Margaret King selected as Shoreline’s new City Attorney

City Manager Debbie Tarry has selected Margaret King to be the City’s new City Attorney. King's selection is the culmination of an extensive search after long-time City Attorney Ian Sievers announced his retirement.

“I’m excited to appoint Margaret as the City’s new City Attorney,” stated Tarry. “She has an extensive background in working with local governments on complex legal issues. Her skills and legal knowledge will be a great asset to the City. Margaret will be a valuable asset to the City's leadership team.”

King’s first day of employment with the City will be Monday, November 3.

King has 23 years of professional legal experience, 17 of which have been representing state or local governments. King is currently the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Snohomish County serving as the chief legal adviser to the Snohomish County Council, the elected County Treasurer, and the Department of Emergency Management. Prior to that she worked as a Senior Associate Attorney for Kenyon Disend, PLLC where she served as the City Attorney for the cities of Roslyn, Sultan, and Gold Bar, and the Town of Hunts Point, and as an Assistant City Attorney for the cities of North Bend and Tukwila.

Because of the ongoing issues with the Point Wells development in Snohomish County and King's current position as the chief legal adviser to the Snohomish County Council, the City ensured there would be no conflict of interest before finalizing the employment offer. Since King has not worked on any issues related to the Point Wells development since she started working for Snohomish County in 2013, the City and King are confident there are no conflicts of interest that would prevent her from fully representing the City.

The City hired the executive search firm Prothman to lead the candidate search. Prothman received 18 applications for the position. Of those, 9 candidates were identified for initial screening. Of those, the City Manager chose six finalists to be interviewed by three panels. The interview panels were made up of City staff and the City’s Leadership Team. The final interview was with the City Manager.