimous that Dow’s worth every penny, why the rush to avoid public input? His rise to the top of ST was controversial from day one. The Seattle Times reported that several board members Constantine had appointed or retained turned around and voted him CEO after a closed-door selection process, passing over four finalists who ran agencies out of state.

Stories like this are exactly why people roll their eyes at government and lose faith in it. Bottom line: until Sound Transit climbs out of debt and starts hitting its goals (like the Ballard extension) and timelines, it has no business handing out bonuses and raises.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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