We met with Councilman Somers in Monroe at the Sky River Bakery, a frequent stop for him according to the staff of this popular Main Street bakery. Somers was greeted by several patrons as he entered, taking time to
acknowledge each one before sitting down with us.

After the formalities were complete, Councilman Somers addressed the question of why he wants the top job now held by John Lovick. Somers said he did not initially want to run for the county’s highest office, but after some soul searching and a push from his wife, he decided to jump in.

"Actually, in retrospect, the thing that stands out as the largest motivator for me to run is the fact that John went to Olympia and testified that he believes Boeing should lose their tax breaks,” he said.

According to a March 19, 2015 article by Jerry Cornfield in the Everett Herald: "For Lovick, this was a flip-flop of jumbo proportion, because back in November 2013, it was unlikely you'd find anyone in the county as enthusiastic as Lovick about extending the tax breaks to land the 777X.”

Council member Somers told us that siding against the Washington state's largest employer seems counterproductive to keeping jobs in Snohomish County.

"This is just another example of John's inexperience in dealing with Snohomish County issues," Somers said. "I bring 14 years of county government experience to the table and I hope to repair the relationship between the Council and the County Executive’s office," he said.

The general theme Somers expressed during our interview was the fact that the County Executive’s office has created an "us
against them” mentality with the County Council.

In addition to fixing the council-executive relationship, the top priorities for Somers if elected include county budget and to re-establish a citizen's advisory group.

"We can get so much more efficient if we can work together for a greater Snohomish County — citizens, Council and leadership -- all working together by listening to each other and creating a feeling of inclusiveness by all,” Somers said. "I'm not afraid of making the hard choices but they shouldn’t be made without input from others," he said.

One thing that stood out during our interview was that Somers at times deviated slightly from the standard Democratic agenda. One example was in dealing with unions and the county budget; "I want people to keep their jobs, so if I have to decide whether to give a few more at the cost of others losing their job, well, that isn’t working together, is it?" Somers asked.

We also wanted to know how he sees things changing in the Executive’s office because of his many years as a council member or as they say, being on the other side.

"When I worked under Bob Drewel many years ago, he had regular meetings with department heads and staff, he had open dialog with the council and routinely included directors in meetings,” Somers said. "I plan to re-establish those collaborative type ideals. Communication is the key to success.”

In conclusion, Councilman Somers told us his vision for Snohomish County involves leadership that is responsive to citizens' needs, environmental concerns, business growth, transportation issues and fiscal responsibility. How he plans to accomplish this monumental task will require him to follow through with his willingness to create a more inclusive open-door policy for the
Executive’s office.