City of Seattle budget director Dwight Dively is leaving the city to serve as finance and budget director for King County.

In an email, the widely respected 22-year city veteran told colleagues, "It is with a mix of excitement and sadness that I let you know that I have submitted my resignation as Seattle’s Director of Finance. King County Executive Dow Constantine has asked me to become the Director of the King County Office of Management and Budget and I have accepted his offer."

Under Mayor Mike McGinn, Dively was reassigned from his previous position as city budget director to a new position overseeing the city's finance and fleets and facilities departments—a reassignment that was widely viewed as a demotion, since Dively would no longer be overseeing the city's annual budget process. That role is now being filled by Beth Goldberg, the former director of King County's budget office.

Dively is the second high-ranking city employee to be appointed by King County; earlier this week, former Seattle Human Services Department director Alan Painter, whom McGinn let go, was hired by county executive Dow Constantine.