Councilman Nehring's April Newsletter

Snohomish County NewsNate Nehring

Dear North County Neighbors,

March saw a culmination of some of the efforts surrounding opioids that I have been working on over the past year. In this month’s newsletter, I will highlight our press conference related to the heroin and opioid epidemic in North County, my legislation that passed in March, and upcoming 2019 budget discussions.

Last Thursday, March 29th, I joined Executive Somers, Sheriff Trenary, and the mayors and police chiefs of Arlington and Marysville to launch the North County Law Enforcement-Embedded Social Worker (LEESW) team. As I have shared before, the LEESW team consists of a sheriff’s deputy, a Marysville police officer, an Arlington police officer, and two social workers. This team is deployed into the community to approach homeless and drug addicted individuals in their element and work to get them on a better, more productive path. The team was just officially launched last week and we have already seen some great success stories. I am excited to see the great work they will do and the positive impact that they will have on the lives of these individuals and the community at-large.

At the press conference, I also highlighted some of the recent legislation that I have introduced and the County Council has passed. The first piece of legislation that we passed was Ordinance 18-014, banning heroin injection sites in Snohomish County. Back in September, 2017, the Snohomish County Council passed a moratorium on these dangerous sites while we considered a permanent ban. After review by the Planning Commission and Council, we unanimously passed the ban. I am so grateful to all of the residents that testified and showed their support for banning heroin injection sites in unincorporated Snohomish County. I am also thankful to the Cities of Lake Stevens, Lynnwood, Marysville, Snohomish, Sultan, Granite Falls and the Town of Darrington for moving forward with bans of their own. Pierce County is also pursuing a ban similar to ours which was inspired by the movement here in Snohomish County.

My second piece of legislation passed by the Council last month is the Chronic Nuisance Properties Ordinance (Ord. 18-013). This ordinance is the product of many months of work by the Drug and Gang Task Force, the Sheriff’s Office, Planning and Development Services, and Council staff. The new law will give more tools to law enforcement to identify and bring resolution to chronic nuisance properties. While the code encourages voluntary compliance (abatement of the nuisance), it also lays out the process for mandatory abatement if the property owner is not willing to take steps to stop the illegal activity happening. This is an important step in helping to address the negative impact drug addiction and the associated crime are having on our neighborhoods.

As we move further into the year, we are starting to have early conversations about the 2019 budget process and priorities. As you will recall, last year we were successful in passing a budget that did not increase property taxes and lives within our means. I have the same goal this year and I have been meeting with Councilmembers and the County Executive to start those conversations. I am pleased at the direction we are heading and looking forward to continued talks about where we can save money and continue to provide necessary services to Snohomish County residents without resorting to a tax increase.

I send out newsletters on a monthly basis to keep you informed about what I am working on and how I am representing the residents of North Snohomish County on the County Council. Please feel free to reach out to me at 425-388-3494 or Nate.Nehring@snoco.org.

Sincerely,

Nate Nehring
Councilman, District 1

In The News

(Click on the article title for a link to the coverage)

 

Ban on Heroin Injection Sites

“… County has permanently banned heroin injection sites” –Kiro 7

“Drug Consumption Sites Permanently Banned” – My Northwest

“Snohomish County Permanently Bans Heroin Injection Sites” –Everett Herald

“SnoCo bans heroin injection sites in unincorporated areas” –Stanwood Camano News

“Heroin Injection Sites banned in County Areas” –Edmonds Beacon

“Council bans safe injection sites in unincorporated Snohomish County” –Monroe Monitor

John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur – KVI Podcast

 

North County Law Enforcement-Embedded Social Worker

“Pioneering Snohomish County Crime Fighting Program Expanding to Marysville and Arlington” –Q13 Fox

“Embedded Social Workers already making a difference in Marysville and Arlington” –Marysville Globe

“New Team to address homelessness, addiction in north part of Snohomish County” –KOMO News

“County, cities add to toolbox for fighting opioids” –Everett Herald

 

Chronic Nuisance Ordinance

"New Law Takes on Nuisance Properties" – Everett Herald