Just out of sight of the Snohomish County Council chambers, tucked around a corner, is a small room where vengeance is exacted amid name-calling and threats of revenge.
The tit-for-tat trash talking isn’t between Republican and Democrat council members, however. Instead, the rousing rivalry is between the council clerks and mailroom clerks. The battlefield: the cribbage board at lunchtime.
Once a week throughout the year, mailroom clerks Brandy Carter and Candie Hill journey from their basement work area in the county administration building to the clerk’s break room on the sixth floor for a cribbage competition against Kathy Bratcher and Rochelle Terry.
The break room is decorated with reminders of previous victories and defeats.
Two dozen handmade cards cover the walls. Many follow a skunk theme, while others depict hugging monkeys or doggies’ behinds.
Oftentimes, when the winning is one-sided, the victors present the losers with stuffed toy skunks as a reminder of their dubious cribbage skills.
Most recently, skunks were sighted in the basement. Bratcher and Terry presented their cribbage counterparts with the souvenirs.
“We usually do win. When they win, they have to make a big deal out of it,” Hill said.
Hill said the mailroom team probably has a 2-to-1 edge in wins. She credits a ritual she does the night before. “I do a little praying. I have some special rocks. Anything to beat those two. They give us nothing but heartache.”
“She’s feeding you a line,” countered Terry.
Take a look around the mailroom and you’ll see skunks everywhere, Terry said. She should know; she bought them at a drugstore for a buck each.
“They have a skunk playground down there. They have skunks on swings and slides, skunks on wheels.”
Housing help: Snohomish County is hoping to get $4.2 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds to pay for housing and services for the homeless. If the HUD funding comes through, 19 projects by public and private nonprofit agencies will get grants. The projects range from efforts to provide shelter and care to the disabled, to transitional housing for families, to permanent housing for the mentally ill and the chronically homeless.
Claim of the week: An Index man wants $100 from the county because he lost the right shoe from a new pair of Adidas trail shoes when he was taken into custody.
Next week: The County Council convenes public hearings on creating a county arts program and expanding a no-shooting zone near Sultan.
How you can get involved: The public hearings start at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Jackson Hearing Room, sixth floor of County Administration Building.
Reporter Brian Kelly covers county government for the Herald. He can be reached at 425-339-3422; kelly@heraldnet.com.
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