Stefan has a good post below on the topic of electing the elections director in King County. Can anyone seriously imagine Dean Logan standing for election after events of the last couple years? Heh.

The King County charter should be amended to allow such an election. Though, there is another county charter issue of sorts in the news today. I thought this letter to the editor in today's Everett Herald regarding the Snohomish County Charter Review Commission, where I serve as one of the Vice Chairs, was interesting.

The eminent domain issue, as accurately described by the author, has been discussed though it's not scheduled for our agenda this Wednesday. A Commissioner may bring it up at the appropriate time during the meeting for consideration, and if we do it will only be for the purpose of researching the issue, not yet recommending a change to the county charter for voters to approve in November. I'll vote for it if it comes up, as I have in the past, though I'm not sure there will be the eight "yes" votes necessary for the Commission to take action.

For those interested, here are the key amendments for which the Commission is currently preparing ballot language (we'll take another vote later this month to place each amendment on the November ballot or not): allow the county to move to a biennial budget rather than only an annual one, give the Executive section veto authority (where a section of legislation can be vetoed rather than the whole thing), creating an independent salary commission to determine salaries for elected officials, and moving the Performance Auditor from the Auditor's office to reporting to the County Council.

There's more information at the Commission's website for those interested. And here's a link for the Pierce County Chater Review Commission as well. It's not the sexiest work, but as the mess in King County shows, can mean a lot to making sure the structure of county government actually responds to the needs of the citizens it is supposed to serve.