County must address sheriff understaffing

Recently I was gratified to learn that County Executive Bob Drewel has created a new position for county government and appointed Susan Neely as public safety program manager. Hopefully, this new program will address the issue of understaffing in the Sheriff’s Office.

Last year, Citizens For A Safe Snohomish County, a volunteer, non-partisan task force, reported that the sheriff’s office has been critically understaffed for over 10 years as a direct result of consistent public policy and budgetary choices made by the county executive and county council. So, we are grateful that a new county public safety program might be a long overdue first step toward solving the problem.

However, a larger debt of gratitude is due former CSSC task force member, now Snohomish County councilman, Jeff Sax, who made deputy understaffing a focus of his campaign. With courage and vision, he propelled the issue of public safety in Snohomish County to the forefront. His work together with that of CSSC and the investigative reporting of local broadcast journalists has stirred the public consciousness on safety issues in Snohomish County. The pressure is on.

It is an undeniable fact that because of deputy understaffing, Snohomish County government is risking not only the safety and peace of mind of its citizens, but millions of dollars in pending lawsuits, largely based on lack of response.

Public safety is the number one responsibility of government and should be the number one priority in budgeting. We welcome Susan Neely to the table. In a spirit of cooperation, we will find creative solutions to the problem of understaffing in the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The tired excuse, “We don’t have the money,” is no longer valid.

Citizens For a Safe Snohomish County

Everett

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