Still stinging over the recent controversy about a highly paid temporary employee, Snohomish County Council members are leery of putting money in next year’s budget for an economic development coordinator.
Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon’s 2005 budget includes money to create an “economic development team,” a group of employees in the planning department who would work to bring more jobs to the county and keep the employers that are already here.
But council members, who are expected to approve the budget next week, have criticized the proposal. Council members say they don’t want to set aside money for an economic development coordinator job that is so vaguely defined.
Overshadowing it is the flap over the county’s current economic development coordinator, James Lee.
Lee is a temporary employee who is being paid an annual salary rate of $75,500. He got his job after a recommendation from Reardon, and was hired in March without going through a competitive selection process. His hiring has also raised eyebrows because Lee and his sister, Eun Lee, worked on Reardon’s 2003 campaign. And their mother, Young Ja Lee, donated more than $16,000 to get Reardon elected.
Lee’s job, and the question of whether it should be funded in next year’s budget, was a front-and-center issue earlier this month. It came back full force this week.
“Personally, I think the economic development position in this county has been a political tool for too long,” Councilman Jeff Sax said.
“I think the executive has made a bit of a mockery … of this position,” he added.
Other council members also said they don’t want to put money in the budget for the job unless county staffers produce a plan and a job description for the position.
Council members also want a more complete explanation of what’s already been accomplished with the existing temporary position, as well as an update on the work done by the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, a group that’s partially funded by the county.
Lee was hired as a temporary employee but is now considered a “project employee.” He’s been conducting research on economic development issues such as the NASCAR racetrack proposal and agriculture assistance in the county’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
Craig Ladiser, director of the planning department, said he is working on a plan showing how the position could benefit the county.
Ladiser said there’s the choice of hiring a high-paid manager to oversee economic activities in the department, a “heavy hitter” who could hit the ground running on bringing new businesses to the county. The other choice is hiring someone for a lesser salary but with decreased expectations of what that person could accomplish.
Ladiser said he hoped to give the council a report today that includes not only a basic job description but also an explanation of how the economic development coordinator’s work would fit within the planning department.
“They deserve to have it,” he said.
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