Front Porch
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 5, 2019
HEADS UP
Ballots due Tuesday
Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted in this year’s election. No postage necessary.
Voting envelopes also can be deposited in drop boxes that are available 24/7 throughout Snohomish County until 8 p.m. on Election Day. There are 23 in Snohomish County and six in Island County.
Key races this year include Initiative 976 on car tab fees and Referendum 88 about affirmative action, as well as contests for Snohomish County sheriff, auditor, treasurer and open council seats.
More info: www.snohomishcountywa.gov/225/Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations
Weigh in on Community Transit’s 2020 budget
Community Transit is proposing to increase bus service in Snohomish County by 5% in 2020.
The proposed 2020 budget projects a 5.4% increase in sales tax revenue and a 4.9% increase in operating expenditures, with total operating expenses estimated at $169.5 million. Capital expense investments would total $75.4 million for new projects.
Funding would go toward expanding service by about 18,000 hours, developing the Swift Orange Line, expanding the work force and adding new buses.
A public hearing will take place before the agency’s Board of Directors Thursday at Community Transit’s Merrill Creek Operating Base, 7100 Hardeson Road, Everett.
The public can submit comments through Friday. They can be sent:
• By email at budget@commtrans.org
• By mail at Community Transit, 7100 Hardeson Road, Everett, WA 98203
• By phone at (425) 353-7433 (RIDE)
The board is scheduled to act on a final budget proposal on Dec. 5.
More info: www.communitytransit.org/budget
Help name Northshore’s newest elementary
The school doesn’t have a name yet, but work is well underway on Northshore School District’s newest elementary, which is still on pace to open fall 2020.
In the meantime, the district is asking the public to help settle on a name, via a survey that will remain open through Friday, Nov. 15. A committee has narrowed the list to 11 proposals, all of which are related to accomplished women. Full descriptions can be viewed in a post on the district’s website.
After the deadline for public feedback has passed, the committee will narrow the list further, to five names. The Northshore School Board will announce a name at a meeting on Dec. 9.
The names are:
• Ruby Bridges Elementary
• Bridges Elementary
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary
• Cecile Hansen Elementary
• Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert Elementary
• Dorothy Johnson Elementary
• Katherine Johnson Elementary
• Audre Lorde Elementary
• Michelle Obama Elementary
• Cecilia Payne Elementary
• Sonia Sotomayor Elementary
More info: www.nsd.org
