| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 6:41 pm |
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Local News 
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Friendly rivals vie for Snohomish County Council They want to keep you safe, make your neighborhoods look prettier and give you a faster commute.Two men are focusing on concrete, local issues in the race to represent Snohomish County’s south-central suburbs on the County Council. Dave Gossett is the two-term Democrat running for re-election. Bob Meador is his Republican challenger for the 4th district council seat. The candidates point to their long records of public service to show voters why they deserve a vote on Nov. 3. They say there’s no need to sling mud. “I think we both run a pretty straight-up campaign,” Gossett said. Meador also promised to avoid smears. “Dave and I are probably closer on a lot of the issues than any of the other candidates,” he said. “If I lose, I’ll feel good because I’m getting beat by a real good politician.” He added, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could do a better job.” The candidates can boast of serving their communities, but they have done it in different ways. Gossett has spent eight years on the county council, 11 years as a county legislative analyst and 12 years on Mountlake Terrace City Council, six of them as mayor. He taught high school math and history in the 1970s before working with community organizing groups and the state Democratic Party. That background gives Gossett a status as a consummate insider intimately familiar with the workings of local government. Enter Meador, an outsider by comparison. His first career was owning an auto repair shop from 1967 to 1972 when he joined the Lynnwood Fire Department. He served as Lynnwood’s chief from 1992 to 2002. He has said that holding the chief’s job pulled him into the political arena before he sought political office. After retirement, Meador spent a couple of years building and remodeling homes for his family. In 2005, he ran unopposed for the Stevens Hospital board. In 2007, he was elected in a landslide to Snohomish County Fire District 1. Gossett said most feedback from voters has been about three topics: transportation, parks and preventing flooding of homes and streets. Gossett touts his work earlier this year enacting standards for urban neighborhoods with more open-space requirements, stricter guidelines for building aesthetics and rules against clear-cutting trees from building lots. “One of the things they like the most is tree preservation,” Gossett said. “It really bothers them when areas are clear-cut.” If elected for a third four-year term, Gossett would like to continue to work to improve roads and bus service, while making sure new subdivision rules do what they’re supposed to do. Meador is hearing similar concerns from voters about heavy traffic and housing developments. While he praised Gossett for his knowledge of local government, Meador said he would approach the issues differently. “He’s not out in the community near as much as he should be, talking about local issues,” he said. “I would like to light a fire under him and get him back into the community meetings. I would like him to get him away from some of the special-interest money.” Meador also said he could bring civility to the council’s relationship with County Executive Aaron Reardon. In September, Gossett accused Reardon of lying, and Reardon accused Gossett of playing a duplicitous political game over how the issue of rural mini-cities was playing out in public, even though both men initially favored keeping the controversial zoning in county code. “There seems to be a perception that in the county government, there’s a lot of infighting and mean-spirited debates,” Meador said. For his part, Meador said he would not have supported mini-cities in the first place. Gossett, a Mountlake Terrace High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from the University of Washington in 1973, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magnum cum laude. He later received a master’s degree in history from the UW. Meador, an Everett High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in geology with a minor in physics from the UW in 1970. He earned a degree in fire administration from Edmonds Community College in 1977 and received a distinguished alumnus award from the school in 1992. Perhaps the biggest contrast between the men is their campaign funds. Gossett had raised $116,720 as of Monday, including big donations from home builders, but state Public Disclosure Commission records showed Meador raising no money at all. Meador said he planned to spend no more than $5,000 of his own money. “In some of the county council races and some of the city council races, it’s getting a little embarrassing how much people are spending,” he said. “Even if I don’t get elected, I want to make a point that you don’t have to buy your position. Maybe I’m naive, maybe that’s what you have to do.” The job pays $102,779. The district includes Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Mill Creek, northern parts of Bothell and part of southeast Everett. Learn more about the candidates at www.davegossett.com and www.bobmeador.com. Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. |
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