Representative Mike Hope’s Response to State of the County Address
Published on Fri, Feb 11, 2011Read More County & State
State Representative Mike Hope, republican from Lake Stevens, criticized County Executive Aaron Reardon’s State of the County speech, stating the county should focus on bringing jobs to Snohomish County instead of creating more division and examples of failed leadership. 30,000 jobs have been lost in Snohomish County over the last three years, a number that Representative Hope finds unacceptable.
The events of this week could not have drawn a more contrasting line between these two prospective County Executive Candidates. “The two biggest things that I have heard from the people of Snohomish County is they want to see leaders solve the economic crisis and to demonstrate that they can be trustworthy,” Hope stated. During Reardon’s state of the county speech to the Everett Chamber, Aaron stated he was bringing the Evergreen Bottling Company to Everett and that 50 jobs may be created. This was a surprise to many in the region, including Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and Port Executive Director John Mohr as no permits have been requested, no specific location has been chosen and the project is only in a preliminary phase. Representative Hope believes Reardon’s premature announcement shows a fundamental flaw in the current executive’s leadership style, “If anything, this announcement was done prematurely and demonstrated a lack of sensitivity toward all key stakeholders. “Quite possibly his intentions may have been a desperate attempt to make it appear as if he was responsible for bringing more jobs to the county. “
On the flip side, in Olympia, Representative Hope started his week by voting for the bipartisan Unemployment Insurance bill. The bill was strongly supported by many business groups with the intentions to provide stability to Washington employers, helping them transition into economic recovery more quickly. “This bill would help create jobs by more fairly recalculating the UI tax rates for employers,” Hope added. “We need to get Washington and Snohomish County working again by working with employers and workers, not against them. Today was a remarkable day for our Olympia leaders to demonstrate that they can work together.” By the end of the week, Hope was teaming up with Hans Dunshee (D) to work on special education and Representative Marko Lias (D) on “blue alert.” Blue Alert, modeled after Amber Alert, will help law enforcement in the apprehension of offenders that kill or seriously injure a law enforcement officer and are on the run. “Public policy works best when partnerships are formed and leaders share credit for good policy. This ensures that people are not blind sided with politics over policy,” Hope stated.
The events of this week could not have drawn a more contrasting line between these two prospective County Executive Candidates. “The two biggest things that I have heard from the people of Snohomish County is they want to see leaders solve the economic crisis and to demonstrate that they can be trustworthy,” Hope stated. During Reardon’s state of the county speech to the Everett Chamber, Aaron stated he was bringing the Evergreen Bottling Company to Everett and that 50 jobs may be created. This was a surprise to many in the region, including Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and Port Executive Director John Mohr as no permits have been requested, no specific location has been chosen and the project is only in a preliminary phase. Representative Hope believes Reardon’s premature announcement shows a fundamental flaw in the current executive’s leadership style, “If anything, this announcement was done prematurely and demonstrated a lack of sensitivity toward all key stakeholders. “Quite possibly his intentions may have been a desperate attempt to make it appear as if he was responsible for bringing more jobs to the county. “
On the flip side, in Olympia, Representative Hope started his week by voting for the bipartisan Unemployment Insurance bill. The bill was strongly supported by many business groups with the intentions to provide stability to Washington employers, helping them transition into economic recovery more quickly. “This bill would help create jobs by more fairly recalculating the UI tax rates for employers,” Hope added. “We need to get Washington and Snohomish County working again by working with employers and workers, not against them. Today was a remarkable day for our Olympia leaders to demonstrate that they can work together.” By the end of the week, Hope was teaming up with Hans Dunshee (D) to work on special education and Representative Marko Lias (D) on “blue alert.” Blue Alert, modeled after Amber Alert, will help law enforcement in the apprehension of offenders that kill or seriously injure a law enforcement officer and are on the run. “Public policy works best when partnerships are formed and leaders share credit for good policy. This ensures that people are not blind sided with politics over policy,” Hope stated.
