It may be a year of showdowns.
Over who will lead Snohomish County government.
Over the fate of the WASL math test.
Over billions of dollars worth of improvements to transit and local roads.
Politics
Decades of experience walk out the door as a bevy of Snohomish County politicians exit government – and would-be successors campaign for the open seats.
“It’s going to be a contentious year,” County Council chairman Kirke Sievers said. “It’s going to be a year when the expertise the county has relied on over the years is going to be gone.”
More than half the county’s top elected officials must leave office because of term limits, including Sievers and five others.
The effect will be a full ballot. The biggest race will pit County Executive Aaron Reardon, a Democrat seeking a second term, and outgoing sheriff Rick Bart, a Republican who wants the county’s top job.
Voters will cast ballots earlier than ever as the state’s primary election moves to August.
The County Council will renew debates over rules to protect critical environmental areas.
In Maltby, billions of dollars are to be spent on tunneling and building the Brightwater sewage plant, which will serve Snohomish and King counties.
Education
The WASL could be wavering.
Fewer than 60 percent of juniors statewide have passed the Washington Assessment of Student Learning math test, prompting fears that thousands will be without diplomas in 2008.
Snohomish County superintendents proposed delaying the math requirement. Teens would have to take math classes as seniors if they fail the test.
Gov. Chris Gregoire and state Superintendent Terry Bergeson agreed, and the issue now lies in the hands of the Legislature.
Meanwhile, hopes for a four-year university in Snohomish County are up in the air after protest from the state’s research universities.
Gregoire has proposed spending $2 million to continue studying how to serve college-bound students in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.
While there may not be a new college, more than $177.5 million worth of new school buildings are scheduled to open in the county thanks to voter-approved construction bonds.
The Arlington School District plans a performing arts center, while the Everett, Granite Falls, Marysville and Snohomish districts each will open new schools.
Transportation
Taxpayers likely will be asked to spend as much as $3 billion to expand roads and bring light rail to Snohomish County.
Sound Transit and the county councils in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties are expected to ask voters in November to approve a joint road and transit tax package.
The measure includes $2.2 billion for Snohomish County projects, including building new ramps for the U.S. 2 trestle, widening Highway 9 and starting a bypass highway around Monroe.
Sound Transit would collect up to $1 billion in Snohomish County to extend light rail to Lynnwood and to begin work on extending it to Everett.
The new 41st Street SE bridge on I-5 in Everett is scheduled to open by summer. The bridge is part of the state Department of Transportation’s $260 million Everett I-5 widening project.
The contractor aims to open new carpool and merging lanes between the Boeing Freeway and U.S. 2 by the end of 2007, though it has until 2008.
Crime
State and county officials plan assaults on two fronts to combat one of the nation’s fastest-growing crimes: identity theft.
Snohomish County prosecutors are working with police agencies to concentrate on the more serious and complex identity theft and fraud cases.
At the state level, Attorney General Rob McKenna intends to push for legislation to help consumers prevent unauthorized credit cards from being issued in their names.
Police will try several new tactics to battle crime.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office plans to use new software that compiles police reports to help detectives analyze crime trends.
The Washington State Patrol hopes to increase the use of airplanes over I-5 north of Marysville to help troopers ticket speeders.
Lynnwood police hope to reduce the number of pedestrians being hit by cars on Highway 99, while Edmonds plans a street crimes unit to battle car theft.
In Island County, retired state trooper Mark Brown will take over as the new sheriff. Deputies are to receive computers in their patrol cars, and the office will get new fingerprinting technology.
In the courts, Everett District Court Judge Tom Kelly will leave office after 33 years. Tam Bui, who was elected in November, will replace him.
The first part of the year likely will see the first-degree murder trial of Daniel Kristopher Larson. He’s already been convicted of second-degree murder in the 2000 death of mail-order bride Anastasia King, but prosecutors intend to try him on the new charge for the killing, and the courts have ruled that they can.
Communities
The Tulalips and other tribes that signed the 1885 Treaty of Point Elliott are to face state officials in court. The tribes say the state’s failure to maintain roadside culverts has harmed salmon runs.
Experts say the tribes’ claim could transform the state’s environmental laws.
Meanwhile, people in the Skykomish Valley will continue to try to bring attention and money to U.S. 2, a dangerous, congested highway. The grass-roots U.S. 2 Safety Coalition plans to hire a lobbyist.
In Everett, the city plans to spend tens of millions of dollars to recruit new police officers, build a skateboard park, buy new buses, replace aging sewer and water lines and make park improvements.
At the same time, developers are expected to begin transforming two large swaths of industrial land on the city’s shoreline into upscale mixed-use districts.
Mill Creek residents should learn whether Wal-Mart will be their latest neighbor.
Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson needs to decide whether to try for a third term.
Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Bothell plan to hone ideas for revitalizing their downtown areas, with dreams of multistory office towers, condominiums and parks.
Mukilteo expects another year of debates about whether to tear down the 80-year-old Rosehill Community Center, while designers start plans for a new City Hall. A $7.8 million remake of Lighthouse Park also will get under way.
Reporters Jeff Switzer, Melissa Slager, Eric Stevick, Lukas Velush, Jim Haley, Scott Pesznecker, Krista Kapralos, Yoshiaki Nohara, David Chircop and Bill Sheets contributed to this report.
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