It’s going to be the mantra for the race for Snohomish County executive: Jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy, jobs and the economy.
That’s what David Adams, executive director of the Snohomish County Republican Party, has predicted, what with layoffs continuing at the Boeing Co. and the county’s unemployment rate reaching 8.2 percent in August.
So the two candidates in the runoff election, Republican Dave Earling and Democrat Aaron Reardon, are expected to lean heavily on the economy issue as they vie to replace County Executive Bob Drewel on Nov. 4.
However, with those economic statistics in the forefront, other topics important to voters are likely to fall off the radar screen, some political observers say.
For rural voters and others on the urban fringe, growth and development issues may not get much attention from the candidates in the weeks leading up to the election, said former Snohomish County Council member Dave Somers, a Democrat.
That’s because both Earling and Reardon are candidates from urban areas, he said. Earling lives in Edmonds, and Reardon lives in Everett.
Sprawl and other growth problems are felt first outside cities, where services and infrastructure are lacking, and people who farm, raise animals or want to live a bucolic lifestyle are the first to feel the effects of uncontrolled development on their quality of life.
"I think it’s a problem with having an executive from the urban area," Somers said. "It’s very difficult to understand and have much feeling for the nature of the problems.
"There really is a great difference in terms of philosophy and attitude" between urban and rural, he added.
Somers, who lives in the Monroe area, recalled his four years on the County Council and the difficulties he had in getting the attention of the three urban-area council members when it came to growth issues.
Still, events outside the campaigns themselves may make growth an unavoidable issue.
The County Council’s approval of auto dealer Dwayne Lane’s proposal to convert farmland near I-5 at Island Crossing into a car lot has put the loss of farmland in the headlines again. An anti-sprawl group, 1000 Friends of Washington, has vowed to challenge the decision.
Gov. Gary Locke has also ordered a review of two controversial growth policies passed by the County Council in July.
The governor said the policies — one that sets out new ways for expanding city urban growth areas, and a second that allows churches in rural areas to hook up to existing sewer lines that serve urban areas — violate the state’s Growth Management Act and could lead to urban sprawl.
Debate on how fast the county will let cities grow over the next 20 years is also on the horizon. The county must soon decide where it wants more than an estimated 300,000 new residents to live.
Potential changes to the county’s plan for handling growth include proposed expansions to urban growth areas, including the growth boundaries for Arlington, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Stanwood, Snohomish, Granite Falls, Sultan and Gold Bar. Some residents near Maltby also want to form their own city.
For voters who use environmental issues as a litmus test for candidates, neither Reardon nor Earling seems to have an advantage. Both have accepted campaign contributions from developers and the building industry.
Growth isn’t an issue owned by either political party.
"One of the things I’ve found more striking in talking to people about growth, it doesn’t really break down along party lines," said Maura Goodwin, former chairwoman of the county’s planning commission.
Growth has tentacles that touch on traffic; the quality of the water residents drink and the air they breathe; whether kids have sidewalks they can use to get safely to school; and even the size of their classrooms when they get there.
"I don’t think either party has credibility on growth," Goodwin added.
In fact, the Democrats may have a disadvantage, given Drewel’s history at the helm.
"We had a Democrat executive who didn’t deliver, who didn’t do a good job of managing growth," said Goodwin, a Democrat who is supporting Earling.
Special interests are driving the county’s growth planning, she said, using the example of Lane’s proposed auto dealership near I-5. After prolonged court battles that found Lane on the losing end, he brought his proposal back for a third time and got the County Council to approve it.
Some fault lines from the primary election will remain in November.
Earling may be criticized for his role on the Sound Transit board, and Reardon’s campaign will probably paint the longtime Edmonds councilman as a politician of the past, while Reardon represents the future.
Reardon, though, is likely to face charges of being a job jumper for his move from the state House to the Senate, and now his focus on the county executive’s seat.
Issues aside, the November election will hinge on each party’s ability to get its supporters to the polls.
While Earling has strong support in south county, people there feel disconnected to the county government centered up in Everett, Somers said.
"A lot of people just don’t pay a lot of attention," he said. "We seem to be in the shadow of Seattle."
Also unknown is how long the animosity will remain following the bitter battle in the primary between Reardon and Quigley.
Quigley was criticized for a flier attacking Reardon. Quigley apologized, but Reardon’s campaign unleashed a flurry of attack ads in the days before the primary.
Quigley said he has put the dispute behind him and is hoping the party will close ranks. Reardon will have his support, Quigley said.
"I’m certainly going to do my best to make sure that we unify as a party and elect a Democrat," Quigley said.
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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