News from Snohomish County Council

Snohomish County Council
3000 Rockefeller Ave., M/S 609
Everett, Washington 98201

8th floor, Robert J. Drewel Building
Phone: 425-388-3494
E-Mail: [email protected]

Barbara Chapman, Legislative Aide

Snohomish County Celebrates 150 Years

On Friday, January 14^th the county government and community celebrated Snohomish County's Sesquicentennial (150^th anniversary). In the early 1880's the county was part of Island County and in the 1860 election residents along the Snohomish River did not get their ballots to Coupeville in time and they were not counted. Feeling disenfranchised, they petitioned the territorial legislature to create a separate county and were granted that petition on January 14, 1861. In the first Snohomish County election on

July 8,1861, they chose Snohomish as the county seat by a vote of 17 - 10. In 1897, the county seat was moved to Everett where it has been in operation until the present day.

Celebrating our rich cultural heritage with a program featuring singers, historians, the Tulalip tribal members and cakes made and decorated by the culinary arts students from Edmonds Community College was the order of the day. There will be on-going celebrations throughout this year. For more information, log onto www.snoco150.net or our Facebook page listed as "Happy Birthday Snohomish County."

Snohomish County Boards & Commissions

The duties, qualifications for service, meeting dates and term lengths for county commissions, boards and public councils vary greatly. For more information about any of these opportunities or to receive a nomination form, please contact [email protected] or call 425-388-3460.

Download (and mail/fax back) Application Form

Flood Damage Assessment & Reporting

Snohomish County residents, farmers and businesses who suffered damage from the January floods are urged to submit a damage assessment report to the county's Department of Emergency Management in order to determine their need for possible state and/or federal assistance. Reports can be filed by calling 425-388-5088 or accessing an online damage assessment form at www.snoco.org Individuals filing reports need to provide an address where the damage occurred, the amount and type of damage, primary and secondary insurance as well as the deductible amounts. If possible, document with photographs. Damages should also be reported to private insurance providers. Reporting to the county does not assure federal assistance, but is a required step in requesting federal aid.

Koster to Chair Law & Justice Committee

Snohomish County Council Chair for 2011 will be Councilman Dave Somers. He announced the assignments to council committees last week. Councilman Koster will be the new chairman for the Law & Justice & Human Services Committee. He has chaired the Operations Committee since 2006. "I am very excited to take on this new assignment" said Councilman Koster. This committee has oversight for several departments including the courts, the sheriff, corrections and human services. "I have an interest in this area and will look forward to putting my energy to work here."

John Koster's Business Roundtable

The next Business Roundtable will be Thursday, February 24^th. For more information contact Cindy at [email protected]

I hope you found this eNEWSLETTER to be informative and useful. You can make it even more valuable by suggesting topics and issues for future newsletters. Please contact me at 425-388-3494, or e-mail [email protected]. If you would like to share this newsletter, select the Forward email link below.

Sincerely,

John Koster
Snohomish County Council