Councilmember Nehring's 2024 Year In Review

Snohomish County, Washington sent this bulletin at 01/08/2025 06:00 AM PST

Dear North County Neighbors,

I hope you and your family enjoyed a Merry Christmas! As we move into the new year, I wanted to recap some of the highlights from 2024. Before getting into that, I am excited to share that at our first meeting of the year, I was elected Chair of the Snohomish County Council. It has been a pleasure working with Councilmember Mead in leadership for the past two years and I look forward to working with Councilmember Dunn who was elected Vice-Chair for 2025 in the year ahead. I hope you enjoy my 2024 Year in Review as we look back on a great year at the Snohomish County Council.

January

Second Annual Civic Education Day at Snohomish County

On Thursday, January 25th, we held our second annual Civic Education Day at the county campus. Councilmember Mead and I started Civic Education Day in 2023 where high school students from across Snohomish County were invited to the county campus in Everett. The 2nd annual event was a great success. During their visit, students heard from county elected officials and staff to learn more about the role of County government, civic engagement, and future career opportunities. We had a great time meeting students and answering their questions about County government. I am excited to see this annual Civic Education Day continue to grow in the coming years.

February

Legislative Advocacy in Washington, D.C.

In February, the County Council traveled to our nation’s capital in Washington D.C. to meet with members of our federal delegation and talk about issues facing Snohomish County. These meetings are an important opportunity for us to advocate for bringing as many of your federal tax dollars back home for local projects as possible. Councilmember Dunn and I met with Congresswoman DelBene, Congressman Larsen, Congresswoman Schrier, and representatives from Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray’s offices.

We talked about our some of our shared priorities including addressing the fentanyl epidemic and improving transportation infrastructure. These opportunities to speak directly with our federal elected officials is an important way to represent Snohomish County to other levels of government and make the case for funding for critical projects.

March

Oso Slide 10 Year Memorial Ceremony

In March 2014, the SR 530 “Oso” Slide took the lives of 43 of our neighbors in North Snohomish County. On the 10-year anniversary of this tragic event, community members joined together at the site to dedicate the permanent memorial to the lives lost, the first responders who heroically responded, and the community impacted.

The ceremony was a fitting tribute and the memorial is a beautiful reminder of resilience of the community and a somber space to honor the 43 victims of the slide. I had the opportunity to join the family members, community members, first responders, and fellow elected officials for the official dedication on March 22nd. Kiro 7 covered the event and highlighted the memorial in their story. You can find that coverage at this link.

April

RAP Program Spring Showcase

On April 30th, I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways (RAP) Program’s second annual Spring Showcase event. The Spring Showcase brought community members, program stakeholders, and elected officials to the RAP Center to learn about the program, hear from students and staff, and see the great work happening to prepare our future workforce in the building and construction trades.

We had over 100 guests join us at our annual event. Students took guests on guided tours of the RAP Center and explained the projects they are working on and the skills they are learning. Following the tours, we had a speaking program to share more about the RAP Program.

At the event, I had the opportunity to recognize Herman Calzadillas, former Dean of AMTEC and Career Connected Learning at Everett Community College as the RAP Champion award recipient for 2024. Herman has been an integral part of the RAP Team since day one and it was an honor to recognize him at the annual event.

May

County Council Adopts Drug Testing Ordinance

In May, the County Council adopted Ordinance 24-011 which requires annual testing of County-owned supportive housing facilities for methamphetamine and hazardous chemicals. I proposed this policy following multiple documented instances of extensive drug contamination in other supportive housing facilities throughout Snohomish County. This new policy will ensure that the County is able to detect and address contamination early and often in order to minimize damage to taxpayer-funded facilities and protect the health of those living and working within those facilities.

The policy was drafted in consultation with the County’s Health Department, Department of Facilities and Fleet, and Executive’s Office to ensure best practices and effective implementation were addressed in the ordinance. I appreciate the support of my Council colleagues and the County staff for their efforts in adopting this common-sense policy. There is still a long way to go in addressing the many negative impacts of the drug epidemic; this policy is a small but positive step in the right direction.

June

SR-530 Broadband Project Groundbreaking

On Wednesday, June 26th, we held a groundbreaking ceremony for the SR 530 broadband expansion project. This project is a partnership between Snohomish County, Ziply Fiber, and the Washington State Broadband Office. Upon completion, over 4,500 residential and business locations between Arlington and Darrington will have access to high speed, reliable internet. This is one of the underserved areas in Snohomish County and I am excited to see this project begin. (Image above courtesy of the Everett Herald).

County Executive Dave Somers, State Representative Sam Low, Ziply Chief Marketing Officer Mike Doherty, Sno-Isle Libraries Executive Director Lois Langer Thompson, and many community members joined us to celebrate the start of this key infrastructure project.

July

Permit Timelines at Health Department

News regarding permit timelines at the Snohomish County Department of Health raised concerns in the community and at the County Council last summer. The coverage highlighted the struggle of new businesses, especially food establishments, in trying to open while waiting for their permits in order to legally operate in Snohomish County. Every level of government should work to support local businesses and obstacles like long permitting processes make it extremely difficult for new businesses to start and stay open.

In order to raise awareness of these concerns, I wrote a letter to the Board of Health with a policy suggestion that permit fees be refunded to the applicant if the permit process exceeds a set timeline. This was recently implemented in the State of Pennsylvania and seems like a reasonable, common-sense policy to create accountability within government agencies. You can read the letter in full here.

Following this letter, the Board of Health did adopt a policy regarding permit deadlines and we have seen an improvement in turnaround time at the Department of Health. While there is still work to do, I appreciate the county staff who have taken this issue seriously and taken steps to improve.

August

County Council Adopts Housing Ordinances

In August, the Snohomish County Council voted to adopt four pieces of legislation that I introduced to address housing affordability in our county. Specifically, these ordinances made adjustments to county code in an effort to increase the available supply of market-rate housing in Snohomish County and, in turn, drive down costs.

The ideas behind these ordinances originated from the “Opening Doors to Home Ownership” panel series held at the County Council’s Planning and Community Development Committee, which I chair. I worked with Council staff, Planning and Community Development staff, and community stakeholders to craft these four ordinances which decrease regulatory barriers and increase flexibility for housing.

Each of these ordinances received a positive recommendation from the Planning Commission and were unanimously approved by the County Council before being signed by the Executive.

You can read more about the ordinances in the Lynnwood Times’ coverage at this link.

September

Presentation at AWB Summit

In September, I had the privilege of presenting at the Association of Washington Business (AWB) Policy Summit in Spokane, WA. AWB represents businesses in every sector across Washington state. They are very active in Olympia advocating for policies that help businesses of all sizes.

At their Summit, I joined Councilmember Mead in talking about the importance of bipartisan collaboration and the policy goals we can accomplish by working together to find common ground. Issues around supporting our businesses, especially our small businesses, should not be partisan. Councilmember Mead and I shared stories about our experience working together on the Snohomish County Council on a bipartisan basis to pass sound policy into law at the local level.

I appreciated the opportunity to present at the AWB Summit and am grateful for the ongoing work of AWB on behalf of our business community.

October

SnoPUD Microgrid Educational Display Unveiled

Last year, my office partnered with Snohomish Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD) to create an educational display featuring the PUD’s microgrid project in Arlington. The display was designed in a collaboration between my office, PUD staff, and their consultants to educate people of all ages about how microgrids work, the benefits of microgrid technology, and how it impacts families and businesses in the district.

At their October 8th meeting, I joined the PUD Commissioners for the official unveiling of the display. This display is portable and will be used in classrooms, at community events, and at the Arlington microgrid site for years to come. You can learn more about the Arlington Microgrid here. I appreciate the partnership with PUD on this exciting project.

November

First Biennial Budget Adopted

On November 25th, the Snohomish County Council adopted its first biennial (2-year) budget. Previously, the County budgeted on an annual basis. By passing a biennial budget, departments and Councilmembers have the opportunity to take a more strategic look at spending and programs to ensure we are being fiscally responsible.

One of the most debated aspects of the budget was property taxes. The County Executive originally proposed an 8% increase to the County’s portion of the general property tax levy. As I do every year, I proposed an amendment that would freeze the County’s portion of your property tax bill. We received over a thousand emails and heard public testimony from hundreds of residents opposed to increased taxes. Ultimately, the 8% proposal was defeated and a 4% increase was adopted instead. I voted against the 4% increase because I do not believe it is appropriate to increase taxes while we have unnecessary spending in county government.

Another proposal I made during the budget process was to set aside seed money for a secure withdrawal management and stabilization (SWMS) facility, which was successfully passed. SWMS are drug treatment facilities where individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others as a result of their drug addiction can be involuntarily committed for treatment. This is a large project that will require investments and cooperation from the state but putting seed money forward is a good first step in showing the County’s commitment to addressing the fentanyl epidemic on our streets. The seed money comes from the County Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health fund, which does not draw from property taxes.

The Council also approved my proposed budget condition which requires subsidized housing providers that receive taxpayer funding to test their facilities for drugs and dangerous chemicals on a regular basis. Earlier this year, the Council approved my ordinance to require this testing in county-owned housing (such as the hotels which are being converted to housing). This recent budget condition applies that same standard to non-county providers which are the recipients of county tax dollars. By testing these facilities regularly, it is my hope that we can avoid situations like Clare’s Place earlier this year where meth contamination required the facility to be shut down for an extended period for decontamination.

The final budget passed on a 3-2 vote and the County Executive let the budget go into effect without signing it.

December

20 Year Comprehensive Plan Update Adopted

In early December, the County Council adopted our updated Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is a planning document that guides the county’s policies regarding land use, housing, transportation, natural environment, parks and recreation, economic development, capital facilities, and infrastructure. These updates will set the vision for the next 20 years in Snohomish County.

Over the course of numerous public hearings, we heard hours of public testimony in addition to hundreds of written comments regarding the comprehensive plan. One of the most discussed topics was the expansion of the County’s Urban Growth Area (UGA). The UGA is a jurisdictional boundary set by the county which dictates where residential and commercial growth will be developed over the next 20 years. With a housing shortage driving prices up, it was important to expand the UGA in southwest Snohomish County to accommodate the additional housing needed moving forward.

The County Council adopted a compromise expansion of the Southwest UGA which extended the boundary further east than originally proposed by County Executive Dave Somers. Executive Somers vetoed the Council ordinance which resulted in a smaller expansion. I believe the County will need to continue to take a close look at our planning policies moving forward to ensure that home ownership opportunities, not just rental apartments, are being built in Snohomish County.

Closing

I hope you enjoyed reading my 2024 Year in Review. As always please feel free to reach out to me at 425-512-4810 or Nate.Nehring@snoco.org if you have any questions or concerns. Take care.

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