Koster, You’re Outa Here!

The Snohomish County Council decided this week to not retain John Koster as the County Ombudsman after Executive John Lovick recommended that Koster be canned because of his political views pertaining to a campaign document Koster put his name to that was characterized as anti-union.

In what I would view as a bit strange, the vote of the council was two votes FOR and two votes AGAINST with one ABSTENTION. The abstention being the strange part. As predicted, Stephanie Wright and Brian Sullivan opposed Koster’s appointment. That left Dave Somers, Ken Klein and Terry Ryan to likely vote FOR. The mystery is the decision by Terry Ryan to abstain from voting. I didn’t see that coming. I think of Ryan as being a moderate like his predecessor Dave Gossett. Typically the left leaners who depend on unions for campaign support do whatever they have to to support their patrons. There must be some other issue at play between Koster and Ryan I am unaware of. (Which shouldn’t be too surprising)

On the whole, I was more surprised that Koster was appointed in the first place. With a predictably liberal Lovick as the appointer, it didn’t seem likely that a predictably conservative Koster would even be in the zone of consideration. There is no question that Lovick knew the politics of Koster prior to the appointment and still spoke in glowing terms about him at the time. That alone signified to me that Lovick had confidence in Koster’s ability to be impartial as he advocated for the clientele. So what changed?

In all the years that I’ve been involved in public service and the politics of Snohomish County John Koster has been in some capacity as well. We haven’t crossed paths too often, but often enough to know that people of both political persuasions respected Koster for his fairness and integrity.

I suspect that the rub with Lovick was Koster’s willingness to aggressively advocate for citizens in disputes with the county that may well have their basis in the Executive’s own administration. Not Good for the Administration. That might sour Lovick’s perception of Koster.

The bigger question in all this affair is the reason for Ryan’s abstention.

This is where the politics of Snohomish County might come into play. An abstention is a NO vote when you need three YES votes to make the appointment. A NO vote without saying NO. Was it a political favor? John Lovick is a former Mill Creek city council member as is Ryan. Did Lovick go to his old council colleague and make a deal for an Executive consideration down the road? Since he didn’t vote, he’s not hung with the record of a NO while he still accomplished Lovick’s goal.

The other consideration is the interaction between Lovick and Somers. I get the feeling that Somers is working up to a run for the executive’s job and he needs Lovick to look as bad as possible. If he can create turmoil in the Lovick administration by stirring up the Mark Ericks controversy, lead the budget fight and now oppose the firing of Koster along with a few other happenings that point toward Somers’ efforts to “bad mouth” Lovick and create a continuing tension between the executive’s office and the council suggesting a carry-over of the Reardon style of heavy handed government. I suspect that Somers’ goal is to depict Lovick as just another Aaron Reardon to diminish his attractiveness in the next election cycle enabling him to step forward as the conciliator ready to carry the party banner.

And while I’m touching on possible Executive candidates, John Koster might decide to throw his hat into the ring as well.  The turmoil might paint Koster as a victim to the point where he appeals to county voters as an alternative to the fighting Democrats.

At the end of the day, Koster may well have been a great Ombudsman but was a casualty of a political system he was a player in for so many years.

As far as the Ombudsman’s job is concerned, let’s see if Lovick appoints someone who is non-partisan if that is possible anymore or more accurately, someone who doesn’t have political biases.

I guess time will tell.

Merry Christmas!

OK I admit it, I’m a Republican

Most people know that I have been politically active for a long time, but not everyone. For those of you who don’t know, I am a registered Republican if we have an official labeling process in the state of Washington. I ran for County Council in 2009 and explored my options regarding a run for the legislature in 2010. I was elected to my first term as a PCO in 2008 from the Snohomish 7 precinct. I was elected to the city council in 1989 as a non-partisan.

Yesterday, December 13, 2014 was the day we swore in the new Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) that were elected earlier this year and then the new group elected the leadership team for the next two years. There was competition for every position available and the outcomes were not at all predictable.

Before any of the action got started, we got to hear a few words from newly elected House member from the 44^th LD, Mark Harmsworth a current city council member from Mill Creek. He’s a very capable leader so I’m sure he will represent well in Olympia.

We also heard from County Councilmember Ken Klein from Arlington regarding the happenings in County Government followed by a very upbeat message from Susan Hutchison, Chairwoman of the Washington State Republicans. Both of them were encouraged by the outcomes of the fall elections and suggested that we had momentum if we were smart enough to get behind it. I think our party is well served by both of them.

Somewhere in the middle of the day, we let Tim Eyeman talk about the Initiative Process and how the Democrats in the legislature are trying to strangle the citizen based method of legislation out of existence through regulations. I, for one, admire Eyeman for his efforts on behalf of the people in our state. He has become a bit of a celebrity for his cause, but without his string of initiatives, we would all be paying higher taxes. We endorsed a Resolution to limit regulations on Initiatives.

So, back to the action…

Billy Brooks-Sebastiani was re-elected to serve as Republican Party Chairwoman for another term which was no surprise. Olga Farnum was re-elected to her third term as State Committee Woman. That is where the predictability went out the window.

Our rules require that if we elect a woman to chair the party, the vice-chair must be a man. The candidates for vice-chair were two relative unknowns to many in the group. Robert Sutherland, a Granite Falls resident who ran for Congress in the First Congressional District ended up running against Jeff Scherrer, an Edmonds guy who ran for a Legislative seat in the 21^st District. Neither of these guys had been players in the party previously so it was a bit unusual. The outcome of the election was Scherrer winning in a close vote. I don’t know Jeff Scherrer personally so I can’t say how well he will do.

I do know Robert Sutherland and I am very impressed with him. I’ve met him for coffee on numerous occasions to talk about how we make our party more effective in supporting financially and electing candidates. He’s got some great ideas. If I told you he was a delegate for Rick Santorum in the last Presidential cycle at the County Convention you should have an idea where he stands. In addition to his politics, Robert is willing to actively work to achieve success. When he lived in the Cathcart area, he actively worked his precinct and several others surrounding it to (GOTV) Get Out The Vote during several election cycles and produced phenomenal results. I would have been very happy if Robert had been elected Vice-Chair. We’ll have to see what Mr. Scherrer is willing to do.

The other position that was up for grabs was the position of State Committee Man from Snohomish County. Jim Donner has held that position for the past couple years and by all measures I’m aware of, he did a great job. In my view, the expectation for both the State Committee people is to communicate up and down from the local County Party to the State Republican Party and back again. In addition, I’m looking for people who can network effectively to promote local candidates and bring campaign money back to their campaigns. Jim Donner has done a great job.

Jim was a candidate for re-election yesterday along with three other guys who aspired to the position. Dan Matthews from the 21^st legislative district, Bob Williams from the 39^th district and Randy Hayden from the fighting 32^nd district were the other candidates. The good news was that all of them were very capable; regardless of which one was elected we would have a good man in the job.

As it turned out, the winner was Randy Hayden. All I can say is Randy has some big shoes to fill following Jim. I wish him well. I also wish Jim well and thank him for his continued contributions.

As a former candidate and current PCO, I challenge our County Republican Party to embrace the candidates who did not win and find ways for them to be contributors. All up and down the ballot, there were great people who have so much to offer. Keeping everyone working toward a common goal is vital.

A Final Note.

If we have any hope as a party to become a winning organization, we have to get over our petty differences that threaten to tear us apart or keep us apart. Whether you are a GOP person or a Libertarian or a Tea Party Republican, you should have a seat at our table and an opportunity to be heard. We didn’t experience a coming together yesterday. I hope our newly elected leaders can get our act together so we can spend the next two years whipping the hell out of Democrats rather than each other. If we can’t work out our differences within our own party, how can we ever hope to win important elections?

 

MIKE HOPE Without Reservations!

To start with, let me say I’m not surprised the Herald editorial board endorsed Aaron Reardon for County Executive.  They couldn’t abandon their guy after making excuses for him and fawning over him his whole “career” even after citing a lengthy list of his weaknesses and failures in their endorsement editorial.  After all, next to Scoop Jackson, Aaron is the Everett Herald’s Favorite Son.  Abandoning him now would only demonstrate their own poor judgment in the past.

The problem is the editorial board underestimates the importance of those “management lapses” to the rest of us.  According to their own editorial “…we think (Hope’s points) are valid and are disappointed that Reardon has been unwilling to accept personal responsibility for allowing standards inside his own office to fall unacceptably low.”

Add to that the antagonistic relationship between Reardon and the County Council. For years, Reardon didn’t bother to communicate with them face to face even though they were of his own party and only 300 feet away.  Now that’s leadership for you!  Sign that guy up for another term! 

Since the County Executive is the highest elective office in the county with management oversight over hundreds of workers it’s important that the guy at the top set the example for everyone else; something his predecessor Bob Drewell did very well. If the past eight years sets the example for the next four years, I’m afraid for Snohomish County.

According to the Herald they decided on Reardon because Mike Hope has limited experience in government and no management experience.

Where it’s true that Mike Hope has been a private business owner and a Seattle Police Officer for more than twelve years and only served in the legislature for three years, he does have a Master’s Degree in Public Policy Study from the U of W and he’s demonstrated leadership in every job he ever held.  Yes it’s true, Mike Hope has not managed a venture as large as the county in the past, but neither had candidate Reardon when he was first elected, but that fact doesn’t suggest he’ isn’t capable.  Another underestimation by the Herald.

Mike’s success as a minority party representative in passing important legislation during the past three years is astounding and his repeated success working across party lines give us all insight into how Mike Hope would manage Snohomish County.

It appears the Herald is willing to retain a guy who has demonstrated time and again that he fails to manage and oversee his appointed managers; something that demonstrates to me both poor management oversight and poor management judgment in appointing people of questionable character to positions of highest authority in the county.  

A guy who himself came to the executive job after two terms in the House of Representatives and part of a term in the State Senate but no meaningful experience managing anything or working in the private sector.  A guy most of us characterize as a professional politician; but a guy who even today aspires to higher political office.

And finally, in light of the disclosure that Kevin Hulton was on the clock, working for Aaron Reardon’s office while he was campaigning for Reardon’s re-election suggests that Reardon’s management style hasn’t changed much in spite of the addition Gary Haakenson as his deputy.  In light of all his publicly disclosed failings the Herald still endorses him.  My goodness!

I’ve been a fan of Mike Hope since he first ran for public office because of the personal qualities he brings to the table. He conducts himself in an honorable manner in private just like he does in public.  He’s street smart and well educated.  He works hard and works well with others.  Mike has both common sense and good judgment.

I’m proud to support Mike Hope for Snohomish County Executive and I encourage everyone to do the same.  Tell your friends and relatives “Mike Hope is our man!”

No Urban Center at Point Wells

The decision by Snohomish County to approve the development plan for the Point Wells project is another example of government out of touch.  The hunger for construction related sales tax dollars must have blinded the county to the failings of this plan.  Designating this area an Urban Center is absurd.  There is only one two lane road providing access to the land.

It’s understandable why Shoreline is upset; access to this project is through their city streets and neighborhoods.  It’s hard to imagine how Shoreline will not be adversely impacted by the traffic generated by this development.  Even if this land was just developed into neighborhoods similar to what exists in Shoreline already there would be adverse impacts to Richmond Beach. 

Increasing density and intensity of use beyond anything that already exists in our county anywhere will create significant adverse impacts Snohomish County will never have to deal with, but Shoreline will.

The land included in this project is part of Woodway’s Urban Growth Area.  So doesn’t Woodway have a say in how Snohomish County implements a plan that’s inconsistent with their own?  These cities are being trampled on by Snohomish County only because they have the power to do so, rather than the wisdom not to.

I know I didn’t win the County Council election in 2009 so I don’t get to inflict my will upon taxpayers in Snohomish County like Dave Somers is with this project.  I suspect that I would have voted different than Councilmember Somers.

This project is another example of why county government should not be allowed to be in the urban development business.  It violates the spirit and intent of the Growth Management Act if not the actual language of the act.

I still believe and I am certain that every city in the county would agree that urban development should be planned and executed by cities.  The Growth Management Act was clear in its desire for Cities to be the Urban Service providers.  Snohomish County continually substitutes its own poor judgment for the judgment of the communities that will be left to accommodate the development.  Their disregard for the adverse impacts to neighboring communities is inexcusable.

The greed and arrogance of our Snohomish County government is palpable.