EVERETT — Hans Dunshee, a 20-year veteran of the state House, is facing spirited competition for an open seat on the Snohomish County Council.
A key step in the appointment process comes to a head Saturday, when Democratic Party officers are prepared to pick three nominees to fill the position formerly held by Dave Somers, a Democrat who won election as county executive in November. The final choice is up to the four remaining County Council members.
While Dunshee, who lives in Snohomish, has wrestled with legislative issues in Olympia, rival Guy Palumbo has hosted two public forums to share his vision for the county. An elected fire commissioner who lives in the Maltby area, Palumbo has been making his case to the 43 precinct committee officers eligible for Saturday’s vote.
“Being the underdog doesn’t bother me,” Palumbo said. “My energy, deep understanding of county issues and fresh ideas are resonating with voters.”
Also in the hunt is Mark Hintz, an elected fire commissioner and former county Democratic Party chairman who lives near Snohomish.
All three participated in a Jan. 26 question-and-answer forum in Everett. Hintz said topics ran the gamut of issues facing the county: Homelessness, traffic congestion, relationships with the new county executive and labor relations with county workers.
“They didn’t’ let us off the hook,” Hintz said. “They covered whatever could be covered in the county.”
Partisans for Dunshee and Palumbo have grumbled about the other side trying to game the outcome.
John Lovick, the former legislator, sheriff and county executive who lost that job to Somers in November, might have complicated the narrative this week. The Mill Creek Democrat announced that he intends to seek Dunshee’s seat in the 44th Legislative District, where he served as a state representative earlier in his career.
“Returning to the state Legislature to represent people in the 44th District is an immense honor,” Lovick said in his announcement. “There is much to do, and I have the leadership skills, energy, and experience to hit the ground running in Olympia.”
Dunshee still occupies that seat, and that isn’t likely to change unless he wins the County Council job and resigns.
Local Republicans reacted with a press release bearing the headline, “THE FIX IS IN! DEMOCRAT CABAL ALREADY IN THE BAG FOR DUNSHEE.”
The Republicans accuse local Democrats of delaying Dunshee’s appointment to let him finish this year’s legislative session in Olympia, which runs through March 10.
“The corrupt backroom deals in the appointment process must stop,” Snohomish County GOP Chairwoman Billye Brooks-Sebastiani said.
Dunshee’s response was nonchalant: “I haven’t been paying much attention to that because I’ve been down here doing the people’s business.
“I’m focusing on doing my job here and looking forward to the new job, if it happens,” he said. “It’s not assured.”
Dunshee, who was named the House Democrats’ lead budget writer for this session, earlier said he felt obligated to follow through with commitments before changing roles.
Richard Wright, chairman of the Snohomish County Democrats, said the GOP allegations were untrue.
“It’s rhetorical garbage,” Wright said. “I could pick it apart like a cheap dinner.”
By law, the party could not have acted before Somers’ official resignation. Wright said he had to schedule meeting space and provide 10 days notice.
“We couldn’t act until the seat was vacated,” he said. “That was state law. The clock started ticking on Jan. 1. Did we have thoughts about booking space ahead of time? Sure we did. And that’s how we came up with Feb. 6.”
Saturday’s meeting is set for 10 a.m. at the Everett Labor Temple.
Precinct committee officers will pick three names and rank them by vote totals. The County Council must make a final selection by Feb. 29.
Wright said the past practice has been to ask the County Council to pick the party’s top vote-getter.
Wright is the husband of County Councilwoman Stephanie Wright, a future colleague of the eventual appointee.
Somers is a precinct committee officer. While he’s allowed to vote on the nomination, he’s opting to abstain. He’s pledging to work with whoever is nominated, but rejects the idea that his former colleagues on the council have a duty to go with the party’s favored candidate.
“The law calls for three names and council is free to pick from among the three,” the executive said.
The vacant District 5 seat covers eastern Snohomish County, including Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Monroe and areas to the east along the U.S. 2 corridor. The job pays more than $111,000 per year.
Whoever wins will have to run in November in a special election for the unexpired year of Somers’ term. Lake Stevens City Councilman Sam Low has started campaigning to run for the seat as a Republican.
It’s unclear whether other Democrats would challenge their party’s appointee.
The seat will be up for election again in 2017 for a full four-year term.
Dunshee, 62, is colorful champion for Democrats, known to ride his bicycle through his district to doorbell during campaign season. He has experience with county issues from past service with the Charter Review Commission and the county Planning Commission.
Palumbo, 42, is a current county planning commissioner. He also serves as an elected commissioner with Fire District 7. He owns Roscoe’s Ranch, a dog-boarding business, and earlier worked in high tech at Amazon.
Mark Hintz, 66, serves as a Fire District 4 commissioner. He has a business background and works on renewable natural gas projects. He’s a former member of the Snohomish School Board.
If a majority of the County Council cannot agree on an appointee, the decision would go to Gov. Jay Inslee, a Dunshee ally. That might not be a far-fetched scenario; Democrats Wright and Brian Sullivan have often wound up on the opposite side of contentious issues from Democrat Terry Ryan and Republican Ken Klein.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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