(Source: The Seattle Times)
By Emily Heffter, The Seattle Times
Oct. 29--At the heart of Snohomish County's hard-fought executive race are 34,000 unemployed people and the fallout: home foreclosures, stagnant tax revenue, government layoffs.
The campaigns have splashed personal accusations across television screens and mailers, but voters will have to decide by Nov. 8 which candidate can better lead the county through continuing economic uncertainty.
Incumbent Aaron Reardon is a homegrown, fiscally conservative Democrat. In eight years, he has not proposed a single property-tax increase, though the County Council overrode his veto to pass one in 2007.
Reardon says he has made the best of bad times, even setting aside a $22 million rainy-day fund while other cities and counties burned through their savings accounts. The county's staff has shrunk by 12 percent since 2004.
"We brought a sense of financial stewardship to Snohomish County that is unparalleled across the state," Reardon said.
Republican Mike Hope, a Seattle police officer and state representative in the 44th District, led his campaign with a five-point economic plan to create jobs, cut government costs and root out mismanagement with a new watchdog county department.
Snohomish County's unemployment rate -- 9 percent -- is slightly higher than the state as a whole, and Hope blames Reardon for that.
In campaign literature and television ads, Hope says more than 38,000 jobs have been lost in the county since 2007. According to the state Employment Security Department, the county lost a net 9,300 jobs between August 2007 and August 2011.
A focus on jobs
Snohomish County, north of Seattle, is a mix of urban and rural communities with a wealth of natural resources, a recovering agricultural industry and two Indian reservations.
The county's economic health relies on the aerospace industry and its anchor, Boeing.
Traditionally, the county has been heavy on manufacturing and agricultural jobs. As employers seek more highly skilled workers, there's a push to train those who have been laid off, said Sue Ambler, president and CEO of the Workforce Development Council Snohomish County.
Her job center sees thousands of people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits but can't find jobs in fields such as the mortgage industry and construction.
"I don't think anybody can just create jobs," she said. "There are jobs.