Tag Archives: Ramiro Valderrama

City Council election ballots on the way

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Ballots for the November 3 Sammamish City Council race and a couple of County races are being mailed this week and should be hitting local mailboxes in the next few days.

There are three positions up for election in Sammamish:

  • Position 2: Christie Malchow vs Mark Cross. This is an open seat being vacated by three-termer Nancy Whitten.
  • Position 4: Ramiro Valderrama (incumbent) vs Hank Klein (who dropped out of the race in July, too late to have his name removed from the ballot). Valderrama is seeking a second four-year term.
  • Position 6: Tom Vance (incumbent) vs Tom Hornish. Vance is seeking a second term.

Links to their websites are in the right-hand column.

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League of Women Voters Sammamish Council Candidate Profile

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  • Ballots will soon be the in the hands of Sammamish voters for the City Council election Nov. 3 (and other races). The ballots are being mailed this week by King County Elections. Sammamish Comment has been posting throughout October about issues, candidate profiles and candidate endorsements. Be sure to mark your ballots and postmark them by Nov. 3.

The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization, published candidate responses and profiles for the Sammamish City Council races, Positions 2, 4 and 6, on Vote411.org. The site is difficult to navigate and to find races in which the viewer is interested.

Sammamish Comment extracted the City Council races for ease of viewing in put them into a PDF file which you may download here: LWV Sammamish Candidate Profiles. This is current as of last week.

The LWV did not note that Hank Klein, who filed for Position 4 against Ramiro Valderrama, subsequently withdrew from the race, but too late to remove his name from the ballot. Sammamish Comment made this notation in his slot. Other than this notation and adding some spacing for readability, the LWV document is unaltered by The Comment.

The LWV noted that Mark Cross, candidate for Position 2 vs Christie Malchow, did not respond to any of the questions. The Comment finds this remarkable, and not in a good way. As with Cross’ own campaign website, which is notable in its lack of information, failing to respond to the LWV is a disservice to the voters of Sammamish.

 

 

 

 

Sammamish Initiative and Referendum effective

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  • 37 of 47 precincts approve the Initiative and Referendum.
  • All precincts where Council Members and Candidates for Council live approved I&R.
  • City and certain Council Members engaged in secret campaign against the vote and to undermine information.

The power of Initiative and Referendum became effective in Sammamish yesterday.

Hary Shedd 2

Harry Shedd, chairman of Citizens for Sammamish, led the charge to get the Sammamish City Council to adopt the Initiative and Referendum.

When the City was incorporated in 1999, the power of I&R wasn’t included in the City charter. Omission was claimed by City officials a decade and a half later to have been an oversight, but Karen Moran and Di Irons, two citizens involved in the incorporation at the time, said City officials deliberately left the power out.

Regardless, Citizens for Sammamish, a grass roots group chaired by Harry Shedd, pressed the current City Council last year to adopt an ordinance granting the power. The Council refused, with a majority simply opposed to giving Sammamish voters the right to I&R. Shedd continued his crusade and in January this year, the Council agreed at its retreat to put the issue to a non-binding Advisory vote. It later set April 28 as the election date.

Although a majority of the Council informally said at the retreat they would honor the outcome of the Advisory vote, and later officially said they would remain neutral, in fact the City and several Council members engaged in a stealth campaign to defeat the I&R, sow confusion, disseminate misinformation and suppress information and ultimately voting.

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Two Council Members voted against advancing the I&R to an enabling ordinance after the Advisory vote passed by a 55.5%-44.5% margin: Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay and Member Tom Odell.

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Standing up to government and for the citizens; or standing up for the status quo

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The Sammamish City Council election this year has a number of issues before voters. One of the key issues is not about roads or trees or parks or finances. It’s about a philosophy of government. It’s about standing up to the government and for the citizens or standing up for the status quo.

Tom Vance

Mayor Tom Vance, seeking reelection, and Mark Cross, a former mayor and city councilman seeking to return to the Council after a four year absence, stand for the status quo. They have endorsed each other for election.

Christie Malchow

Council Member Ramiro Valderrama, seeking reelection to a second term, Christie Malchow (running opposite Cross) and Tom Hornish (opposite Vance), both newcomers, stand for standing up to government and for the citizens.

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City inaction to earthquake preparedness is of shocking magnitude; Yazici mounts defense, decries political “silly season”

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  • There will be a candidates forum tonight, Wednesday, October 7, at 7pm at the Boys and Girls Club, Inglewood Hill Road and 228th Ave. NE. It is sponsored by the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce and the Sammamish Rotary. It will not be videotaped or broadcast on Sammamish TV Channel 21, so this is your only chance to see the candidates and ask questions in a forum.
  • Here’s how the story evolved.

When Sammamish Comment learned last month that Sammamish wasn’t going to

Cascadia Rising is a regional earthquake preparedness drill next June. Sammamish wasn’t going to participate–until questions arose.

participate next June in Cascadia Rising, a massive earthquake preparedness drill from British Columbia to Northern California, it was shocking. It was unbelievable. It was a dereliction of duty to public safety of massive proportions.

Issaquah, Redmond, Kirkland, the county, the state, the Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District, the University of Washington Medical Centers, fire and police, and on and on signed up last year to participate–but not Sammamish. Training for these agencies was well underway. But not Sammamish.

The issue came to light at the Sept. 1 City Council meeting when Member Ramiro Valderrama asked why wasn’t the City participating in the drill. City Manager Ben Yazici brushed aside the question, a stunning reaction in its own right considering Yazici is a native of Turkey where devastating earthquakes occur, with huge losses to life and property. He of all people should know the importance of being prepared.

Equally stunning was that Valderrama didn’t get one word of support from any other Council Member. Not one. Mayor Tom Vance, who’s the City’s titular leader, sat mute through the entire exchange.

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