Gil Kerlikowske may leave Seattle Police Department for Obama administration

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that another Seattleite may soon be heading to Washington, D.C. to accept a high level post in the Obama administration:

Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has been appointed to a law enforcement post within the Obama administration, which would return him to Washington, D.C., after almost a decade as Seattle's top cop.

A administrator in the Seattle Police Department said Tuesday that Kerlikowske notified commanders that he would be appointed as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a cabinet-level post often referenced as the White House "drug czar."

The position oversees an agency that sets the nation's drug control strategy and spending priorities for it. Kerlikowske informed his command staff during a meeting late last week, the source said.

Kerlikowske would succeed John P. Walters, who held the post from December 7th, 2001 through January 20th of last month. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is a Cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President, with a staff of one hundred and eleven and a budget of tens of millions.

The office has a controversial history of sponsoring anti-drug messages in television shows. Additionally, Walters (Bush's appointee) has been accused of not disclosing his involvement in opposition to several medical marijuana ballot measures in different Western states, including Oregon.