John Okamoto is an American politician and bureaucrat from Seattle, Washington. He was appointed to the District 8 seat on the Seattle City Council in April 2015.
John Okamoto | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the Seattle City Council At-large Position 9 | |
| In office April 27, 2015 – November 24, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sally J. Clark |
| Succeeded by | Lorena González |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Seattle, Washington, California |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Sharon Okamoto |
| Children | Charissa and Shawna |
| Alma mater | University of Washington (BA, MPA) |
Early life and education
editOkamoto was born and raised in Seattle, earning his bachelor's degree in psychology and his master's in public administration from the University of Washington.[1] In 1988, he attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[1]
Career
editOkamoto was the director of Seattle's Human Resources Department from 1991 to 1994, then the director of Engineering from 1994 to 1996.[1] From 1996 to 2003, Okamoto led the Assistant Secretary for the Washington State Department of Transportation.[2]
Okamoto then became the Chief Administrative Officer for the Port of Seattle from 2003 to 2008.[3] During his tenure, he was not directly named in a scathing audit performed by the Port related to construction practices, but was directly named in a separate report on sexually explicit and racist e-mails sent by Port police.[4] The report stated there "was a lack of adequate oversight by senior members of the Port’s executive staff," which included Okamoto.[3]
Okamoto left the Port in 2008 to become executive director of the Washington Education Association,[4] and stayed in that position until 2014.[5] From 2014 to 2015, he was the Interim Director of the Seattle Human Services Department.[4]
Seattle City Council
editAppointment
editIn April 2015, City Councilmember Sally J. Clark announced that she would resign her seat to take a job at the University of Washington.[6] The 8-month vacancy would be filled on a "caretaker" capacity, and Okamoto applied for the position.[7] He was one of eight finalist, which included former councilmember Jan Drago and activist Sharon Maeda, that the full council to vote on by simple majority.[8]
Before the vote, each council member was allowed time to speak.[8] Councilmember Kshama Sawant vehemently argued against Okamoto, citing The Stranger (newspaper) articles about the audits during his time at the Port of Seattle.[8] After two rounds of voting, Okamoto was appointed to the At-large seat on a vote of 5 to 3.[5][8]
Okamoto stated he would work with all the council members, but in response to Sawant's criticism, he said, "It’s disappointing. Those charges are false."[8][9] He would call the appointment process "intense" due to the public scrutiny.[10]
Tenure
editOkamoto chaired the Housing Affordability, Human Services, and Economic Resiliency Committee and was a member of the Education and Governance, Planning, Land Use and Sustainability, and Select Committee on Housing Affordability committees.[5][8] While in office, Okamoto sponsored a resolution to “disaggregate” U.S. Census data from aid provided by the city.[10]
Okamoto did not seek a full-term election in 2016.[5]
Personal life
editOkamoto is married to his wife, Sharon, and they have two daughters, Charissa and Shawna.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Tabafunda, James (November 19, 2009). "Diversity at the Top". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ Mitsui, Sam (June 2007). "John Okamoto receives 2007 Public Employee of the Year Award". Nisei Veterans Committee. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ a b Groover, Heidi (April 27, 2015). "What We Learned at Friday's Throwdown Over the Current City Council Vacancy". The Stranger. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c Young, Bob (April 15, 2008). "Port exec leaves for teachers union job". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "John Okamoto Subject Files, 2015". Archives West. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Beekman, Daniel (April 2, 2015). "Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark stepping down to work at UW". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Ng, Assunta (April 9, 2015). "Okamoto to run for City Council". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Kroman, David (April 27, 2015). "John Okamoto: Seattle's newest council member". Crosscut.com. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Groover, Heidi (April 27, 2015). "Seattle City Council Appoints John Okamoto to Replace Sally Clark". The Stranger. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Cohen, Josh (January 19, 2024). "What's it like to be appointed to the Seattle City Council?". Crosscut.com. Retrieved August 24, 2024.