Councilman Nehring's September Newsletter

Dear North County Neighbors,

As the school year starts and summer comes to a close, I hope you had time to enjoy our great summer weather with family and friends. As fall approaches, we are busy at the Snohomish County Council wrapping up our policy work and heading into the budget process for next year. In this month’s newsletter, I will be highlighting my Snohomish County Update presentations, a look at our early budget work, the ribbon cutting for the Granite Falls Civic Center, and the Evergreen State Fair. 

Each year, I have the opportunity to provide a Snohomish County update to various Chambers of Commerce, rotary clubs, and other service groups in North Snohomish County. These Snohomish County Updates provide our business, government, and community leaders information about the important progress we are making in Snohomish County on behalf of our constituents. On August 15th, I spoke to the Arlington Rotary Club and on August 23rd, I presented to the Marysville-Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. At these meetings, I highlighted Snohomish County’s budget, our work in economic development including Paine Field commercial air service and the Cascade Industrial Center, and our progress on the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways (RAP) Program. I also talked about important transportation needs in our region, the $200 million in transportation coming to North County in the next few years, and our work addressing homelessness and drug abuse. You can read the Arlington Times’ coverage of my address to the Marysville-Tulalip Chamber here.

The adoption of Snohomish County’s annual budget is a long and involved process. It begins each spring with the Executive’s Office sending out budget instructions to County departments and offices. Departments review the instructions and their needs before proposing their budget to the Executive’s Office. Each department has the opportunity to meet with the Executive and Finance staff to make their pitch. I have sat in on many of these meetings to get an early look at what is being proposed. In late September, the Executive will propose a budget for all of the County departments and offices. The County Council then spends the next month and a half reviewing the Executive’s proposed budget and considering potential changes. While it is still early in the process, I have been clear that my priorities involve identifying and implementing efficiencies and working within our means to avoid tax increases for Snohomish County residents. I will continue to keep you updated on our budget work as the process continues. 

On August 20th, I attended the ribbon cutting for the brand new Granite Falls Civic Center and City Hall. This project has been years in the making and it is great to see the final product. Strong city leadership with a vision toward the future made this project a reality. I am happy to have supported the project and proud of Snohomish County’s investment of over $150k toward it. You can read more about the ribbon cutting ceremony in the Everett Herald’s coverage here.

Lastly, I hope that you all had the opportunity to attend the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. The annual County Fair is one of the largest agricultural based fairs in the state! The fair began on August 22nd and runs through Labor Day so it isn’t too late to go enjoy some fair food, ride in the amusement park, and see the animals on exhibit throughout the fair. I had a great time attending the opening day ceremonies and even won the ice cream making contest alongside 39th District Representative Carolyn Eslick, Edmonds City Councilwoman Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, and her son Dominick. I included some fun pictures from opening day below.

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

Snohomish County Council 3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609 Everett, Washington 98201   8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building  Phone: 425-388-3494 E-Mail: Nate.Nehring@snoco.org   Russell Wiita, Legislative Aide