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Editor:
Last November, voters rejected a major levy proposal. That vote reflected more than affordability concerns — it reflected doubts about whether the City is managing large projects competently and responsibly.
Since then, residents have seen multiple tax increases layered on in just six months, even as one of the City’s most expensive infrastructure projects continues to fail.
After more than five years and roughly $28 million, the wastewater treatment plant’s carbon recovery system still does not operate as promised. Instead of reliably processing solids, the facility depends on ongoing sludge hauling — an outcome that has already cost millions of dollars and was never presented to residents as the plan.
Projects of this scale require experienced leadership, independent subject-matter experts, and hard accountability. Responsibility for major capital projects ultimately lies with the Mayor’s office, which oversees executive leadership, vendor relationships and project direction. When results don’t materialize, the response cannot be endless fixes and additional spending without scrutiny.
What often gets lost is the tradeoff. Every dollar spent propping up a failed project is a dollar not spent on public safety, sidewalks, basic maintenance, parks or core services residents actually want and use. When major projects go off the rails, other priorities inevitably lose.
Post-Prop 1, that reality matters. Residents want safe streets, walkable neighborhoods, and reliable services — but confidence erodes quickly when large failures remain unresolved. Accountability isn’t optional. It’s the prerequisite for earning public trust and funding the things that truly matter.
Lee Reeves
Edmonds
Great opinion, I also believe it’s one of the reasons more residents are voting No on levy issues! We get no progress reports or financial updates once it passes, the school district does the same thing , Now they ask for 361 million but won’t commit to open communication on exactly how and what there
spending money on. It has eroded trust that our money is being used for real needs.
And I am tired of potholes being ignored.
At just about every School Board business meeting, we report very explicitly what items on the agenda have been funded by bonds and levies. And each time we thank our voters for their support of our students and schools. All our business meetings are live-streamed and videos are all available on our website for full transparency.
Nancy,
There are more and more distractions coming at us from moment to moment. We cannot keep track of everything we would like.
Perhaps you could supply a report to My Neighborhood News Group/Network, or ask if MNNN is able to send a reporter to report on the meetings???
We actually do have a reporter covering every school board meeting — Teresa
Commenters- please do not go off on a tangent about the current school bond election and therefore detract from the author’s emphasis on the failed project to implement unproven technology to process solid waste (commonly known as poop).
I share this author’s concern about not just the failed project, the extreme cost overruns that cause our utility bill to be too high, but the Mayor’s management of the situation. Is this failed project in the hands of the attorneys now? Will we close down the gasification equipment and haul the sludge to the new Lynnwood plant once it’s built? What are our options, Mr Mayor? And which one do you recommend? Winning a future lawsuit against the engineering firm and getting a financial settlement is a secondary project you’re probably running now. We never get public info on the early phases legal disputes. That’s fine. But why don’t you present the permanent solution options and your recommendation for processing poop in your next Annual State of the City speech? Every a kid likes a discussion about poop. I think the tax payer adults in Edmonds will be a rapt audience.
Theresa Hollis, once again you are right on target. Lee Reeves, I had no idea there was a problem with the treatment plant. Thanks for writing this.
The biggest unanswered questions by the Mayor and the partisan majority of Council members is what costs have been incurred for the wastewater treatment plant, and how do those costs stack up against the original budget? Who’s accountable for the millions of wasted taxpayer dollars? Why is the Council considering paying the current consultant another $500,000 to course correct the installation? Why has the Mayor not fired all the incompetent staff and consultants? Why has there been no transparency and performance-metrics reported on for the hardware, software, and staff? Is the City suing the vendor for breach of warranty? This is yet another example where the Mayor and Council have not demonstrated any good governance principles (fiscal discipline, accountability, transparency, results measurement, common sense, and putting taxpayers first) and have totally stonewalled taxpayers who are asking for answers. Yet another example of why the Mayor and Council have zero credibility with taxpayers and have shown zero acknowledgement of their collective failures in fiscal management and in responding to the 11,000+ voters who defeated the tax levy lift. When are they going to ‘get it’ re their total lack of trust with taxpayers? When are they going establish a Financial Advisory Commission to identify serious gaps in fiscal management and demand that the Mayor and Council implement good governance reform?
This is precisely the problem with the current Mayor and most CM’s. They spend their time writing puff pieces about things they do not control and opinions that do not influence anything instead of doing their Edmonds City job. Just focus on solving our problems. Leave your party at home (democrat or republican) and solve city’s problems. That is what you signed up for. Plan, Share details, Do the work, Track it, Share progress. Anything else is a distraction to hide lack of progress.