10 years ago 1996

It begins with paging the supplier and then arranging to meet confidentially in parking lots from Granite Falls to Everett. Its not drug deals its an outreach program to prevent the spread of HIV in intravenous drug users by exchanging dirty needles for clean ones. Between January and September 1996, the Snohomish County Health District program exchanged almost 70,000 needles and made over 500 referrals for drug treatment. In Marysville, outreach workers exchanged between five and eight needles per month this year and none last year, said Elizabeth Doan-Gonzales, program director with Pacific Treatment Alternatives. The controversial program, funded through the states general fund for HIV prevention, is in its third year of operation. The health district board, comprised of 15 elected city and county council members, votes on renewing the contract with Pacific Treatment Alternatives each year. Last year was a close vote, 6-to-5 in favor. The year before it was 11-1 in favor with different board members. The board will soon vote on the 1997 contract. How do we know that giving them a clean needle ensures that they will use it? said Donna Pedersen, health board member and Marysville City Council member. Pedersen said she is concerned that the program isnt cost effective. I would much rather spend money on addiction programs than this, she said. The Snohomish County Health District contracted with Pacific Treatment Alternatives since 1989 for HIV prevention outreach work. In 1993, they added needle exchange to that contract. The $95,000 budget includes salary and administrative costs for two outreach workers, plus gas and mileage for all outreach work, not just needle exchange. The exchange program costs for 1995 were about $7,000 which includes purchasing clean needles and disposing contaminated needles. Ward Hinds, Snohomish County Health Officer, said the primary concern for the exchange program is preventing drug users from sharing contaminated needles. If this program can prevent just one AIDS case every 10 years its going to more than pay for itself, Hinds said. According to the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California and Harvard AIDS Institute, the lifetime costs of treating an HIV-infected person are about $119,000. Between 1990 and 1994, about 26 percent of the almost 300 people in Snohomish County with AIDS reported intravenous drug use. Washington state law prevents the sale of needles or syringes by pharmacists unless for legal uses. Pharmacists contacted said they question those who request needles and syringes to ensure they are for insulin. Pedersen said she has not been supportive of the needle exchange program. Although I have compassion for those who might be in a situation to contract AIDS I feel that it sends a mixed message to the young people, she said. Many programs work to counter drug use among teens, she said. [We say] dont do drugs, but if you do heres clean needles. Hinds said the program works with pagers and going to drug users to avoid a high level of visibility. The program is invisible to school kids, he said. We dont go around talking about needle exchange. There is no message except drug use is very dangerous and we can help you get into treatment, but while you are making that decision we dont want you to get infected, he said. Doan-Gonzales said it takes time to establish trust and relationships with the drug users before they may listen to treatment suggestions. We help keep them safe until they make other decisions, she said. Another advantage of meeting with drug users on their own terms is to avoid community opposition, Hinds said. Its very difficult to sell politically because we are trying to prevent infection in a segment of the population that is not very popular, Hinds said. Needle exchange programs in Seattle and Tacoma that have a central building for exchanges have been the subject of much opposition by neighbors and community members. Those who favor the needle exchange say it safely disposes of contaminated needles and keeps them out of public parks and streets.

25 years ago 1981

Development fees called for in Snohomish Countys Growth Management Plan are cleverly disguised taxes designed to inhibit growth, according to Larry Sundquist, head of the Snohomish County Chapter of the Seattle Master Builders Association. The Growth Management Plan is a massive document of 399 pages, the heart of which is a comprehensive matrix of impact fees, constituting a hidden tax, said Sundquist. The development taxes are all take and no give, said Sundquist, whose organization is a professional trade association and consists of builders, subcontractors, bankers, real estate companies and a variety of related businesses. The taxes would cover up past county government money management blunders and impose an extremely tough financial burden on home buyers, said Sundquist, pointing out that the county plan does not guarantee any services. The taxes would be collected up front by the county when the contractor applies for a building permit, he said. They could not be amortized. Thus, the taxes become part of the cost of buying the home. Sundquist said the resulting expense can, for many, make the difference between affordable and unaffordable housing. The average development tax would be $2,843. Unless the buyer pays the tax in cash, it would be affected by interest rates and could ultimately stretch to more than $10,000 when computed over the life of a 30-year mortgage. And its important to note that the average American moves several times in a lifetime. This hidden tax would affect people every time they buy a home. In 30 years the homeowner could be paying for utilities and services that have long since been defunct, Sundquist said. The key point is that the taxes would hinder any efforts to recover from the economic recession we are in, said Sundquist. He explained that the shelter industry is an important part of the economy. Shelter development means jobs, he said, and up-front taxes of this nature mean fewer homes and fewer jobs as well as loss in taxes and revenues. Sundquist said the Growth Management Plan also calls for fiscal zoning which will limit freedom of choice for homeowners by severely limiting available land, increasing housing density in specific areas and increasing development costs. There are better ways for the government to generate the money it needs to develop and maintain utilities and services. Among these are levies, bonds, special service areas, fire protection districts, user fees, tolls and so on. Even a sales tax is more equitable and fair. He said the up-front lot development concept zeros in on a specific group of people and lays the heaviest burden of paying for these utilities and services on them the new homeowner. The county is assuming that growth does not pay for itself, he said. We would argue that point. The county plan will erode the fundamental rights of every American to own a home, said Sundquist.

55 years ago 1951

Up to Saturday night, 81 Marysville community people had volunteered to give blood if the Red Cross bloodmobile unit can be brought here. Thus, the first week of Marysvilles effort to join the life-saving air-lift of blood for the wounded in Korea upholds the communitys usual good response to a worthwhile project. More volunteers are needed if the bloodmobile is to be brought here, as it is necessary to have 150 signatures in order to set a date for the contribution program here. The Marysville Lions Club has undertaken the task of coordinating the signing of the required number and ask every person in good health between the ages of 21 and 60 to participate. Many of the persons on the list now are those who have previously contributed. Arthur Fagin, chairman of the Lions Club committee, reports that a roll of honor containing 81 names has been compiled and an invitation is extended to add to it by signing a card at the B&M Food Center, the Marysville Co-Op store, Bartletts hardware or Beamans mens shop. There is space for 80 more names.