Megan Dunn's eNewsletter
Snohomish County Council
3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609
Everett, Washington 98201
8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building
Phone: 425-388-3494
E-Mail: Megan.Dunn@snoco.org
Paula Rhyne, Legislative Aide
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April is a favorite month of mine with the emergence of the spring season and the celebrations for Earth Day and Arbor Day. In a previous newsletter I shared about the work to put together an Urban Tree Canopy proposal for the County’s Comprehensive Plan. I’m proud to share that Council recently passed this proposal with bipartisan support (4 to 1) and it will be included for consideration with the larger Comp Plan when it comes back before council in September of 2024. I'm proud to champion a number of measures that work to address climate change and protect frontline communities.
There are several events this month where you can join the community to plant trees or pick up litter in honor of Earth Day. I hope that you will be inspired to continue these efforts all year long. I always carry extra pickers and gloves to pick up trash in my neighborhood!
In this newsletter I have environmentally-focused updates to share along with some other ways that you can get involved in the County. As always, our office is here as a resource to you. My office is committed to being responsive and helpful. If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at Megan.Dunn@snoco.org. You can also call my office at 425-388-3494.
I was honored to have recently been presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Snohomish County Arts Commission for championing funding in the 2022 county budget for public arts projects. Public art is important to me because it helps bolster the quality of life in our county. The Arts Commission receives money through the County 1% for the Arts Fund wherein an amount equal to 1% of certain county construction projects must be donated to a fund for public art in the county. In last year's budget I was able to contribute an additional $10,000 to help increase the number of projects they can fund. If you’re an artist, please bookmark their Calls to Artist page for opportunities. And if you’re an appreciator of art, please keep your eyes peeled around the county for public art that’s already been installed because of this great program. Please see this recent Herald article on the Oso Mudslide Memorial and read how an art installation is bringing peace to the families impacted by this tragic event.
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With Kate MacKenzie of the Snohomish County Arts Commission |
Speaking of calls for artists, I recently received word from Everett’s Delta Neighborhood Association that they have received grant funds from the Everett Cultural Arts Commission to paint a mural at the underpass of I-5 near exit 195. They are hoping to brighten up this space with a mural that captures Everett's working class and maritime history. Please submit samples of your portfolio to the mural steering committee at deltaneighborhoodassociation@gmail.com. Deadline is May 31.
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Snohomish County recently started accepting applications again for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The rental assistance is available to households who have been impacted because of income loss or other factors impacting housing stability as a result of the pandemic. To be eligible, households must be at or below 50% of the Area Median Income, experienced hardship as a result of the pandemic, and at risk of becoming homeless. Folks can apply by calling 211. For residents aged 24 and under living on their own, please call Cocoon House (425-426-5002), or if your household needs assistance with your utility bill, please call Workforce Snohomish at 425-300-6006. Please visit this website for more information and ways to connect to various resources.
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April is also Child Abuse Prevention month. Through my work leading the County and Local Human Services Providers calls, we previously heard from representatives at Everett’s Dawson Place about how the pandemic has impacted their work and the families they serve. It's heartbreaking to hear about the trauma some children have had to endure but I am grateful that we have Dawson Place here in our county to help prevent abuse. If you would like to support their work or learn more, Dawson Place is hosting the Super Kids Community Resource Fair on April 23 from 1:30 to 3:00 PM on Hoyt and California in downtown Everett. There will be a food truck, resource fair, games and crafts for kids, a bounce house, a fire truck, and even free capes and prizes for kids.
Please also take the time to read through this webpage with more information about how you can be a superhero and recognize, prevent, or report child abuse, sexual assault, or neglect. We can all do our part to prevent child abuse in our communities.
April is also work Zone Awareness Month! Snohomish County Public Works road crews do an amazing job all over Snohomish County to take care of 200 bridges and 1,650 miles of roadway. Their website shares that if you were to lay all of these roadways end-to-end, they would stretch from Everett, WA to Green Bay, WI! Check out this website for a list of the roadway projects that they’re working on. When you see road crews, please do your part to slow the trend of serious crashes by always staying focused and alert, slowing down, securing your loads, and respecting the lives of everyone else out on the roads. Thank you, SnoCo Public Works crews for keeping us safe and moving!
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As we all continue to watch the horrors that are happening in Ukraine, there have been reports that scammers are trying to profit off of the crisis. A reminder to do your research before donating to groups who are claiming to help Ukraine and Ukrainian Refuges, and please report any suspicious solicitation to the WA Attorney General’s Office. Here’s some other measures from the Attorney General’s Office that you can protect yourself from a scammer:
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Don’t give in to high-pressure tactics. If is someone is demanding immediate payment or sensitive personal information, it’s likely a scam.
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Report any suspicious activity to the Attorney General’s Office. If someone suspects a charitable solicitation might be a scam, they can report it to the Attorney General’s Office. To file a complaint about a charity or commercial fundraiser, visit the Attorney General’s website. For suspicious robocalls asking for a donation, file a robocall complaint.
In Snohomish County we are lucky to have Refugee and Immigrant Services NW and their Executive Director, Van Kuno. The county has been partnering with RISNW to help the Afghan refugees and their resettlement, and then over the past month have been accepting and helping Ukranian refugees get settled as well. Van has shared stories that many have traveled through different countries and harrowing circumstances to specifically make their way to Snohomish County for help with resettling. It’s an honor to know that our county’s reputation as a safe and welcoming place for refugees has extended across the globe. Please join me in welcoming our new neighbors.
Shifting away from a reliance on fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources is a critical element to combat climate change. Snohomish County PUD is partnering with the City of Everett to install a solar project in south Everett to help generate energy and funds to assist PUD customers who have trouble paying their bills. The solar array will be located adjacent to Walter Hall Park and will generate an estimated $27,600 to go towards Project PRIDE which is administered by St. Vincent de Paul. To learn more about the solar project and benefits, please visit this site.
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Snohomish County has partnered with Forterra to launch the Snohomish County Healthy Forest Project, a community stewardship program to restore and care for the forested parks and natural areas managed by the County. Through this program, Green Snohomish County will partner with local communities to recruit, train and support volunteer stewards to lead forest restoration projects in priority parks. They have Earth Day events coming up all over the Puget Sound region including an Earth Month Restoration project at McCollum Park in Everett on April 23 from 9-11am. Volunteers will be removing invasive weeds like blackberry, holly, and English ivy. Registration is required.
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The public is invited to join Everett Community College students, faculty, and staff to celebrate Earth Week from April 18 through 22nd. Events include plant swaps, lectures on creating bird friendly communities, and even a talk from celebrity gardening expert Ciscoe Morris! Check out the website or more information and upcoming events.
Mukilteo’s Nature Together group is hosting an Earth Day Beach Cleanup at Howarth Park on April 22 from 3-5p. Nature Together is a great store in Mukilteo with lots of great camping, hiking, and outdoor equipment for young and old. They also host an outdoor preschool program. This is their third year helping to clean up the beach for Earth Day and is a great way for adults and children to lend a hand.
Last summer, Paula and I were excited to volunteer to participate in the Snohomish County Marine Resource Committee’s Annual Kelp Monitoring excursion in Edmonds. It was a stunner of a day and Puget Sound was perfectly calm as we paddled our kayaks through the kelp beds to help monitor their growth. Tracking the growth of these kelp beds helps MRC monitor the health of the waters and the marine ecosystem in which they live. They recently published their 2021 Annual Report and it has a lot of great updates on the work that they are doing. They also have an Earth Day Cleanup Event in partnership with the WSU Extension Beach Watchers at Picnic Point Park on April 23 at 10am. For more info about the MRC or to sign up for the event, please email Elisa Dawson at elisa.dawson@snoco.org.
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I hope you will join me in celebrating Earth Month and extend those celebrations and considerations through the year. We also can’t celebrate Earth Month without an acknowledgement of the original stewards of this land, the bands that now make up the Tulalip Tribes and the people of the Salish Sea. As our council’s Tribal Land Acknowledgement says, we honor “the ancestors whose feet first knew these lands, and whose paddles still know the waters of what we now call Snohomish County.” I’m grateful for the work that the county has been doing to help with environmental restoration and for our partnerships with the local tribes to help make these lands as beautiful as their ancestors protected.
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