Lawmaker scoffs at the need for a UW branch campus

A state lawmaker from Snohomish is questioning the need to build a University of Washington campus in Everett or anywhere else in Snoho­mish County.

Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, said many colleges and universities across the state are well below their enrollment capacities and pointed to University of Washington Bothell as a prime example.

"Wouldn't it be a more responsible use of tax dollars to invest in the unused capacity at the UW-Bothell campus, only a half-hour drive away from the proposed Everett location?" he asked.

Kristiansen, whose rural district stretches from east Snohomish County through Whatcom County, also said he worries about the impact a new university will have on enrollment at local community colleges and other universities.

"What's the domino effect?" he said. "Do we really have a plan of filling this college?"

Kristiansen's comments come less than a week after a state consultant recommended the Everett Station transportation center as the best site to build a new UW campus in Snohomish County.

Several fellow lawmakers from the region said the issue boils down to location.

"I was shocked (Kristiansen) would say that," said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island. "One of the reasons you can't fill them is because of where they are."

Bothell is too far to commute for students from Island and Skagit counties, and many poor families can't afford the expense of sending their children across the mountains to a four-year university, she said.

Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, a Central Washington University regent, said it's a worthy question to ask.

"There is no doubt in my mind we can't do it at the expense of the other institutions, but there are statewide needs and regional needs, and the regional needs are very clear," Sells said.

Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, said Kristiansen's concerns would have merit if the UW is placed in Everett instead of Marysville, which is a closer drive for Skagit and many Island County residents. Downtown Everett and a site in north Marysville were the top two recommended sites by NBBJ, the Seattle firm that evaluated more than 70 locations in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.

"I am committed to a need," Pearson said. "When I voted on this, it was with the idea this is for Skagit, Island and north Snohomish County. I think we have to keep that in mind. The north county site is the most logical site. What he said would make a lot of sense because Everett is so close to Bothell."

Haugen, Pearson and Sells were among a small contingent of legislators to tour the four sites that were rated by a consultants as finalists for a new UW site. Joining them were Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett, and aides for Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, and Rep. Chris Strow, R-Freeland.

The event was a chance for local leaders to make their pitches, and, in Marysville's case, refute information in the consultant's report that ranked the four finalist sites.

Marysville's biggest gripe with the NBBJ report was an excerpt saying the site would need to be substantially filled because of groundwater concerns. The city disputes that, saying it has regional storm-water detention ponds.

"The city has invested a lot of time and money, multimillions of dollars, to deal with those issues," said Mary Swenson, Marysville city administrator.