Letter to the editor: Vote for Brett Rogers, Snohomish County Prosecutor

Editor:

We are at a critical crossroads concerning public safety in the county. We’ve seen our communities deteriorate bit by bit over time. Earnest Hemingway once said, “It happened gradually, and then suddenly”. Yes, we suddenly find ourselves deep in it. About five years ago, along with a group of caring folks, I helped clean up the area on I-5 by Shawn O’Donnell’s. Recently a friend did so again and found that the problem has grown exponentially — more needles, drug paraphernalia, used condoms. It’s tragic, it’s pathetic. Personnel working in dental and medical offices by O’Donnell’s are afraid to leave the buildings for a walk to the coffee shop as they are often accosted.

It’s time to say enough. This is not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about us, the collective US. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to ourselves, to our families, and to our community. We have a civic duty to get involved. We can’t stand around looking to our neighbor whom, you might see as a hard worker, an involved citizen, a go-getter who is going to solve this problem for you. No, it is you whom also has a responsibility to do something. Yes, “do something.” Collectively, we can make a positive difference. We just have to have the will to do it.

Our children should not have to sacrifice their health and safety by going to play in their neighborhood park to find it riddled with needles. Folks out for a walk should not have to be afraid of being attacked. Folks who break the law should finally be held accountable according to the law and brought to justice.

As a nurse whose worked in emergency rooms, I’ve seen the devastation caused to families, to children as a result of domestic violence – wives, husbands, children with head injuries and broken bones, and in some cases death. Working on a psychiatric unit I saw what drug abuse can do to the human brain – in some cases leaving the person permanently incapable of making any type of coherent decisions. A life lost, a family destroyed.

It’s time to restore public safety and get rid of the soft on crime policies which have done nothing to help anyone who has committed a crime against society or harmed themselves. And it has done nothing to make us a more caring society. We have virtue signaled and enabled to the point of being criminal.

Brett worked with the Seattle Police Department for 18 years and completed law school during those years. He became experienced and knowledgeable in police tactics, crime, investigations and law enforcement policy and accountability. All this makes him uniquely qualified to be our next Snohomish County Prosecutor.

Public safety is Brett’s number one concern as it is for many county residents. Victim protections, and stopping the present “catch and release” approach which seems to be the new way of dealing with crime in many of our cities is high on his list of priorities. His vision is to restore justice, and to implement justice system accountability while being transparent with the people of Snohomish County.

Together we can be part of the solution. Join me in voting for Brett Rogers as our next Snohomish County Prosecutor.

Theresa Campa Hutchison
Edmonds

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