Construction activities include tree removal, demolition, utility relocation
Travelers along SR 520 near Redmond will see more activity as work intensifies in extending light rail to Redmond, according to Sound Transit. The 3.4-mile Downtown Redmond Link Extension will extend the line from the Microsoft Campus with two stations, serving southeast Redmond at Marymoor Park, and the downtown residential and retail core.
Work, including structure demolition, utility relocation and removal of existing trees, will take place primarily along SR 520. Light rail and station construction will start next year.
For the second time, staff from the City’s Public Works department promotes official statements that contradict the public record.
Back in August, the City was forced to issue a rare retraction after a traffic planner in the Public Works department said in an email that was widely published that “there was no manipulation of data to favor any type of development.” The City claimed the email was taken out of context.
Kent Treen
Now, another Public Works staffer has publicly disputed Council Member Kent Treen’s bombshell conclusion, in his guest op-ed, that in 2013 the City relaxed a critical stormwater standard in the Town Center to ease development costs and that in 2016 that standard was dismantled altogether.
Treen’s effort to restore the old standard in a special legislation has been stalled by staff.
The public record shows that staff’s public dispute of Treen is inconsistent with City’s own past positions on the issue.
For two weeks,The Sammamish Comment attempted to interview staff on the issue to address the inconsistency. Staff, who were very quick to dispute Treen in public, now are unable to find time to answer questions by email on the issue.
Guest Op-Ed By Kent Treen Sammamish City Council Member
Kent Treen
The debate about the negative impacts of development mostly focuses on what we all see and experience, like the pain of traffic, overcrowded schools, and the loss of trees and wildlife. But development triggers a more powerful force, that unless properly mitigated, can be the most destructive of all: stormwater.
When development does not handle its stormwater properly, its runoff will cause permanent damage to our creeks, our endangered kokanee salmon, our drinking water, our lakes and to our neighbors living downhill (just ask the residents in the Tamarack neighborhood).
To my shock and disbelief, I learned recently that in 2013 the City Council relaxed the strict storm water regulations that were in place for the Town Center development.
Why?
As the public record shows, they put the financial interests of development in the Town Center ahead of our environment, explicitly for the developers’ financial gain.
Ritchie calls council members who oppose the Town Center racists, classists, white privilege.
Charges manipulation of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
Casts some opponents to Town Center as standing with Trump against fairness and equity.
Unrelated, King County initiates an inquiry into Ritchie’s residence status over his voter’s eligibility and whether he vacated office.
The controversy over the Town Center development project took a new turn with Council Member Jason Ritchie invoking racism and white privilege language against some City Council majority members. He did not name names.
Ritchie posted his message on his campaign Facebook page, which Council Member Pam Stuart supported by giving it a “like.”
Tonight will be the last Sammamish City Council meeting for City Clerk Melonie Anderson who is retiring on June 30. Anderson is the longest tenure city employee and has been the city’s first permanent City Clerk.
The role of the City Clerk is pivotal to records keeping of the local government. Every ordinance (local law) adopted by City Council must be authenticated by City Attorney and City Clerk to be true and correct to City Council’s action.
20 years of service
The Sammamish Comment located the first ordinance Anderson authenticated. It was the Fireworks Ordinance, number 02000-65, adopted on June 28, 2000, prohibiting Fireworks discharge in the City.
Anderson will retire exactly 20 years and two days after signing this ordinance for the City.
Almost the entire body of the ordinances in Sammamish bears Anderson’s signature.
A beacon of integrity
The City Clerk’s role is also responsible for keeping the government transparent by providing access to government documents in response to public records requests.
The Comment has used public records requests extensively over the years to uncover facts, documents, council and staff thinking and actions, wrongdoing and to hold the City accountable. The City Clerk’s team many times finds itself at odds by having to provide documents to the public that may put its employer and colleagues in unfavorable light.
In this challenging environment, Anderson, a Sammamish resident herself, has been a beacon of integrity and transparency. Sammamish residents were well served by Anderson’s unwavering commitment to the law and for doing the right thing, even when faced with adversity from previous City Managers.
It is with mixed feelings that we wish Anderson a happy retirement. Her calm presence at City Hall will be missed.
Good luck, Melonie, in your retirement. Well deserved.
Sammamish Comment 