How good would their reputations be if 75 percent of the planes Boeing built had mistakes, or 75 percent of the software Microsoft produced had errors? And how upset do you think the CEOs of those companies would be?
In Snohomish County, the Department of Planning and Development Services issues the wrong type of building permit 75 percent of the time for at least one category of projects. And that is only for when the people applying for those permits permits are honest. The mistake rate jumps to 87 percent of the time when you add in the times when the people applying for the permits are less than forthcoming or don’t know what they are doing, and PDS does not catch it. This is not an accusation of dirty dealings at PDS, it is pure ineptitude.
That leaves the remaining 13 percent, who were both honest and unfortunate enough to work with someone at PDS who actually knew what they were doing, spending many thousands of dollars more on construction and yearly taxes and fees.
While the unlucky 13 percent has spent thousands more in the past than the other 87 percent ($107,000 in my case), without any change in the system to make it fair, the unlucky 13 percent will continue to spend thousands more every year in additional taxes, fees and regulatory requirements.
These are not opinions, they are facts revealed in an internal study done by Alan Husby, a PDS code specialist. And how does the elected CEO of the county (Executive Aaron Reardon) respond when asked what he will do for the 13 percent going forward (ignoring the past expenses)? Absolutely nothing. In fact, his office does a wonderful job of blocking any e-mail return receipts. He thinks a 75 percent failure rate is acceptable.
George Schlosser
Lake Stevens
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