Hot-button growth issue cools in Snohomish County Council race

Four years ago, Snohomish County Council candidate Dave Somers was characterized as an environmental extremist out to regulate homebuilders out of existence. A record $400,000 was raised to defeat him, much of it coming from land developers and real-estate interests.

A lot has changed in four years.

As he seeks re-election, Somers has won endorsements not only from the Washington Conservation Voters, but from the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.

Somers says he hasn't backed off his support for the environment, but he said the county is now taking a more balanced approach to controlling growth. He points to his collaborative work on revising the county's critical-areas ordinance, where he said the council was able to strengthen environmental protections while still allowing for "reasonable and thoughtful" development.

"I've worked hard to find common ground," Somers said.

His former adversaries have noticed the change in approach.

"He's shown a real interest in trying to reach consensus on controversial issues. The first time around, we butted heads a lot," said Scott Hildebrand, director of the Affordable Housing Council, the political arm of the Master Builders.

Despite the turnaround, three Republicans have filed to run against Somers for the District 5 council seat, which includes Monroe, Snohomish and Lake Stevens: Snohomish restaurant owner Steve Dana, Lake Stevens Mayor Vern Little, and Maltby activist Greg Stephens.

Stephens announced Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race, several days after he was contacted by The Seattle Times and told that a routine background check had found that he had pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court in 1983 to indecent liberties. It was a felony involving a 9-year-old relative. Ballots for the primary were mailed July 30 and Stephens' name is on them. Should he be one of the top two vote-getters in the Aug. 18 primary, his name would appear on the general-election ballot, said Garth Fell, elections manager for the Snohomish County Auditor's Office.

The two challengers who remain in the race cite several factors they say make Somers vulnerable:

• No incumbent in the district has been re-elected since it was created in the 1980s.

• Somers presided over the council's decision to lay off 160 employees to close a $21 million budget shortfall.

• Somers still riles some property owners with his support of development restrictions.

And, his opponents say, the county has continued to attract far more residential development than new businesses.

The Republican Party isn't endorsing anyone in the primary, but its county leaders echo the challengers' complaints. Jim Kellett, chair of the Snohomish County Republican Party, said Somers hasn't shed his image as a heavy-handed regulator of private property. And he called the Master Builders' endorsement "expedient."

"He's not that popular with property owners," Kellett said. "He still wants to tell everyone what to do."

But the challengers agree with Somers on some important issues facing the county. None support fully contained communities, a type of high-density, rural development being considered by the council that Somers has strongly opposed.

"Fully contained communities don't always end up being fully contained," said Little. "They don't belong in rural areas."

Dana agreed. "I haven't heard one person who's in favor of them."

All the candidates are also supporters of passenger air service at Paine Field.

Somers, a former fisheries biologist, said he's proud of his record on the council. He served an initial term from 1997 to 2001, but lost a re-election bid to Jeff Sax, a pro-growth Republican. The two faced off again in 2005 and Somers narrowly won the rematch. By then, Somers said, many in the county were alarmed at the pace of development and the lack of adequate infrastructure accompanying the new construction, such as roads, sidewalks and police services.

"We needed to slow the pace of growth," he said.

Somers leads all candidates in fundraising with $43,000 through July 31, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Dana has collected $9,200, and Little $3,200. Stephens did not raise any money for the race.

The challengers all have experience in local government.

Steve Dana

Dana, whose family has run the HUB restaurant in Snohomish for 49 years, is a former Snohomish mayor and city councilman. Dana is critical of Somers' sometimes-rocky relations with Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, and he said he'd improve communications.

Dana also said he'd take a more conservative approach to county finances. He said the county layoffs were inevitable because the government had grown too large and too reliant on sales-tax revenue, which has shrunk dramatically with the economic downturn.

"I'd operate from a smaller base and offer fewer services," he said.

Vern Little

Little, a Boeing quality manager, is mayor of Lake Stevens and a former Lake Stevens city councilman. Little is critical of the explosion of new housing in the county without the development of more jobs. He said land should be set aside, particularly in the eastern part of the county, for commercial development.

He also faulted Somers for not working more closely with the cities in planning for future growth.

"We're totally out of balance between housing and jobs," Little said. "The county and the cities aren't on the same page."

When asked by The Times to provide biographical information including his education, Little said he had attended the University of Washington and Green River Community College. When The Times called Green River to check, the college said Little had attended for one quarter. The UW said it had no record of his being a student. When asked about the discrepancy, Little suggested The Times drop the reference to the UW and say that he had been educated at "the school of hard knocks."

He said he has taken numerous courses through Boeing during his 30-year employment with the company.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com