Tag Archives: City Politics

Sammamish hires full-time emergency management director

Posted on by
3

Sammamish has hired its first emergency preparedness director.

Andrew Stevens, the emergency manager of Downey (CA), starts work April 17. He holds

Andrew Stevens, Sammamish’s first full-time emergency management director.

the same position in Downey (CA).

“I’m very pleased that we were able to attract and hire Andrew Stevens to the position of Emergency Manager,” Sammamish City Manager Lyman Howard wrote in an email to The Sammamish Comment..
The folks on the interview panel were impressed and delighted as well.  I’ve also heard positive comments from the regional Emergency Management community, that we made a good choice.  Andrew starts April 17th.”

The appointment comes nearly two years after The Comment revealed Sammamish was going skip a multi-state, multi-jurisdictional, Canadian-US earthquake disaster drill called Cascadia Rising. Sammamish scrambled to join after the revelation.

Continue reading →

Second candidate announces for Sammamish City Council

Posted on by
4

A second candidate announced a run for Sammamish City Council and already has run

Minal Ghassemieh, candidate for Sammamish City Council. Photo via Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter.

head-long into controversy.

The Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter has this story about the candidacy of Minal Kode Ghassemieh.

Ghassemieh, who was born in Washington State, is the sister of another local resident who made the news after a road rage incident which she claimed had racial overtones.

The connection caused Jason Krantz of KIRO Radio to question whether the allegations by Ghassemieh’s sister are nothing more than a publicity stunt to bolster the City Council candidacy.

Continue reading →

Metropolitan Market opens

Posted on by
Reply

March 22: Metropolitan Market, the anchor for the Sammamish Town Center’s commercial district at SE 4th and 228th Ave. SE, opened today to a 33 lb chocolate chip cookie for the long line of consumers that wrapped around to the fronting sidewalk.

The Sammamish Town Center commercial center at SE4th and 228th Ave. SE.

Continue reading →

Candidates emerge for likely County Council run, 45th State Senate

Posted on by
4

Tom Vance

Tom Vance, who was defeated in November 2015 in his reelection bid for the Sammamish City Council, is gearing up to run against King County Council Member Kathy Lambert, say people familiar with the situation.

Vance has been soliciting endorsements for a run, people tell Sammamish Comment.

He also dropped an expansive Public Records Request on Lambert’s office for 16 years of data for travel records and meeting attendance.

Vance served on the Sammamish City Council from 2012 through 2015. He was mayor in 2014-15. He lost 54%-46% to Tom Hornish. Vance ran for Council in 2009, losing to John Curley 55%-45%. In his successful 2011 campaign, he defeated a weak and unqualified candidate 68% to 32%, only to drop by 22 points in his losing race against Hornish.

Continue reading →

Little progress between City, County over ELST, but hope continues

Posted on by
19

Little tangible progress appeared to be the result of a staff-to-staff meeting two weeks ago between King County Parks and Sammamish over the interminable controversy of development of the final segment of the East Lake Sammamish Trail.

But City Manager Lyman Howard is hopeful some progress can be made.

“I think so,” he said in an interview with Sammamish Comment this week. County officials said they want to work with the City and property owners—statements that have been made before, only to be met with unsatisfactory results.

Howard, ever hopeful and acknowledging past disappointments, nonetheless isn’t throwing in the towel.

Continue reading →