Dear Friend:  

June has been shaping up to be quite eventful. We kicked things off by passing Resolution 21-024 recognizing June 2021 as Pride Month in Snohomish County, and I am proud to have led efforts to raise the Progress Flag at the County Campus for the first time in history. Council also recently passed Joint Resolution 21-027 recognizing June 19th as Juneteenth in Snohomish County and celebrate this important day. Also, for those of us with school-aged children, this month marks the end of a very long year of online learning. I’m grateful for the staff, faculty, teachers, and administrators who have worked so hard to help our students through an unprecedented year. What a busy month! 

In this newsletter, I’ll share more about events and celebrations for Pride Month and Juneteenth. Council will also be voting soon on two Hazard Pay Ordinances – one for grocery store workers in unincorporated Snohomish County, and the other for Snohomish County Employees who have been working on the frontlines during the pandemic. The Fourth of July is coming up soon as well, and with the new fireworks ban in the South County Urban Growth Boundary, I’ve included information on the ban and area celebrations. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through my newsletter, and thank you too for all the folks who write in or call my office. I read every email and it’s important to me to be responsive to the community. If you have any thoughts or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at megan.dunn@snoco.org, or you can call our office and leave a message at 425-388-3494. My aide is Paula Rhyne, and she can be reached at paula.rhyne@snoco.org.  

Be Well, 

Megan 

We made history in Snohomish County this month by raising the Progress Flag at the County Campus for the very first time! On Tuesday, June 1, Council passed Resolution 21-024 Recognizing June as Pride Month in Snohomish County. While working on the Resolution, I reached out to local LGBTQIA+ community groups and leaders to ask for intentional input on the wording of the Resolution, as well as input on a small ceremony and Pride Flag. Stakeholders shared that the Progress Flag would be the most inclusive of the Pride Flags as it includes the trans community and the intersection of people from our BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.  

A small private ceremony was held at the county campus wherein Executive Dave Somers read his Proclamation, the LGBTQIA+ community shared words and remembrances, and we raised the Progress Flag at campus. I’m proud to have led this effort with Councilmember Stephanie Wright. Below are some pictures from the event, and all pictures are courtesy of Ashley Kay Photography. Happy Pride Month! 

There’s no doubt that wading our way through COVID has been extraordinarily difficult for so many people, but for workers on the frontlines, challenges have been difficult in a drastically different way. As restaurants shut down, many people flooded to their local grocery store to stock up on food and toiletries. As the tumultuous 2020 continued and many people were resistant to mask mandates, they took out frustrations on frontline employees, including at our local grocery stores. In addition to the public health hazard of working in close proximity to the public, the ongoing stress and duress that grocery store employees have had to endure continues. I’ve heard recent stories about employees who have been harassed, assaulted, spit on, or ridiculed because they have asked customers to follow COVID safety protocols. It’s because of these ongoing hazardous conditions that the County has introduced a Hazard Pay Ordinance for grocery workers in Snohomish County. 

Proposed Ordinance 21-034 will add $4/hour to any employee of a grocery store in Snohomish County whose parent company has more than 500 employees. Once voted on and signed by the Executive, it will go into effect within 10 days and will be effect until either Governor Inslee lifts the State of Emergency, or December 31, 2021, whichever comes first.  

Coupled with this Ordinance is Ordinance 21-035 that recognizes our frontline workers at the county. While many county employees have been able to work from home, other have not had that option. Employees at our transfer stations, traffic crews, sheriff’s department, and others have continued to work with the public since the onset of COVID and we are grateful for their hard work and for continuing to put themselves in danger. With this Ordinance, the county will use federal money from the ARPA dollars to make a one-time payment of $1,250 to frontline county employees. 

I’m proud to support both Ordinances and glad that these frontline workers can be adequately compensated for their ongoing hard work to keep our region moving forward during a difficult year. 

Both of these Ordinances will come before council at our Public Hearing meeting on June 23 at 10:30am. If you would like to provide comment on either or both of these Ordinances, please join the meeting using this Zoom link (https://zoom.us/j/94846850772) or call in at (253) 215-8782 (Meeting ID: 948 4685 0772). Or you can email the full council at contact.council@snoco.org.  

Council also recently passed a change to our monthly meeting agenda to include a Tribal Land Acknowledgement. This is a formal change in our code, so Council will now include a Tribal Land Acknowledgement at the second General Legislative Session Meeting every month. I am proud that we will be able to honor the local tribes and their ancestors who inhabited this land long before Snohomish County was established in 1861. The County will now join many local school districts, organizations, and city councils to acknowledge the first people of these lands. I am grateful for my relationship with our local tribal communities and proud to have championed this change in our government to government relations.  

Tribal Land Acknowledgment: 

On behalf of the Snohomish County Council and Snohomish County Government, we honor descendants of all of the tribes and bands that have inhabited this land since time immemorial. We stand with these tribes, whose ancestors, by signing the Treaty of Point Elliot in Mukilteo in 1855, enabled our county, cities and other communities to exist here. We honor these tribes as they continue to practice their culture and lifeways; including fishing, hunting and gathering and other cultural traditions. 

With this tribal land acknowledgement, we open our time together by honoring the ancestors whose feet first knew these lands, and whose paddles still know the waters of what we now call Snohomish County. 

As part of a code review, changes were recently made to address Accessory Dwelling Units. While this matter was before council, I heard from many constituents about improving flexibility, housing affordability and being able to expand for family members to move in. It was important to me to incorporate these concerns into the final ordinance. 

I proposed an amendment to remove the parking requirement for ADUs/DADUs since parking quotas thwart one of the cheapest forms of ADUs which is garage conversions. Additionally, occupants in ADUs also own fewer cars than average households, diverts from goals of constructing green affordable ADU homes, and penalizes owners of smaller and less expensive properties. Last, ADU parking spaces cost an estimated $4k-$30k/spot which is an unreasonable expense for most homeowners.  

My amendment to remove the parking spot requirement passed, and the overall ordinance passed as well. The Council directed staff to write an ordinance to consider allowing detached accessory dwelling units on substandard lots and send to the Planning Commission for input and a recommendation. 

Thank you again for taking the time to read through my newsletter. If you have any questions about anything included today, or if I can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to email me at megan.dunn@snoco.org, call and leave a message at 425-388-3494, or you can email my aide at paula.rhyne@snoco.org.  

In service, 

Megan