EVERETT—Controversary surrounds former Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary after a damning audit report by George Skiles, Partner at Sjoberg-Evanshenk Consulting, on both Executive and Council Office staffing operations, pointed to “duplicative” and “overlapping” staff positions as a contributing factor to a proposed $3.07 billion 2025 Biennial Budget.
While the number of core staffing positions has remained relatively the same at approximately 13 positions, the growth observed by this audit was largely due to the creation (or expansion) of three new programs within the office—Economic Development, Social Justice, and Recovery and Resilience—in which the audit found had many overlapping or “duplicative” functions with existing programs. For example, the administration of monies for grant and micro grants as well as human resource-related matters.
In 2021 the county council voted to approve two full-time FTE positions for the Office of Social Justice. In 2022 the county discussed adding another position to OSJ dedicated to communication, to better coordinate with nonprofits and community partners in dishing out more than $2 million in ARPA and CARES Act dollars to facilitate projects. Three weeks later Senator Marko Liias was hired for that position.
After Liias was hired by the County another OSJ position needed to be made to assist the two existing Legislative Analyst positions, one of which is held by former Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary, pays $166,000 annually, and has administered around 40 micro grants to nonprofits and organizations. Micro grants do not require performance audits.
Multiple Snohomish County Sheriff Deputies and elected officials, who want to remain anonymous, have told the Lynnwood Times that for years “everyone knew Ty lived in Arizona, but it was an unspoken truth for fear of retaliation.”
A Lynnwood Times investigation found that Trenary allegedly owns a home in Arizona sparking controversy whether he is even a Washington state resident and how can he be allegedly living out of state but collecting a paycheck for duties related to Snohomish County government.
Lynnwood Times discovered an Arizona home, approximated 55 miles northwest of Phoenix is deeded to a Robert Tyler “Ty” Trenary and his wife (who will not be named) which they purchased in October of 2020 just a year after Sheriff Trenary lost his re-election bid.
The 2,400-square-foot home was built in 2020 and is now valued at approximately $650,000 according to Redfin. Joint Tenancy documents for the property, which is notarized by a Washington State notary, along with Arizona parcel information show a mailing address to a 2-story, 5-bedroom, Lake Stevens home.
A Snohomish County property search on the Lake Stevens home is registered to a Veronica (last name intentionally omitted), which according to a 2003 obituary in the Everett Herald, is the alleged sister of Ty Trenary’s wife.
Snohomish County spokeswoman Kari Bray confirmed with the Lynnwood Times that the County Executive’s Office does “not have any reason to believe he [Trenary] has lived full-time in Arizona for the past four years.”
“We’re aware that he [Trenary] has spent time in Snohomish County and also has spent time in Arizona, but details about where he is living or how much time he spends in specific locations have not been spelled out or requested of him, since his work performance has been exemplary,” Bray wrote to the Lynnwood Times.
In February of 2020, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers appointed former Sheriff Ty Trenary as Senior Policy Analyst (a newly created position) to focus on public safety and issues that intersect with multiple departments and agencies. His duties were to include leading policy analysis and development for law and justice, emergency services, homeland security, and other high priority issues in the Executive’s Office. Trenary started his new position on February 10 receiving an annual salary of $148,100.
When the Executive Office was asked by the Lynnwood Times in February 2020 how many others were considered for the Senior Policy Analyst position, Kent Patton, then-Communications Director with the Executive office, responded:
“Ty Trenary has the ideal experience to provide policy advice to our office as we work to stand up new programs and analyze existing policies across our law and justice system. Ty has served in uniform for over three decades, including as chief of police for one of our cities and as an elected sheriff. For most of his thirty-two years as a cop, he was on the front lines of public safety, making the tough decisions to keep our streets safe. He knows what it’s like to wear a badge and gun and put his life on the line every day for the people of our community. By having Ty in our office, we are better able to understand the complex needs of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Having worked in the sheriff’s office for 28 years, Ty will be an advocate for the office’s needs.”
Now, four years later, current Communications Director Kari Bray shared with the Lynnwood Times that during the multi-year COVID-19 emergency starting in 2020, Trenary was assigned to the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC), which is in Everett, as part of Emergency Support Function (ESF) 6. There, he coordinated the launch of the Nourishing Neighborhoods program and worked to provide childcare support to front-line workers.
After the pandemic response, Trenary, since 2022 has been the point of contact for community organizations that have partnered with Office of Social Justice (OSJ) helping fund $490,000 to 96 community investments, according to the county.
“Mr. Trenary was instrumental in leading the work of OSJ and helping transition the office to its new leadership,” Bray said. “In fact, he was one of the main speakers at an OSJ community gathering event in Everett at the end of last month.”
County Executive Somers recently appointed Wil Johnson this Fall as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer to lead OSJ.
Bray shared that the Executive Office is unaware of the specific work locations of other employees as “there have not been concerns with employees’ work products, attendance, or performance.” The County does have a remote work policy which she said is a benefit cited by many employees as a positive to working for Snohomish County government.
Bray explained that if concerns were to arise because an employee was not meeting work expectations, was not in contact with the team, and missing key meetings, the situation would be “immediately addressed, and the option of remote work might be reconsidered.” She assured the Lynnwood Times that there “has not been an issue with Mr. Trenary or other employees who work remote or hybrid schedules.”
The County Council will be meeting on its 2025 budget action items 9 a.m., on Monday, November 25, where the audit findings and a proposed 8% property tax increase will be voted on.
Author: Mario Lotmore
