Editorial

The past few weeks have seen the governments of King and Snohomish counties publicly engage in the rhetoric of fear and in gamesmanship over the eventual construction of the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant. In reality, it may be a case of a lot of heads buried in the sand and sinful pride.

According to members of the Regional Water Quality Commission, a King County entity, Snohomish County is throwing roadblocks in front of the project that will cost time and money.

The Snohomish County Council responds with ordinances that it says are required by the state and are required of everyone, not just Brightwater.

What neither party is doing is reaching out to the other to allay the fears and address the concerns of the other.

While both the “chicken little” cries of King County and the “proud as a peacock” righteousness of Snohomish County may look good to particular blocs of voters, neither does anything to answer the larger questions of managing growth in a multi-county region.

A solid starting point would be a simple step: open lines of communication.

When the Regional Water Quality Commission meets each month in Seattle, it is a rare sight to see a representative from Snohomish County in the room.

At the same time, Snohomish County Council members and staff claim to be unaware of the machinations in King County and claim they are not advised of the meetings or actions of the Regional Water Quality Commission.

Whatever the ultimate truth is, the fact is that at a critical time for these two counties to work together in the best interests of their citizens, they are not.

Short-sighted squabbling may lead to years of expensive legal maneuvers and construction delays, resulting in higher costs to citizens in both counties.

As the date for final site selection looms, it is time for our politicians to make use of the leadership skills they were elected to demonstrate and determine together what is best for the current and future citizens of the region.