By Christie Malchow
Mayor of Sammamish
Guest Contributor
The Sammamish City Council annually has a retreat in January. Its
purpose is multi-faceted, with the goals ranging from generating or affirming Council goals and priorities to agreeing on procedural and structural improvements to help us provide the City of Sammamish dynamic, strong, and effective leadership.
Christie Malchow
The Sammamish City Council may backtrack on holding its annual retreat locally.
This was the first year in the city’s history that the retreat was held in Sammamish.
In the last two years, it was in Tacoma. Previously, it was held for many years in Roslyn, east of the Cascades.
The locations drew criticism as discouraging public participation and not living up to the spirit of the Open Meetings Act.
At the end of the retreat Saturday, Mayor Christie Malchow remarked that it may be held elsewhere.
By Harry Shedd
Special to Sammamish Comment
The Sammamish City Council appeared indecisive during the council retreat about future growth in the city.
Should the “bedroom community” vision continue into the future or will future generations demand change in our vision?
Should the Town Center receive more of the city’s future growth or should the city continue with current “throughout the city” plans?
Should council members seek out resident input or go with their “best understanding”?
The Sammamish City Council retreat begins tonight with dinner.
It runs through mid-day Saturday.
The agendas for tonight, Friday and Saturday may be found here. Click on each day for the day’s agenda.
The retreat is at the Plateau Country Club. This is the first time the Council is holding its retreat in the city.
Since it is being held locally, there won’t be a webcast.
The annual Sammamish City Council will be held in Sammamish for the first time in the City’s history.
The retreat, which will be Jan. 18-20 at the Plateau Club, is where the City Council and staff set policy for the year and talk about long-term objectives.
The 2017 retreat was webcast for the first time; it’s not been announced if the 2018 retreat will be webcast.
