County’s public advocate untangles bureaucratic knots

Published 1:30 am Sunday, August 6, 2017

EVERETT — Word’s getting around.

If you’ve hit a snag with Snohomish County government, Jill McKinnie just might be able to help.

For two-plus years, McKinnie has worked as the county’s special fix-it person, untangling bureaucratic knots.

She’s independent, separate from the executive, council or the courts.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m the county connector,” McKinnie said. “I connect people with the services that are available within the county. I have the political freedom to do whatever I deem necessary.”

A name change might have boosted the office’s popularity by clarifying its role. Formed in 2014 as the Office of the Ombudsman, voters last fall approved rebranding it as the Public Advocate. The new name took effect this spring.

Last year, the office received nearly 600 inquiries. That was two and a half times more than in 2015 and more than four times the workload from 2014, when McKinnie’s predecessor was setting up the office and got diverted to assist people affected by the deadly Oso mudslide.

Questions — and complaints — run the gamut.

Can the county get a neighbor’s crowing roosters to shut up? Ticket illegally parked cars? Address a park problem?

It’s cyclical: tax questions come when property taxes are due, road-repair questions in summer. Code-enforcement queries come in spurts.

Some things, McKinnie can’t do. The job has no role in union issues or employee grievances. She doesn’t give legal advice.

She has had to explain that sheriff’s deputies need to prioritize life-threatening emergencies over quality-of-life issues. The planning department’s code-enforcement officers are few, and don’t have much money for things like cleaning up homeless camps.

“Sometimes I have to be realistic,” she said. “I empathize, but I give them the realities of what the budget is.”

She might have to send people to the Health District, the Public Utility District or the Housing Authority.

A former longtime congressional staffer for Washington state Democrats, McKinnie was appointed in 2015.

“Public service runs in my blood,” she said.

Her father, Bob Overstreet, who died in January, served on the Everett City Council for 30 years. Her mother, Myrna, is a former teacher and nonprofit fundraiser who helped start the Imagine Children’s Museum.

McKinnie works from the second floor of the Robert J. Drewel building, where her office overlooks Everett’s Pacific Avenue. A map of the county fills one wall. Freshly cut purple hydrangeas adorned her desk.

She makes a special effort to be there between noon and 1 p.m. That’s when people tend to call on lunch break. They rarely leave voice mails.

“They like talking to a live person,” she said.

She’s touched by some of the thank-you notes.

One came from a homeless woman after McKinnie helped connect her and her husband with a human services program for veterans in need of stable housing.

“I took the time to listen to her,” McKinnie said. “A lot of times, people just want someone to listen,” and to steer them in the right direction.

Another woman emailed to say, “You have given me a new faith in government!!!”

To help stay in the right frame of mind, McKinnie keeps a portrait of a giraffe in her office. The canvas print is cheerful, even silly, with a yellow and orange background.

“People can’t tell when I’m talking to them on the phone whether I’m smiling,” she said.

The picture helps remind her she should.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.