The chief deputy assessor and several directors in the King County Department of Assessments are calling for the resignation of the King County Assessor, John Wilson.
Following the King County Office of the Ombuds’ findings of ethics violations by Wilson, King County Chief Deputy Assessor, Al Dams, sent a letter on Sept. 2 requesting Wilson to resign from his position. The letter contains the support of nine other division heads.
“We have become aware of the Ombudsman ethics report 2025-0320 and its findings, dated Sept. 1, 2026, documenting use of county resources, in violation of a court order, and for personal benefit,” Dams wrote in the letter, “Due to our lost confidence in your leadership, the impact on employees, the continued degradation of the department’s credibility, and the best interests of the department, we are collectively calling for your immediate resignation.”
Chief appraiser Jim Hall is named in support of Wilson’s resignation along with the directors of the accounting division (Kelsey Cruse), the administrative services division (Jonathan Larson and Alicia Warren), the commercial business and personal property division (Ruth Peterson), communications (Chris Vance), the IT division (Hoang Nguyen and Mai Trinh), and the residential appraisal division director (Jeff Darrow).
In the report, the ombuds office determined Wilson violated the King County Ethics Code in four separate sets of issues involving the use of county resources, the authority of his office and campaign-related activity. The Ombuds Office also found Wilson violated the King County Information Technology (KCIT) Acceptable Use Policy, after investigators identified sexually explicit language on County-owned technology assets.
