12:32 PM: Even before the official announcement event at City Hall last hour, Mayor Jenny Durkan had revealed (as we noted on Twitter) that she would be looking for a new Chief of Police. Now we know she’s also looking for a new CEO/general manager for Seattle City Light.
From the announcement (which you can read in full here):
WHO’S GOING: SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole‘s last day, after 3 1/2 years, is December 31st. Deputy Chief Carmen Best will be interim chief as of January 1st. (As we reported last week, we spoke with O’Toole at the new mayor’s Youngstown Cultural Arts Center event, and she said she was planning to talk with Durkan this week “about the department’s future.”) … City Light CEO/GM Larry Weis has resigned after less than two years; chief compliance officer Jim Baggs will run the utility in the interim.
WHO’S NOT GOING: The mayor says Fire Chief Harold Scoggins and Emergency Management director Barb Graff are staying. … Durkan also said she has asked Seattle Public Utilities CEO/general manager Mami Hara to stay.
No other cabinet mentions – staying OR going – so far.
ABOUT THE POLICE CHIEF SEARCH: The mayor announced a committee will search for O’Toole’s successor, with four co-chairs: Former mayor/City Council president Tim Burgess (who also is a former SPD detective), former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, ACLU executive Jeffery Robinson, and Chief Seattle Club executive director Colleen Echohawk. (See their bios here.) The mayor promises the chief search will include “an extensive community outreach process during early 2018.”
6:12 PM: Here’s the chief’s full statement.
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