Everett’s deputy city attorney on Wednesday recommended the city form a task force to examine sex offender housing issues and to prepare a report to send to state lawmakers.
At the Everett City Council meeting, the attorney, David Hall, said the task force should include Everett residents as well as city officials.
Hall’s comments are in response to community concern over what is called the McManus mansion in the Riverside neighborhood where a high-risk sex offender rented a room. The landlord of the house is affiliated with a man who runs several group homes near downtown Everett and rent to sex offenders.
While the scope of a group hasn’t been determined, it could look at issues such as the concentration of sex offenders in a given neighborhood, information sharing and zoning rules.
A state law, passed in 2006, prohibited local jurisdictions from enacting zoning rules that dictate where registered sex offenders can live. The law was created after Monroe, Steilacoom, and Issaquah created zoning rules focused on sex offender housing.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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