The View From Here

Got a hot tip from one Sammamish resident last week who found a pile of candidate campaign signs dumped in a ditch.

This was no random act of vandalism, either. Apparently all the signs belonged to the one candidate, leading this resident to question whether or not there was some political sabotage going on.

Seems to me that those signs are more trouble than they are worth, and counter to everything the city is doing to combat visual pollution. I can completely understand why the city declined to allow electronic reader boards at local schools – once you open that kettle of fish then the skylines will never be the same, and you need to draw the line somewhere.

But I reckon it is hard to justify that restriction, in the name of aesthetics, while also allowing hundreds of those little signs all over the joint.

With any luck the people of Issaquah and Sammamish will do their best to read both the local papers, listen to what the candidates have to say, and make their decisions based on information rather than mindless advertising.

When asked whether a gas station in the Highlands was really a good investment in the future of Issaquah, most of the council candidates were wary not to go out on a limb. Some of the candidates said “hang on, a gas station wasn’t in the plan. We need to talk about this.”

Well, it’s already being talked about. The City of Issaquah’s land use committee conditionally approved it a few months back, using the same logic that some of the other candidates seem to favor, which is “sure, there are some issues to think about, but, well, you know, the market demands it.”

I think this is a cop out – it seems like much of the decision making to this point has been guided by a study, conducted by Port Blakely no less, which found that 70 percent of residents wanted it. Now, the folks up at Port Blakely are good people, don’t get me wrong, but they are hardly the people who should be conducting the survey of a proposal that they are backing. Right?

I got a letter a while back from a Highlands resident (hey, in the future dude, if you don’t put your name on it, I can’t print it. Or contact you.) who said that he ‘googled’ gas stations in the area and found 14 within 2.8 miles of his home.

And the claim that the whole point of a station up there is to reduce congestion in downtown Issaquah, is not only flawed logic, but is just the kind of short term thinking that the City of Issaquah should be rising above. I can’t imagine that “our future generations” will be thanking the current council for building a gas station in the Highlands. I can hear them now. “Wow, all that clean air and open space on Front St. Thanks, Exxon.”

Making planning decisions based on what the market wants is a terrible way to do things, particularly when it comes to encouraging green technology that might not be economically efficient now but we know is going to be a necessity of the future. Without some foward thinking people make these calls, because they can see a future that makes more sense, economically, environmentally and culturally, then we are going to be wading around in this rubbish for years to come.

I for one would love to see the City of Issaquah heralded far and wide for having the guts to be firm about their plans for the future, and to really put Issaquah on the map as a place that more than talks about sustainability, but actually walks the walk.

I was hoping that my question to the Sammamish candidates this week about options for a comprehensive recreation center in Sammamish might have elicited some creative responses – a bit more thinking outside the square than the tired old answers of “there are so many young people, a pool is important, but it’s going to be expensive.” Yeah, I think we all get that.

So I was really interested in Erica Tiliacos’ idea of using the existing City Hall as a rec center, and constructing an office building for the city’s government. I would imagine that an office block would be a simpler, and cheaper, thing to build than a recreation center. While I’m not necessarily saying this is definitely the way to go – and neither is Erica – it is at least an example of thinking laterally to see what options we have.

Similarly, John Curley’s story about Whitefish, Mont., shows what is possible when the public will is there.
I must say, it is weird that for a city where there are plenty of people constantly crooning about less government, as their political will dictates, these same people are staring at the council and asking “so, what are you going to do about a rec center?”
The median household income in Sammamish is more than $120,000 – it is one of the wealthiest areas in the state. You would think that if a rec center was so important to people, and the council so useless (as they are often accused), then someone would have figured out a way to make it happen by now.

I was starting to wonder if it was just me who gets kind of annoyed by all those little campaign signs along the side of the road.

“Vote Fella X – he’s your man.”

In this day and age of awareness about visual, and other, pollution, and material waste, it seems funny that candidates still think that plastering eye-sores like that all over a city, at whatever cost to themselves, is a good representation of themselves. We managed to figure out that kissing babies was a cheesy thing to do – hopefully it won’t be long before candidates realize that much better use of their money and our rubbish dumps could be made than all those little signs.

Apparently Sammamish Council candidate John Curley had the same idea – he was determined to not buy any signs, but his campaign supporters urged him to, despite his protests.

So, as a compromise, for every sign that his campaign volunteers buy, Curley will donate one dollar to nonprofit group American Forests. One dollar = one tree.

Hey, I know it’s all campaigning, but that’s just a good idea. Some ways of impressing the media are better than others…

Gday punters,

you’ll be pleased to know that I think Ava Frisinger and Eileen Barber are on board to take part in our next Q and A sessions, and hopefully we can hang on to them from here on in. Ava and Eileen are both incumbents and are both unopposed in their races, so it is totally understandable that they decided to give the kick off a miss last week. But I think the series will be stronger and more valuable with them in it. The more the merrier.

The candidates received their question for round 2 last night. It’s all about the Benjamins this time.

Name any city expenditure during the last two years that, looking back, you would assess as a poor use of public funds. What, if anything, can be done to mitigate the loss of these funds, or prevent similar decisions being made in the future?

Should be good to see what they come up with.

Even got a Letter to the Editor about the first Q and A. Seems Nathan Perea’s comments about the residents’ relationship with the council didn’t go down too hot with one fella… www.issaquah-reporter.com

Welcome to local politics, Nathan. He’s actually a pretty active and involved young guy, and I personally have seem him at a number of meetings around town, like Matt Tighe’s Green Energy Club. I guess he just hasn’t crossed paths with this one gentleman.

Anyway, as I write, Hutchison is streaking away, and the Eastsiders are a distant memory. I’m off to do some vote tampering.

Jake.

Well, today is one of the big days for King County politics. Soon the race for King County executive and a number of council positions will be narrowed down to two.

While most people in Sammamish and Issaquah are more focused on their own local election races, which don’t make it to the pointy end until November, there is no doubt that the whoever takes the executive job in the big smoke will have an impact on us too.

The executive is not a member of the King County Council, and is a separately elected official, but one of the executive’s roles is to come up with a draft budget for the operation of city government, and he or she has veto power over ordinances passed by the council.

Though, as incorporated cities, the councils of Issaquah and Sammamish control much of the legislative and financial matters that concern residents here, the operation of the county council has the potential to have a profound affect on the operation of these cities.

Particularly when it comes to transit.

The county council has received a pretty good ear-bashing on their money management record, and one of the areas where this is going to hit us out here is by what happens to King County Metro. Plans to expand bus routes in Issaquah and Sammamish are on hold, and there is talk that we might lose some.

It is with an eye on transit that Sammamish Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay has been pushing the cases of the two Eastside candidates, Ross Hunter, and, particularly Fred Jarrett. She reckons that it is time for some new blood in there, and that the incumbents Dow Constantine and Larry Phillips have had their shot and made a mess of it. Constantine has his followers, though, particularly the young and the liberal.

Personally, I am going for anyone that can beat Susan Hutchison.

You can keep an eye on the polls as the votes come in at http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/200908/results.aspx

Great to see that almost all the candidates submitted responses to our first Reporter Q and A session – thanks guys.

Sammamish candidates here — Issaquah candidates here.

I have been receiving some great suggestions for questions from groups like Citizens for Sammamish, so hope to have some on-point responses to the real business in coming weeks. And I would encourage anyone who wants to contribute their ideas as to what I should be asking the candidates to e-mail me at jlynch@issaquah-reporter.com, or jlynch@sammamish-reporter.com, for those of you on the Plateau.

And I know that Ava Frisinger and Eileen Barber are keen to contribute in the near future, which is cool. Just caught them during the holidays.

Anyway, be sure to check out the candidate blogs at this site too. It is early days yet, but I hope that the Q and A’s will generate some interest in the blogs, and give the candidates a good platform to hear directly from residents, and be able to respond.

Take it easy all,

Jake.