At its regular 9 a.m. Wednesday meeting, the Snohomish County Council will take up a resolution calling on County Executive Aaron Reardon to place himself on administrative leave until the Washington State Patrol finishes its investigation into whether he misused taxpayer money.

The council does not have the power to force Reardon to step aside, so if the resolution is approved it would not be binding.

Councilmember Dave Somers announced the proposed resolution Tuesday evening. Somers, who like Reardon is a Democrat, wrote in a news release that the investigation has become a distraction to the county's day-to-day operations.

"We're in the middle of labor negotiations, deciding the future of our county's waste hauling services contract and other important business," Somers wrote. "We can't afford these types of distractions right now."

Somers wrote that leave would be proper for any county employee.

If Reardon goes on leave, his duties would fall to Deputy County Executive Gary Haakenson, Somers wrote.

"Gary is a proven administrator having served 11 years as the Mayor of Edmonds," he wrote. "He is fully capable of taking over for the Executive until this matter can be settled."

The Seattle Times recently obtained an exclusive interview with Tamara Dutton, a county social worker who alleges she had a six-year affair with Reardon. Dutton provided documents showing how the executive used his position and his official business trips to carry out their relationship.

Dutton went to Somers in October and told him about trips she said she took with Reardon. Somers told the Snohomish County prosecuting attorney, who turned the case over to the State Patrol.