Over the past year and a half, a lot has been said about how the City of Lake Stevens is facing long term financial woes due to the lack of developable commercial land within their urban growth area. It’s quite evident that the county Comp Plan failed to reserve adequate land to meet the city’s needs and in their haste to collect permit revenues, they couldn’t have cared less.
When Dave Somers was asked a couple months ago why the county had allowed so much residential development inside the Lake Stevens Urban Growth Area, leaving the city seriously handicapped for a commercial tax base he indicated that there was nothing the county could do to stop it. It was a lame answer then and it doesn’t get any better.
So, in today’s Everett Herald, the story above the fold was about how the Snohomish County Council had voted to preserve mobile home parks and prevent them from converting to some other use.
The county council acted decisively and demonstrated what they could do if they were properly motivated. Threatened with the possible loss of a couple mobile home parks, the county declared a moratorium on conversions then proceeded to rezone the land to protect it.
The inconsistency of the council in recognizing emergencies or non-emergencies and how they deal with them causes me some concern. In the case of mobile home parks, they acted swiftly and decisively to address the issue.
It is good to see they are capable of doing so when needed. On the other hand, the implications of botched planning in the Lake Stevens Urban Growth Area did create a crisis if not an emergency for a city powerless to stop it from happening. But, I guess if the county council and the planning department weren’t bright enough to recognize the damage they were doing, we shouldn’t expect them to act decisively to correct it. Is that a concern to anyone besides me?
Somers led us to believe that he was aware of the error of the Lake Stevens plan but was “powerless” to prevent it from happening. Yet he enacted a moratorium to prevent mobile home park owners from legally using their own land and subsequently rezoned the land to lock it in limbo forever in a few short months.
Leadership is being out front, solving little problems before they turn into fiascos. Leadership is being proactive in advocating for your constituents. Was the council demonstrating leadership in acting on behalf of mobile home park residents? Where were they when Lake Stevens needed them? Where was Dave Somers when a whole city needed him?
This is just another example of Dave Somers dodging his responsibility and blaming the past four years of failing his constituents on the fading memory of Jeff Sax and a previous council administration.
When does Dave Somers have to take responsibility for being irresponsible? The lame excuses he gives for his miserable failures are getting tiresome!
I think it’s time for a change in Council District 5! Vote for Steve Dana!
No Loss for Words
Moratorium on Bad Judgement!
by Steve DanaOver the past year and a half, a lot has been said about how the City of Lake Stevens is facing long term financial woes due to the lack of developable commercial land within their urban growth area. It’s quite evident that the county Comp Plan failed to reserve adequate land to meet the city’s needs and in their haste to collect permit revenues, they couldn’t have cared less.
When Dave Somers was asked a couple months ago why the county had allowed so much residential development inside the Lake Stevens Urban Growth Area, leaving the city seriously handicapped for a commercial tax base he indicated that there was nothing the county could do to stop it. It was a lame answer then and it doesn’t get any better.
So, in today’s Everett Herald, the story above the fold was about how the Snohomish County Council had voted to preserve mobile home parks and prevent them from converting to some other use.
The county council acted decisively and demonstrated what they could do if they were properly motivated. Threatened with the possible loss of a couple mobile home parks, the county declared a moratorium on conversions then proceeded to rezone the land to protect it.
The inconsistency of the council in recognizing emergencies or non-emergencies and how they deal with them causes me some concern. In the case of mobile home parks, they acted swiftly and decisively to address the issue.
It is good to see they are capable of doing so when needed. On the other hand, the implications of botched planning in the Lake Stevens Urban Growth Area did create a crisis if not an emergency for a city powerless to stop it from happening. But, I guess if the county council and the planning department weren’t bright enough to recognize the damage they were doing, we shouldn’t expect them to act decisively to correct it. Is that a concern to anyone besides me?
Somers led us to believe that he was aware of the error of the Lake Stevens plan but was “powerless” to prevent it from happening. Yet he enacted a moratorium to prevent mobile home park owners from legally using their own land and subsequently rezoned the land to lock it in limbo forever in a few short months.
Leadership is being out front, solving little problems before they turn into fiascos. Leadership is being proactive in advocating for your constituents. Was the council demonstrating leadership in acting on behalf of mobile home park residents? Where were they when Lake Stevens needed them? Where was Dave Somers when a whole city needed him?
This is just another example of Dave Somers dodging his responsibility and blaming the past four years of failing his constituents on the fading memory of Jeff Sax and a previous council administration.
When does Dave Somers have to take responsibility for being irresponsible? The lame excuses he gives for his miserable failures are getting tiresome!
I think it’s time for a change in Council District 5! Vote for Steve Dana!
Posted in Partisan Politics, Snohomish County Council, Snohomish County Political Commentary, Steve Dana Issues | Leave a Comment »