Tag Archives: Andy Hill

Oh woe is us, election season is just beginning again

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Sammamish: the year ahead, Part 1

And you thought the election season was over.

This is a new year and a new election season.

Sammamish

Four City Council seats are up for election in November.

City_of_SammamishIt’s widely assumed that at least one and possibly two residents of the greater Klahanie area will file for City Council. One Klahanie resident who’s publicly acknowledged his possible interest in Tom Harman, currently a commissioner for Sammamish Plateau Water.

The area was annexed for services to Sammamish in January 2015 but the political annexation didn’t take place until July, thus rendering some 3,000 voters ineligible to vote in the November 2015 City Council election. Council Member Ramiro Valderrama advocated an earlier political annexation but was out-voted 6-1, including by the four Members up for election this year.

These are:

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Sen. Hill loses second fight with cancer

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Andy Hill.

Andy Hill.

State Sen. Andy Hill (R-45th) lost his second battle with cancer Monday. He was just 54.

Hill was a respected legislator regardless of party. He was given credit for co-writing recent state budgets during contentious times.

Elected in 2010, he was midway through his second term.

Party leaders will appoint someone to fill his vacancy for the remaining two years of his term.

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Cost of Klahanie annexation to Sammamish taxpayers: $4m-$5m so far

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  • $3m in tax revenues to King County;
  • Forfeiture of $1m-$1.5m in sales tax equalization;
  • $700,000 to Fire District 10 for tax revenues lost;
  • In return, King County provides $500,000 in services;
  • Klahanie residents don’t get to vote in November 3 City Council elections; must wait until 2017 to vote in next City Council election;
  • Taxes get lowered for 2016;
  • Klahanie gets some services from King County it should have been doing anyway.

The cost of annexing Klahanie to Sammamish is adding up to $4m-$5m before the annexation becomes fully complete on January 1.

The cost to Klahanie voters is two years of disenfranchisement because the Sammamish City Council voted July 7 to make the annexation fully effective January 1, 2015, rather than July 31, in two weeks, when everything else procedurally effectively becomes part of Sammamish. The January 1 effective date means residents in the Klahanie annexation area won’t be able to voter for candidates in the Sammamish City Council races November 3. The next city election is in 2017.

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Power play over Sammamish Deputy Mayor’s position

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It’s nothing more than a power play to keep the leadership reins tightly held by the voting majority on the Sammamish City Council.

In a break with tradition during most of the past 16 years, the Sammamish City Council voted to give the incumbent deputy mayor a second consecutive one-year term. Since the first city council was seated in 1999, tradition has been to rotate the deputy mayor’s position every year. Until it was discovered that state law required a minimum of two year terms for the mayor, this position was rotated every year as well.

Mayor Tom Vance ignored Council Member Nancy Whitten’s raised hand to be recognized first and went directly to Council Member Tom Odell, whose hand wasn’t raised and who said nothing that was audible over the microphones. Odell placed Member Kathy Huckabay’s name in nomination first. Council member Ramiro Valderrama nominated Council member Don Gerend.

This power play is important because procedurally, the first nominated is the first voted upon without seeking a Nay vote. If the first nominated gets a majority vote, the voting stops.

Vance’s sleight-of-hand prevented any vote on Gerend’s nomination.

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Election results, Initiative for Sammamish

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Incumbents either won or were leading in Washington State elections Tuesday night (and in today’s update). Only one really has any relevance to Sammamish of any consequence: the State Senate race in the 45th Legislative District where incumbent Republican Andy Hill faced off with challenger Democrat Matt Isenhower. Hill is leading 53% to 47%. Although at this writing I haven’t seen a concession from Isenhower, I’m declaring Hill the winner. Historically final vote results don’t vary more than a percentage point from the election night.

Why is this one race of significance to Sammamish? Because Mayor Tom Vance, Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay and Councilmember Tom Odell endorsed Isenhower. Vance appeared in a mailer for Isenhower.

Councilmember Ramiro Valderrama endorsed Hill. I don’t know if the other councilmembers endorsed either candidate.

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