News from County Executive Dave Somers: April 2019

Snohomish County, Washington sent this bulletin at 04/18/2019 01:33 PM PDT

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April 2019

State of the County 2019

The Future We Choose!

Executive Somers delivers his State of the County address

Last month, I gave my annual State of the County address before hundreds of community members and local leaders. I always appreciate the opportunity to talk about what we accomplish each year and where we plan to go in the future. We have much to celebrate!

We launched commercial air service at Paine Field; opened the Diversion Center and Carnegie Resource Center to provide services for those battling addiction or experiencing homeless; we are building on our partnerships across the region; we have launched new initiatives on housing, workforce development and the environment. We will continuously work on solutions to the challenges facing our community. It will be a great year ahead for Snohomish County.

Dave Somers
County Executive

3000 Rockefeller Ave.,

M/S 407
Everett, WA 98201

425-388-3050

County.Executive@snoco.org

www.snohomishcountywa.gov

Public Advocate

425-388-3365

Housing

I care deeply about the lack of affordable housing, which is hitting our region particularly hard. With one of the hottest housing markets in the country, the Puget Sound region is growing increasingly unaffordable for some residents, and home ownership is becoming less attainable for the middle class. To pursue innovative solutions, I am establishing the Snohomish County Housing Task Force. I will be convening a team of local elected officials and community leaders to examine the state of housing in Snohomish County and provide recommendations for addressing the gaps. I will ask them to look at middle-income and affordable housing, subsidized housing, alternative housing models, and land use and redevelopment. Working in partnership with those impacted by the tight housing market, we will do what we can to advance solutions.

Workforce

I hear from our partners across the private and public sectors that in order to create and sustain economic growth throughout the county we need to build a gold standard workforce development system. That is why I launched a Workforce Development Initiative to make us the five star model for this key part of our economy. This will involve looking at the best practices of other successful workforce development programs and figuring out what can be adopted in our community. The goal of this project is to help us understand what is currently working well, what could be improved, where the local workforce system will need to be in the 2020s, and what it will take to get there. If we don’t continue to innovate on training and re-training workers for our new economy, we will pay a price when companies come looking for a place to invest or expand. Our workforce system is one of the most important bedrocks of our economy.

Environment

Ensuring that we are being good stewards of our public lands has always been a priority of mine. I spent nearly two decades as a fish biologist for the Tulalip Tribes, ensuring salmon could thrive in our waterways and the Puget Sound. In 2016, I launched the Puget Sound Initiative to prioritize projects that keep our waterways clean and protect our natural resources. This past summer, we completed the Smith Island Restoration Project, allowing us to reclaim a significant portion of our estuary needed for salmon recovery. I’m proud to announce a new partnership with Forterra to launch the Snohomish County Healthy Forest Project. This program will focus on restoring the health of county-owned forested land through a community stewardship model. As we grow in our urban areas, we must also work to protect our open spaces. With steady progress, we hope to not just preserve but improve our quality of life.

New Snohomish County Film

Our Parks staff created a short film highlighting the beauty of Snohomish County, “The Future We Choose.” The film premiered during my State of the County address. Please have a look and feel free to share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2xi9zzcB8

United Airlines Starts Service at PAE

Last month, we celebrated the launch of commercial service at Paine Field with Alaska Airlines first flights.

On March 31, United Airlines’ inaugural flights took off from Paine Field, connecting travelers with two of United’s largest hubs, San Francisco, CA (SFO) and Denver, CO (DEN). Connecting our community with more major international hubs is going to be a significant opportunity for growth by attracting both business and leisure travelers. It is also a great convenience for those in our community who travel.

I appreciate all the feedback we’ve received and look forward to our continued partnership with United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Propeller Airports.