There’s no guess yet if protesters will outnumber the clowns by the time the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &Bailey Circus moves its big top out of the Everett Events Center after the last show on Sunday.
But Snohomish County Councilman John Koster said he received an e-mail request from an animal rights activist asking him to help get a ban on circus animals passed. The e-mail lasted as long as cotton candy in a Northwest rainstorm.
“That’s what the delete button is for,” Koster said.
Other cities around Puget Sound have jumped through the hoop, or tried.
Seattle considered passing a circus animal ban four years ago, but didn’t. And Redmond became the first city in the state to outlaw elephant parades and other exotic animal acts when it passed a ban in 1999.
Koster, who had never been to the circus, said he planned to catch one of the Everett shows.
Asking ain’t getting, take two: The county has sent Gov. Gary Locke a letter asking the state to pay for the services it requires the county to do, but which the state doesn’t help pay for.
Local officials have long bemoaned the costs of those services, called unfunded mandates.
Highlighting the county’s potential $13 million budget deficit next year, County Executive Aaron Reardon also sent a billing to leaders of the state House and Senate. The bill details costs over a 30-month period starting in 2002 and includes such things such as State Patrol bookings, jail inmate health care and even-year elections.
The grand total on the bill: $33.4 million.
On hold: A proposal to let developers pay impact fees early remains stalled in a County Council committee.
Impact fees, which help cover the cost of improving schools and parks after new homes are built and more people move to the county, are now collected when developers get their building permits.
Since last year, county planners have been looking at letting developers pay the fees when they get final plats for their projects.
School districts, though, think it’s a lousy idea. The districts have a six-year deadline to spend impact fees after they have been paid. If a subdivision is built in phases, school districts could end up refunding the fees before all the homes are finished and kids start crowding classrooms.
Budget talk: Council briefings on the 2005 budget will span three days, Oct. 11-13. Council members have pencilled in 13.5 hours of talk on the budget during committee meetings that week.
Claim of the week: A Stanwood woman wants $449, plus tax, from the county because her computer monitor was damaged after it was seized during a police search.
Next week: The county planning commission will have a public hearing on new rules to require developers to put in sidewalks so students can walk safely to bus stops and school.
How you can get involved: The meeting starts at 2:30 p.m. and the public hearing at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2301 Hoyt Ave., Everett.
Reporter Brian Kelly covers county government for the Herald. He can be reached at 425-339-3422; kelly@heraldnet.com.
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