What does it cost for Snohomish County to pass an ordinance that is favored by developers and real estate agents and opposed by the public? Apparently the price tag is $23,000, per Dave Somer’s re-election campaign donations public disclosure statement that reads like a who’s who of Snohomish County developers.
On Jan. 16, 2019, the County Council voted 4-1 to eliminate the “two-foot rule” (Ordinance 18-106) allowing developers to grade and build 20-foot high retaining walls right on a neighbor’s lot line, without first having to obtain the neighbor’s permission, as reported in The Herald on Jan. 20.
This code change, supported by the county executive’s office, allows developers to make more money by adding even more impervious surfaces in Snohomish County. Developers are now free to cut the neighbor’s tree roots, endangering their trees, and forcing neighbors to cut down their trees resulting in loss of even more tree canopy.
The very next day after the ordinance’s passage, Dave Somers’ campaign received $23,000 from 17 developer or real estate agents. All these same-day donations could be a coincidence, like flipping a coin and having it come up heads 17 times in a row; or was there some coordinated wink-and-nod bribery collusion between the executive’s office and these developers to get this ordinance passed, in exchange for $23,000 in campaign donations?
While these donations might not be a provable quid pro quo campaign violation, they certainly stink from an appearance of fairness standpoint.
Mr. Somers should do the right thing and return these donations and stop taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers to buy his support not to rein in poorly planned development. The County Council should re-consider the ordinance in light of the biased recommendation from the county executive’s office.
William Lider
Lynnwood
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