EVERETT — The Republican candidate trying to wrest the Snohomish County executive’s job from the Democratic incumbent rolled out his plan Thursday for creating more local jobs.
State Rep. Mike Hope’s speech, outside the downtown county office complex, contrasted his economic plans with those of County Executive Aaron Reardon. Hope also attacked Reardon for management lapses and what some say is a failure to coordinate with leaders of local cities.
“For the county to play an effective economic development role, it must first be a trusted partner that makes wise use of resources, delivers excellent services and protects the health and safety of its citizens,” Hope said. “Rhetoric, secrecy and mismanagement in the current administration have hindered the county’s ability to be a trusted partner.”
Later in the day, Reardon accused Hope of “not really (having) a grasp of the issues at hand or (of) the position he’s seeking.”
“It was the standard fare that I’ve heard out of my opponent: false personal attacks, wrong information, no specifics and no substance,” Reardon said. “My opponent is somehow dead set on wanting people to think that the nationwide recession is somehow my fault and that I’m the bad guy.”
Reardon and Hope will face off in the Nov. 8 general election. Both will automatically advance past the Aug. 16 primary because they are unopposed from within their parties.
Hope, who turned 36 on Thursday, is a Seattle police officer who lives in Lake Stevens and is serving his second term in the state House of Representatives.
His speech outlined a five-point plan: regional collaboration, reinvesting in the private sector, keeping the workforce in local jobs, rooting out government mismanagement and enhancing education.
Hope criticized the county’s high unemployment and foreclosure rates, which he said county leadership needs to do more to improve.
If elected executive, he promised to create new county programs to increase efficiency and accountability. They include an Office of Regional Collaboration, which would try to identify ways to get rid of duplication in county government. An Office of Professional Integrity would be tasked with conducting investigations of ethical and legal wrongdoing.
“Mismanagement has plagued our county for too long and trust me, businesses and investors see this,” Hope said.
Hope also said he would scrap the county’s current system for measuring performance goals, SnoStat, which he considers ineffective. He proposed replacing it with another analytic system aimed at achieving results based on one he helped create as a Seattle police detective.
Reardon said many of Hope’s proposed changes would duplicate active government functions.
“All of the citizen-driven oversight programs that he said he wants already exist, he just wants to change the names,” Reardon said.
Reardon, 40, is in his second four-year term as executive. Before that, the Everett native served in Washington state’s Senate and House. His campaign has focused on trying to bring to Snohomish County the manufacturing facilities for the next generation of the Boeing Co. 737 jet. He’s also highlighted transportation issues, such as passenger rail service, and his support of local farming.
The crowd for Hope’s address included a few dozen people, among them Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine, Lake Stevens Mayor Vern Little and local GOP leaders. The crowd also included Reardon staffers, watching and listening.
Marine afterward said he has nothing against Reardon personally, but believes that the executive has been unwilling to collaborate with others, including city leaders and members of the County Council.
“I like Aaron, I work with him, obviously we’re on the Sound Transit Board together,” Marine said. “That’s what his downfall has been — I don’t know if he’s afraid to let people in on his plans because he doesn’t want them to take credit.”
Another observer was Mike Pattison, a government affairs manager with the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. The representative for one of the county’s largest industries gave credit to the current administration for making the permitting process in Snohomish County “infinitely faster” than other local jurisdictions.
“It’s hard to imagine improving on what we feel is a great structure that Reardon has in place,” Pattison said.
To learn more about the candidates’ campaigns, go to www.aaronreardon.com or to www.hopeforexec.com.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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