Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama sprung a surprise on the Sammamish City Council Sept. 13 when he suggested a study over 60 days for a building moratorium, starting with the Town Center.
The idea may have some merit; only a thorough discussion and perhaps some study will make this determination.
Tactically, Valderrama’s timing and forum was a bad idea.
Click once on image to enlarge, then click on the image a second time. Write in votes are excluded from the data analysis.
Roger Goodman, the Democrat seeking a sixth term in the State House of Representatives for the 45th Legislative District, defeated Sammamish Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama in his home city in the Aug. 2 primary.
Goodman receive 56.5% of the vote. He carried 21 of 24 precincts and tied in one more.
For Valderrama, who carried every precinct in the city-wide City Council November election in 2015, this is a stunning reversal of fortune.
It’s a clear message from Sammamish voters that they want Valderrama to stay in Sammamish to serve more than a year of his four year term to which he was reelected just 10 months ago.
District-wide, Valderrama received only 38% of the vote in the primary. The primary result historically is a predictor of the final result in the November general election. This is Nov. 8 this year.
A color-coded map and more analysis is after the jump.
King County Elections today (Aug. 16) certified the results of the Aug. 2 primary. The top two winners, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the Nov. 8 General Election.
The 8th Congressional District and the 5th, 41st and 45th Legislative District include Sammamish.
Sammamish Comment isn’t covering state-wide races. These results may be found here.
In the Sammamish area, two State Senate races are too close to project a winner for the November General Election: those in the 5th and 41st.
Sammamish Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama, running as a Republican for Position 1 in the 45th LD House, received only 38% of the primary vote. He advances to November.
The Comment has projected winners in the November election in the chart below. The August primary typically serves as proxy for the November election.
Ramiro Valderrama still ducks the question of whether he supports Donald Trump for president.
Update, Aug. 13: Valderrama emailed that in addition to denouncing Donald Trump’s comments, not does not support Trump, either. Valderrama’s original email is below the jump.
Ramiro Valderrama, candidate for the 45th District State House of Representatives and current deputy mayor of Sammamish, still won’t take a position on whether he supports, endorses or disowns Donald Trump.
He denounces Trump, the Republican nominee for President, for things Trump says. But that’s as far as he goes.
This is the position Valderrama took when Sammamish Comment first asked his position in May.
Seattle Times image.C
Update, July 17: Council Member Tom Odell had been engaged in family matters when this post was written. He has now supplied his position on ST3. It is added below.
The Sammamish City Council is split whether to support or opposed ST3, the new mass transit plan headed for the November ballot for voter approval.
The Sound Transit Board approved ST3 for the November ballot. This $54bn, $27bn new taxes package plans for new rail and bus routes over 25 years. New park-and-rides are also included.
Sammamish City officials estimate our residents will pay an average $1,100 per year per household in new taxes. In return, a park-and-ride is slated for the north end but bus service is actually reduced.
In a heated debate, the City Council in May approved mass transit “principals,” but stopped short of taking a position on ST3 itself. Every Council Member except Bob Keller expressed disappointment or opposition to the draft ST3 plan; Keller did not express a view one way or another.
The Comment opposes ST3 because of the details of the plan regionally, the cost to Sammamish taxpayers and the reduction of service to our City. Additionally, the proposed light rail extension to Issaquah has a target date of 2041. Instead of going directly to Seattle, it goes to downtown Bellevue, where rail riders would have to connect to go to Seattle.
Sammamish Gets a Park-N-Ride
Sammamish gets a Park-N-Ride out of ST3. It also gets reduced bus service. Given the average taxes and fees the average household will pay over 25 years if the plan is approved in November, Sammamish citizens will pay more than a half billion dollars for this park-n-ride and reduced service.
Now that ST3 is headed for the ballot, Sammamish Comment surveyed the Council members for their definitive position on the issue. Their responses are below.
Sammamish Comment 