By Miki Mullor
Editor
Analysis
The Sammamish City Council election was decided by a landslide vote almost two weeks ago. This is the first time in the history of the city that all three contested seats have swept with large margins.
Other than the issues, what else in this election was different?
Continue readingSammamish voters approved I-976, the $30 car tab fee, by a margin of 54%-46% in election night precinct tabluations.
King County Elections released the Nov. 5 election night precinct-by-precinct votes on Nov. 8. The Election Night percentages typically vary from the final tally by no more than 1%-2%. Between Tuesday and Friday, percentages in the city council races varied by fractions of a percent.
Sound Transit’s funding scheme, relying heavily on car tab fees, was the prime target of Tim Eyman’s initiative. Sound Transit car tab fees use an inflated, outdated car valuation schedule that results in hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars more in fees than using a Kelly Blue Book value.
The Sammamish voters in the 5th Legislative District—the greater Klahanie area—approved the $30 tab fee by the narrow margin of 50.5% to 49.5%. The 5th is closest to the Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride, where Sound Transit provides frequent service.
The Sammamish voters in the 41st Legislative District—basically the southern half of the city south of SE 8th St.—approved I-976 by a 55.8%-44.2% vote.
The Sammamish voters in the 45th Legislative District—north of SE 8th—approved I-975 53%-47%.
Final results may alter these percentages slightly.
By Scott Hamilton
Guest Contributor
Analysis
The 2019 Sammamish City Council election turned out to be the classic David vs Goliath fight.
The supporters of Karen McKnight, Rituja Indapure and Karen Howe (the McK3) amassed a record amount of money to defeat incumbent Christie Malchow and her allies, Ken Gamblin and Kent Treen (the M3).
Supporters of the McK3 were determined to defeat Malchow in particular, as well as the two “Ks”. They wanted to take over the city council with a 5-2 majority, or at the very least, a 4-3 majority, to push forward with the Town Center—potentially up zoning it and removing height restrictions. They wanted to weaken traffic concurrency standards, which would have the effect of loosening development potential in the rest of the city.
On the third day of ballot returns by King County Elections, the vote leads of Sammamish City Council candidates Christie Malchow, Kent Treen and Ken Gamblin continue to widen over challengers Karen McKnight, Karen Howe and Rituja Indapure.
Through Thursday, 19,520 ballots were returned by Sammamish voters. This represents, so far, a 52.2% turnout, the heaviest in city history for an off-year, city council election. Turnout normally is between 35%-45%.
Election results from Day 2 of the Sammamish City Council race saw the winners from election night widen their leads in vote totals, even if the percentages were shaved fractionally.
Incumbent Christie Malchow ended election night with a 2,985 vote lead over challenger Karen McKnight. Today, this vote lead increased to 3,259. The percentage narrowed slightly from 66.35% to 65.83%.
