Tag Archives: East Lake Sammamish Trail

“We need King County,” Sammamish says; now we know why

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  • Variety of public works projects need King County cooperation and support.
  • Klahanie annexation a factor.
  • East Lake Sammamish Trail development a factor.
  • City doesn’t know the value of its Staff time devoted to the East Lake Sammamish Trail-King County issues.

During the disputes early this year over King County’s development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail North End (Section 1) and proposed design of the far South End (Section 2A), many urged the City to take a firm hand with the County.

Some, including at one point City Council Member Tom Odell, urged the City to issue a Stop Work Order on the North End while the City reviewed problems that developed as the County destroyed “significant” trees (ie, good quality, mature trees), young trees and scrub trees; damaged sewage lines, while denying responsibility; building a trail that effectively denied access by some homeowners to their own garages; and other issues that came up.

Sammamish Comment detailed these problems last January in an 18-page investigative report.

At the same time, the County was designing Section 2A, that part of the trail from the 7-11 south to the Issaquah City Limits. Residents along the trail, interested parties and the City submitted comments to the County. When the 60% design was issued, these parties were enraged to see that the County had largely ignored the comments. The City was particularly unhappy that none of its comments were addressed.

As the permitting agency, the City held power over the County. Officials threatened to withhold permits for the Southern sections 2A and 2B (which is still to come). Holding up permits would threaten the loss of federal funding.

But the City was reluctant to issue a Stop Work Order on the North End, terminate an interlocal agreement with the County governing the Trail, or take other measures, because “We need King County.”

Officials at the time wouldn’t detail what this meant.

What was meant became clear with the July 7 City Council meeting and subsequent events. Officials were reluctant to take a firmer hand over the Trail because:

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Hank Klein drops out of Council race against Valderrama (developing)

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Hank Klein has dropped out of the Position 4 race for Sammamish City Council, but too late to pull is name off the ballot.

“I have decided to drop out of the race for City Council because of personal reasons,” Klein wrote Sammamish Comment today after I left a voice mail for Klein seeking his website address. Through yesterday, no website had been created.

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(Update, May 15) Mark Cross seeks return to Sammamish City Council; candidates for other local offices

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Update, May 15 in Green: Arul Menezes withdrew, returning Position 6 into a two-way contest between Vance and Hornish. No primary contest.

A surprise entry is Hank Klein, challenging Ramiro Valderrama in Position 4. Klein, a long-time Park Commissioner, had been asked through several successive elections to run for City Council and declined each time. Klein is a well respected, thoughtful commissioner.

Thus, with just two candidates per position, there won’t be any of these positions on the August primary–all go straight to the general election in November.

At 3pm Friday (there remains a final update at 5pm), no candidates had filed to run in any of the water commissioner seats.

Update May 14: From the County website update at 3pm, there were no additional filings today.

Update, May 13 in Blue.

It looks like we will have a primary for Sammamish City Council, with two residents of the East Lake Sammamish Trail filing against Mayor Tom Vance: Tom Hornish and Arul Menezes. Both have spoken before the City Council over King County’s design and execution of the Lake Trail.

Menezes, a Microsoftie, has the start of a website here.

Hornish is president of Sammamish Home Owners (SHO). He is a contracts attorney. SHO has sued King County over the design and implementation of the North end of ELST and over the County’s refusal to heed property owner concerns. Hornish and Menezes are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Updates May 12 in Red.

Original Post:

Candidate filings the first day (May 11) of filing week:

City of Sammamish:

Mark Cross, Position 2

Christie Malchow, Position 2

(Incumbent) Ramiro Valderrama, Position 4

Hank Klein, Position 4

(Incumbent) Tom Vance, Position 6

Tom Hornish, Position 6

Arul Menezes, Position 6 Withdrawn

As of 4:30pm on May 11, no other candidates had filed for Position 2, nor for 4 or 6.

Northeast Sammamish Water and Sewer District:

(Incumbent) Paul Robinett, Position 1

(Incumbent) Paul Sentena, Position 3

At 4:30pm on May 11, no other candidates have filed for Positions 1 and 3.

Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District

(Incumbent) Karen Moran (Position 2)

(Incumbent) Mahbubul Islam, Position 3

(Incumbent) Mary Shustov, Position 5

At 4:30pm on May 11, no other candidates have filed for Positions 3 and 5; and none has filed for Position 2.

 Mark Cross seeks return to City Council after four year absence

Mark Cross, who served two terms on the Sammamish City Council from 2004 to 2012,

Mark Cross

seeks to return to the Council. He filed to run for election this November for Position 2, the seat being vacated by retiring Member Nancy Whitten.

Cross, a strong environmentalist, is a close ally of Mayor Tom Vance, Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay and Council Member Bob Keller. These three, along with Member Tom Odell, make up the majority power base of the City Council. Cross can be expected to join this power base if elected.

Cross, who works for the City of Bellevue, is a recognized expert in planning and transportation issues. He holds little empathy for homeowners along the East Lake Sammamish Trail and was elected in November 2003 largely by supporters of development of the Trail. During the recent controversies surrounding King County’s development of the Trail and rough-shod treatment of the property owners, Cross testified before the Sammamish City Council that no deviation from the 18-ft wide trail design should be approved to accommodate physical constraints or environmental issues. Continue reading →

The City’s stealth campaign against Citizens for Sammamish, leader Shedd

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Hary Shedd 2

Harry Shedd, chairman of Citizens for Sammamish and the driver behind the vote to give Sammamish citizens the right of Initiative and Referendum.

  • Vote in our poll on whether Sammamish residents should have the right to Initiative and Referendum. Click here to go to the post.
  • Vote in our first pre-general election poll on the Favorability/Unfavorability ratings of the incumbents, Tom Vance, Ramiro Valderrama and Nancy Whitten. Click here to go to the post.

This investigative report is more than 4,400 words and is best read when printed out.

The City of Sammamish is quietly engaged in a stealth campaign against the Citizens of Sammamish (CFS), attempting to deny the group locations for meetings, persuade groups to oppose the Initiative, stifle discussions at community groups, and limit information about the Initiative in the City’s newsletter, an investigation reveals.

Long considered an irritant and a “complainers” group, which was nonetheless tolerated and largely ignored by the City, the stealth campaign to deny CFS a meeting place began this year after its chairman Harry Shedd, was successful in backing the City Council into a corner to put an Advisory Vote on the April 28 ballot for City voters to tell the City Council if the right to Initiative and Referendum should be adopted for the City.

Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay is quietly driving the effort. Huckabay has been trying to deny CFS use of the Boys & Girls Club (B&GC)   from future meetings. The B&GC building is at Ingelwood Hill Road and 228th Ave. Northeast, is owned by the City, leased to B&GC. Huckabay met with the firefighters union to evict CFS from the Eastside Fire & Rescue Station #82 at 1851 228th Ave. NE, Sammamish, WA 98075. CFS typically meets at Station 82 on the first Monday of the month. It rented a room at the B&GC in February to kick off its campaign for a Yes vote for the Advisory ballot. It was shortly after this meeting that efforts began its efforts to bar CFS at B&GC and Station 82.

Council Member Tom Odell filed a complaint against Shedd and CFS with the State and the County over required filings and financial disclosures and raised the prospect of removing a planning commissioner for participating in a Girl Scout event that discussed the Initiative.

Summary

  • Council members faces off against each other.
  • Boys & Girls Club, Eastside Firefighters, Presbyterian Church, the Rotary Club and even the Girl Scouts caught up in the disputes.
  • Silencing critics.
  • Using City resources to work against the Initiative.
  • Freedom Foundation becomes a target used against the Initiative. Continue reading →

Yacizi resigns, effective in February; legacy positive despite controversies

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Ben Yacizi.

Ben Yacizi has resigned as Sammamish City Manager, effective in February.

Yacizi has been City Manager for nearly all of our existence after incorporation in 1999. He became City Manager in January 2001.

Having served on City commissions for 8 1/2 years, I know Ben quite well. We’ve debated issues, we’ve fought over issues, and we’ve collaborated on issues.

A City Manager is the Chief Executive Officer of a city; the City Council is the Board of Directors. A City Manager is responsible for all hiring and firing, operations, the budget and carrying out policy set by the Council. Some cities, with an elected mayor (as opposed to a mayor selected by fellow council members like Sammamish), who serves as the CEO, usually have an Administrator as well.

Ben, as CEO of Sammamish, has come in for his share of criticism from citizens. With additional benefit of an insider’s view, he’s also come in for my criticism on more than one occasion. But I can tell Readers that on balance, I would give him four stars out of five for his oversight of Sammamish. Continue reading →