Ron Sims hasn't been eager -- no, make that willing -- to talk to reporters about his widely rumored appointment to a post in the Obama administration.

FBI agents were doing background checks on Sims last month, and the blogosphere exploded with chatter last week that he was quitting his job as King County executive to accept a ranking position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sims' office denied the rumors, saying an offer hadn't been made or accepted. But it didn't rule out the possibility that he would take a federal job.

Political insiders are convinced Sims is leaving, and one lobbyist said he was "trying to wrap up anything I can before he leaves town."

Sims declined requests for interviews. When a Seattle Times reporter called on him at his home last Saturday, his wife Cayan Topacio turned the reporter away as Sims watched from the living room.

On Tuesday Sims' spokeswoman Natasha Jones refused to provide The Seattle Times his calendar for the week, citing security reasons. Today, after Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' office said it would provide the mayor's schedule if a public-disclosure request was made, Jones said she would release Sims' calendar in the same way.