Council Authorizes Letter Calling on County Assessor to Immediately Resign

April 21, 2026

The King County Council has unanimously passed legislation authorizing all nine councilmembers to sign a letter calling for John Arthur Wilson to immediately resign as King County Assessor.

The letter, which is addressed directly to Wilson, states in part: “These allegations and court orders have caused irrevocable harm to the public's trust and faith in you as a public servant and elected official. You have fully lost our confidence in your judgement and ability to perform the duties of your role.”

[The full text of the letter is below.]

QUOTES:

“As elected leaders, our greatest responsibility is to the safety and health of our residents,” said King County Council Chair Sarah Perry. “Silence in the face of charges being filed against a King County elected official for violating the safety of one of our residents is unacceptable. Too many of our residents live in situations along the domestic violence continuum, and they should never be afraid to seek help. The letter calling for Assessor Wilson's immediate resignation reassures our residents that we are standing with our King County values against violence in any form and that we take their safety seriously.”

“I am deeply troubled by the conduct of County Assessor John Arthur Wilson that is described in sworn court records, which I have personally reviewed,” said King County Council Vice Chair Jorge Barón. “As I have expressed in the past, under the circumstances, he cannot effectively carry out his duties on behalf of our residents. All of us who have the privilege of serving in elected office should be held to a high standard of personal conduct. I urge Assessor Wilson to listen to the voices of local leaders and step down from his role.”

“An elected official must earn and keep the trust of their constituents through both professional and personal integrity,” said King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci. “From his actions that resulted in court-issued restraining orders, his violations of those orders resulting in his arrest and booking into jail, and his recent, shameless disrespect for the court process as he is prosecuted for gross misdemeanors, Assessor Wilson continues to demonstrate his unfitness for office. He should do the right thing and resign immediately.”

 
April 21, 2026 
 
Assessor Wilson, 
 
With this letter we, the undersigned members of the Metropolitan King County Council, are again formally calling on you to resign from your position as King County Assessor, effective immediately.

You have been embroiled in a domestic violence dispute for over two years, accused of stalking and harassing a King County resident. The King County Superior Court found enough evidence to issue a temporary protection order as well as a restraining order to prevent you from contacting that same King County resident due to your repeated stalking and harassment. The petition for the restraining order also alleged that you improperly used county resources to engage in the stalking, which would be a violation of the public trust and unacceptable.

These allegations and court orders have caused irrevocable harm to the public's trust and faith in you as a public servant and elected official. You have fully lost our confidence in your judgement and ability to perform the duties of your role. It is for this reason that the King County Council unanimously passed a motion calling for your resignation on June 10th, 2025.

When an elected official breaks the public trust like this, it’s not possible to effectively serve the public and execute the duties of their office free from distraction. Our residents rely on the Office of the Assessor to provide critical County functions and, at this point, they would be best served by your resignation. 

County residents deserve elected leaders that hold themselves to the highest standards, and that critical bar is not being met by your chosen actions. 

As elected leaders it is our highest duty to ensure the safety of our residents, and to call out any leader whose actions to our residents fall within the domestic violence continuum. 

On March 25th, 2026, you were formally charged with violating the Court’s protection and restraining orders by disregarding the court’s order not once, but twice, in July 2025. No one, especially those who have the privilege of holding elected office, is above the law.

You have continued to demonstrate a profound lack of judgement, a disregard for the safety and wellbeing of King County residents, and disrespect for the trust King County residents have awarded you. These shocking allegations impact your ability to execute the duties you were elected to perform as the King County Assessor. 

Today, we formally call for your immediate resignation to ensure the attention on your completely inappropriate behavior no longer overshadows the work of the Assessor’s Office on behalf of the people of King County.