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Statement For · Danny Perkins and Janelle M. Cass
statement likely AI Committee: Danny Perkins and Janelle M. Cass
Now more than ever, financial transparency is essential to the strength of our communities. Public dollars belong to the people, and every resident deserves clear, straightforward access to how those dollars are spent–without needing special expertise or filing formal requests.
Your Yes vote on Proposition 4 will expand easy online access to the financial information Snohomish County already collects through budgeting, contracting, grants, and audits. It will improve the existing public web site so working families, neighbors, community groups, journalists, and everyday citizens can more easily find, search, download, and understand where their money goes. A Yes vote ensures future technology and financial systems are built with the public in mind, making openness part of how county government operates rather than an afterthought.
This practical measure strengthens accountability and democracy. When information is readily available, residents can ask better questions, participate more fully in decisions, and hold government responsible. It can also reduce the time and cost of responding to individual records requests, freeing resources for services that matter.
Putting this commitment in the County Charter keeps transparency a lasting priority. Government belongs to the people. Proposition 4 is a straightforward step toward a more open, accessible, and accountable Snohomish County for all of us. Vote Yes for transparency. Vote Yes for accountability. Vote Yes on Proposition 4.
Rebuttal of argument against
A vote for transparency isn’t a soft suggestion. As Snohomish County invests millions in new financial technology, the public should expect future systems to include transparency tools from the start.
A Charter requirement keeps transparency a lasting priority as systems are upgraded. “Reasonably practicable” means real progress using existing resources. People shouldn’t need special requests to see how their dollars are spent. Ordinances can change. A Charter commitment lasts. Vote Yes on Proposition 4.
Statement Against · Doris Fulton and Janice R. Greene
statement appears AI Committee: Doris Fulton and Janice R. Greene
Vote no on Proposition 4. Everyone wants to see where public money goes. Proposition 4 promises a financial transparency portal and the goal is worth supporting. But this measure does not deliver transparency. It writes a soft suggestion into the charter and calls it a mandate.
Read the language. It asks the county to improve public access to financial data only where “reasonably practicable.” Those are gentle words with no force behind them. A commissioner on the drafting body admitted the phrase can be massaged in many ways and asks the county to do nothing it cannot already skip. A directive that changes nothing does not belong in the charter.
The charter is the wrong tool for this. Technology changes fast. Commissioners warned against writing specific technology into a charter meant to last years, and several said financial transparency work is already underway. The county is already mid-way through a fifteen-million-dollar financial system overhaul. The budget officer testified that a public portal was not in the project’s scope and that adding one would be expensive and technically complex.
If the Council wants a transparency portal, it can pass an ordinance and fund it in the open, where costs and tradeoffs get debated. That path is faster, more flexible, and actually accountable.
Proposition 4 puts a hollow promise in the charter. It is transparency theater, not transparency. Real transparency deserves real action, not a slogan. Vote no on Proposition 4.
Rebuttal of argument for
Supporters call this transparency but read the measure. It only asks the county to improve access where “reasonably practicable.” Commissioners acknowledged that phrase asks the county to do nothing it cannot already skip. The county’s chief budget officer testified that a public portal is not in the current fifteen-million-dollar system overhaul and would be costly to add. A charter directive that changes nothing is a slogan. The Council can pass a real ordinance instead.