The Bothell City Council was left out of the Sept. 17 article, “Officials in county score high on meeting attendance.” Since more than half of our city is in Snohomish County, it would have been nice to be included in the coverage.
Bothell City Council attendance statistics would have been newsworthy because we have one council member, Jeff Merrill, who has had chronic attendance problems.
It galls me that Merrill is running for a fourth term when his no-shows average 31 percent. (That’s 184 out of 594 meetings) from January 1994 through Sept. 6, 2005. This does not include more than 20 late arrivals and more than 20 early departures. His 2004 meeting attendance was 49 out of 88 meetings. (Data compiled from council minutes published at City Hall from January 2004 through Sept. 6, 2005.)
It isn’t easy for officials to fill these positions, have a full-time job and prepare for the meetings. I can appreciate the need to miss a meeting now and then.
However, Merrill illustrates a real problem. He is telling folks he had family issues during the second half of 2004 when he missed most of the meetings. He neglects to mention that during the same time he was running for a seat in the Legislature against Al O’Brien.
Merrill’s attendance has been poor and affects his ability to represent his constituency.
Linda Little
Bothell
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