Bud NcCorchuk’s got a homemade “No Bothell Annexation” sign strapped to the back of his bicycle. Whenever the unincorporated Snohomish County resident hits the pedals, he’s getting the word out either by showing off the placard or by speaking with others in the potential NEWBA (North, East and West of Bothell Annexation) area.

Mickie Gunderson has lived in the NEWBA area for about 50 years and feels it’s time for her and thousands of others to annex into Bothell. As the Nov. 8 general-election nears and voters can decide to join Bothell or stick with the county, Gunderson’s been doorbelling those targeted neighborhoods and discussing the views of the “Bothell Annex Yes!” group to residents.

Both “yes” and “no” annexation signs dominate the sidewalks of major streets in the NEWBA area and people are discussing the issue around the clock.

“With the density we have, when you have 20 houses on two-and-a-half acres, this is the time to become a city. We need to group ourselves together and become one,” said Gunderson (pictured below), who was among thousands of unincorporated Snohomish County residents to sign a petition to be annexed into Bothell. “I am so happy to have my money go to Bothell. I want to see where my money’s going — I know it’s going to come back to me in my community.”

But that’s not all people are focused on when they raise the issue of annexation.

According to NcCorchuk (pictured) — a retired Snohomish County Fire District 1 battalion chief — and his group, Citizens for Responsible Annexations, “Bothell’s annexation fails to maintain current levels of fire and emergency medical service,” two fully staffed full-time fire stations in the potential annexed area will close and emergency response time will rise from eight minutes to about 15 minutes.

“We don’t support the closing of fire stations or delayed paramedic response times. Our taxpayers have been very gracious to us over the years and we will fight to protect your fire and emergency medical service (EMS),” wrote Scott Hamilton, president of Snohomish County Fire District 1 Professional Firefighters Local 1828, in a letter posted on the “Bothell No” Web site.

“Why give up having the highly-rained Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic just a few minutes away, on-call 24/7 in the Hilltop neighborhood fire station on Damson Road just to become part of Bothell? For me, safety comes first,” wrote Fire District 1 Commissioner Richard Schrock in a letter on the “No” site, as well. This month, Fire District 1’s commissioners voted 4-1 to oppose Bothell’s annexation.

Bothell City Councilmember Tom Agnew, who was a King County firefighter and paramedic for 30 years, said the council voted to keep Fire District 1’s Station 22 open for five years and Fire District 7’s Station 73 will be co-staffed by the Bothell Fire Department and the current fire-district employees.

“Their personnel will be merged into the city of Bothell if they choose. The city of Bothell has made no bones about it — no one’s going to lose their job over this annexation,” Agnew said. (Those residents in Fire District 10 won’t see a change since Bothell Fire and EMS already provides service to that area.)

Taxes and public services are also on the dockets of both the “yes” and “no” groups.

According to “yes” folks, the city of Bothell has said that property taxes will decrease while utility taxes will increase. Bothell plans to hire more police officers and add two additional patrol districts in the annexation areas, according to its Web site.

The Bothell “no” side asks about the property taxes and services issue, “How is that possible? Especially in this economy.”

Patrick LeDoux, who grew up in Bothell and now lives in the NEWBA area, wants to be annexed and feels it’s beneficial for everyone.

“The bottom line is we should let the citizens speak,” he said. “When you have the opportunity to not have (firefighters) lose jobs, grow your city, be part of something they’ve really been working hard on, preserving and making it better — why would you not want to be part of that?”

The NEWBA consists of 5.6 square miles with a population of 22,283 residents. An additional 5,000 residents could be annexed within the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) in unincorporated King County. Bothell’s current population is 33,505, according to the 2010 federal census.

If passed by a simple majority of votes, the effective annexation date could be set sometime between Aug. 1, 2012 and Jan. 1, 2013 to allow time to ramp up services to accommodate the larger population.

• The city of Bothell has scheduled an informational open house for:

Nov. 2, 6-8 p.m., at Northlake Christian Church, 19029 North Road

• For additional annexation information, visit www.ci.bothell.wa.us, www.bothellyes.com and www.bothellno.com.