EVERETT — The man Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon hired to shore up his administration after a series of embarrassing management slip-ups has been getting high marks since starting in July.
Reardon hired former Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson after his previous deputy executive, Mark Soine, resigned.
Talk to County Council members and you’ll hear about Haakenson getting “straight A’s” or being a “positive addition.”
“Gary’s done a great job,” County Councilman John Koster said. “He’s up communicating with the council. It’s nice we don’t get surprised.”
Or this, from Councilman Brian Sullivan: “Haakenson gets straight A’s with me.”
“He’s available, he answers his phone,” Sullivan said. “You can meet with him on a moment’s notice, and I have on a dozen occasions.”
County Council Chairman Dave Somers added to the praise, saying that Haakenson is “much more communicative” than Soine.
He added, “We still have limited interaction directly with” Reardon, outside of regular leadership meetings.
The deputy executive is the county’s top appointed administrator. He plays key roles in the budget process and in labor negotiations. Before joining Reardon’s staff, Haakenson, 63, had been Edmonds mayor since 2000 and co-founded the Zumiez clothing store chain.
It remains to be seen whether the managerial change will be enough to salvage Reardon’s political fortunes as he vies for a third four-year term in the November election. He’s likely to face tougher competition than ever before.
So far, state Rep. Mike Hope, a Republican from Lake Stevens, is Reardon’s only declared challenger. The 35-year-old is a Seattle police officer who is serving his second term in the state House.
In 2007, Democrat Reardon easily beat a Republican challenger with no experience in elected office. Reardon, 40, was a state lawmaker before being first elected to the county executive post in 2003.
Haakenson isn’t the only addition to Reardon’s staff getting good reviews.
Planning director Clay White also has been received favorably since being hired in September. The 36-year-old previously headed Stevens County’s Land Services Department.
“He seems very organized and very focused,” Somers said. “So far it’s been positive.”
In the past, nearly every member of the current County Council publicly clashed with Reardon.
Last year, things were so testy that Reardon addressed the situation in his state of the county speech. Normally, the annual talk focuses on economic issues. Some members of county leadership thought Reardon’s speech escalated tension rather than assuaging it.
Later in 2010, an outside review found serious lapses in the county’s handling of harassment complaints filed by county workers. An audit also found that serious communication problems among leaders were hampering management of the county’s computer systems.
Soine was responsible for overseeing both of those functions. In April, he announced his resignation.
When searching for Soine’s replacement, Reardon personally met with all of the county’s other elected leaders to seek their input. The move came as a pleasant surprise to some who had complained of limited face time with the executive.
Reardon’s state of the county address for 2011 is scheduled Wednesday morning during a breakfast meeting of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce at the Everett Golf & Country Club.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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