By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
Susan York says she has logged dozens of 911 calls, scribbled down a long list of license plates and lobbied anyone she can find to help shut down a house on her cul-de-sac she suspects is a center of local drug dealing.
While police have been sympathetic and tried to help, 18 months later the problem remains, she said.
Which is why the mother from a neighborhood near Mukilteo turned out Friday to applaud a citizens group calling for an immediate and large boost in the number of deputies patrolling Snohomish County.
"Staffing is definitely part of the problem," she said.
The group issued a report warning that the sheriff’s office is "critically understaffed."
The findings echo claims already made by Sheriff Rick Bart and the deputies’ union. But it signals the first vocal participation of citizen activists in the debate. And it comes just days before the county council begins final deliberations on the 2002 budget.
Bart welcomed the support and said he shared their findings that his department’s services are "below acceptable standards of public safety."
"I support their findings 100 percent," he said.
Other county officials, however, questioned how the county can provide millions of dollars worth of additional deputies without hurting other county services.
"Their goal is laudable. The question is, how do you do it without destroying the other county services that we have to provide by law?" said county council member Barbara Cothern, who chairs the council’s law and justice committee.
The group, which calls itself Citizens for a Safe Snohomish County, called on the county to budget money for 47 new deputies, plus other sheriff’s office staff. The county executive’s proposed budget calls for hiring five more deputies in 2002.
That citizen’s proposal could add $3.5 million in annual costs, according to county finance department estimates. It could also add nearly $5 million in costs within other departments, such as the prosecutor’s office and the jail, according to a 1998 county study of the costs associated with hiring 50 deputies.
Attorney Mark Lamb, a member of the citizens group, acknowledged the hiring could cost a lot, but said law enforcement needs to be the county’s top priority. Not hiring more deputies could also leave the county at risk of multimillion-dollar lawsuits, he said.
"I think we need to fund our priorities," he said.
Other members of the group include Irene Endicott, who lost a 2000 bid for the state Legislature; Jeff Sax, a Republican just elected to the county council; and Donna Michelson of the Mill Creek City Council.
A man who shot an intruder in 1999 recently filed a $10 million claim with the county saying he was a victim of the county’s low staffing because police failed to quickly respond to his call for help.
Jim Hammond, an analyst for county executive Bob Drewel, said his office agreed there weren’t enough deputies. But he questioned claims that the county was in serious legal danger.
"Anybody can sue us for a bajillion dollars. Winning is another matter," he said.
While the county needs 47 more deputies, according to a staffing model used by the sheriff’s office, the county has also made a concerted effort to boost staffing, he said. The county has hired at least 35 deputies in the past four years.
With law and justice accounting for more than 68 percent of the proposed $162 million general fund budget, further spending increases would take a toll elsewhere, he said.
"We’re still growing the cops (funding), so I don’t think you can accuse the county at all of stepping away from its responsibilities," he said.
But those budget concerns failed to sway York, who said deputies haven’t been able to give the alleged drug house the attention it deserves, partly because they are understaffed.
If the problem isn’t dealt with soon, she said, "Then we’ll bring a lawsuit to bring attention to what is really going on."
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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