Christie Malchow, now Mayor of Sammamish.
Tom Hornish, now deputy mayor of Sammamish.
Christie Malchow and Tom Hornish were voted to be mayor and deputy mayor by their fellow council members tonight, at the first meeting of the meeting of the new year.
The votes were unanimous.
Malchow, who was deputy mayor for a portion of last year, will serve for two years. Hornish will serve one year. (The deputy position is a one-year term.)
Both are in the middle of their first two-year term.
After six years, the fight over approval of the Chestnut Estates West plat off 212th Ave. and
SE 8th St. appears to be over.
The Washington Appellate Court denied an appeal by developer Buchan over a Hearing Examiner ruling that Sammamish erred in allowing Buchan to swap out “tract K,” permanent open space that was part of the first Chestnut Estates plat approval.
Buchan years later applied for approved for the West plat at the end of SE 8th in the original plat. But Buchan needed to swap tract K to another location in order to build a bridge and connect to the original plat.
Christie Malchow
Tom Hornish
Commentary
As the Sammamish City Council prepares to transition next month to the largest makeover in a single year since incorporation, the first order of business after the swearing in of four new council members will be to select a mayor for the next two years and deputy mayor for the next year.
Christie Malchow earned selection as mayor. Tom Hornish earned selection as deputy mayor.
Both are two years in to their first, four-year term.
Their leadership and willingness to dig deeply into issues during their first two years has been nothing short of outstanding. Their honor and integrity is likewise outstanding.
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.
Tim Larson
When Tim Larson, the Sammamish communications manager, was sent home on paid Administrative Leave, his boss, City Manager Lyman Howard wrote in a memo he was under “investigation.”
Larson had to make himself available for any questions related to the investigation, Howard wrote.
Larson resigned Sept. 26. The resignation was announced by Howard to the City Council and staff in a benign email that didn’t list any reason. Howard expressed good wishes.
Sammamish Comment obtained a copy of Howard’s August memo, which was released through a public records request (PRR), and submitted a PRR for the investigation report and supporting documents following Larson’s resignation.
Two months later, the City Clerk’s office responded, “At the time of your request there was no investigation.” This appears to be parsing words. Taken literally, this means that on the date of the PRR, there was no investigation. It does not, read literally, address any previous investigation that may have existed.
Sammamish Comment 