General Legislative Session - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. We'll call to order the Snohomish County Council for our general legislative session. Today is Wednesday, 05/13/2026 at 9AM. We're meeting remotely and also in the Jackson Boardroom. I'll I'll read the script for public comment, and then our clerks will take roll. We'll take public comment beginning in person and then remotely on Zoom. Click on the hand icon to raise your hand. If you're calling in by phone, press 9 to raise your hand and 6 to unmute. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak, and please state your comment with your name and city of residence. Next is roll call.

Chair Dunn? Here. Vice Chair Lo?

Present.

Councilmember Nearing?

Here.

Councilmember Mead? Here. Councilmember Peterson?

Here.

Chair, we have five members present.

Thank you. Next is a pledge of allegiance, and we're asking, council member Lowe to please lead us in the pledge. Thank you. Next is our tribal land acknowledgment. We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Saco Meehoo, the Stiligwobish, the Sodobish, Snoqualmie and their successors, the Tulalip tribes.

Since time immemorial, they have hunted, fished, gathered on and taken care of these lands and waters. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self determination, and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. We will be we will strive to be honest about our past mistakes and bring about a future that includes their people, stories, and voices to form a more just and equitable society. With this tribal acknowledgment, we open our time together by honoring the ancestors whose feet first knew these lands and whose paddles still know the waters of what we now call Snohomish County. Next is public comment. Was there any public comment in person? Welcome.

Good morning, council members. My name is Patrick Gamm. I'm a Snohomish County resident, a University of Washington graduate and a business owner. And I operate three licensed cannabis retail stores here in Snohomish County. I'm here again today because Clearview location remains closed. My Clearview location remains closed. Even though that building legally operated as cannabis retail store for nearly ten years before I took over the space. They did not ask the county to change the rules for my benefit. I simply relied on the rules that already existed, the same way any property owner or tenant would. What changed was the code?

And that code change was not created because of a countywide problem. It was not created because of overwhelming community demand. It was created to protect one operator from future competition in a specific area. That is the issue. Code should never be written to benefit one business interest at the expense of everyone else. Because when government creates a rule for one person, there's always somebody else harmed by that rule. In this case, it wasn't just me. It effectively shut down the entire Highway 9 corridor from future cannabis retail opportunities. The justification used to support this change also deserves context. Much of the community concern referenced came from 2016 to 2017 during the days of multiple unregulated medical marijuana stores.

That environment is not what we have today. Today, there is a fully licensed regulated taxed industry with strict security requirements, age restrictions and state oversight. And importantly, I'm not proposing a new location. I'm operating the exact same building that already held a valid certificate of occupancy and operated as cannabis retail for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, the operator who pushed for this protection relocated in a different building that did not previously have a valid certificate of occupancy for cannabis retail use until after my occupancy was removed.

So when people frame us as preventing change that's simply not accurate, the existing use was already there and the continuation of the prior use, not the expansion of it. At this point, everyone acknowledges the code needs to be corrected. PES acknowledges it. The executive's office acknowledges it. The question now is simply how much longer this process is going to take while the financial damage continues to grow month after month and day after day. Every additional delay means that more lost tax revenue, more jobs, and more harm caused by a policy that should have never have been written this way to begin with compounds. I'm asking the council to remember that county government is supposed to protect fair processes and equal application of the law, not create barriers that benefit one private interest over everybody else. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Other public comment this morning? Are there any hands raised?

No hands raised.

Okay. So we'll close public comment and move on In our agenda, we have administrative matters motion 20 six-two 100.

I move approval of administrative matters motion 20 six-two 100. Second.

It's been properly moved and seconded to approve administrative matters. Motion 20 six-two zero, is there any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes five to zero. Next, we have action on items from committee, and there's motion 26 dash two zero three.

Council considers motion 26 dash two zero three, confirming the appointment of Josh Dugan as director of the of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Good morning, counsel. For the record, Nicole Gourley, counsel staff. Snohomish County charter three dot four zero requires appointments to director department director positions to be nominated by the executive and confirmed by the county council. The executive has nominated Josh Dugan to fill the vacant director position for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Motion twenty six dash two zero three would confirm that appointment, and the appointment was would have been effective May 11.

Thank you. Any questions from counsel? Okay. Is there a motion? Moved. Did you have a question?

Not a question, just a comment. I can wait and talk.

Okay. Okay.

I move approval of motion 20 six-two zero three. Second.

Okay. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve motion 20 six-two zero three. Were there any comments?

Yeah. Here. Wanted to share, I'm really excited about this pick. I think that Josh is one of the hardest working people here at the county, and it's fitting that he'll be filling the shoes of Tom Teigen, another one of the most hard hardworking people here at the county. And so I'm really excited about this. Look forward to working with you in this new role, Josh.

Councilor Mello?

Yeah. Congratulations. We haven't voted yet, but it seems like it's gonna happen here any second. And really appreciate your service to our country, first of all. And then as you came to the county, I don't know, seven, eight years ago, whenever that was, you've just eleven years ago. Sorry. Time is going by really fast, but really appreciate all the different roles you've had here at the county. You've really have a lot of talents and abilities and been able to really maneuver a lot of different situations. So looking forward to working with you in this new role, and I'm sorry to sell you short by a few years.

Other comments? Well, we appreciate your work. You're, I guess, you're Josh of all trades. But I would say integrity comes to mind. You absolutely lead with integrity and appreciate all the energy and work that you've done for the county over the last over a decade and now into the future. So thank you. Okay. A motion has been properly made and seconded. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Chair votes aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, then passes five to zero. Congratulations. Okay. With no other business, counsel is in recess until our public hearing at 10:30.

Congratulations.