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Alison Weston says she often doesn’t feel her family is safe in certain areas around her Everett neighborhood. She says very few candidates for Snohomish County Council are addressing the big problems of crime and addiction.

 

 

Snohomish County: crime most important election issue, Everett resident says

Enforcement of laws is critical for cleaning up city, says District 2 Councilor candidate

        Thursday, September 19, 2019 8:45am

Sponsored by Campaign To Elect Anna Rohrbough

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As residents prepare to elect their next Snohomish County Council Member for District 2 on Nov. 5, some worry that key issues are being ignored by most candidates in the campaign.

One of those is crime and how the drug crisis is impacting the community, says resident Alison Weston, a young married mother of four who adds she often does not feel safe in her community.

“We didn’t know a ton about Everett when we moved here, but we have grown to love this city and want to raise our family here,” she says. “On the other hand, we have experienced so many horror stories with all of the crime and drugs.”

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Incidents too close to home

One that left Weston upset and worried for her family’s safety happened on her residential street in what she characterizes as “a nice neighborhood.” She describes how, as she was loading her children into her vehicle, she observed an unknown man “trying to break into my neighbor’s car.” As the man reached a home across the street, she says, “he pulled out a large knife and started to cut down my neighbor’s hedge.”

Weston called the police and left. She says her husband saw police arrive, speak to the man then leave without moving him along. “When I got home I had no idea whether there was a man with a knife wandering around our neighborhood. I kept my kids in the house the rest of that day,” Weston says.

She also worries about the safety of her children and other youngsters, having discovered spent needles on her walks around the community. The park next to Garfield Elementary School has been a hangout for addicted homeless people and others, she adds.

“I have to check the slides for needles before letting my kids play. There is human feces behind the bushes where kids run. I’ve picked up empty alcohol bottles, condoms, a bloody t-shirt, cigarette butts, you name it. And we just go home rather than use the park restroom.”

 

Candidate listening to residents

While crime, open drug use and homelessness are “the biggest things on people’s minds” in the county, Weston says, the only County Council candidate of any party she has heard talking about solutions is Anna Rohrbough. “I just want a clean and safe environment, and when we have people defecating, using drugs and littering in public spaces without consequences, it’s hard to get that,” Weston says. “Anna is the only person saying we need to uphold the law as a way to get people the help they need.”

 

Enforcement the answer: Rohrbough

“I have door-belled thousands of doors in Everett, Tulalip, and Mukilteo and the number one issue that affects people in this district is crime from the addicted homeless. Everyone has an experience that deserves to be acknowledged,” Rohrbough says.

“Enforcement of laws disrupts the behavior and when we don’t enforce our laws, we enable criminal behavior. We don’t need new laws, we need to enforce the laws we have. When we do so we can leverage that into care for those who need our help. It is the most compassionate thing we can do as leaders to continue to show those in need we care enough to stop enabling bad behavior.”