State could lose millions if feds don’t reach budget deal

Washington state would see federal funding cut for everything for teacher’s aides for disabled kids to immunizations if Congress can’t reach a budget agreement.

By Lynda V. Mapes and Sanjay Bhatt, Seattle Times staff  reporters

From fewer immunizations to classrooms without teachers aides for children with disabilities, Washington state could feel the reduction of millions of dollars of federal aid if Congress can’t reach a budget compromise, a White House report released Sunday says.

Unless Congress acts by Friday, a series of automatic budget cuts, called sequestration in D.C. budget-speak, will take effect, adding up to $85 billion nationally over the course of the remaining fiscal year, through September.

The Senate is to consider bills this week that would avoid the cuts. Meanwhile, the White House on Sunday released the list of potential budget reductions, state by state, as part of its stepped-up campaign to prod Congress to act.

Some state agencies that rely heavily on federal funding would be particularly hard hit.

“My budget is 53 percent federal, and the amount of state and local dollars has also declined,” Mary Selecky, secretary of the state Department of Health, said Sunday.

The cuts would mean a more than 8 percent reduction in her agency’s funding, or $22 million in a department that has already seen a 38 percent cut in state money over the past six years, Selecky said.

Under an analysis prepared by her agency, about half of the new round of federal cuts would come out of food and nutrition programs for infants and pregnant women.

Cuts in federal immunization funding could also mean that 4,451 fewer kids receive vaccinations. Other core services, from breast- and cervical-cancer screening to inspections of health-care facilities and drinking-water protection, would be reduced.

Selecky said public-health budgets are already so tight that further reductions would put people’s health at risk. “Bugs don’t know boundaries, and they don’t know political parties, or that our budget is tight,” she said.

Other reductions in Washington state outlined by the White House include:

• $11.6 million for primary and secondary education, putting 160 teacher and aide jobs at risk. An $11.3 million reduction would jeopardize the jobs of 140 teachers, aides and staff working with children with disabilities.

In addition, around 440 fewer low-income students would receive aid to help them finance the costs of college, and about 1,000 children would be cut from Head Start and Early Head Start services.

• $3.3 million to help ensure clean water and air, and to prevent pollution from pesticides and hazardous waste. In addition, Washington could lose $924,000 in grants for fish and wildlife protection.

• Furloughs for 29,000 civilian Department of Defense workers that would reduce gross pay by
$173.4 million. Army base operation funding would be cut $124 million.

• About $271,000 in grants that support law enforcement, courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.

• $661,000 for job-search assistance, referral and placement. Up to 800 disadvantaged and poor children could lose access to child care, and $1 million could be lost for meals to seniors.

Not mentioned by the White House was money to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation, where last week six tanks holding radioactive material were found to be leaking. The budget cuts could lead to up to 1,000 cleanup workers facing furloughs of up to six weeks, the state says.

“Our concern is anything that slows down cleanup,” said Dieter Bohrmann, spokesman for the nuclear-waste program at the state Department of Ecology. “We need to keep progressing and avoid further delays, especially with the news of additional leaking tanks.”

The list from the White House includes other possible cuts nationally, including reductions for health research through the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, as well as cuts in aviation safety, air traffic control and security. The White House did not say how those cuts would affect the state.

The looming cuts are the result of failed attempts by Congress and President Obama to tame the federal budget deficit, beginning back in 2011. The automatic cuts now facing the country are just the start of more than $1 trillion in across-the-board reductions that would be imposed on domestic and military spending over the next 10 years.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week” that the worst of the cuts could be alleviated with some flexibility. “We can get all through this,” he said. “The best way to do it is just allow flexibility.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney has insisted for weeks that the agencies have no flexibility. Administration officials did not respond to questions Sunday about whether they would support a change in law to gain flexibility.

Some analysts outside government said they are optimistic a compromise budget solution would be reached before long, mitigating or at least redirecting the cuts.

“My suspicion is this is a game of poker. People in Congress will step up to the plate,” Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Chase’s wealth-management service, said in an interview Friday.

He’s not worried if Congress can’t reach a deal right away. “It’s not the end of the world if it takes a couple weeks, a couple months,” he said.

The combination of sequestration, higher payroll taxes and the “fiscal-cliff” deal reached by Congress late last year will shave
1.5 percentage point off the U.S. economy’s growth in 2013, Chan said, but that’s not reason for panic.

The important thing, he said, is for Congress to reach a deal that will eliminate the pall of uncertainty looming over American businesses and holding back their decisions to invest and hire.

Even if the spending cuts produce short-term job losses, the Seattle metro area is outperforming the national average in job growth, Chan said. The area saw 2.9 percent annual job growth in 2012, compared with
1.6 percent nationally.

Construction, manufacturing and the leisure-and-hospitality industries were responsible for a huge part of the area’s job growth. Chan said those numbers, along with a rebound in housing values here and nationally, indicate the nation’s economy is coming back.

Come support the Washington Stealth lacrosse team this Saturday night in Everett

On February 23, the Stealth plays host to the Calgary Roughnecks at Comcast Arena. 6:45pm

www.comcastarenaeverett.com

COMCAST ARENA DOORS OPEN AT 5:15pm. Come early to take part in pre-game activities, featuring Coors Light drink specials, face-painting, poster-making station and much more!

Hang around after the game for an autograph session with Stealth players.

“The Living Breath of Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ: Indigenous Ways of Knowing Cultural Food Practices and Ecological Knowledge”

May 1, 2013 at 9:00am until May 2 at 5:00pm

Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195

SAVE THE DATE! The University of Washington’s American Indian Studies Department invites you to a two-day symposium to be held May 1-2, 2013 in Seattle, Washington.

“The Living Breath of Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ: Indigenous Ways of Knowing Cultural Food Practices and Ecological Knowledge,” will bring together primarily Northwest Coast and regional Native leaders, elders, and scholars who will share their knowledge and expertise on topics such as tribal food sovereignty initiatives, food justice and security, traditional foods and health, global climate change’s impact on coastal indigenous food systems, treaties and reserved water rights, and treaty fishing rights and habitat protection.

Indigenous peoples in the Northwest have maintained a sustainable way of life through a cultural, spiritual, and reciprocal relationship with their environment. Presently we face serious disruptions to this relationship from policies, environmental threats, and global climate change. Thus, our traditional ecological knowledge is of paramount importance as we strive to sustain our cultural food practices and preserve this healthy relationship to the land, water, and all living things.

This symposium will be the inaugural event to honor UW’s future longhouse-style community building, Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (a Lushootseed word meaning Intellectual House), that will open its doors in 2014. This event symbolizes the spirit of Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ and embodies the essence of the work we envision doing in this cultural and intellectual space.

Registration details are forthcoming.

Coordinators:
Dr. Charlotte Coté, Clarita Lefthand-Begay, Dr. Dian Million, and Elissa Washuta.

Charlotte Coté (Nuu-chah-nulth) Ph.D., Associate Professor, UW’s Department of American Indian Studies; Affiliated Faculty, Canadian Studies Center, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies; Chair, UW’s Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (Intellectual House) Planning and Advisory Committee.

Clarita Lefthand-Begay (Diné) MS, Ph.D. candidate, UW’s School of Public Health, Graduate Student Representative, Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (Intellectual House) Working Committee Member, 2012 First Stewards Witness.

Dian Million (Athabaskan) Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UW’s Department of American Indian Studies.

Elissa Washuta (Cowlitz) MFA, Academic Counselor and Lecturer, UW’s Department of American Indian Studies.

Winona LaDuke, “Economics of Change: Building Sustainable Communities”

Thursday, February 28, 3013   7:00pm

Seattle University, Pigott Auditorium, 901 12th Ave, Seattle

Acclaimed author, environmentalist and activist Winona LaDuke, White Earth Ojibway, Minnesota, shares her experiences, insights, and philosophies about how to build sustainable communities using traditional indigenous ecological knowledge and caring for the land. Learn what we can do individually and collectively to make the changes necessary to live in balanced ways for ourselves, our families and communities, and honoring the web of life.

With special guests Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theater Arts.

Tickets $15 general admission, $5 students with ID.
www.brownpapertickets.com

Links to a few good videos of Winona speaking:
http://vimeo.com/52350943
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHNlel72eQc

Obama promises ‘big push’ for pre-K proposal

President Barack Obama is promising a “big push” for his proposal to provide pre-K for all 4-year-olds.

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is promising a “big push” for his proposal to provide pre-K for all 4-year-olds.

Obama says having the world’s best education system will help create jobs and boost the middle class, but it starts with early childhood education.

He said studies show that pre-kindergarten kids do better in school, are less likely to become teen parents and are more likely to attend college, have a job and form stable families.

Obama announced the proposal in his State of the Union address last week. Republicans have questioned the cost, which the White House has yet to reveal.

In an interview broadcast Friday with radio host Yolanda Adams, Obama says, quote, “we’re going to make a big push on that.”

‘I’m a monster’: Some veterans carry ‘moral injuries’ of guilt

Former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo walks among civilians carrying a burden of guilt most Americans don't want to share. A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kudo thinks of himself as a killer. "I can't forgive myself ... and the people who can forgive me are dead," he says. Photo: JOHN MINCHILLO / AP
Former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo walks among civilians carrying a burden of guilt most Americans don’t want to share. A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kudo thinks of himself as a killer. “I can’t forgive myself … and the people who can forgive me are dead,” he says. Photo: JOHN MINCHILLO / AP

A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo thinks of himself as a killer – and he carries the guilt every day.

By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo thinks of himself as a killer – and he carries the guilt every day.

“I can’t forgive myself,” he says. “And the people who can forgive me are dead.”

With American troops at war for more than a decade, there’s been an unprecedented number of studies into war zone psychology and an evolving understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clinicians suspect some troops are suffering from what they call “moral injuries” – wounds from having done something, or failed to stop something, that violates their moral code.

Though there may be some overlap in symptoms, moral injuries aren’t what most people think of as PTSD, the nightmares and flashbacks of terrifying, life-threatening combat events. A moral injury tortures the conscience; symptoms include deep shame, guilt and rage. It’s not a medical problem, and it’s unclear how to treat it, says retired Col. Elspeth Ritchie, former psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general.

“The concept … is more an existentialist one,” she says.

The Marines, who prefer to call moral injuries “inner conflict,” started a few years ago teaching unit leaders to identify the problem. And the Defense Department has approved funding for a study among Marines at California’s Camp Pendleton to test a therapy that doctors hope will ease guilt.

But a solution could be a long time off.

“PTSD is a complex issue,” says Navy Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Killing in war is the issue for some troops who believe they have a moral injury, but Ritchie says it also can come from a range of experiences, such as guarding prisoners or watching Iraqis kill Iraqis as they did during the sectarian violence in 2006-07.

“You may not have actually done something wrong by the law of war, but by your own humanity you feel that it’s wrong,” says Ritchie, now chief clinical officer at the District of Columbia’s Department of Mental Health.

Kudo’s remorse stems in part from the 2010 accidental killing of two Afghan teenagers on a motorcycle. His unit was fighting insurgents when the pair approached from a distance and appeared to be shooting as well.

Kudo says what Marines mistook for guns were actually “sticks and bindles, like you’d seen in old cartoons with hobos.” What Marines thought were muzzle flashes were likely glints of light bouncing off the motorcycle’s chrome.

“There’s no day – whether it’s in the shower or whether it’s walking down the street … that I don’t think about things that happened over there,” says Kudo, now a graduate student at New York University.

“Human beings aren’t just turn-on, turn-off switches,” Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis says, noting that moral injury is just a different name for a familiar military problem. “You’re raised `Thou shalt not kill,’ but you do it for self-preservation or for your buddies.”

Kudo never personally shot anyone. But he feels responsible for the deaths of the teens on the motorcycle. Like other officers who’ve spoken about moral injuries, he also feels responsible for deaths that resulted from orders he gave in other missions.

The hardest part, Kudo says, is that “nobody talks about it.”

As executive officer of a Marine company, Kudo also felt inadequate when he had to comfort a subordinate grieving over the death of another Marine.

Dr. Brett Litz, a clinical psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Boston, sees moral injury, the loss of comrades and the terror associated with PTSD as a “three-legged stool” of troop suffering. Though there’s little data on moral injury, he says a study asked soldiers seeking counseling for PTSD in Texas what their main problem was; it broke down to “roughly a third, a third and a third” among those with fear, those with loss issues and those with moral injury.

The raw number of people who have moral injuries also isn’t known. It’s not an official diagnosis for purposes of getting veteran benefits, though it’s believed by some doctors that many vets with moral injuries are getting care on a diagnosis of PTSD – care that wouldn’t specifically fit their problem.

Like PTSD, which could affect an estimated 20 percent of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, moral injury is not experienced by all troops.

“It’s in the eye of the beholder,” says retired Navy Capt. William Nash, a psychiatrist who headed Marine Corps combat stress programs and has partnered with Litz on research. The vast majority of ground combat fighters may be able to pull the trigger without feeling they did something wrong, he says.

As the military has focused on fear-based PTSD, it hasn’t paid enough attention to loss and moral injury, Litz and others believe. And that has hampered the development of strategies to help troops with those other problems and train them to avoid the problems in the first place, he says.

Lumping people into the PTSD category “renders soldiers automatically into mental patients instead of wounded souls,” writes Iraq vet Tyler Boudreau, a former Marine captain and assistant operations officer to an infantry battalion.

Boudreau resigned his commission after having questions of conscience. He wrote in the Massachusetts Review, a literary magazine, that being diagnosed with PTSD doesn’t account for nontraumatic events that are morally troubling: “It’s far too easy for people at home, particularly those not directly affected by war … to shed a disingenuous tear for the veterans, donate a few bucks and whisk them off to the closest shrink … out of sight and out of mind” and leaving “no incentive in the community or in the household to engage them.”

So what should be done?

“I don’t think we know,” Ritchie says.

Troops who express ethical or spiritual problems have long been told to see the chaplain. Chaplains see troops struggling with moral injury “at the micro level, down in the trenches,” says Lt. Col. Jeffrey L. Voyles, licensed counselor and supervisor at the Army chaplain training program in Fort Benning, Ga. A soldier wrestling with the right or wrong of a particular war zone event might ask: “Do I need to confess this?” Or, Voyles says, a soldier will say he’s “gone past the point of being redeemed, (the point where) God could forgive him” – and he uses language like this:

“I’m a monster.”

“I let somebody down.”

“I didn’t do as much as I could do.”

Some chaplains and civilian church organizations have been organizing community events where troops tell their stories, hoping that will help them re-integrate into society.

Some soldiers report being helped by Army programs like yoga or art therapy. The Army also has a program to promote resilience and another called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness to promote mental as well as physical wellness; some clinicians say the latter program may help reduce risk of moral injury but doesn’t help troops recognize when they or a buddy have the problem.

Nash says the Marines are using “psychological first aid techniques” to help service members deal with moral injury, loss and other traumatic events. But it’s a young program, not uniformly implemented and just now undergoing outside evaluation for its effectiveness, he says.

At Camp Pendleton, the therapy trial will be tailored to each Marine’s war experiences; troops with fear-based problems might use a standard PTSD approach; those with moral injury may have an imaginary conversation with the lost person.

Forgiveness, more than anything, is key to helping troops who feel they have transgressed, Nash says.

But the issue is so much more complicated that wholesale solutions across the military, if there are any, will likely be some time coming.

Many in the armed forces view PTSD as weakness. Similarly, they feel the term “moral injury” is insulting, implying an ethical failing in a force whose motto stresses honor, duty and country.

At the same time, lawyers don’t like the idea of someone asking troops to incriminate themselves in war crimes – real or imagined.

That leaves a question for troops, doctors, chaplains, lawyers and the military brass: How do you help someone if they don’t feel they can say what’s bothering them?

MOHAI’s new digs give Seattle history some breathing room

The new MOHAI in Seattle even includes the set of "Frasier." You can sit in his Dad's chair and hold a stuffed Eddie.
The new MOHAI in Seattle even includes the set of “Frasier.” You can sit in his Dad’s chair and hold a stuffed Eddie.

By Andrea Brown, Herald Writer

You know it’s a hip city when the first thing you see at its history museum is a neon beer sign and a fiberglass truck with fat pink toes.

And it gets better from there inside the new Lake Union digs of Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry, known as MOHAI.

In the atrium, the first Boeing plane hangs overhead and a 65-foot spiky wooden sculpture made from schooner planks perforates the ceiling.

Upstairs, there’s Nirvana music, a Lusty Lady sign, 99 bottles of beer on the wall and a replica of the duct-taped recliner from the TV show “Frasier.”

And, yeah, you can sit in that chair, and hold the stuffed version of Frasier’s dad’s dog Eddie on your lap.

This is a fun museum. So fun, in fact, that the movie about the 1889 fire that destroyed downtown Seattle (but took no lives) is a slapstick comedy.

The Seattle’s Great Fire gallery’s sound-and-light show, complete with the glue pot that started it all, is among the many highlights to behold.

The museum moved from smaller quarters in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood to the 1940s art deco building that formerly served as the Naval Reserve Armory. It has 50,000 square feet of exhibit space — plenty of room to show off the big stuff, such as the 1920s UPS delivery truck and the funky pink Lincoln’s Toe Truck.

“They did a great job setting it up,” visitor Kathryn Hain Martin said.

That great job came with a $60 million restoration price tag.

The museum has a cafe, gift shop, conference rooms and rooftop deck. Rooms have stunning views of the harbor, with window etchings that accent the maritime romance of the region.

The city’s timeline is exhibited on multilevels in multimedia from sticky notes to touch screens and in galleries that from Gold Rush to Tech City.

To prevent sensory overload, the museum is arranged in a maze of galleries and towers. Tower themes include: Boeing Takes Off, Seattle’s World’s Fairs and The Microsoft Story.

There’s a nice balance between new and old. On display are some of those stiff black-and-white family portraits where nobody smiled.

Down the hall, Elvis Presley gyrates on one of the silver screens in the Celluloid Seattle exhibit, which has vintage theater seats, drive-in speakers and a cigarette machine.

Seattle iconic artifacts in the museum include: the SuperSonics NBA Championship trophy in a sports gallery, a World War II rivet gun, a first-generation Kindle E-reader and the original Starbucks sign.

The list goes on …

Plan to spend a few hours and not see everything. You’ll want to come back for more.

Andrea Brown; 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com.

Exhibits

Celluloid Seattle: A City at the Movies, through Sept. 8. Curated by The Herald’s movie critic, Robert Horton, it shows Seattle in the movies and how the idea of “going to the movies” has changed.

Punctum/Poetry, through May 27. MOHAI’s historic photo collection is showcased in poetry and the spoken word produced by high school students.

Still Afloat: Seattle’s Floating Homes, on display June 15 to Nov. 3. Centered on the floating home community, with photos, oral histories, diagrams and a scale model floating home.

Upcoming event: Parents Night Out: 6 to 9 p.m. March 29. Kids, ages 5 and older, will make cardboard cars for a “drive-in” and then watch a movie.

If you go

Where: 860 Terry Ave. N., Seattle (in Lake Union Park).

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; open until 8 p.m. Thursdays

Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

Cost: Adults, $14; senior (65 and older)/student/military, $12; no charge for ages 14 and younger, with adult. Free admission the first Thursday of every month.

For more information: www.mohai.org

Wind, rainstorm expected to peak Friday afternoon

Associated Press
SEATTLE — The National Weather Service says a storm blowing into the Northwest will peak Friday afternoon with 20 mph to 30 mph winds and gusts to 40 mph in Western Washington, including the Seattle metro area.

Forecasters expect 1 to 2 inches of rain in Western Washington and 1 to 2 feet of snow in the Cascades by Saturday morning.

Windy conditions and heavy mountain snow will extend across Eastern Washington and continue Saturday.

Forecasters say a series of wet Pacific systems will continue to roll through Washington most of next week.

Reardon will resign, effective at end of May

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon announces his resignation, effective May 31, at the conclusion of his State of the County speech to members of Economic Alliance Snohomish County at the Everett Golf and Country Club in Everett on Thursday morning. Photo:Mark Mulligan,The Herald
Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon announces his resignation, effective May 31, at the conclusion of his State of the County speech to members of Economic Alliance Snohomish County at the Everett Golf and Country Club in Everett on Thursday morning. Photo: Mark Mulligan,The Herald

Enough is enough,’ county executive says after latest controversy, battle with County Council

By Scott North and Noah Haglund, Herald Writers
EVERETT — Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon announced Thursday he will resign effective May 31, a move that came as he and his staff faced mounting calls for an investigation to determine whether laws were broken in a campaign that appears designed to harass and conduct surveillance on Reardon’s political rivals.Reardon’s announcement came at the end of his 10th State of the County address before business leaders in Everett.He also said he supports an independent investigation, not only of himself and his staff, but of others in county government.The executive alleged that since before his re-election in 2011, he has been the focus of “false and scurrilous accusations” leveled against him. It’s part of “a concerted effort by groups that oppose” him that are intent on undermining his ability to lead, he said.

Reardon was investigated last year by the Washington State Patrol, and never charged, for allegations of misusing county money during an extramarital affair. He is the focus of a state Public Disclosure Commission investigation into using county resources on political campaigns, and he has been subject to repeated efforts by a Gold Bar blogger to recall him from office.

Reardon said that defending himself has taken a toll on his marriage, his ability to govern and has cost him “tens of thousands of dollars” in legal fees.

“Candidly, I don’t know how much a family can take or should take …” he told the crowd. “Enough is enough.”

Read the text of Reardon’s resignation speech.

Reardon’s announcement came the day after the County Council voted unanimously to remove his authority over the county’s computers and records management system.

That step was taken in response to articles last week in The Herald, detailing evidence that members of Reardon’s staff engaged in a campaign against his political rivals using public records requests, spoof email addresses and attack Web pages.

Many of those targeted were interviewed as part of the State Patrol investigation.

Reardon last week said that activity didn’t happen at his direction, but he condoned the conduct, reasoning it was OK because he was told it occurred outside the office.

It’ll be up to the Snohomish County Democratic Party to nominate three candidates to replace Reardon. A majority of the County Council will have to agree on the final choice after they receive the list of nominees.

The person appointed to be the next executive would serve until November 2014. Then it will go to the winner in an election for someone to fill out the remaining year of Reardon’s term, which ends in 2015, county elections manager Garth Fell said.

No election is possible this year because Reardon’s resignation is to take effect after filing week, which closes May 17.

The County Council will have 60 days after Reardon’s resignation to appoint a successor. If the council is unable to reach a decision during that time, Gov. Jay Inslee will have 30 days to decide.

The state Republican Party called Reardon’s decision to resign on May 31 a “final act of defiance” because it will extend by a year the term of whomever county Democrats nominate for the appointment.

“After everything he’s put the voters through, it’s time for Reardon to do the right thing and resign effectively immediately. Residents in Snohomish County deserve a chance to pick a replacement on Election Day 2013,” the GOP press release said.

State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, also said he found the timing of Reardon’s resignation interesting because of the additional year it would give the appointee.

Before the day was out, people who watch politics closely were buzzing about who could be tapped to fill the opening.

Reardon’s announcement came after he spent the better part of a half-hour delivering a speech about government and economic growth.

He began by stating that it has been an honor and privilege to serve for a decade in the community where he was born and raised. He said he was proud of accomplishments that should position the county to retain its place as a hub for aerospace jobs.

Then he acknowledged the controversies that have dogged him since November 2011. It was almost exactly a year ago that the County Council was urging Reardon to go on leave while he was being investigated by the State Patrol.

The Herald’s editorial board endorsed Reardon two of the three times he ran for county executive. On Thursday, the editorial board wrote that Reardon’s response to the recent revelations had created an “integrity vacuum.”

County Councilman Dave Gossett, who attended Thursday morning’s speech, said he was “totally surprised” by Reardon’s resignation announcement.

Council Chairwoman Stephanie Wright also appeared caught off guard, but said she appreciated signs that Reardon wants to focus on collaboration during what are likely to be his final two months at the helm of county government.

Read Wright’s statement on the process to replace Reardon.

Regardless of what happens next, the council still wants an investigation into the records requests linked to Reardon’s staff, but they are not sure what form that probe will take, she said.

Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe was not at the gathering. In recent days he’s been talking with police agencies about staging an independent, outside investigation of conduct by Reardon’s staff.

Last year, he asked the State Patrol to investigate after a county social worker came forward to County Councilman Dave Somers as a “whistleblower” and reported that she had been traveling with Reardon for out-of-town rendezvous she believed were paid for using county money.

Patrol detectives became the focus of a formal complaint by one of Reardon’s aides. Other people involved in the investigation, including witnesses who were approached by police, have been accused by Reardon and his backers of orchestrating a political smear.

Given that history, Roe said he’s encountered “understandable reluctance by people who have too much to do already to delve into Snohomish County’s laundry hamper.”

But Reardon’s resignation and his stated support for an investigation may change that, Roe said.

“Hopefully that will make for a compelling reason for an outside agency” to take the case, he said.

Reardon told the crowd Thursday that he planned to cooperate fully with the investigation he’s requested.

On the advice of his attorneys, he declined to speak with patrol detectives last year.

Reardon’s wife, Kate Reardon, a spokeswoman for the city of Everett, joined him after the speech. They left the Everett Golf and Country Club, hand in hand.

Reardon did not acknowledge reporters’ questions except to say he had no comment.

Organized labor has typically been among Reardon’s largest political supporters, but the biggest union representing county employees said that the county executive’s troubles have made it difficult for members to work.

“You can notice the distraction when you’re doing the type of thing that our organization does, which is represent the employees,” said Chris Dugovich, president of Council 2, the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) affiliate that represents about half of the county’s union employees.

Dugovich said their members continued to do their jobs, regardless.

“They’re pros, they’re doing the same jobs that they’ve always done, even though the past few years have been difficult because of the economy. Those have been exacerbated by the public records requests, which have been coming allegedly from the executive’s office,” he said.

Some union members were targeted by the records requests. Other county employees spent hours pulling documents together.