Tag: Paul Stickney

Emails reveal secret meetings involving Fehr & Peers, the city’s traffic concurrency consultant

Kendra Breiland
Kendra Breiland, Fehr & Peers

Recent emails discovered on Fehr & Peers servers, obtained through a public records request, reveal separate, secret meetings between Kendra Breiland from Fehr & Peers, former City Manager Lyman Howard and Town Center developer STCA.

“This is confidential correspondence from the City Manager’s office,” wrote former Deputy City Manager Jessi Bon to Breiland in an email dated July 22, 2017. “We would like to meet with you on Thursday at on off-site location. At this time it will just be myself and the City Manager. The other staff are not aware of this meeting, so again, please keep this confidential.”

Meetings between developers and government officials are common. What is uncommon–and suspicious–are meetings that are labeled confidential and specifically excluding staff under a request for confidentiality.

A contractor’s emails are subject to the State Public Records Act under certain circumstances, which applied in this case. The complete email exchange is here. 

Continue reading “Emails reveal secret meetings involving Fehr & Peers, the city’s traffic concurrency consultant”

Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish-Part 3

Part 1 may be found here. Part 2 may be found here.

  • How to attain sustainable housing affordability, create vast community wealth and improve driver experiences.
Paul Stickney

By Paul Stickney

Guest Contributor

Article Three of Three

 Statement:  As you have been reading these articles, you have seen me use “we” and “our” quite often. This refers to either The City, the Community or both.

For over four years, I have attended nearly all City Council meetings, Planning Commission meetings and Transportation Committee meetings plus others. I am definitely NOT a Politician. I see myself as a citizen “Statesman”–bringing a bedrock of principles that are right, to benefit the members of our community, with a vision of long-term housing affordability and sustainability.  I am working to build consensus for achieving that vision.

Continue reading “Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish-Part 3”

Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish-Part 2

Part 1 may be found here.

  • How to attain sustainable housing affordability, create vast community wealth and improve driver experiences.
Paul Stickney

By Paul Stickney

Guest Contributor

Article Two of Three

I am beginning Article Two with five transparent Position Statements:

  • Traffic concurrency should limit additional single-family homes in most of the City, that we have Internal oversupplies of; and Traffic concurrency should NOT limit adding smaller and different homes in our Centers that we have Internal undersupplies of.
  • It is not who’s right, it is what’s right for the majority of Sammamish residents over time.
  • In Sammamish, our Internal Housing ‘Needs and Wants’ deficient supply gap numbers are from 2-4 times the size of our External growth target number.
  • As a City, we should make a paradigm shift from “Keeping all Housing to a minimum within Sammamish” to “Ensure Housing supply reaches optimum sustainability within Sammamish.”
  • We, as a community, are HOLISTACALLY far better off with Housing Balance, then without

Please, evaluate these five position statements as you read and critique this series of articles.

Continue reading “Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish-Part 2”

Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish

Editor’s note: This is the inaugural article of occasional Guest Contributor columns from Sammamish residents. See this post for details about contributing to Sammamish Comment.

 How to attain sustainable housing affordability, create vast community wealth and improve driver experiences.

Paul Stickney

By Paul Stickney

Guest Contributor

Article One of Three

Disclosure: I have, since 1997, had an interest in a five-acre parcel on the Plateau with Richard Birgh, who has owned the land since 1968. In 2008, this property became part of the Town Center.

In Sammamish we, as a community, are facing many important issues, including:

  • Trees coming down; Loss of tree canopy; Worries over wildlife habitat.
  • Tough commutes, traffic congestion and worsening driver experiences.
  • Storm water management; Erosion and sediment issues; Kokanee runs.
  • Preserving community character and aesthetically displeasing development.
  • Housing affordability and options to stay in Sammamish as ones needs change.
  • Capital needed to remedy extensive, inherited transportation deficiencies.
  • Voter tax fatigue – especially with recent impacts of McCleary and ST3.
  • Costs of community desires – Open Space; Parks; Trails; Arts; Human Services.

Several of the above issues are symptoms of two fundamental root ailments.

Continue reading “Common Cause Housing Balance for Sammamish”

Lawsuit questions legitimacy of Sammamish Town Center Plan

A lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan following adoption of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan revisions in the state-required 10-year

Paul Stickney filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court questioning the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan.
Paul Stickney filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court questioning the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan.

update.

Paul Stickney and Richard Birgh, two residents of the Town Center who have commercial development aspirations, filed the lawsuit Aug. 12 after the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board rejected a challenge on procedural grounds.

Sammamish Comment discovered the lawsuit while reviewing the number of lawsuits filed against the City, or that the City has filed against others, regarding land use actions.

Continue reading “Lawsuit questions legitimacy of Sammamish Town Center Plan”