It’s been a divisive month of interrogation and stonewalling in Snohomish County government.
After hearing the county might spend $250,000 celebrating the launch of Boeing’s new airliner, the County Council launched an effort to learn the truth.
They say they’re still looking.
Time and again, starting with a March 19 memo and ending with a confrontational questioning last week, officials say deputy county executive Mark Soine has flatly refused to tell the council how much county taxpayers might wind up spending.
| Simmering Dispute
Letters and transcripts of public meetings demonstrate the conflict in discussions between the Snohomish County Council and Mark Soine, deputy county executive, regarding plans for a community celebration for the rollout of Boeing’s new 787 airliner.
To download the letters and transcripts of three public meetings in PDF form, click here. In the county’s transcripts, C denotes comments from a County Council member and S denotes comments from Soine. In areas where words were unclear or missed, the transcription leaves a blank line. |
It’s Boeing’s event, Soine told council members, and though his staff is making plans with the aerospace company, local governments and other public agencies, he declined to say more.
“We’re not doing an event,” Soine said Friday. “We’re not doing a party. We’re certainly not paying for one.”
In the face of Soine’s recalcitrance, the council did something unprecedented: The councilmen unanimously voted to restrict County Executive Aaron Reardon’s authority to sign contracts.
Until Father’s Day, June 17, he can’t spend more than $5,000 on behalf of the county without seeking council approval on contracts that could be entered for Boeing’s rollout party.
The frustration that drove the decision is clear in transcripts of three council meetings with Soine.
They also hint at what amounts to a local constitutional crisis.
The transcripts were produced at the request of the county’s deputy prosecutors, who looked them over as part of a mandatory legal review for the council’s sudden vote to restrict Reardon’s powers.
The records show repeated attempts by councilmen, Democrats and Republicans alike, to find out what is being planned.
They started with the March 19 memo, after hearing officials from outside county government talking about the county’s plans.
Soine’s reply, three days later, focused more on touting Reardon’s commitment to economic development and offered no details about plans with Boeing.
In the days that followed, Soine continued to insist there are no firm plans and that he had a duty to protect Boeing’s roll-out discussions, which he maintained are confidential.
Soine explained on March 26, during the first of three county council meetings, that “until Boeing is ready to announce its plans, there really are no plans that we’re in a position to talk about.”
Democratic County Council chairman Dave Gossett led the council’s discussion with Soine.
“Are you planning on county funding for these events?” Gossett asked Soine during that first meeting.
“Like I said: We’re not in a position to disclose any events that may be taking place,” Soine said.
On April 9, Gossett again asked about costs.
Soine said: “Until we finalize some discussions with Boeing, there is, you know, I’m not in a position to discuss any events publicly.”
Gossett: “So perhaps $50,000 would cover it?” And later, “Could it be up to $100,000?”
He added: “You don’t have to talk about the particular event, you just have to tell me a round number of what the expenditure might be. I can’t imagine how that creates any breach of confidences with anyone.”
Soine again said there were no numbers he could share, but he offered to meet privately with Gossett.
That happened, Gossett said, but Soine still didn’t answer his questions.
On April 16, the conversation turned even more testy.
Soine told Gossett that talking about costs, without firm plans, would be speculation.
“Well, speculate,” Gossett told Soine.
“I will not speculate,” Soine said.
Gossett: “$300,000.”
Soine: “I will not speculate, Council Chairman.”
Gossett: “So, essentially we are talking about $300,000 of taxpayers’ money for this event.”
Soine: “You can characterize my comments however you care, Mr. Chairman, but I will not speculate on dollar amounts.”
Pressed about who Reardon’s office had been talking with, Soine acknowledged discussions with the Future of Flight Aviation Center, the city of Everett, the Port of Everett, the Snohomish County Economic Development Council and the Boeing Co.
“So all those people can know about this, but we as taxpayers can’t?” Gossett observed.
He said the deputy executive’s approach had “raised some issues as to why you are so secretive about this matter.”
Soine said Friday that the problem has been how the council has been asking questions.
The council has focused on whether the county is planning an event, Soine said.
That misses what is going on, because Reardon’s office actually is leading a discussion group on economic development, he said.
That effort involves bringing businesses here, and keeping them, and might get a boost with the Boeing 787 rollout celebration, he said.
The council – three Democrats and two Republicans – said they are united behind the effort to find out what the county’s share of the costs might be.
The information being sought from Soine is innocuous, Gossett said Friday.
“His flat out refusal to share, that I find amazing,” Gossett said.
A handful of meetings about the Boeing 787 rollout have been held in recent months at the county administration building.
The meetings included some of the county’s economic development leaders: Lanie McMullin for the city of Everett, Steve Pottle from county government, Deborah Knutson from the Economic Development Council, Lisa Mandt from the Port of Everett, and Paine Field airport director Dave Waggoner.
The group has been discussing how to market the county once visiting media and dignitaries converge on Boeing this summer, said Mandt, Port of Everett spokeswoman.
No dollar amounts have been approved, she said. The next meeting is April 30.
A month ago, the county executive’s office asked the city of Everett to consider contributing money, Everett Councilman Mark Olson said. He said he was briefed at a City Council economic development subcommittee, of which he is chairman.
“They wanted some level of financial support, but it wasn’t entirely clear what it was going to be used for,” Olson said. “We weren’t comfortable appropriating taxpayers’ funds for that purpose. We said we would help out in other ways.”
Everett hasn’t been asked for a firm dollar amount, said McMullin, the city’s executive director of economic development.
“They left it up to all of us what our level of participation will be,” she said. “Our interest in participation is economic development related only. Individual groups have to assess what the benefit of a contribution might be. We haven’t got there yet.”
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