County GOP supports Paine Field expansion

EVERETT – Add the Snohomish County Republican Party to the list of those who believe air passenger service at Paine Field is a good idea.

The party’s 15-member executive committee voted unanimously at their monthly meeting Saturday to endorse commercial flights at the county-run airport.

“We’ve been discussing it for quite some time,” county party chairman Steve Neighbors said. “The time seemed right to do it.”

The primary reasoning, as it has been with others who have come out in favor of expanding the airport’s role, is economic, Neighbors said.

“It’s just really kind of an untapped resource,” he said. “The more commercial air traffic, the more jobs you’re going to have out there. Those are typically high-paying jobs.”

In addition to the GOP, other groups supporting expansion include the Private Enterprise Coalition of Snohomish County, a recently formed advocacy group of about 150 business owners, and the Everett Chamber of Commerce.

Neighbors, CEO of Terra Resource, an Everett recruiting firm, is on the chamber’s board of directors and is a member of the Private Enterprise Coalition.

The GOP’s move didn’t sit well with Greg Hauth, vice president of Save Our Communities, the Mukilteo-based anti-expansion group.

“I guess I would say that’s disappointing and unfortunate and somewhat even bewildering,” said Hauth, vice president of the group. “We have quite a few Republicans who are part of Save Our Communities.”

Hauth said the group supports business, but not the type created by passenger flights.

Save Our Communities has said commercial service would attract low-paying service jobs and that aircraft noise would cause a drop in property values.

“We think commercial service at Paine Field could detract from the business environment, and we ask the Republicans to rethink it,” he said.

Commercial flights at Paine Field have been mentioned in county studies as an economic growth measure. They have not been proposed by the county or any airlines.

County Republican party leaders believe most of the opposition to the idea is coming from Save Our Communities, Neighbors said.

Still, the GOP considered possible reverberations of the endorsement on the party’s state legislative candidates in southwest Snohomish County, where much of the opposition is centered.

The cities of Mukilteo, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Woodway oppose commercial airline operations at the airport.

In the end, however, this didn’t stop the endorsement.

“There are times that you just have to take a stand on something that’s good for the county, good for the entire community,” Neighbors said.

Several members of the party’s executive committee are from southwest Snohomish County, he said. It’s possible that legislative district branches of the party will consider the issue on their own and choose to disagree, which they are free to do, he said.

The county Democratic Party’s executive board has yet to take a stand on Paine Field expansion, member Curt Eidem said.

About 500 party members voted in April to approve a resolution on the issue as part of the party’s platform, he said.

“We oppose major airport expansion without public input, review and vote,” the statement reads.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.

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