Former legislators vie for council seat
Published 11:13 pm Monday, October 22, 2007
A coveted open seat on the Snohomish County Council is up for grabs, with a nearly six-figure salary and a top-floor office looking east at the Cascades.
Oh, and the burden of wrestling with taxes, housing and environmental policies in one of the country’s fastest-growing urban counties.
Democratic state legislator Brian Sullivan and Republican Bill Cooper, a former police chief, are both from Mukilteo and are working to win the most votes in District 2, which includes Everett.
The victor will succeed Democrat Kirke Sievers, who is ending 12 years on the council. Term limits bar him from seeking re-election.
Sullivan has been involved in state and local politics about 25 years. He was elected to the Legislature in 2001, giving Democrats control of the House of Representatives.
He became a prolific bill writer and chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and is most proud of his work to save mobile home parks from redevelopment.
Before that, he served on the Mukilteo City Council, and two terms as Mukilteo mayor.
“I cut my teeth on land use and growth and the Growth Management Act,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan beat Democratic state Sen. Jean Berkey of Everett in the primary.
As of last week, he spent just over $100,000 on the campaign — half on consultants and campaign management — backed by developers, labor and conservation voters.
Now Sullivan faces Cooper, his Republican rival for the seat. Cooper is a first-time candidate who has spent about $6,500 on the campaign.
Cooper was Bainbridge Island’s police chief, and has worked as a corporate security manager at Microsoft since 2003.
He was running for sheriff, but switched to County Council at the request of the GOP.
Paine Field, the issue that divided the Democrats in the primary, “is the biggest non-issue issue in this campaign,” Cooper said.
No airlines are lining up, he said. And if they did, the county can’t say no. “Save Our Communities and the cities would tie it up in court,” he said.
Sullivan still vehemently opposes expansion of airline service at Paine Field.
“I’m saying if an airline wants to come here I will stand in their way,” he said. If Snohomish County wanted a full-blown airport at Paine Field, officials should have made that decision in 1978 and 1979, before 8,000 acres of heavy industrial property was rezoned for single-family homes, he said.
The county faces intense growth pressures and the traffic that follows. The area near Mill Creek has become the poster child for growth problems in the county. State growth controls on traffic forced the county to halt all new development that puts more than two cars on 164th Street SW near I-5 during the evening commute.
Sullivan criticized past decisions by the county for contributing to the glut of traffic there.
“I hate to use this word, but we really need to look at things like moratoriums, and we need to negotiate these things out,” Sullivan said.
Cooper said taxes are the No. 1 issue facing the county.
“Property taxes are excessive,” he said. Traffic, growth and affordable housing also need prompt attention.
Congestion is only getting worse, and house prices are too high, Cooper said.
“We’re going to need to look seriously at making more buildable land available, but not a free-for-all,” Cooper said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
Snohomish County Council — District 2
County Council members consider policy and budget decisions for the county and its unincorporated areas and oversee regional issues. Members will earn about $97,000 in 2008.
William E. Cooper
Republican
Age: 56
Hometown: Mukilteo
Occupation: Corporate security investigator for Microsoft
Web site: www.electbillcooper.com
Brian Sullivan
Democrat
Age: 49
Hometown: Mukilteo
Occupation: State representative and Snohomish County Tomorrow coordinator
Web site: www.vote-briansullivan.com
