John Okamoto

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.

Early life and education 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. In 1988, he attended Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Okamoto then became the Chief Administrative Officer for the Port of Seattle from 2003 to 2008. 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. The report stated there "was a lack of adequate oversight by senior members of the Port’s executive staff," which included Okamoto. From 2014 to 2015, he was the Interim Director of the Seattle Human Services Department. The 8-month vacancy would be filled on a "caretaker" capacity, and Okamoto applied for the position. He was one of eight finalist, which included former councilmember Jan Drago and activist Sharon Maeda, that the full council to vote on by simple majority.

Before the vote, each council member was allowed time to speak. He would call the appointment process "intense" due to the public scrutiny.

Tenure Okamoto chaired the Housing Affordability, Human Services, and Economic Resiliency Committee and was a member of the Education and Governance, Planning, Land Use and Sustainability, and Select Committee on Housing Affordability committees. While in office, Okamoto sponsored a resolution to “disaggregate” U.S. Census data from aid provided by the city.

Okamoto did not seek a full-term election in 2016.

Personal life Okamoto is married to his wife, Sharon, and they have two daughters, Charissa and Shawna.