Koster promises common sense

Snohomish County CouncilmanSnohomish County Councilman John Koster is asking constituents to elect him to another term.

Koster, a Republican, has served two terms as District 1 councilman. Ellen Hiatt Watson, a Democrat, is challenging him for the position.

Koster, 57, of Arlington, said he foresees hurdles the county will need to overcome.

"There are some challenges facing the county in terms of annexation and the changing role of government," he said.

Some large annexations are in the works in the county. Marysville, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, Bothel and Lake Stevens are looking at accepting chunks of county urban growth land into their boundaries, he said.

Those annexations will have a fiscal impact on the county, and change how the county operates, Koster said.

The county's property tax revenue will decrease, but so will the services it provides, he said. The cities will take over duties, such as transportation projects, surface water and law enforcement for the annexed areas.

"We'll be regional provider of some services," he said. "We won't provide the level of services in some areas that we did in the past. Planning and development services will never be what it was."

The county will continue to deal with fiscal issues, Koster said.

"The good part of that is it forces us to look inward a little bit and say what are the things we have to do, what are the core services that the county must provide, and what are things …that we just want to do," he said. The Growth Management Act (GMA) gives a guide for how to handle growth, with choices that need to be made on the local level, Koster said.

"We need to preserve a range of choices in housing in urban and rural areas," he said. "The challenge, of course, is always that you have the adequate infrastructure . roads, water, those kinds of things."

Although the rights of property owners need to be respected, they also have responsibilities toward adjacent landowners, Koster said.

The GMA needs flexibility, Koster said. For example, there isn't a mechanism for counties to reserve land for commercial growth.

"There's some changes in GMA that I think need to be made that would help us with economic development," he said.

The county also needs flexibility in its current revenue from the state, Koster said.

In terms of economic development, the county needs to become more proactive, he said. Lately, the county has been reactive to growth.

"I think we need to focus on retaining our businesses and attracting new businesses, and frankly diversifying our economy a little more," he said. "We're highly dependent on the Boeing company, and we need to do what we can to make sure Boeing stays here, but I'd like to see our economy diversify and attract more business."

Agriculture seems to have moved toward smaller farms, but larger farms are still needed, Koster said.

Marketing will be key to preserving agriculture, which the county already does through Puget Sound Fresh and the Focus on Farming conferences. The county also has a liaison available to help new farms through the permitting process, he said.

Although farmers markets are part of the solution, they aren't the whole answer, Koster said.

"The bottom line in preserving agriculture, farms have to be profitable," he said. "They have to be able to make money to do that."

Koster said he would like to continue the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program, where landowners sell the development value of their land to the county.

"It's a free market-based system," he said. "And obviously, it's not really going to pick up steam until we see the housing market pick up again."

The lull in the economy is an opportunity to perfect the program, he said.

With affordable housing, the county already administers U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants and funding from the document recording fees. Grants address some of the growing need, he said. However, Koster feels mobile home parks need to be dealt with as a tool for affordable housing.

"You don't have, that I can see, anywhere to site new mobile home parks," he said.

The county will need to work with the cities through Snohomish County Tomorrow to determine where future mobile home parks could locate, or whether that is desirable, he said.

The county council has passed an emergency ordinance three times preserving mobile home parks by freezing everything in place, Koster said. However, that isn't something the council can continue doing.

Koster said he's built relationships, both on the state and local level, that help in serving as a county council member.

"I think I offer a broad range of experience," he said. "I have 25 years in the private sector running my own business and six years in the Legislature."

Koster was first elected as a congressman in 1994, and served three terms.

He has served on the Washington Association of Counties' legislative steering committee, which means appealing to legislators to address issues impacting counties, Koster said. He's also worked with the National Association of County Officials.

"I bring a level of common sense to this arena that seems to be woefully lacking," he said.

He has more than 20 years of experience running a dairy farm and a two-year associates degree from Everett Community College.

Koster has lived in the area his whole life, and his family, including grandchildren and children, are all county residents.

"I'm passionate about people's individual liberties," Koster said. "I think I'm balanced. I'm a good listener. My door is always open."

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 (ext. 125) or kpihl@ scnews.com. John Koster