Amato won’t answer tough questions – as he pledges transparency to voters 

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

Sammamish City Council Candidate Josh Amato did not respond to tough questions raised regarding the veracity of his candidacy announcement concerning an arrest and a recent attempt to scrub his 2010 ties to a white supremacy hate group.  

Instead, Amato’s sister posted a comment on our story, largely backing Amato’s version of the events. The sister’s comment, however, leaves many questions open.  

The Sammamish Comment asked Amato for further clarifications – three days ago – with no response from the candidate. Amato also ignored requests to comment on the original story.

In a blog post responding to questions about his history as a Republican, Amato said “as uncomfortable as confrontation may be, I believe it is absolutely your right to ask tough questions of those asking for your vote.”

Instead, his supporters are now attacking The Comment for highlighting the issues with his campaign’s obfuscations.  

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Amato’s self-disclosure of troubled past omits key facts   

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

When Josh Amato announced his candidacy for Sammamish City Council last spring, he posted a video on his campaign website disclosing an arrest at age 21 for a misdemeanor. 

However, the police report from the Tacoma Police Department discloses that the circumstances surrounding his arrest were far more serious than Amato revealed  – it was for intimidation, stalking and threats with a weapon – a felony. 

Josh Amato

In addition, Sammamish Comment uncovered political documents on the Internet that connect Amato, then campaign manager for Dick Muri, a Republican candidate for Congress, to groups with racist and white supremacist leanings.

Shortly after The Comment discovered the key document, Amato’s name was removed from the posting on the Internet.

Amato is currently a Sammamish planning commissioner.

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Doing the right thing: Kathy Lambert flunked

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By Scott Hamilton

Commentary

Oct. 13, 2021: In the Era of Trump, it seems politicians have trouble doing the right thing.

Last week, King County Council Member Kathy Lambert flunked spectacularly.

The Seattle Times outlined the issues here. In a nutshell, Lambert’s reelection committee and consultant produced a campaign flier that has clear racist overtones and other incendiary charges that have nothing to do with the County Council, its members or the local issues.

Lambert, who is running for a fifth 4-year term, initially refused to denounce the mailer. Lambert’s actions—and inactions—cost her the endorsement for reelection by The Seattle Times. Only after losing the endorsement, and that of some corporations and some of those who endorsed her, did Lambert reverse course and denounce the mailer. She apologized and fired her election consultant.

The image below, via the Seattle Times, photoshopped Zahilay to be dressed like Louis Farrakhan, a divisive figure in the civil rights movement. Zahilay is the only black on the county council. His record on “defunding” police is misstated in the mailer.

Source: Seattle Times article, 10/6/2021
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City sued for censoring residents on its Facebook page 

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

The City of Sammamish and its communications manager, Celia Wu, have been named defendants in a lawsuit in federal court alleging infringement of the First Amendment for ongoing censorship of protected speech on the city’s Facebook page.  

The plaintiffs in the case, Sarah Hawes Kimesy, Tarul Kode Tripathi and Catherine Freudenberg, are asking the court for an injunction preventing the city from continuing to violate the Constitution and an award of damages, including punitive damages. 

A hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for October 22  in front of Federal Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle.  (update: the hearing has been rescheduled to November 5)

The Sammamish Comment will provide a special coverage for this development story.

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The Sammamish Comment celebrates the publication of Scott Hamilton’s first book

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

The Sammamish Comment celebrates the publication of “Air Wars: The Global Combat Between Airbus and Boeing ” by Scott Hamilton, the Comment’s founder. In his professional life, Hamilton is a recognized expert in the commercial aviation industry, covering the industry as journalist since 1985.

Air Wars is a story about the intense and often bitter rivalry between Airbus and Boeing. It’s also about John Leahy, the legendary head of commercial sales at Airbus, whose team booked 15,000 net orders worth $2 trillion in 23 years, and the strategies by Airbus and Boeing that changed aviation as we know it.

Congratulations Scott!

The book is available at Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.