Three candidates to skip a Chamber of Commerce’s candidate forum; two cite bias

By Miki Mullor
Editor 

Three candidates for the Sammamish City Council have withdrawn from the Oct. 7 Chamber of Commerce forum.

One has to attend to a gravely ill family member and two cite bias by the Chamber for withdrawing.

This morning, Ken Gamblin and Kent Treen announced they will not participate in an Oct. 7 forum organized by the Chamber. Mayor Christie Malchow will be out of town on that day, caring for her gravely ill mother in Colorado. 

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Klahanie HOA invites only three City council candidates to its candidate forum

9/26/2019

By Miki Mullor
Editor 

The Klahanie Homeowners Assn. (HOA) is hosting a forum for Sammamish City Council candidates on Oct. 9–but invited only three candidates to attend: Karen McKnight, Rituja Indapure and Karen Howe. 

Emails show that Klahanie ignored requests from Christie Malchow to advertise in their September newsletter, until the last minute when it was too late, but let her opponent, McKnight, do so. 

Update 9/27/2019: Klahanie HOA Board President extended invitations to the remaining three candidates – who accepted – citing an “oversight”.

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2009 evidence casts shadow on the “Growth Targets” narrative

By Miki Mullor
Editor

“Growth targets are mandated by the Growth Management Act. We always negotiated the minimums,” has been the City of Sammamish response for the years when residents complained about over growth.

But is it?  The evidence unearthed in a research by the Sammamish Comment paints a different picture.  

The last time growth targets were updated by King County was in 2009. Every 10 years, growth targets are updated based on new population projections.   

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Former Mayor Don Gerend forms a PAC

By Miki Mullor
Editor

The latest entrant to the election cycle is former Mayor Don Gerend, who has just formed a PAC (Political Action Committee), a PDC filing shows. Gerend has also recently initiated legal action to reverse the City Council’s new concurrency rules.

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Unfettered development vs controlling it is the only issue in this election

By Scott Hamilton

Commentary

Sept. 20, 2019: It is now clear that the Sammamish City Council election this year has come down to one issue: unfettered development across the city vs controlling development so it doesn’t further overwhelm the roads and aggravate the congestion that already exists.

All other issues have taken a back seat.

If you support unfettered development, Karen McKnight, Rituja Indapure and Karen Howe are your choices for council.

If you want to control development and moderate traffic congestion, Christie Malchow, Kent Treen and Ken Gamblin are your choices.

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