Tag Archives: Klahanie annexation

Before spending tens of millions on Klahanie, Sammamish has its own needs

Posted on by
1

The Sammamish City Council, acting to tamp down the potential annexation of the Klahanie area to Issaquah, promised a Christmas Tree spending package to entice a “no” vote. As I wrote previously, this was one of many reasons Issaquah lost the election.

Today there was a school bus accident in Sammamish–fortunately with only one very minor injury–on an arterial that has been hazardous from the day we incorporated, a faulty design inherited from King County days.

The accident was on SE 24th approaching 200th Ave SE from the west.

Source: Komo TV

Source: Q13 TV News

I’ve noted to the City Council and some of its members on many occasions that there are no shoulders and the ditches create a hazard. There are no walking paths nor bike lanes. Many times I’ve driven up the hill there have been bicyclists in the traffic lane chugging their way up. Because there are no bike lanes or shoulders, cars that want to pass them are faced with entering the oncoming lane. There are plenty of blind curves.

24th is a designated arterial, but the City has done nothing to improve the roadway since incorporation. A few years ago, a walking path was created from 212th to 204th, a positive step, but nothing more has been done since then.

Before the City Council goes off on a spending spree for its Christmas Tree list for Klahanie, it needs to take care of some hazardous road conditions (and fill the potholes that one city councilman says don’t exist but which really do) in our City.

All hope gone for Klahanie annexation supporters: only 3 votes counted today, “Against” still leads; final results Monday

Posted on by
Reply

If there was any last-ditch hope by supporters that remaining votes would bring an affirmative vote to annex the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area to Issaquah, it’s gone.

Today’s vote count (Friday, Feb. 21) saw only three more votes added to the tally–one for the “Against Annexation” side and two for the “For Annexation” side. The vote now is 1,534 Against Annexation and 1,504 “For Annexation.” The spread narrowed one vote to 30 and the percentages are now 50.49% Against Annexation and 49.51% For Annexation. This is outside the requirement of 0.25% for a mandatory recount.

The election is certified on Monday. There could be a couple more votes come in, but hardly enough to change the outcome.

Now it’s up to Issaquah’s City Council to throw in the towel and give up the Klahanie PAA to Sammamish.

14 more votes tallied, Klahanie annexation tightens to 28 from 34

Posted on by
Reply

Fourteen more votes were tallied by King County Elections today (Feb. 19) and the Klahanie annexation vote spread tightened to 28 from 34, still favoring “Against Annexation” over “For Annexation.”

The vote count now is:

For Annexation: 1,500 or 49.54%

Against Annexation: 1,528 or 50.46%.

This is still outside the mandatory recount criteria.

The election is certified Feb. 25.

No Klahanie vote update today; Friday’s rejection lead stands

Posted on by
Reply

The King County website is down (at 4pm), so I called the Elections department to get an update on the Klahanie vote.

I was told there wasn’t going to be an update today anyway because so few ballots had been received to count; this is county-wide, but obviously has application to the Klahanie vote.

So we are left with Friday’s results, where the “Against Annexation” is leading “For Annexation” by 34 votes.

This also suggests there are no appreciable ballots left to be received (unless there is a flood of votes from the military service personnel overseas who are focused on the annexation issue).

Thus, as I did on Friday, I continue to “call” the election: the Klahanie annexation to Issaquah was rejected.

The result is outside the automatic recount. Issaquah could pay for a recount, but I see little point in doing so.

Klahanie annexation vote, Day 4: “Against” Margin widens; Issaquah gets the boot

Posted on by
2

Friday’s election count returns in the Klahanie annexation vote for Issaquah saw the “Against Annexation” vote widen to 52.3% 50.56% to 47.7%, 49.44% and a 349 spread.

For annexation: 3,575 1,490

Against annexation: 3,922 1,524

I accidentally put the Bag Ban figures in there. The spread and trend still widened, with “For” picking up 19 votes and “Against” picking up 24 votes. Unless there is a flood of votes to be counted, which I don’t believe is the case, the trend continues to be against annexation.

I’m declaring the annexation defeated, even though final results won’t be certified until Feb. 25. The trend has been negative from the second day and the spread is too great.

This result is outside the requirements for a mandatory recount:

(From King County Elections website:)

Required (mandatory) recounts

Recounts are mandated by law when votes for offices or statewide measures fall within a certain range. State law does not provide for a mandatory recount of local issues.

Mandatory machine recount

Any office or state measure must be recounted by machine when the difference between two candidates or choices is:

  • Less than 2,000 votes difference AND
  • Less than ½ of one percent

Mandatory manual recount

Statewide offices or measures must be recounted by hand when the difference between two candidates or choices is:

  • Less than 1,000 votes AND
  • Less than ¼ of one percent

For all other offices, ballots must be recounted by hand if the difference between the two candidates is:

  • Less than 150 votes AND
  • Less than ¼ of one percent

*****************

Meantime, one of the local newspapers continues to miss the fact that if the annexation vote passes by 50%+1 (an increasingly unlikely prospect), Issaquah could still annex the area. The city posted this on its website Feb. 13:

Posted on: February 13, 2014

Klahanie Area Vote: What’s Next

During the Feb. 11, 2014, election, the Klahanie area voted on whether to join the City of Issaquah, or remain in unincorporated King County.

The results will be updated most weekdays and finalized on Feb. 25, after they are certified by the King County Canvassing Board.

Since the annexation proposition included authorizing both an annexation and an assumption of indebtedness, it requires a 60 percent majority to pass.

However, if the proposition instead passes by a simple majority, the City Council would have an option to:

• Accept the annexation, which means that the Klahanie area would not assume a proportionate share of the City’s existing indebtedness.

• Decline the annexation.

More information about the proposed Klahanie area annexation is available online.

For more information on the state’s full annexation process, visit the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington’s website.