Larry Phillips

Lawrence R. Phillips (born March 15, 1951) is an American politician who served as a member of the King County Council in State of Washington. Phillips served on the council from 1992 to 2016, representing the fourth district, which includes the Seattle neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont, Belltown, South Lake Union, and Downtown. He served as chair of the council from 2004 to 2006 and again in 2014. He was unopposed in his 2011 re-election. Phillips also serves on the Board of Directors of Sound Transit, a regional transit organization serving the Puget Sound area. A hallmark of Phillips's tenure has been his work to preserve forests and farmland by buying land, development rights, or conservation easements. Phillips is a self-identified Democrat, although his position on the King County Council was officially nonpartisan. On April 1, 2015, Phillips announced he would not seek reelection to the King County Council that November.

Early life Larry Phillips was born in 1951 in King County to Margery and John Phillips. His father was an architect and United States Naval Officer, serving in the Pacific in WWII, and his mother wrote for the Seattle Times, creating their "Home of the Month" feature called "Northwest Living." Phillips grew up in Mount Baker and Magnolia with his two sisters and graduated from Queen Anne High School.

Education Phillips earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Willamette University College of Law, graduating with honors and finishing in the top ten percent of his class. He also earned a Masters of Law degree with emphasis in Labor Law from the George Washington University National Law Center.

As a founding member of Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 8, Phillips helped coordinate a local response to the federal listing of Chinook salmon as endangered. Phillips has played a role in preserving over 165,000 acres of farm and forest land and salmon habitat as open space in King County during his time on the council.

As the council's Budget Chair for three years during King County's budget crisis, Phillips presided over $170 million in cuts to stabilize the budget while protecting King County's AAA bond rating and prioritizing public safety, public health, and the human services safety net.

Phillips was named the 2001 Public Official of the Year by the Municipal League of Seattle for his leadership in protecting and enhancing our quality of life through his work on land preservation and growth management in King County, and the 2010 Public Official of the Year by the 43rd District Democrats.

In recent years, Phillips has turned his attention to transportation, clean energy, and jobs. As a Sound Transit Boardmember, he served as Chair of the Central Link Oversight Committee overseeing the on time, under budget construction of Link light rail from Downtown Seattle to Tukwila. Phillips also led successful efforts to pass a regional mass transit expansion package that includes building 36 additional miles of light rail throughout the region. In response to Metro Transit's budget shortfall, Phillips called for a performance audit that identified over $200 million of savings or additional revenues that could be used to preserve service. He also called for the successful creation of the Regional Transit Task Force which made recommendations for improving Metro's future.

At the end of the 2013 Council session, Phillips was unanimously elected as Council Chair for 2014, taking over that duty from Councilmember Larry Gossett.

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