Koster's record insubstantial
Published on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 by Bruce BarnbaumRead More Voices
Editor,
John Koster has been on the Snohomish County Council for 8 years. What kind of record has he built during that tenure?
It turns out that there's virtually nothing of substance anyone can point to. He has repeatedly stated that due to his previous tenure in the state legislature he can get important things accomplished here in Snohomish County. But if you've seen the traffic disaster at I-5 in Smokey Point (in the center of his district) you would recognize that he has not met with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, about the mess. Does he care about it? It's likely that he does. But he has been somewhere between insincere and ineffective at solving the problem.
Recently he voted for "instant cities" to be developed in rural areas. Formally known as "Fully Contained Communities," these urban developments can suddenly pop up next to any rural resident, created by any developer who can round up enough acreage to build a city on it. Nobody on the County Council was more committed to turning rural areas into urban areas than John Koster. He even said so in a phone voice mail to County Executive Aaron Reardon. Fortunately, these assaults on rural areas were recently banned by the County Council. In the end, only John Koster voted to retain these massive inappropriate developments. It surely makes one wonder who pays for all his huge campaign signs throughout his district.
Years ago, John Koster helped sponsor the absurd effort to break off part of Snohomish County into the so-called "Freedom County," claiming he was obligated to do so. It's a strange claim, but then, like all things Mr. Koster has worked on, it got nowhere. That, at least was the good news. But he also sponsored efforts to help break away parts of Whatcom County into Pioneer County and a portion of King County into Skykomish County, both of which also failed. It seems that instead of working toward improving counties, or improving their governments, his efforts have been directed uselessly toward breaking them up into smaller pieces, with increased administrative costs.
Somehow he has been elected twice. It must be based on name recognition, not on issue recognition. He's up for re-election in November, facing an opponent-Ellen Hiatt Watson-who has made a name for herself fighting the very FCCs that Mr. Koster has so strenuously supported. It's worth giving Ms. Hiatt Watson some serious consideration when you get your ballot.
Bruce Barnbaum
Granite Falls
John Koster has been on the Snohomish County Council for 8 years. What kind of record has he built during that tenure?
It turns out that there's virtually nothing of substance anyone can point to. He has repeatedly stated that due to his previous tenure in the state legislature he can get important things accomplished here in Snohomish County. But if you've seen the traffic disaster at I-5 in Smokey Point (in the center of his district) you would recognize that he has not met with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, about the mess. Does he care about it? It's likely that he does. But he has been somewhere between insincere and ineffective at solving the problem.
Recently he voted for "instant cities" to be developed in rural areas. Formally known as "Fully Contained Communities," these urban developments can suddenly pop up next to any rural resident, created by any developer who can round up enough acreage to build a city on it. Nobody on the County Council was more committed to turning rural areas into urban areas than John Koster. He even said so in a phone voice mail to County Executive Aaron Reardon. Fortunately, these assaults on rural areas were recently banned by the County Council. In the end, only John Koster voted to retain these massive inappropriate developments. It surely makes one wonder who pays for all his huge campaign signs throughout his district.
Years ago, John Koster helped sponsor the absurd effort to break off part of Snohomish County into the so-called "Freedom County," claiming he was obligated to do so. It's a strange claim, but then, like all things Mr. Koster has worked on, it got nowhere. That, at least was the good news. But he also sponsored efforts to help break away parts of Whatcom County into Pioneer County and a portion of King County into Skykomish County, both of which also failed. It seems that instead of working toward improving counties, or improving their governments, his efforts have been directed uselessly toward breaking them up into smaller pieces, with increased administrative costs.
Somehow he has been elected twice. It must be based on name recognition, not on issue recognition. He's up for re-election in November, facing an opponent-Ellen Hiatt Watson-who has made a name for herself fighting the very FCCs that Mr. Koster has so strenuously supported. It's worth giving Ms. Hiatt Watson some serious consideration when you get your ballot.
Bruce Barnbaum
Granite Falls
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