During Kim’s tenure, the Thurston County Auditor's Office has won four Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificates of Achievement for excellence in financial reporting and three national Achievement Awards for significant innovations in county government from the National Association of Counties (NaCO). She received the Voter Outreach Award in 2005 from the Secretary of State. In May 2009, Kim was honored with the Norm Maleng Local Public Service Award and she was named 2010 Auditor of the Year by the Office of the Secretary of State.
She is a nationally recognized leader in elections. Kim has been selected to serve on multiple workgroups and panels on voter registration and election topics because of her innovations, creativity, and elections leadership. These organizations include the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Election Commission, and the Election Center. Kim traveled to Russia as a member of an international election observation team in 1997.
Kim has taken an active leadership role in improving Washington State elections. She was appointed by the Washington State Association of County Auditors to represent them on the King County Citizen’s Election Oversight Committee and she is an appointed member of the Voting Systems Standards Board for the Secretary of State.
In 2004, Kim was one of the first elections officials in the country to become a Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) through Auburn University and the Election Center and was nominated to be a graduation speaker by her classmates. She has been a Washington State Certified Election Administrator since 1995. Kim is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Troy State University, European Division.
Cutting edge ideas that improve service and reduce costs are the hallmark of her accomplishments. From using email delivery to increase overseas ballot travel time, to installing ballot drop boxes, or using technology to process ballots faster to produce earlier, meaningful election results, Kim and her elections team have led the way in improving elections.
Her time as an overseas voter provided Kim with a unique perspective on absentee voting. In 1990, she was a disenfranchised voter when her vote was not counted. She was unable to vote and return her absentee ballot from Germany to California because elections officials had sent it out too late. She wished that one day it would be different.
In 1996, her idea to send military and overseas voters an advanced ballot by email changed the way we deliver ballots today to missionaries, students, Peace Corps volunteers, and service members worldwide.
In the 2011 legislative session 21 years later, Kim got her wish. She testified and worked with county auditors, the Secretary of State, and legislators on both sides of the aisle to support passage of legislation to ensure military and overseas voters have enough time to receive, vote, and return their ballots. HB 1000 and SB 5171 were signed into law to protect the rights of all voters.
Kim is involved with various civic organizations. She is a past president of the Washington State Association of County Auditors and is a member of the Lacey Rotary Club. Kim is also the Supervisory Committee Chair for TwinStar Credit Union. As a past president of the United Way of Thurston County she served on the Women’s Leadership Council Steering Committee. She takes an active role in events supporting the Little Red School House, the Miss Thurston County Scholarship Program, North Thurston Public Schools, the Well Read Well Fed Program, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Thurston County, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Kim resides in Lacey with her husband John and their two children. She enjoys activities such as running, Zumba, weightlifting, music, and spending time with her family. She is training for her fifth half marathon race in San Francisco. |
