Performance, not tenure, should be the measure of a public official.
As a citizen and active Democrat (who voted for John Lovick in 2014) I have found that the local party leadership, as evidenced by the July 23 letter by Christine and Todd Nichols, places too much weight on tenure and too little weight on performance. (“Lovick the leader is in right job.”)
Any county executive following Aaron Reardon (the “I’ll do it my way guy”) and Bob Drewel (the “consensus guy”) should follow the Drewel style of good governance.
John Lovick has, instead, chosen the “my way or the highway” path of leadership. In November 2014 he failed to fire his assistant Mark Ericks, in spite of Ericks’ rude and offensive statements about a member of the Snohomish County Council.
This past April, John Lovick gave large raises to his staff without council review or approval.
Also in April, he called Somers’ remarks at a meeting with the leaders of the Tulalip Tribes “racist,” apparently without first consulting with the Tribal leaders who saw nothing but appropriate humor in the remarks.
Most importantly, the John Lovick penchant for “going it alone” has cost taxpayers between $8 million and $20 million. The Herald reported on Feb. 1 that Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson thought he had an agreement with the Lovick administration regarding parking for the proposed new courthouse. But after $8.6 million had been spent buying real estate for the courthouse project “Stephanson’s administration and county council members now say County Executive John Lovick’s staff kept them out of the loop for months.”
It is time for we voters to retire John Lovick.
Dave Somers has lots of experience and a record of excellent, open, consensus style of leadership.
Bruce Keithly
Tulalip
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
