The City of Issaquah will host, sponsor and broadcast one of three candidate forums for its City Council election, but Sammamish won’t.

Sammamish said it will broadcast a forum, but only is someone else pays for it. CJ Kahler, treasurer of the Sammamish Rotary, which is co-sponsoring with the Sammamish Chamber, the only candidate forum set so far in our City Council elections, won’t allow videotaping the forum unless Sammamish pays for it.

Four years ago Sammamish said it wouldn’t allow a candidates forum in its chambers for some obscure reasoning. Now it says it will, but it won’t pay for videoing it and broadcasting it.

This is all nonsense.

Sammamish’s recalcitrance smacks of trying to protect the incumbents (although the Gang of 4 dearly wants to be rid of Ramiro Valderrama) and the status quo.

Sammamish is just being obtuse.

The citizens deserve a broadcast candidates forum. Sammamish should do so, without the nonsense of asking someone else to pay for it. If Issaquah will do this, why can’t Sammamish?