By Erica C. Barnett

On Tuesday, the King County Council will take up a motion to send a letter to King County Assessor John Arthur Wilson demanding his immediate resignation. Wilson was charged late last month with stalking his ex-fiencée, Lee Keller. This will be the second such action by the council, which unanimously passed a resolution calling for Wilson’s resignation last year after Keller provided new evidence of Wilson’s harassment in a petition for a protection order and dissolution of their domestic partnership.

Wilson, who refused to step down, was arrested less than a month after that vote for showing up at Keller’s house in violation of the protection order. He’s now facing charges of stalking, a gross misdemeanor, and under a five-year no-contact order.

Last week, a judge reversed an order that would have required Wilson to wear an ankle monitor to ensure that he stays at least 1,000 feet away from Keller. The decision came after Wilson argued that he has a medical condition that requires him to soak both his legs every day, which would damage the ankle monitor.

Just hours after his hearing, Wilson appeared to brag about the ruling by posting a photo of himself, shirtless and in a tub, on Instagram and Facebook. The caption read: “What a great night to soak in the tub and let your cares float away”—an obvious reference to his victory in court hours earlier.

Three days later, Wilson did it again, posting another semi-nude photo of himself in the hot tub under the taunting caption, “Great to soak my legs after after (sic) a very productive and successful week.”

Wilson has claimed that a medical condition called lymphodema requires him to completely submerge both legs in water every day. In court, Keller said that for the four years they were together, he never had the condition in both legs. After deciding Wilson could go without the ankle monitor, Seattle Municipal Court Judge Andrew Simon advised Keller to figure out how record any calls from Wilson and to take screen shots if he contacts her by text or email.

The county council’s letter demanding Wilson’s resignation reads, in part,

You have been embroiled in a domestic violence dispute for over two years, accused of stalking and harassing a King County resident. The King County Superior Court found enough evidence to issue a temporary protection order as well as a restraining order to prevent you from contacting that same King County resident due to your repeated stalking and harassment. The petition for the restraining order also alleged that you improperly used county resources to engage in the stalking, which would be a violation of the public trust and unacceptable.

These allegations and court orders have caused irrevocable harm to the public’s trust and faith in you as a public servant and elected official. You have fully lost our confidence in your judgement and ability to perform the duties of your role. It is for this reason that the King County Council unanimously passed a motion calling for your resignation on June 10th, 2025.

When an elected official breaks the public trust like this, it’s not possible to effectively serve the public and execute the duties of their office free from distraction. Our residents rely on the Office of the Assessor to provide critical County functions and, at this point, they would be best served by your resignation.

The county council has no power to remove Wilson, an independently elected official; only the voters can do so, by holding a recall election.