Biography

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer works to make government more accountable.

Pete has served in various leadership positions on the council, including two years as Chair of the Metropolitan King County Council (2000 and 2001), six years as vice chair of the council, and an unprecedented three years as chair of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee.

Prior to his election to the Metropolitan King County Council, Pete served as a member of the Washington State Senate where he focused on fiscal and consumer issues while chairing the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions and Insurance. As a state senator and councilmember, Pete has promoted expanding parks and recreation facilities as well as enhancing public and private support for education.

When Pete was first elected in 1993 to the Metropolitan King County Council he received approximately 60% of the vote. Pete was re-elected in 1997 with 69% of the vote, in 2001 was unopposed in the primary and general elections for re-election, and in 2005 was re-elected with 63% of the vote.

In the 1990s King County was threatened by numerous secession proposals that would have split the regional government into separate counties. When Pete became chair of the Council, he responded to this issue by hosting an unprecedented 20 public meetings outside the Courthouse, in the process building stronger communication with the County’s rural residents and 39 cities.

In his civic life, Pete has served on the founding boards of trustees for St. Francis Community Hospital, the Federal Way Boys and Girls Club (where he was selected as 2000 Board Member of the Year), vice chairman of the State United States Olympic Committee of Washington, Federal Way Kiwanis (past president), as well as serving on many other civic organizations.

Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer is the chair of the Regional Policy Committee, vice-chair of the Transportation Committee, vice-chair of the General Government and Labor Committee, and serves on the Capital Budget, Regional Transit and Regional Water Quality Committees. He also serves on several outside committees including Sound Transit’s board of directors, the Seattle King County Board of Health and the Trade Development Alliance.