LYNNWOOD — The Social Security field office in Lynnwood could be closed within a year if a proposal goes through that will be presented to the public today.
A union official and a U.S. lawmaker are among those unhappy with the idea, saying south county residents would have to travel farther for services.
Rich Dickson, the Everett District manager for the Social Security Administration, said the proposal to close the Lynnwood office and move those services into an expanded office in downtown Everett would improve public access.
Dickson will explain the proposal at 9:30 a.m. today in the auditorium at the Washington State University Extension at McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE, in Everett.
The Lynnwood office, on 33rd Avenue W., just south of Alderwood Mall, serves an average of 80 people a day. The Everett site, on Evergreen Way, just south of Highway 526, sees roughly 250 people a day.
Dickson said the change would result in no lost jobs, but that one manager from the Lynnwood office would be reassigned. All other employees would be sent to the new Everett office.
There is no definite timeline for the changes, but Dickson said the Lynnwood site could be closed by late 2004 or early 2005.
A union official who represents Social Security employees said the change would make access more difficult for the public, particularly the aging and disabled population that uses the agency’s services.
"We understand this is going to pull us back from Lynnwood and surrounding communities," said Steve Kofahl, president of the Seattle-based American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3739.
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, represents many of the south Snohomish County residents who would likely have to travel farther if the Lynnwood site shuts down. Inslee said he insisted on today’s meeting.
Inslee said he doesn’t consider the Lynnwood closure a done deal, and that the Social Security Administration has not yet addressed some of his concerns.
"The bottom line is taxpayers ought to get better service, not degraded service," Inslee said. "I think there are legitimate concerns about getting degraded service.
"Before that concern is overcome, they’d have to be very convincing — which they have not, to date — that taxpayers will in fact get better service."
Dickson said the move is the result of a periodic assessment of how Social Security delivers services in the area.
Although a 2001 survey recommended the Lynnwood office remain open, Dickson said a new version finished in August brought him to the conclusion that the Lynnwood office should be closed.
The expanded downtown Everett site would be the only Social Security office in Snohomish County.
"I think a plus to this in terms of public service is that we’ll be able to consolidate our resources and provide better public service by having resources in one spot versus two," Dickson said.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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