Snohomish Council Stops Mayors Activism

By Susan Packer, Op-Ed

For the first time that I can remember the Snohomish city council has said ‘NO’ to Mayor Guzak in a recent decision against her proposal. Typically the Mayor would not put herself in a position to lose a majority decision. Her usual tactic of withholding a decision until a majority consensus has agreed with her position was either miscalculated or not available.

The Mayor was asking the city council to allow her to sign a letter of support for gay marriage along with several other Washington mayors in an attempt to move forward national legislation legalizing gay marriage without a vote of the people. President Obama has even thrown his support behind the cause with the majority of American’s becoming more complacent about moral values and worried more about the economy.

As the country’s economy continues to suffer and leadership increasingly engages in diversionary tactics to avoid their responsibilities, it’s no wonder a small town mayor does the same.

Question is; does she speak for all the residents? Obviously not!

Is she representing the resident’s agenda or her own?

It was just a few short months ago when Mayor Guzak attacked the Snohomish Chamber of Commerce President for voicing his opinion in a non-chamber capacity. She called for his resignation and threatened the chamber if he didn’t comply. The basis for her attack was simple; she felt that the chamber president should not be voicing his opinion because she felt that it may be construed as the opinion of the chamber. In that particular case the opinion was that Snohomish wasn’t friendly to business but what if it was more pointed like support for religious values?

Here are a couple more questions to ponder:
Is the county executive for or against monogamy?
Is the county councilman for or against driving under the influence?
Is the mayor for or against public official activism?

The Urban Dictionary defines ‘hypocrite’ hyp·o·crite noun \Èhi-pY-Ìkrit\
(1) A person who engages in the same behaviors he/she condemns others for.
(2) A person who professes certain ideals, but fails to live up to them.
(3) A person who holds other people to higher standards than they hold themself.