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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS Message from John Koster (MP3 file)   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, September 3, 2009 County officials' spat over veto puts mini-cities in doubt By Noah Haglund, Herald Writer EVERETT — Rural mini-city developments are off the table again after some of Snohomish County's top leaders began accusing each other of deceit and duplicity. The heated words were traded Wednesday amongst county politicians who favor mini-cities as a helpful development tool, but disagreed sharply over how the issue was playing out in public. The controversy centered on whether County Executive Aaron Reardon was asked by some county councilmen to veto an ordinance that blocked mini-city developments. “My position is that I vetoed that ordinance in part because I was asked to do so by two councilmen,” Reardon said. “I will not engage in this duplicitous political game. These are important issues that we are working on.” The veto on Monday overturned a recent county council decision to eliminate zoning for mini-cities, which would allow developers to build dense housing in rural areas if they also provided facilities for businesses, shopping and other services nearby. The council's vote to ban mini-cities was 3-2. A 4-1 vote would have been necessary to override Reardon's veto. Councilmen John Koster and Dave Gossett voted in favor of keeping mini-cities, which also are known as fully contained communities. On Monday, Reardon issued a letter saying that Koster and Gossett asked him for the veto. On Wednesday, the two councilmen sent Reardon a letter demanding the executive correct the public record: “At no time did we ask you to veto the proposed legislation related to (fully contained communities).” Before the day was out, Reardon accused the councilmen of “a bald-faced lie.” He released a voicemail message from Koster to Brian Parry, an executive director on Reardon's staff. In the message, Koster asks for a chance to talk to Parry “about encouraging Aaron to veto” the council's decision against mini-cities. “He doesn't have to worry about me running away from the issue. I'm about as tied to that as I can get, I guess,” Koster said in the phone message. Reardon on Wednesday said he told council Chairman Mike Cooper that he wanted to rescind his veto because of what he called “false statements and duplicitous tactics” by Koster and Gossett. Asked about the phone message, Koster on Wednesday said he was not seeking a veto and blamed any misunderstanding on a lack of clarity on his part. All he meant, he said, is that he would not change his position on fully contained communities. He believes they are a valid tool for planning for future growth in the county. “In the end, this is Aaron's decision,” Koster said. “If he thinks the veto is the right thing to do, then he should veto it, regardless of what councilman Gossett tells him or I tell him.” Gossett said he spoke with Parry, and told him he would vote to support Reardon's veto. That is different than telling the executive what to do, he said. “Mr. Reardon is lying,” Gossett said. “For him to try to basically hang this around our necks when we don't fall for his deceitful tactics is disgusting.” So far, a single mini-city has been proposed: a 6,000-home development near Lake Roesiger. Supporters have said mini-cities could help relieve development pressure on other areas as the county tries to absorb up to 300,000 new residents by 2025. Critics have said these type of developments could waste taxpayer money by, among other things, dumping more traffic onto rural roads. That, in turn, would put those roads in competition with other thoroughfares, such as U.S. 2 and I-5, for federal and state dollars. Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465 or nhaglund@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Time to kick him out! (Koster, that is) Let's hope that voters in District 1 vote to kick Koster and his dirty politics out the door in November. After this, why would any sane voter want to keep him in county government? udub LS | Sep 3, 2009 11:49 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Dark Master Builders Assoication... It's about time that the payola politics of the county are coming to a head. Let all three of them hack each others heads off. They aren't fit to manage growth in our county when they get so much money from developers, the MBA, realtors, etc. They are too blinded by power and owe too many favors. Thank god they aren't too big to fail. arthur fonzarelli | Sep 4, 2009 7:19 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Toons So let me get this straight. Votes were cast, and it was decided that FCC's have no place in Snohomish County. This sounds like a cartoon. Here comes Reardon The Executive... he is armed with special powers. He slaps a VETO on this decision. Why? ... well... because he's The Executive and someone told him to.and he wanted to do a favor for his friends Gossett, Koster, and Bob the builder! That's what friends are for! But WAIT.... The people found out that The Executive used his powers for evil, and started getting angry..... "heads on pikes!" they shouted.... Gossett and Koster got scared "Ahhhhhh.... run and hide!" and decided that they would refuse to acknowledge what a wonderful thing their friend had done for them. This hurt and angered The Executive. He was amazed that his friends would be so ungrateful! How dare they do this! So The Executive thought long and hard and said "I know what I'll do, I'll use my special powers to take my special powers BACK. Hah! That will show those ungrateful &*#$$ #$#@. POW... This is SO ridiculous on so many levels it's hard to keep a straight face. I honestly don't know how these people can go home at the end of a day and look themselves in the mirror. I would need to drink heavily and probably gouge my eyes out. If I lived closer to Everett, I'd go to a meeting... with a bag of popcorn. Sounds fun. H White | Sep 3, 2009 2:29 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Business as usual.......only publicized this time! Pay attention everyone! This is what goes on in Snohomish County. It has been a good ol' boys system of management and decisions for decades--Reardon didn't realize he was dealing with taxpayers who were knowledgeable and willing to not give up after years of hearings and testimony on the FCC issue! Koster, Gossett and Reardon are still doing business the gool ol' boy way. And they are caught! No amount of rationalizing or spin is going to save them now. Snohomish County officials (Koster in particular) like to curse the GMA (Growth Management Act) while trying to foster FCC's and poor planning practices in Snohomish County. Gossett and Koster are up for election this Fall......Ellen Hiatt Watson is already in the ring to replace Koster---let's see who steps up to Gossett, his goose is cooked! Susan K | Sep 3, 2009 12:58 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Time to kick them all out! Ok this is getting stupid. This county executive and council needs to be replaced. We should just have them all recalled and start over with representatives of the people, not career politicians who think they know what the people need and then shove it down our throats. This whole thing is just wrong. I swear, I am reading about a class of second graders who are accusing each other of toilet papering the bathroom. SAD! Stan Knoblich | Sep 3, 2009 12:19 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal politics as usual CYA comes to mind when I read this. SCC sounds like a bad deal to me. The area they want to build in can't handle the traffic and would destroy the area. I suppose if I was driven by greed and didn't live near it I would be all for it. Stan Jones | Sep 3, 2009 11:23 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal mini-cities=no good! so they want to basically build another granite falls near lake roesiger? IDIOTS! i think they should focus on filling all the housing vacancies around the county before tearing down more of the forested land that makes this county so beautiful! these mini-cities will place an enormous strain on our tax dollars. plus the fact that the county WILL use a developer from another state to do the job, sending yet more money out of our area....SO THAT OTHERS MAY PROSPER. RETARDED! matt mybuisness | Sep 3, 2009 10:37 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Make up your mind So Reardon vetoed this because two politicians asked him for the veto? Did he even read it? Was he even a part of it? Or does he just rule on a whim? R N | Sep 3, 2009 6:46 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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