LYNNWOOD — The two remaining candidates for Snohomish County executive squared off for the first time since the primary election during a lunchtime debate Wednesday, with both saying the county is at a crossroads.
State Sen. Aaron Reardon and longtime Edmonds City Council member Dave Earling highlighted the different paths they would take as county executive.
The debate, hosted by the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce and the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, offered the most pointed exchanges yet between the candidates.
Several grenades were lobbed early.
During his opening statement, Earling hit Reardon with the issue of job jumping. Reardon was criticized during the primary for jumping into three campaigns for different positions in the past four years.
"I give you my word that this is the last public office I will seek," Earling told the crowd at Embassy Suites in Lynnwood.
When the first question was posed, on the declining number of jobs in Snohomish County, Earling assessed the Legislature’s work on the issue as "a day late and a dollar short."
Reardon quickly shot back.
"Need I mention Sound Transit?" Reardon asked, a reminder of Earling’s role on the governing board of the much-maligned mass transit agency.
For the most part, the debate highlighted differences between the candidates on some issues and the similar takes they have on other topics.
Both stressed the importance of diversifying the county’s economy and retaining jobs that already exist here.
Likewise, Reardon and Earling said it was important to make county government more efficient in light of the tough budget times created by the defeat of the jail sales tax proposal earlier this year.
The candidates split somewhat on the controversial rezone of auto dealer Dwayne Lane’s property near I-5 at Island Crossing. The 110-acre rezone was subsequently vetoed by County Executive Bob Drewel.
Reardon said he did not agree with the veto and called it "a bad byproduct of five years of inaction on the administrative and council level."
Earling didn’t say directly if he agreed with the veto. But he did say that it made sense to look at spots along highway corridors where development could help the county’s economy.
Lane has been pushing for the rezone since the mid-1990s and wants to move his Arlington car lot to the high-profile spot next to I-5. But the proposal has been fought by farmers and others because they want the agriculture zoning to stay in place on what they consider prime farmland, and Lane’s development plans are now stalled.
Earling said Drewel’s veto has a good chance of standing up in court.
But if people want such areas opened for development, Earling said, it would take working with the County Council to change planning policies before such zoning changes could be made.
The candidates also split on Initiative 841, a measure on the November ballot that would repeal the state’s ergonomics regulations.
Some businesses view the rules as costly and say they will kill jobs. Unions and other groups say the regulations will prevent workers from being hurt and improve worker productivity.
Earling said he would vote yes to repeal the rules.
"My view is, if there’s a problem, fix the damn thing," Earling said. "We can’t put up with the business community losing millions of dollars a month working with the rule that’s currently there. It’s just too expensive."
Reardon said the regulations could be amended but shouldn’t be thrown out completely.
To Boeing, which supports I-841, Reardon said: "You’re wrong on this issue."
"You don’t burn down the barn because you don’t like what’s inside. That’s what this approach does," he said.
Abandoning ergonomics rules would mean an increase in the cost of health care and health insurance, Reardon said.
"It’s not the reason why people lose money in business," Reardon said of the rules.
The debate was the first in a flurry of forums that will be held before the election.
The event, sponsored in part by The Herald, Bank of America, Prime Pacific Bank NA and Echelbarger Properties Inc., drew a lunchtime crowd of more than 100.
The next forum will be tonight in Darrington at the senior center. That event starts at 6:30 p.m.
The winner in November will replace Drewel, who can’t run for re-election again because of term limits.
The executive position carries a four-year term. The county executive supervises departments that have more than 2,700 employees and an annual general fund budget of more than $161 million. The job pays $122,203 annually.
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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