On the first day of filing May 11, Snohomish County Council Chairman Dave Somers announced his candidacy for county executive.

“For too long, there has simply been too much mismanagement and too little leadership in the county executive’s Office,” Somers said. “It’s time to renew the county’s focus on fair, ethical and transparent government that gets results for the people of Snohomish County.

Somers, a Democrat, is challenging incumbent John Lovick, who was appointed to replace Aaron Reardon in 2013 after Reardon resigned. Somers said Lovick’s failure to grasp the complex issues facing Snohomish County have had a deeply damaging impact.

“His actions include millions of dollars of cost overruns while he was sheriff, millions more in wrongful death lawsuits, disproportionally large raises for some of the highest-paid county staff, and proposed budgets that were millions of dollars out of balance. On top of all that, he eliminated the finance director position. The county’s reserves are now at an all-time low.”

Somers is committed to redoubling the county’s efforts to bring living wage jobs to Snohomish County, working to diversify the local economy, providing the transportation infrastructure necessary to get commuters and goods where they need to go, and protecting quality of life.

“We need strong leadership to bring the next generation of manufacturing jobs to our county,” he said. “I am committed to recruiting more of those kinds of jobs, which are the foundation of a strong local economy and lasting prosperity that’s shared by all.”

Somers will prioritize urgent transportation infrastructure needs, including securing state and federal funds to upgrade highways, renewed focus on reducing traffic bottlenecks, and getting light rail into Snohomish County.

“One of my top transportation priorities will be replacing at-grade rail crossings throughout the county so we can provide true traffic congestion relief,” Somers said.

Somers is a graduate of the University of Washington, with a bachelor of science degree in Fisheries Science and a master of science degree in Forest

Ecology.  He was first elected to the Snohomish County Council in 1997 and has served as chairman five times. His public service includes the Economic Alliance Executive Board, Regional Council Executive Board and chairman of the Growth Management Policy Board, Puget Sound Partnership Chairman of Ecosystem Coordination Board, four terms on the Forest Practices Board, Associations of Counties Board of Directors, and Vice Chairman of the National Associations of Counties Environment/Energy/Land Use Steering Committee.