Monthly Archives: October 2013

Issaquah Press rebukes city again, says Klahanie should annex to Sammamish

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The Issaquah Press, which condemned the Issaquah government over its cybersquatting of the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District websites, rebuked the city again when it editorialized that the Klahanie area should annex to Sammamish.

The same editorial appeared in the sister newspaper, The Sammamish Review.

The Boundary Review Board Thursday night approved Issaquah’s request to proceed to an annexation vote for Klahanie. Members commented about some of the public testimony in opposition to the annexation and about issues related to water and sewer and fire service, but concluded that these “emotional” arguments and inter-governmental agency disputes were not germane to the annexation itself. Essentially, the BRB concluded there was no legal reason to deny the request. In the end, the BRB took the position, “let the voters decide.”

The vote is scheduled for February.

At long last, an Issaquah official says cybersquatting was wrong

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Finally, someone in the Issaquah city government said its cybersquatting of the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District websites was wrong.

Councilman Joe Forkner, who is running for mayor against long-time councilman Fred Butler, who is also president of the council, took this stand in a candidate profile in the Issaquah Press. The Press wrote:

He did not pause when asked about strategies taken in the past year to defend Issaquah against perceived attacks from the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District. He said that an aggressive assumption plan and cybersquatting activities would have no place in a prospective Forkner administration.

“I’m a sit-down-and-talk-it-out kind of guy,” he said. “If we have a problem, let’s sit down, talk about it and just come up with a plan that will work.”

Butler has only said he didn’t know of the cybersquatting in advance. He’s declined to take a stand on the ethics of the practice.

I’ve known Butler for years, as well as another council member, Stacy Goodman. Both refused to take a stand on the ethics of the city’s cybersquatting the Water District’s website when I asked. Goodman, who covered the City of Sammamish as a reporter for the Sammamish Review when I was on city commissions and committees, would have been all over this story as a reporter. As an Issaquah City Council member, she’s gone into the bunker, along with Butler and the rest of the city government.

It is gratifying to see that someone over there decided the cybersquatting was wrong. But it sure took long enough.

As readers of Sammamish Comment (and the local newspapers) know, the Water District and Issaquah have been fighting over water treatment issues for years. After the District launched a campaign to advise its customers of the problem, Issaquah’s staff created to domain names virtually identical to those of the Water District to hijack District customers and those interested in the issues, redirecting them to city websites aimed at countering District information.

Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger and city administrator Bob Harrison defended the practice. Harrison said this was done to counter “misinformation” from the District.

This is an amazing excuse.

Issaquah has two full-time employees in its communications department, Warren Kagarise (who purchased the phoney domain names) and Autumn Monahan. Both were once reporters for the Issaquah Press. Monahan also was once employed by a professional public relations firm. Council member Goodman was also once a reporter for the Press. All are well-schooled in communication and information dissemination.

With all this newspaper experience, and the understanding of communicating messages and reporting facts that goes with being reporters and a public relations professional, Issaquah still resorted to cheating and trickery to try and get its message across. And this was their first action. Slick videos and presentations came later.

Every local newspaper condemned the city for its actions.

One can only roll your eyes and shake your head at the decision-making that went into this, the lack of ethics surrounding it, the defense of it, and the lack of outrage by the city council members.

Good for Forkner for finally being the one elected official with the courage to stand up and take a position that this was wrong. But he was awfully slow to do so.

Sammamish Landing additions have $2m price tag

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Improvements to the recently-opened Sammamish Landing park on the lake at the far north end of the city have a price tag of almost $2 million, according to this article in The Sammamish Review.

This is an eyebrow raising figure.

The two docks there cost more than $500,000. The park is a nice little addition to the adjacent trail, and after it officially opened, I routinely observed a lot of cars along the Parkway for patrons.

But another $2 million? This is a lot of money.

A parking lot is absolutely needed. Port-a-potties can suffice, reducing the cost by a half-million. This leaves the cost of the improvements at $1.5m, still an eye-popping number. A good portion of this is  federally-required ADA access. I can’t help but wonder if some volunteer work can’t be applied here, as it was for Evans Creek Park. Just a thought.

But the suggestion by some on the City Council that Redmond or King County should kick in money because their residents use the park is a bit cheeky. As City Manager Ben Yacizi points out, our residents use parks in Redmond and King County and don’t pay to do so (other than general taxes to King County and a parking fee of $1 for Marymoor Park).

Sammamish Landing originally was owned by Redmond, as land-banking for the eventual day when Redmond annexed the north end of the Plateau. After we incorporated, Redmond signed over the land to Sammamish. I don’t recall if it was a free transfer or if Sammamish bought the land, but I seem to remember it was free or a nominal payment (this may be incorrect).

I think it would be chutzpah for Sammamish to ask Redmond to kick in money, especially if my memory is correct. A stronger argument might be made to approach King County, since this amenity enhances the trail, which is owned by the County. Maybe improvements to the Landing can be a part of the paving of the trail that is commence next year, with the county kicking in a contribution of some level. But don’t ask Redmond. I think it has already been more than generous.

 

Why Issaquah can’t be trusted, Part 4: proof Issaquah planned an assumption of Water District despite denials

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The Sammamish Reporter has a long story about Issaquah’s plans that have in the works for several years to take over part of the Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District.

Issaquah repeatedly denied to Klahanie that it plans to do so, and was forced to backtrack when the Water District revealed the plans. The Sammamish Reporter provides a detailed look at a 2011 Issaquah “White paper” that makes it clear Issaquah indeed had plans to assume part of the District.

Furthermore, I found another Sammamish Reporter article from 2009 that once more casts doubt on Issaquah’s track record of doing what it says it will do.

Issaquah entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District in 2009 to treat stormwater before it entered the Lower Reid Infiltration Gallery (LRIG) and then didn’t follow through.

Pre-treatment of stormwater before it is injected into the LRIG is at the heart of the disagreements between the two governments. And it is disagreement over this that leads to the proposed hostile takeover of the sliver of the District that lies within Issaquah but which supplies 40%-50% of the drinking water to the 93% of the District that lies outside Issaquah, including most of Sammamish, the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area and other parts of King County.

Providence Point within Issaquah is one of the more concentrated areas also served by the 7% of the District within the city. Three wells also are within the “7%” and represent the heart of the District’s assets.

I previously reported that Issaquah reneged on an MOU it signed with Sammamish to transfer the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area to Sammamish.

  • The Sammamish City Council this week adopted a resolution directly the City Manager to undertake a study of potentially annexing Klahanie if the expected vote tentatively scheduled by Issaquah to do so fails.

Residents of the Klahanie PAA need to think long and hard about whether they want to be part of a city where the government is so unreliable.