Tag Archives: Sammamish

Black Lives Matter; is defunding the police a solution to misconduct?

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By Scott Hamilton

Commentary

Black Lives Matter.

By Scott Hamilton

Thanks to everybody carrying a camera in their pocket via cell phones, the world now sees just how common police misconduct toward blacks remains.

Whether it is excessive use of force or gunning down someone, cell phone videos make it clear and unequivocal there is a systemic problem in law enforcement.

This problem doesn’t stop with police agencies. We now can see that all too often, prosecutors are complicit in covering up these police crimes, either by commission or omission of investigating and prosecuting.

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STCA, Town Center developer, covers Gerend’s PAC $70,000 debt

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

STCA, the Town Center developer owned by Matt Samwick, has contributed $70,882.80 to former Mayor Don Gerend’s Livable Sammamish PAC.

Gerend and Kathy Huckabay, also a former mayor of Sammamish, were the only citizen contributors to Livable Sammamish. Gerend was the public face of the political action committee.

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Inslee to propose land plan that would mandate new housing

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By Scott Hamilton

Guest Contributor

Inslee

Jay Inslee

A little noticed interview with Gov. Jay Inslee could potentially mean a new push to up-zone land in the Puget Sound region to accommodate more housing.

In a Dec. 10 interview with the Tacoma News Tribune, Inslee said “he will ask the state Legislature next year to approve major initiatives to increase the number of homes in Washington to address high prices and also take steps to reduce homelessness, which he called a ‘statewide crisis.’”

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City council election results certified; no change in outcome

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The final results for the Nov. 5 election for Sammamish City Council have been certified by King County Elections.

There is no change in the outcome. Percentages compared with election night varied between 1 ½% to 2 ½%, the historic norm since Sammamish Comment has been following the elections from 1999.

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Stuart flip-flops on tax vote: Favored higher levy before voting no

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By Scott Hamilton

Guest Contributor

In a maneuver reminiscent of Sen. John Kerry’s infamous “I was for it before I voted against it” declaration in the 2004 presidential election, Sammamish Council Member Pam Stuart declared she would support taking the 1% property tax increase allowed by law.

Council Member Pam Stuart

Then she voted against it when the vote was called.

She was the deciding vote in causing the motion to fail.

The vote came after the council on Nov. 19 added $270,000 to the city’s expenditures for the next year that hadn’t been budgeted.

This included $120,100 for the Technology Fund and $150,000 for a grant in the Health and Human Services Commission dedicated for youth mental health.

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