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Have your say Sultan is forming a citizen advisory group to brainstorm ideas to improve the city's finances. Those interested may apply by Friday. For more information, call city administrator Deborah Knight at 360-793-2231.

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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Monroe eat Sultan? Idea causes heartburn

By Yoshiaki Nohara, Herald Writer

SULTAN - Should Monroe swallow Sultan?

Monroe City Councilman Mitch Ruth thinks so. He wants Monroe to annex Sultan to help solve the smaller city's looming problems.

Never mind that the two cities sit six miles apart in the Skykomish Valley. What happens in Sultan still affects Monroe, Ruth said. If crime increases in Sultan, that will spread to Monroe.

"As Sultan suffers financial woes, it does impact Monroe," Ruth said.

Ruth's proposal amuses Sultan Mayor Ben Tolson.

"Not going to happen," Tolson said chuckling. "His concept is delusional, to say the least."

Ruth wasn't elected to represent people in Sultan, Tolson said.

"He should pay his attention to the city of Monroe and keep his nose out of Sultan," Tolson said. "It shows his arrogance and ignorance."

A few cities have merged through annexation in Washington, although it's rare.

Ruth says that he plans to pitch the annexation idea to other Monroe officials at an Aug. 14 meeting.

If Monroe is a pie, Sultan is a slice of pie, in terms of population. Monroe has 16,290 people, more than 31/2 times the 4,530 residents of Sultan, according to the state Office of Financial Management.

Monroe has more tax revenues than Sultan, Ruth said. Monroe has more city employees and businesses than Sultan does.

The annexation could help people in Sultan receive better services, Ruth said.

"This is about issues for people in Sultan. My heart goes out to those people," Ruth said, adding that some Sultan residents have expressed support for his proposal.

Sultan has struggled to balance its budget over the last several years. This year, the city's general fund is expected to be about $450,000 short mainly because of unexpected bills for internal investigations at its police department and a revenue shortfall in building permit fees.

The projected budget deficit prompted city officials to consider turning off streetlights and closing the town's library earlier this month.

But city officials have come up with ideas to cut expenses to balance the $2.2 million general fund, city administrator Deborah Knight said. Those ideas include cutting patrol officers from eight to four, making staff work shorter hours and eliminating custodial service at city facilities.

Closing the library is off the table for now, Knight said.

The city is also forming a citizen advisory group to improve the situation. Sultan leaders - not outsiders - will make decisions for the city's future, Knight said.

"We are going to continue as a city," she said. "We need to live within our means."

The idea of Sultan becoming a part of Monroe is pie in the sky, Sultan residents and business owners said on Thursday.

"This town has been around for about 100 years," Arnold Jordan, 73, said last week.

Sultan was incorporated in 1905, three years after Monroe became incorporated.

Jordan has lived his entire life in Sultan except for a few years that he served in the Army. Sultan has been and will be independent, he said.

"Let (Ruth) take care of Monroe," he said.

Meanwhile, Ruth said he's trying to find out what it takes for one city to annex another.

The process could begin if the councils of the two cities adopt resolutions supporting Sultan's annexation into Monroe.

Finishing it would be another matter.

"There are a number of legal issues that need to be explored to see if one could even pursue it under state law," said Pat Mason, legal consultant for the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.

One immediate concern of the state and the county boundary review panel is the fact the cities are miles apart, he said.

Leaders of Aberdeen and Hoquiam, which sit side by side in Grays Harbor County, considered a union a few years back but didn't pursue it, he said.

Since the birth of Washington, a handful of towns have disincorporated and annexed into a neighboring city.

East Stanwood did it in 1961 to join Stanwood, according to a chart on the organization's Web site. Seven years later, Kirkland annexed Houghton.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield contributed to this report.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.