Lovick nominates Democrat, Republican for ombudsman

EVERETT — A Democratic congressional staffer and a former Republican prosecuting attorney are in the running to be Snohomish County’s next ombudsman.

The first person to serve in the nonpartisan post, former County Councilman John Koster, got passed over for reappointment in December. That left the job vacant as of Jan. 1.

County Executive John Lovick has nominated two potential successors. The executive’s first choice is Jill McKinnie, an Everett-based staffer who handles constituent work for U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen. The second is James Krider, who served two terms as the county’s prosecuting attorney, from 1995 through 2002.

The council isn’t required to choose either one. But they do need to fill the job by the end of April.

Interviews with the two nominees are likely to take place in March, said Marcia Isenberg, the council’s chief of staff.

Lovick created the office in 2014. As a public advocate, the ombudsman’s job is to help people resolve problems they encounter while dealing with county government.

Last year, the largest share of complaints involved land-use issues. Other issues included human services, taxes and the criminal justice system.

When necessary, the ombudsman can recommend efficiency improvements.

Pay ranges from $91,000 to $128,000.

When Lovick hired Koster in late 2013, it appeared to be a policy masterstroke: a liberal Democrat willing to recognize a conservative Republican for his superb grounding in local government and the community it’s supposed to serve.

While on the job, Koster promised to shed the partisan identity he nurtured as a three-term county councilman and congressional candidate.

Koster spent much of early 2014 drafting rules for the new office and helping people affected by the Oso mudslide seek out assistance.

Trouble came in October, after Koster agreed to let his name and the words “from the desk of John Koster” appear on a fundraising letter for the Freedom Foundation. The letter from the nonpartisan Olympia think tank attacked public sector unions and angered some union-represented county employees who received copies. The employees complained to county administrators.

Koster apologized and sought to justify the letter as something he did on his own time, separate from his day job.

Lovick disagreed. The executive asked council members not to renew Koster’s appointment.

Two county councilmen did support Koster during a Dec. 22 vote, but he needed three votes to keep the job. Just over a week later, the office was empty.

“The applications started coming in soon after the council vote,” county spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

The executive’s office did not formally advertise the job, Hover said. The relatively short 30-day window the executive had to forward nominees to the council would have made that logistically difficult, she said.

County code specifies that the ombudsman be a person of recognized judgment with experience in law, administration or public policy.

McKinnie has worked as Larsen’s district director since 2001. Most of her work experience for the two decades before that involved constituent, legislative and event-management work for other congressional Democrats.

“I am a problem solver that respects the delicate balance between the legislative and executive branches of government,” she wrote in a cover letter.

Krider served two terms as the county’s prosecuting attorney before losing re-election in 2002. He has since voluntarily resigned from the practice of law. The Washington State Bar Association provides no additional information. Krider could not be reached Friday.

“During my terms as Snohomish County prosecuting attorney, I formed many partnerships with the officials of both the Democratic and Republican parties,” Krider said in the cover letter for his application.

Since leaving public office, Krider reports doing consulting work for companies as well as traveling the U.S. and Europe.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.