Letter to the Editor: Snohomish League of Women Voters recommends a "no" vote on proposed Snohomish county charter amendments

To the Editor:

Five proposed amendments to Snohomish County’s Charter, which is our county constitution, are on the November 3 ballot. The League of Women Voters of Snohomish County urges voters to cast a “no” vote on each proposition.

Why? We believe the Snohomish County Charter Review Commission, the body of elected citizens that reviewed the Charter, failed to fulfill one of its stated tasks: “to provide a forum for public input.”

League members attended meetings of the commission throughout its time in session. We saw the commissioners determine which proposals would appear on the ballot before formal public comment, and there was no independent path for the public to submit proposals for consideration.

Official public hearings came about at the last minute. The commission website has no written records of public comments or testimony and no posted minutes of the last meeting.

In addition, our League is extremely concerned about Propositions 2 and 5 because their antidemocratic requirements give veto power to a minority of council members. Currently, financial proposals require three of five council votes to pass. Propositions 2 and 5 would raise that to four of five, meaning any two members could block action.

Our recommendation to vote “no” on all five proposed amendments to the Snohomish County Charter rests on our long history of advocating for local government to provide adequate public notice of actions, hold open meetings and make public records easily accessible.

Brenda Mann Harrison
President, League of Women Voters of Snohomish County
Snohomish, WA