Dear North County Neighbors,
I hope you and your family enjoy a fun and safe 4th of July this weekend as we celebrate our independence as a nation. In this month’s newsletter, I will highlight a number of community events and issues that we worked on last month as well as some commentary pieces I wrote for the Everett Herald.
Public Safety Town Hall
On June 8th, I hosted a joint town hall with Sheriff Adam Fortney, Councilmember Sam Low, and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Matt Baldock to talk with the community about public safety in Snohomish County. The event was held at the Marysville Opera House and the room was packed full of residents and business owners eager to ask their questions and hear about what we are doing to address the public safety crisis in our communities.
We discussed a broad range of issues from the staffing crisis facing law enforcement agencies in Snohomish County and across the state to recent police reform legislation enacted by the state legislature. We also shared our thoughts on the Blake decision in which the Supreme Court essentially decriminalized hard drugs, making it more difficult for law enforcement and social workers to get people the help they need.
Over 150 people attended the event and asked important questions about how we as local leaders are working to address public safety. I appreciated the opportunity to hear from many of these residents before, during, and after the event.
Following the town hall, Sheriff Fortney, Councilmember Low, and I penned this op-ed for the Everett Herald. In it, we discuss the important decisions facing the state legislature and the need for them to address many of the issues making police recruitment and retention difficult.
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