South Snohomish County Republicans have three choices for a nominee in an effort to wrest the county executive spot from the Democrats, which Bob Drewel has held for 12 years.
During a question-and-answer session with the Enterprise last week, the three candidates spoke about their views on various issues facing the county. The three candidates face off in the Sept. 16 primary, with the winner advancing to the November general election.
Only one of the three Republican candidates has a background in elected office. Dave Earling has been an Edmonds City Council member for 12 years, is vice-chair of the Sound Transit board, and was appointed to serve on Gov. Gary Locke’s transportation task force.
Betty Neighbors of Lake Stevens is president of Terra Resources Group, a staffing agency and has served as a precinct committee officer for 39th district Republicans.
Bob McCaughan of Snohomish is a building official for Island County who has also worked for Snohomish County and the U.S. Forest Service. A licensed architect, he is a department coordinator for United Way.
On the question as to what the county’s role should be regarding planning in city urban growth areas, McCaughan said the county’s first priority should be to provide services in those areas. He said he believes the county should respond to the “public pattern of migration.”
Earling, meanwhile, said the county’s planning isn’t done well at all, and that it should take the lead in planning unincorporated areas. He also said the county and cities “need to come together and agree on a common agenda” in terms of land use.
Neighbors said the public needs to be better informed about the planning process and why development is going on around them. She also wants neighborhoods involved in the planning process.
As far as the economy is concerned, Neighbors said she would like to assemble a business roundtable consisting of business owners and private citizens, to name a few. She also said she was interested in streamlining the permitting process and changing county codes to allow unused farm buildings to be able to house businesses.
McCaughan said he would want to broaden the small business base in the county by hiring a person whose job it would be to lure successful businesses to come to Snohomish County. He also said he would have “brown-bag lunches” with department directors to discuss ideas for a variety of areas, not just economic development.
Earling said he wants to quit “talking about economic development and get moving.” He said the first priority of the county is to retain existing businesses, and criticized the way the county has handled the Boeing situation. He said the county needs to develop a strategy in case the military decides to close Naval Station Everett during the next round of base closures.
As far as leadership styles, Neighbors described herself as being good at “getting disparate groups together.” She said she would “always have the community’s best interest at heart” and would “expect the (county) council to work with me.” She said she would want to prepare in advance for any situation that could arise.
McCaughan said he would work with the county council to craft legislation. “The concept of politics is to give-and-take and make government work for the people.” He also said he would emphasize being prepared for different situations and develop organizational charts so different branches knew their roles in varying situations.
Earling also said it was important to reach a consensus with the county council before it came time to vote on legislation. He also characterized himself as “an independent person. You can come up with your own separate conclusions.” He said he has the ability to make hard decisions and cited his work with Sound Transit, where he called a weekend meeting of three county executives to discuss cost overruns on the Seattle light rail tunnel.
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