Your ideas needed for better county government

Without a doubt, your vote counts.

And you’ll be asked to cast that vote on May 24 for Washington state’s presidential primary, then again in the Aug. 2 primary election and the Nov. 8 general election.

But your ideas and your opinions count, too, and those are needed now as Snohomish County considers changes to its Home Rule Charter. Snohomish County is one of seven counties in the state with a charter form of government, first adopted in 1980, amended in 1986, then reviewed every 10 years since then.

Last November, county voters were asked to cast ballots for a charter review commission of 15, three each for each of the five county council districts. Having met regularly since the start of the year, the commission now has a list of proposed changes to the charter aimed at keeping the county government responsive and well-governed, as Herald Writer Noah Haglund reported Tuesday.

After the commission has approved a slate of proposed changes to the charter, those will go before the county council for its approval, then before the voters themselves in the Nov. 8 election.

If you need an example of the political diversity present on the charter review commission, consider that some of its proposals contradict others, such as whether all county elected positions should be partisan or nonpartisan.

The 1996 charter review changed the offices of assessor, auditor, county clerk, sheriff and treasurer from partisan — Democrat or Republican — to nonpartisan. One proposal would extend the nonpartisan label for the offices of county council, county executive and prosecuting attorney. But a counter proposal would return all elected county offices to partisan positions.

Other proposals would:

Lower the age of eligibility to run for county office from 21 to 18; shorten the county residency requirement for elected office from three years to one; and eliminate the current term-limit for officials of three consecutive terms;

Seeks to improve the representation for the county’s unincorporated areas; change the county council’s meeting schedule; and move up the date of submission for the executive’s proposed budget to Sept. 1 from Oct. 1; and

Remove gender-specific language from the charter; place a sunset provision on all ordinances, requiring council action to reauthorize them; and require the council to repeal an existing ordinance for every ordinance it adopts.

Since the 2006 charter review, the county has added an ombudsman’s office. Former county ombudsman John Koster, who is now on the charter review commission, lost his position last year after former County Executive John Lovick asked the council not to reappoint him. But Koster has suggested that either the ombudsman or the prosecuting attorney handle whistle-blower and ethics complaints that now go to the executive’s office and council clerk, respectively.

All are proposals that deserve consideration and debate, and the review commission is asking county residents to join in that discussion, with a series of meetings scheduled this month and in April throughout the county (see box).

It’s also not too late to add your own idea to the mix. Proposals for changes to the charter can be made online at tinyurl.com/SnoCoCharterIdea.

Charter review meetings

The Snohomish County Home Rule Charter Review Commission has scheduled public meetings to discuss changes to the charter for: