Friday, May 19, is the final day for filing as a candidate for Sammamish City Council and other positions in this off-year election.
Filing begins on Monday, May 15.
Four seats in Sammamish are up for election, and each incumbent announced retirement this year.
This is the first time since incorporation this many seats are “open” seats.
So far, only six candidates filed for the four seats. One of these, Karen Moran, hasn’t declared which seat she will contest.
Sound Transit 3 would not have passed without an overwhelming Yes vote from Seattle. The tax hike still is reverberating. (Sammamish voted 52%-48% against this new tax.)
Dow Constantine, King County Executive headquartered in Seattle, proposes a $469m countywide tax for arts.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray proposed a $275m five-year city tax to combat homelessness. Then he dropped the idea and proposed instead a county-wide tax that would raise $335m over five years.
Seattle never met a tax it didn’t like. Despite the suburbs often rejecting new taxes, the overwhelming concentration of Yes votes in Seattle usually carriers the day.
It’s not Seattle anymore. It’s Seatax.
And Seatax fatigue may make it harder for Sammamish to raise taxes for new road projects or land preservation acquisition.
Sammamish Comment is looking for a writer to help cover this year’s City Council elections and other issues.
With four Council Members out of seven retiring, this year’s election is guaranteed to see a power shift in the Council that could have deep ramifications for the direction of the City beginning in 2018.
As I announced last August, and which is also discussed in the “About” section, I moved after 20 years in Sammamish to Bainbridge Island in August. While I’ve been covering many issues from Bainbridge, it won’t be feasible to me to be on-the-spot to cover the campaigns of those seeking a Council seat.
There are already six candidates announced for the four positions. More are expected. So a writer who lives in Sammamish is desired.
Tom Vance
Former Sammamish Mayor Tom Vance yesterday filed with the State Public Disclosure Commission to run against incumbent Kathy Lambert, King County Council member of District 3, which includes Sammamish and Issaquah.
Sammamish Comment revealed March 20 Vance was trying to line up endorsements and had filed broad public records requests from Lambert’s office.
Sammamish residents overwhelmingly like living here, say it’s a good place to raise children and provides good customer service.
But only 46% believe the City is going in the “right direction,” only 58% have confidence in the City government, just 55% believe the City government is acting in the best interests of the City and 65% say that City is being honest.
These mixed results come from a periodic survey Sammamish does, this one from the National Research Center in Boulder (CO) and ICMA in Washington (DC). The survey was conducted last year and released in March.
Sammamish Comment 