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In last month’s newsletter I shared the exciting update that legislation that I initiated to allow for county surplus vehicles to be donated to local non-profits was nearly ready to introduce. I am thrilled to announce that Ordinance 23-095, the vehicle donation program ordinance, was introduced at the September 19 Administrative Session Meeting and will likely have a final vote on October 18. Over the past few years, I have heard from non-profits in the community that they are in need of a vehicle to help provide basic services to their clients. Uses include everything from transporting food to a homebound senior to giving people an urgently needed ride to a drug treatment center. Vehicles with our Fleet and Facilities Division are legally required to “retire” after they reach the useful end of their life cycles, but they often have plenty of miles left to give. Instead of sending these surplus vehicles to auction for pennies on the dollar, I identified that they could provide a greater public good for the community if they were donated instead. I look forward to this program moving forward and am honored to have championed these efforts to support our community.
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Another initiative that I championed in Snohomish County was establishing an essential and reliable source of funding to address two of our region’s most urgent matters – housing affordability and behavioral health. The Ordinance to allow this was passed in December of 2021 on a 3-2 vote, and since this time the Executive’s Office has been working independently to prepare a plan for how the revenue collected will be allocated. The plan called the “Housing and Behavioral Health Capital Fund” will be incorporated into our upcoming budget discussions for approval. With this fund, the county plans to invest nearly $114 million over five years in the acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, and operations and maintenance of affordable, emergency bridge, and permanent supportive housing. These investments will create approximately 550 new units of affordable housing, and 150 additional units of emergency bridge and permanent supportive housing. Based on the 2023 Point in Time Count, there were 1,285 people living unhoused in the county including 691 individuals without any form of shelter, and this endeavor will go a long way to provide a safe place to stay and services for many in our community.
It is imperative that we act and work on transformational solutions that will improve affordability and livability for everyone in Snohomish County. If you have input on the draft plan, please feel free to email me (megan.dunn@snoco.org) or the full council (contact.council@snoco.org) so we can keep your comments in mind.
The Evergreen State Fair wrapped up over Labor Day weekend and it was another great year of, “Little Moments and Big Memories.” I had a great time attending the fair over a series of days to participate in opening day ceremonies, advisory board meetings, awards ceremonies, and even an ice cream making contest and knitting demonstration. The Fair is the largest county-sponsored event and this year there was a total attendance of 228,681, two sold out rodeo shows, a sold out demolition derby, and an increase in concert ticket sales by 6.5%. attendance was down by 9% and parking revenue down by 5%. I heard from families that costs and fees were a barrier, so keep in mind you can get discounted tickets with a food donation in July and outside food and non-alcoholic beverages are allowed to be brought in. If you have any feedback about the fair that you would like to provide staff, please visit this website.
Many thanks to staff and volunteers who worked hard all year to put on another great fair!
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With Assessor Linda Hjielle at the ice cream making contest. Our team's flavor was "Fair Scone!"
(Not pictured is our other team mates, Kelsey Nyland from the Office of Recovery and Resilience, and Ken Klein from the Executive's Office)
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Teaching the next generation of knitters at the knitting demonstration |
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As the daughter of a twenty-year volunteer firefighter, I have a special appreciation for the families of firefighters as well as the hard work firefighters do every day to keep people safe.
This year on 9/11, I was humbled to attend the North County Regional Fire Training Center grand opening ceremony. The purpose of the new center is twofold: 1) To provide more training slots for fire academy cadets to fill growing vacancies across Snohomish County; and 2) Provide enhanced training to fire fighters so that they can better respond to emergency events. I was pleased to hear that the training facility will incorporate an environmentally-safe water capture and recirculation system which saves on water usage and eliminates hazardous water runoff.
I also received a tour of the Paine Field Fire Department which has a unique responsibility of having the capability to respond to a catastrophic event at the airport. During the tour, they gave a full demonstration of how they respond to a fiery airplane crash! They have a decommissioned plane that they use for training exercises where they can simulate fire emergency and fire personnel run various exercises on how to best respond. It was an experience I will certainly never forget.
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Remarks at the North County Fire Training Ribbon Cutting |
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Training modules and demonstration at the new North County Fire Training center |
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My view of the live fire demonstration at Paine Field! |
I recently joined staff from our Surface Water Management team to tour the Chinook Marsh by boat. This area is near the Ebey Slough and Fobes Hill and is one of the largest restoration projects on the West Coast. In the 1920’s, a levee was built to protect agricultural land, but over the years it constrained the area of its ability to provide a habitat for fish and wildlife, especially cutting off migratory streams for salmon. The levee has also failed and has been rebuilt, but starting in the late 90’s efforts shifted to restoration work instead of continued levee repairs.
Joining for a tour and seeing the area first-hand from the water was an incredible reminder of the rich environmental resources we have in Snohomish County and the importance of efforts to protect and restore environmentally critical areas. While on the tour I enjoyed learning more about the restoration projects and seeing wildlife along the slough.
The County is hosting an online and in-person event to share more information and collect input on the proposed habitat restoration protection actions at Chinook Marsh at an event on Tuesday, October 10, from 5-7p at the Weyerhaeuser Room at Everett Station. For more information on the project and event, please visit this website.
Here are some pictures from the tour (taken by Erik Stockdale) with Brett Gaddis, Gregg Farris, and Kelly Snyder.
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In my efforts to create policies that reduce waste in our county, I was glad to tour the Recycling Learning Center in South Seattle that was opened by Republic Services, Inc. earlier this year. The learning center is designed to educate the community on proper recycling behaviors and offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look into recycling technology and how they process various materials. The tour was a good reminder of how delicate our system's waste stream is and the importance of being mindful of how we consume goods. Tours of the center are free and open to the public and can be scheduled by emailing recyclepnw@republicservices.com.
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With Kaylie Wallin, Sustainability Ambassador |
There have been quite a few ribbon cuttings at the Port of Everett this summer, and I was glad to join for a cake cutting for South Fork Baking Company recently. If you have been to the waterfront recently you will see changes and new developments including apartment buildings, Hotel Indigo, Sound 2 Summit Brewery, Fisherman Jack’s restaurant, Woods Coffee, The Muse, and now South Fork Baking Company, with several other businesses yet to come. It was a wonderful and delicious event and I look forward to many more visits. For more information on what’s coming next for the Port’s waterfront, please visit this site.
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If you know of a teen who needs volunteer hours to graduate, Clothes for Kids, a local organization that provides clothing at no cost to students in Snohomish County, has Wednesday Teen Volunteer Work Parties from 3-5p. Volunteers will help sort and tag clothing that students will be able to browse through. People who are interested can email Lani Griggs, the Program Coordinator, at coordinator@clothesforkids.org. Also, if you or someone you know could use some extra help with a back-to-school wardrobe, please reach out to Clothes for Kids to see if they can help.
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You may have heard the recent news that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has recently expanded to offer services in Washington State. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to any child from birth to age five who signs up for the program. In Snohomish County, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library partnered with the United Way of Snohomish County who are working hard from 9 to 5 to help administer the program, and according to their website, there are over 7,500 children already participating! Please visit this page for more information and to sign up.
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The Edge of Amazing is an annual event dedicated to connecting, educating, and inspiring attendees. This health and well-being summit is presented by Providence Institute for a Healthier Community and I am honored to have been selected to moderate a workshop that explores health policy and access. Other panelists include State Representative Lauren Davis, Dr. James Lewis who is the Health Officer for the Snohomish County Health Department, and Jesus Elizalde-Lindgren who is the Regional Manager of Health Equity for Providence North Division. To register for this event, please visit this page. There are also scholarships available for people who have financial barriers to attend.
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The City of Mukilteo’s Recreation and Cultural Services department recently released their Fall 2023/Winter 2024 Recreation Guide in an online format. People can virtually thumb through to see activities, classes, and events in Mukilteo through winter of next year. The online version has clickable links to take you to separate pages for more information.
Starting October 11, 2023, WSU Extension Snohomish County will begin their Growing Groceries Education Series, classes designed to help you learn how to grow your own food.
All classes are on Wednesday evenings from 7:00pm – 9:00pm online using the Zoom platform. With an overall focus on growing in limited spaces with limited resources, and the combined challenges of western Washington weather and soils, this series of speakers and topics will help beginners, as well as long time gardeners, learn more about growing food using healthy and sustainable practices.
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