Longtime County Councilmember Dave Somers runs for county executive

Dave Somers and John Lovick, both Democrats, have supported each other's campaigns before; Somers supported Lovick's run for county sheriff, and Lovick has supported Somers' campaigns for County Council.

But this year, Somers, who is in his fourth term representing Snohomish County's District No. 5, which includes the Sky Valley, is running to unseat County Executive Lovick.

The reason, he said, is that he fears that unless the county stops spending more than it takes in, human service programs could soon be cut, and that could hurt some of the county's most vulnerable.

"I wouldn't be running against another Democrat if I didn't think the situation was dire,GÇ¥ Somers said. "We are in very dire financial trouble.GÇ¥

The county's reserves are at an all-time low, he said. The county's policy is to keep a reserve fund equal to 11 percent of the general fund, which is the money used to pay for most of the county's services. Currently, Somers said, the reserves are down to about 5 percent.-á -á

"John doesn't really seem to have a strategy to address that,GÇ¥ Somers said.

Somers has been working on county budgets a long time, he noted. He was first elected to the County Council in 1997. He lost his next race but won again four years later, and has held the office ever since, a total of nearly 14 years.

That means he has worked on 14 county budgets. Each year, the county executive prepares a suggested budget, the County Council prepares an alternative budget and then, after a process of compromise and further study, the council passes a budget that the executive then signs or vetoes.

"I have vastly more experience than John,GÇ¥ Somers said. "To his credit, he did 30 years as a state patrol sergeant. But he doesn't have the background at the county that I do.GÇ¥

There are five candidates in the primary for the county executive position, including two Republicans, but Somers believes that he and Lovick, both long-serving and well-known, could both advance to the general election. In Washington state, the top two vote winners in the primary advance, regardless of party.

If Somers loses, he will still have two years left to serve of his current council position ' the last he will be able to serve by term limit law, which limits officials to three consecutive terms. That could make for a tense couple years working with Lovick should he win reelection, but Somers has taken political risks before.

In 2008, developer David Barnett threatened to spend $2.5 million to unseat Somers if Somers continued to stand in the way of his plan to build as many as 6,000 homes near remote Lake Roesiger. Somers told Barnett that he would not change his position, resulting in a blizzard of anti-Somers fliers going to Sky Valley mailboxes. Somers, nevertheless, survived the next election.

In 2012, it was Somers who called for a prosecutor to investigate when an employee told him that she had been having a long-term affair with County Executive Aaron Reardon, during which he had taken her on trips funded by county money. After talking with the woman for about 45 minutes, Somers referred her to the Prosecutor's Office, risking the wrath of Reardon, also a Democrat, and his party.

Running for Lovick's job could also create tension, but Somers said that he fears some of the county's most vulnerable could suffer unless the county manages its money better.

The jail, the Prosecutor's Office and the county court system consume about 73 percent of the county budget, and those services cannot legally be cut beyond a certain mandated point. So when the county runs over its budget, the only services than can be cut are human services such as senior centers, the popular Master Gardeners program and the health district, he said.

"We have a heroin issue right now, and we have the homeless and issues with encampments in the east county,GÇ¥ Somers said. "You need the health district and you need the human services people who can help get people help and treatment and housing, so it's a double-edged sword. When you eat into those discretionary programs, you can't address those problems.GÇ¥

Although the economy is improving, the county budget has been slow to recover, because counties are prevented by law from increasing their budgets by more than 1 percent annually, and with wages going up more than 2 percent annually, the county chronically falls behind, Somers said.-á

That means the county must be very careful with every dime, he said.

"I believe the county government provides services that people need and feel like those things are at risk,GÇ¥ he said. "I thought, "I have to try this.' If I don't, I will not feel good for walking away from it. But we will let the voters decide.GÇ¥