Bruce C. Laing has been appointed chair of the Board of Ethics by King County Executive Kurt Triplett. This appointment will fill the position left vacant by Dr. Lois Price Spratlen when her term as chair expired on July 31, 2009. The three-year term is effective August 1, 2009 and will expire on July 31, 2012.

Laing has a long history of public service. He served on the King County Council from 1979 through 1995. He resides in District 9, which includes part of Bellevue.

During his time on council, he also served on the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority Board, now known as Sound Transit; the Executive Board of Puget Sound Regional Council, PSRC; and on the Council of Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, METRO. In addition, Laing has been a professional urban planner for more than 40 years.

Laing will serve along side the existing the three board members: Roland Carlson, former Washington state legislator and former Boeing executive, Anne Watanabe, City of Seattle deputy hearing examiner, and Gunbjorg Ladstein, former Transportation Planner for King County and former Program Consultant for United Way of King County.

The King County Board of Ethics is a five-member citizen advisory, administrative, and quasi-judicial board. The purpose is to ensure proper implementation of the Code of Ethics, to interpret the code through advisory opinions, and to manage a disclosure program of financial and other interests for employees and elected officials.