This year citizens have the opportunity to make important choices about the structure of Snohomish County government. Voters will decide on six ballot propositions from the County Charter Review Commission. These propositions would update the charter essentially our county’s Constitution to conform to state law, and make some modest but important changes to how our county government does business.
These measures deal with several issues: creating an independent salary commission to determine pay for elected officials, giving the county the choice to have a biennial budget, granting the County Executive a “Section Veto,” requiring more transparency in the County Council’s rules of procedure, updating the charter to reflect changes in state election law, and reforming the structure of the county’s Performance Auditor.
All six of these measures are well described in the local Voters’ Pamphlet. We encourage citizens to take a few minutes to review the “pro” and “con” statements appearing in that pamphlet, to understand the arguments for or against each proposition. Many statements were written by Charter Review Commissioners, in their capacity as individual citizens, so you can imagine their words well reflect the debates and deliberations of the commission on these issues.
Propositions on the salary commission, rules of procedure for the County Council, and elections’ issues are without organized opposition. But measures on the biennial budget, the section veto, and the Performance Auditor do have a healthy debate in the Voters’ Pamphlet worth examining.
In addition to the Voters’ Pamphlet, information on these propositions is available on the Internet. Please visit the Snohomish County Web site (www1.co.Snohomish.wa.us), scroll down to “Charter Review Commission,” then click on “Read Final Ballot Measures” to learn more.
We hope all voters will take the time to educate themselves on these propositions and make their voice heard.
Mike Cooper
Chairman, Charter Review Commission
Eric earling
Co-Vice Chair, Charter Review Commission
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