Local News

The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.

Gov.-elect Jay Inslee

Gov-elect Jay Inslee is heading to Hawaii for a week before moving into the governor’s office.

He and his wife, Trudi, leave on Monday. Inslee will be sworn in as governor on Jan. 16.

There’s been some low-level grumbling in Olympia about the fact that Inslee has only announced one hire in his new administration so far — Renton schools chief Mary Alice Heuschel, who will be his chief of staff.

Many key appointments remain, including the director of the governor’s budget office and various agency heads.

However, Inslee’s staff said the transition and hiring process will continue while Inslee is gone, and the governor-elect will be meeting with staff by phone during his time away. Some new hires could be announced as early as next week.

“We knew right after the election that the Governor-Elect would need some downtime with his family between the 18 months of campaigning and the start of his term,” Sterling Clifford, an Inslee spokesman said in an email. “The week of Christmas/New Year’s was identified as the best week for them to go, and it has been on his schedule for some time.”