King County Executive-turned-Assistant HUD Secretary Ron Sims has somewhere around $600,000 – or much less – in assets and maybe $180,000 – or less – in debts, according to his 8-page financial disclosure statement filed under the new Obama administration’s transparent-government rules. Former governor-turned-Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, meanwhile, is a multi-millionaire according to his disclosure report, which runs 34 pages. The exact worth of Sims, Locke and other Obama appointees is difficult to figure: precise values of assets and debts need not be disclosed; instead, ballpark figures – such as in the range of $15,000 to $50,000 – are used. Among the few exact figures: Sims lists his $186,000 county exec salary and says he’s “eligible to receive” $6,000 a month from a State of Washington deferred benefit plan. He owns a number of stocks and says he has received consultant fees (amount not listed) from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.Besides an extensive stock portfolio, Locke lists his law income from Davis Wright Tremaine, where he was a China lobbyist, as $533,000; he says he made $467,000 in a deferred stock cashout with Safeco Insurance where he was a director; other pension, consulting and director’s fees brought in around $250,000. His elaborate holdings include investments in such corporations as Microsoft, who he’s likely to be dealing with in his new Commerce role, and may have to divest some or hold them in trust.Note: the PDF links to the Locke and Sims reports tend to work for IE users but not Firefoxers.
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