Category Archives: City Politics

City Council election ballots on the way

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Ballots for the November 3 Sammamish City Council race and a couple of County races are being mailed this week and should be hitting local mailboxes in the next few days.

There are three positions up for election in Sammamish:

  • Position 2: Christie Malchow vs Mark Cross. This is an open seat being vacated by three-termer Nancy Whitten.
  • Position 4: Ramiro Valderrama (incumbent) vs Hank Klein (who dropped out of the race in July, too late to have his name removed from the ballot). Valderrama is seeking a second four-year term.
  • Position 6: Tom Vance (incumbent) vs Tom Hornish. Vance is seeking a second term.

Links to their websites are in the right-hand column.

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Christie Malchow for Sammamish City Council Position 2

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Position 2, Open Seat: Christie Malchow vs Mark Cross

Christie Malchow for Sammamish City Council Position 2.

Christie Malchow is the best choice for Sammamish City Council Position 2.

Malchow is a dynamic newcomer to Sammamish, having lived here four years. She was interested from the start in getting involved in Sammamish public service. She filed to run for City Council in 2013, but withdrew due to family considerations that existed at the time. She announced for City Council well before last May’s filing date, and chose to run for Position 2, a seat held by Nancy Whitten, who decided at the last minute to retire after serving three terms.

Only after Whitten made her announcement did Mark Cross file to run across from Malchow. Cross reportedly originally intended to run for water commissioner for the Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District. Cross served two terms on the Council, from 2004-2012, including a stint as Mayor. He did not seek reelection in the November 2011 election due to work requirements. He seeks to return to the Council after a four year absence, mimicking the pattern set by Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay, who served consecutive City Council terms, retired for four years and then was elected to the Council again in 2013.

Despite Cross’ well-qualified background and his previous experience, Malchow is the better choice. Here’s why:

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League of Women Voters Sammamish Council Candidate Profile

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  • Ballots will soon be the in the hands of Sammamish voters for the City Council election Nov. 3 (and other races). The ballots are being mailed this week by King County Elections. Sammamish Comment has been posting throughout October about issues, candidate profiles and candidate endorsements. Be sure to mark your ballots and postmark them by Nov. 3.

The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization, published candidate responses and profiles for the Sammamish City Council races, Positions 2, 4 and 6, on Vote411.org. The site is difficult to navigate and to find races in which the viewer is interested.

Sammamish Comment extracted the City Council races for ease of viewing in put them into a PDF file which you may download here: LWV Sammamish Candidate Profiles. This is current as of last week.

The LWV did not note that Hank Klein, who filed for Position 4 against Ramiro Valderrama, subsequently withdrew from the race, but too late to remove his name from the ballot. Sammamish Comment made this notation in his slot. Other than this notation and adding some spacing for readability, the LWV document is unaltered by The Comment.

The LWV noted that Mark Cross, candidate for Position 2 vs Christie Malchow, did not respond to any of the questions. The Comment finds this remarkable, and not in a good way. As with Cross’ own campaign website, which is notable in its lack of information, failing to respond to the LWV is a disservice to the voters of Sammamish.

 

 

 

 

Sammamish Initiative and Referendum effective

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  • 37 of 47 precincts approve the Initiative and Referendum.
  • All precincts where Council Members and Candidates for Council live approved I&R.
  • City and certain Council Members engaged in secret campaign against the vote and to undermine information.

The power of Initiative and Referendum became effective in Sammamish yesterday.

Hary Shedd 2

Harry Shedd, chairman of Citizens for Sammamish, led the charge to get the Sammamish City Council to adopt the Initiative and Referendum.

When the City was incorporated in 1999, the power of I&R wasn’t included in the City charter. Omission was claimed by City officials a decade and a half later to have been an oversight, but Karen Moran and Di Irons, two citizens involved in the incorporation at the time, said City officials deliberately left the power out.

Regardless, Citizens for Sammamish, a grass roots group chaired by Harry Shedd, pressed the current City Council last year to adopt an ordinance granting the power. The Council refused, with a majority simply opposed to giving Sammamish voters the right to I&R. Shedd continued his crusade and in January this year, the Council agreed at its retreat to put the issue to a non-binding Advisory vote. It later set April 28 as the election date.

Although a majority of the Council informally said at the retreat they would honor the outcome of the Advisory vote, and later officially said they would remain neutral, in fact the City and several Council members engaged in a stealth campaign to defeat the I&R, sow confusion, disseminate misinformation and suppress information and ultimately voting.

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Two Council Members voted against advancing the I&R to an enabling ordinance after the Advisory vote passed by a 55.5%-44.5% margin: Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay and Member Tom Odell.

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Standing up to government and for the citizens; or standing up for the status quo

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The Sammamish City Council election this year has a number of issues before voters. One of the key issues is not about roads or trees or parks or finances. It’s about a philosophy of government. It’s about standing up to the government and for the citizens or standing up for the status quo.

Tom Vance

Mayor Tom Vance, seeking reelection, and Mark Cross, a former mayor and city councilman seeking to return to the Council after a four year absence, stand for the status quo. They have endorsed each other for election.

Christie Malchow

Council Member Ramiro Valderrama, seeking reelection to a second term, Christie Malchow (running opposite Cross) and Tom Hornish (opposite Vance), both newcomers, stand for standing up to government and for the citizens.

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