Voters should consider Schmidt, Somers, Ashley

After some of the most hotly contested races in recent memory, voters will choose a majority of the Snohomish County Council on Nov. 6.

Voters should add Republican Dave Schmidt in the race for an open seat in south county and stick with east county Democratic incumbent Dave Somers and recent Democratic appointee Mike Ashley in north county.

The race for District 1 in north county pits two exceptionally well-matched candidates. Ashley brings a strong focus on making sure that developers pay a fair share of costs as the county grows. His hard work since being appointed in January backs up an impression of a candidate genuinely committed to hearing his district’s concerns. Ashley has a richly varied professional background, including dairy farming and service in the Air Force. His formidable opponent is Republican John Koster, the former state representative whose dynamism and intellectual sharpness continue to offer exciting leadership potential. Koster has focused his race on adding sheriff’s deputies, holding down property tax hikes and transportation. It’s a close race that ought to be decided on the candidates’ pluses, not on critics’ mischaracterizations of Koster’s record in the Legislature.

In District 4 (which includes Mountlake Terrace and the north Bothell area), Schmidt brings a record of excellent leadership in the state Legislature where he has proven himself capable of working across party lines in virtually any situation. Schmidt is both a good listener and a policymaker who studies the issues with such care that he can create innovative but reasonable solutions to contentious issues. With his strong, moderate record as a legislator, Schmidt should be a clear choice even against an excellent opponent, Mountlake Terrace Mayor Dave Gossett. Mountlake Terrace’s mayor and a county policy analyst , Gossett has exceptional skills of his own for crafting solutions. His elective service in Mountlake Terrace has shown an ability to bring harmony to a city council that had been marked by factionalism.

Somers has built a strong record of closely studying the issues during four years as the District 5 county council member. His background as a biologist will continue to be an asset as the county faces salmon issues and other decisions about environmental protection. His challenger is Jeff Sax, a first-time candidate with a grasp of the issues. An engineer, he’s running on much the same platform as Koster, but his lack of prior experience leaves voters relatively little basis for judging his likely performance in such an important elective office.

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