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September 8, 4:07 PMSnohomish County Progressive ExaminerChad Shue

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The Evergreen State Fair at Monroe just concluded yesterday and from all accounts the folks who attended had a great time. However, if you just couldn't scrape up the cash to take in the carnival atmosphere of the fair, you might have been just as entertained and amused by watching the recent antics of some of our elected officials.

Let's begin with a revisiting of the battle over the historic-yet-endangered Collins Building.

Anyone reading here for any period of time will be familiar with the efforts of the Port of Everett commissioners to "dismantle" the two-story multi-windowed building on the Everett waterfront and the valiant efforts of the Everett Historic Society and other interested citizens to thwart that plan. There was a vote to dismantle the building followed by a restraining order to delay the "dismantling" and, when I last wrote, a scheme to place a sure-to-fail levy on the November ballot that would possibly deliver the decisive blow to the former casket company home.

And then on Tuesday, September 1st the Port Commissioners voted 2-1 to formally withdraw the measure from the ballot; less than 3 weeks after the unanimous vote that approved placing it on the ballot. Why? Commissioners solicited public opinion on the levy over the last few weeks, and determined that public sentiment wans't supportive enough of the measure. It is possible too that they might have been swayed just a bit by a critical editorial from the Everett Herald. They wrote in part:

"The commission voted on Aug. 11 to put the measure on the fall ballot despite the fact that no one requested the action. Building supporters say the abruptly proposed measure is designed to fail. Given the 60 percent majority required for approval, and the state of the economy, their claim has merit...

...Speaking of huge sucking sounds, how about the $400 million condo/retail/office project the port has been working on for years? The one promising a lot of public access. The one on hold because the developer went bankrupt. The one we all understand we need to give more time.

With that project on hold, there is no rush regarding the Collins building. Perhaps a different developer would work it into plans as a public market. But the original developer is out of the picture, leaving no firm plans in place, and emphasizing the oddness of this ballot measure."

With the withdrawal of the levy, the Collins Building lives to fight on. With two new commissioners taking their places next January, there could be an entirely new outlook for the historic structure.

Then there is the story of the County Council, the County Executive, and the so-called Fully Contained Communities (FCC).

On the same day the port commissioners were voting to pull their short-lived levy scheme from November ballot, I was writing about County Executive Aaron Reardon's veto of an ordinance that would eliminate the "tool" of FCCs from the county's land use planning tool shed. On September 1st I wrote:

"On August 12; after three years of fact gathering and public comment, the Snohomish County Council by a 3-2 vote approved an ordinance repealing of the Fully Contained Communities policies and codes previously in place in the county. Voting in favor of the repeal were council members Somers, Cooper, and Sullivan. Opposed were council members Koster and Gossett. The ordinance was then moved to the County Executive who would have until Monday, August 31st to either approve or veto the ordinance. Waiting until the last minute, yesterday Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon exercised his right to veto saying, "I think this [the council's] decision was made very quickly and somewhat in haste.""

As you might imagine word went out quickly to lobby the two county council members who had voted against the repeal to ask them to override the veto. In addition, a contingent of citizens converged on Executive Reardon's office to challenge him on his veto and to request a further explanation. It was here that the "fun" really began. While Reardon was not in his office at the time, the visitors to his office were presented with a letter from him explaining, in part, that his decision to veto was based on requests from the two dissenting council members to take that action. KABOOM!

What ensued was high drama (or low comedy; depending on your point of view). Council members Gossett and Koster immediately fired back a letter to Reardon demanding that he retract his statement of their complicity. Their explanation was that they had had simply expressed their "support of a veto" if Reardon were to issue one and said that in no way were they directing the Executive's actions. By Wednesday, Reardon had phoned council chair, Mike Cooper to inform him that he was rescinding his veto due to the "duplicitous tactics" of Koster and Gossett. Reardon's call to Cooper set off another set of calls to the various council members to determine the next step in the process. As no one knew the law that would cover the  rescinding of a veto, it was decided that the council would simply forge ahead with an override vote; scheduled for today (September 8th).

And so, as of 11:30am today, by a 4-1 vote (with Republican Koster being the lone voice of dissent) the Snohomish County Council voted to override the veto of the county executive and officially remove FCCs from the books in Snohomish County. While the curtain may have been drawn on this act, I have a feeling that the drama is far from over.

So, if you are easily bored by the dull antics of national politics, be sure to hit the "Subscribe" button above to check in on the never dull activities going on in Snohomish County.

Peace,
Chad Shue