Sammamish, the first two years

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City_of_Sammamish

The new City’s logo was adopted from a combination of entries from school children in a contest.

After the first City Council election for the new Sammamish, the task of creating a new city was enormous.

The City Council had to select its leadership and committees for key “needs,” such as transportation. Ordinances had to be created. Contracts for essential services had to be negotiated. An interim City Manager and staff had to be hired. Eventually a Comprehensive Plan would have to be written. A temporary City Hall had to be located, no small task in a community with no business complexes. A place to hold City Council meetings had to be identified.

And these are just some of the priority issues.

One of the top issues, the reason for incorporating in the first place, was to put a halt to the runaway development.

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Sammamish’s first City Council election: Lambs to the slaughter

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City_of_SammamishComing off the euphoric high of a landslide win in the November 1998 election to incorporate, citizens of what would become the City of Sammamish were excited to elect the first City Council the following April.

Nearly two dozen people filed for Council in the February special election primary. People backed by the SHOUT and SING incorporation groups filed, along with those unaffiliated with either group. A surprise in the primary: Di Irons, a member of the activist Irons family, won more votes than former State Sen. Phil Dyer, a Republican. The results stunned the party establishment.

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Sheffer quits 45th District race, says GOP favored Valderrama

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March 25, 2016: Charlie Sheffer, who last year began running for State Representative from the 45th Legislative District, has withdrawn from the race.

Sammamish City Council Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama declared his candidacy yesterday. He will challenge incumbent Democrat Roger Goodman, who has held the seat since 2007.

“On February 15…I informed the House Republican Organizing Committee (HROC) that we would be withdrawing from our 2016 bid for the state House,” Sheffer wrote in an email to Sammamish Comment.

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Sound Transit 3 does little for Eastside, degrades bus service

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ST3 Map

Click on image to enlarge, then click on it a second time for further enlarge. Source: Seattle Times.

March 25, 2016: The Sound Transit Board revealed a $50 billion (!) Sound Transit 3 plan that requires $27 billion in new taxes, or an average of $400 a year for the average home within the ST service area. This includes Sammamish, where the average home prices are higher than throughout the ST area, meaning we’ll take an even bigger hit.

Unfortunately, the Eastside in general and Sammamish in particular not only gets little from the new plan. Furthermore, our City Council members note that direct bus service to Seattle from Issaquah will be discontinued in order to route the buses to downtown Bellevue to boost ridership on the light rail trains.

A proposal light rail line also goes from Issaquah to downtown Bellevue, rather than direct down I-90, to connect to the transit hub in Bellevue. Part of this spur parallels the light rail line approved under ST 2.

Finally, Issaquah doesn’t even get this spur until 2041, nor does Everett and the Boeing plant south of Everett’s City Center.

All-in-all, the plans appear on their face to have a lot of flaws.

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Valderrama declares for State Representative from the 45th

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45th LD

The 45th Legislative District for the Washington State House of Representatives. Click on image to enlarge.

March 24, 2016: Ramiro Valderrama, deputy mayor of Sammamish, today announced his candidacy for State Representative from the 45th District. He’s seeking the seat held by Democrat Roger Goodman since 2007.

Valderrama will run as a Republican.

Charlie Sheffer of Redmond declared for this seat last year. At this writing, it’s unclear if Sheffer will stay in the race or withdraw in favor of Valderrama. Valderrama was reelected to his second term on the Sammamish City Council in November, effective Jan. 1. He received 83% of the vote against Parks Commissioner Hank Klein, who withdrew from the race too late to remove his name from the ballot.

Valderrama was selected by his peers to be Deputy Mayor for one year.

Valderrama intends to retain his seat on the City Council if elected to the State House, he told Sammamish Comment.

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