John Okamoto
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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 |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Sharon Okamoto |
| Children | Charissa and Shawna |
| Alma mater | University of Washington (BA, MPA) |
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.
Okamoto 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
Okamoto 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]