Washington State Senator Sharon Brown will become the new executive director of the Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health (GCACH) replacing Carol Moser who will retire at the end of the year.
Sharp eyes noticed that “Meet our Staff” on the GCACH webpage has a picture of Brown captioned “Incoming Executive Director.” The selection had not been publicly announced.
Brown said on Nov. 10 that she would not seek re-election to the state senate in 2022. Her term ends on Jan.6, 2023. She did not comment about her future plans at that time.
Elected positions in the Washington State Legislature are considered part time. Most member have other jobs. Brown could hold both jobs at once.
In the GCACH website Brown’s new job is described as advancing “…the health of our population by decreasing health disparities, improving efficiency of health care delivery, and empowering individuals and communities through collaboration, innovation, and engagement.”
Should she decide to resign before the end of her term, the Benton County Commission would pick her replacement just as they picked her to replace Jerome Delvin in Feb. 2013.
Delvin resigned from the state senate after being elected to the Benton commission in 2012. Unlike Brown whose term is up next year, Delvin had two years left in his term.
Appointees must run at the next scheduled election to finish an incomplete term. Brown had to be elected in 2013 to serve for Delvin’s last year. Then in 2014 she won her first four-year term.
Moser and Brown have similar backgrounds. Moser served on the Richland City Council for almost 10 years before being appointed to the Washington State Transportation Commission. She became executive director of the Benton-Franklin Community Health Alliance and then the executive director of GCACH.
Moser said that she looked forward to her upcoming retirement. She laughed and said, “no,” when asked if she planned to run for another elected office. Moser said she did not know if Brown would resign from her seat in the state senate before her terms was up. Brown did not return calls or emails asking for comment.