By Miki Mullor
Editor
Four Sammamish City Council candidates participated in a first candidate forum out of a few planned this election season.
The forum, held at the Sammamish Library on Sunday, August 11, was organized and moderated by the South Asian American Together (SAAT-WA) organization. The forum also included Issaquah candidates.
Sammamish City Council Position 6 candidate Rituja Indapure jump to an early and big lead in fund raising, according to reports filed through Wednesday with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.
Indapure raised nearly $18,300 from 87 contributions. Fifty-six percent of 
the contributors come from within Sammamish.
Karen McKnight, candidate for Position 2 opposing incumbent Christie Malchow, is a distance second fund raiser, with $3,641 listed in her PDC filing.
Malchow is fourth at $1,910. Kent Treen, running for Position 4, is third, with $2,100 in contributions.
The others haven’t reported raising any money yet.
Ken Gamblin
Sammamish City Council candidate Ken Gamblin filed his required paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission this week, long after the deadline for candidates to do so.
The last day for candidates to file for election was May 17. Forms called C1, C3 and F1 are required for candidacies, financial contributions and financial disclosures and must be filed within 10 days of declaring candidacy.
By Celia Wu and Miki Mullor
Rituja Indapure
The Sammamish Comment sat down for an interview with City Council candidate Rituja Indapure. Indapure was a candidate in the 2017 election and lost to now Council Member Chris Ross. In 2018, Indapure was appointed to the City’s Planning Commission.
She has filed for the seat currently held by Tom Hornish, who is completing his first term. He has not declared whether he will run for another four-year term.
It’s three weeks to the first filing date May 12 for the August primary for local elections. So far, there are only two declared candidates for three Sammamish City Council seats up for election this year.
Only one of the three incumbents announced election plans; two others haven’t decided if they will seek reelection.
Sammamish Comment 