‘My vote has changed’: Ursula ‘disgusted’ by King County parks audit findings
Feb 2, 2026, 5:01 AM | Updated: 3:05 pm
A recent audit revealed serious oversight failures in King County Parks and Recreation Division’s grants program, which has grown to over $100 million in public funding, Seattle Red reported.
KIRO host Ursula Reutin remarked that as a voter, she was “disgusted” and wouldn’t be voting yes on future taxes anytime soon.
“I’m saying no until they can show that there is better documentation and oversight of these dollars that they keep asking us, as King County taxpayers, to approve,” Ursula said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “I’m going to be a no. And that is not me usually. I’m going to be a no until I feel like, ‘Hey, these are the ways that we are going to have better oversight on these dollars.'”
Meanwhile, KIRO host Gee Scott wasn’t surprised by the news.
“I don’t know what it is about King County, and I don’t know what it is about Seattle, but every time there’s something new to vote on, on a new tax, they say yes, every dang gone time,” he said.
The report, according to Seattle Red, showed that the parks department had made improvements, but not enough given the size of the program. Auditors also said the department’s leadership has no clear criteria for awarding grants.
“My vote has changed. I want to see better,” Ursula said.
She added that she will continue to spotlight reports on mismanaged public funds on the show.
“We are at a time when they’re going to be hitting us up for more taxes. We are facing big fat deficits, and people keep saying, ‘Well, we’re going to have to make cuts’ or ‘We’re going to have to raise your taxes.’ How about you do a better job of finding the fraud?” Ursula said.
“And again, there’s no proof that there is fraud. But how about you just do better oversight? And if you can show us how you can explain those dollars and how they were used and how they benefited the programs that you said they were going to be used for, then I’ll start saying yes again,” she continued.
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.
