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agency early 2022. <br />I am in the unique and unenviable position to have seen how detrimental this measure was to <br />the public, to the workforce, and how difficult it is to restore service levels. <br />In 2022 and early 2023, I advocated for the mandate to be rescinded, for drivers and <br />mechanics to be hired back, and for service to be restored. My motivation was meeting Shelly <br />Schweigert in May 2022. She had been a Community Transit driver for over 30 years, <br />awarded as a 2 million-miles safe driver, and while dealing with the passing of her father late <br />2021, was among the many employees that were fired as a result of the mandate. <br />As many of our drivers, she was loved by her customers, many of whom know her by name. <br />She wanted her job back and wanted to serve her community again. Unfortunately, it took <br />more than a year for the mandate to be lifted, and while Shelly returned to work shortly after it <br />was, most drivers didn’t. The restoration of service, along with service growth plans, depends <br />on hiring and training drivers. <br />The decision to implement a vaccine mandate when no other transit agency in the county and <br />north hadn’t, was one of the most detrimental measures in agency history. I hope that there are <br />some lessons learned in that regard, and that Community Transit will succeed in resuming <br />their service growth plans. <br />If the consolidation had already taken place, Everett would have experienced the same loss of <br />workforce, service cuts and cancelled daily trips. Instead, Everett Transit already restored <br />service in 2023 to pre-pandemic levels, and their workforce was not impacted by a mandate. <br />This is why I believe it is so important to ensure that what the public is promised when they <br />vote for a measure that increases their taxes is not reset along the way if it can be avoided. A <br />provision in a potential consolidation agreement would ensure that the level of service <br />promised for current Everett Transit customers and residents is fulfilled. <br />Thank you, <br />Sabina <br /> <br />Sabina Araya ll sabinasum@hotmail.com ll 425-327-5924