Tag Archives: Tom Odell

Trump’s environmental choices prompt questions locally

Posted on by
5
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has a record of fighting EPA regulations. The EPA adopts regs for clean water and protecting threatened/endangered species--like the Kokanee salmon in Lake Sammamish.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has a record of fighting EPA regulations. The EPA adopts regs for clean water and protecting threatened/endangered species–like the Kokanee salmon in Lake Sammamish.

Scott Pruitt for director of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ryan Zinke for Secretary of Interior.

Rick Perry for Secretary of, umm, ahh, Oops.

These are President-Elect Donald Trump’s choices for environmental departments. In the case of Perry, the Department of Energy, the agency he wanted  close but for which he famously forgot and said Oops in his 2012 run for president. Energy has no small impact on the environment.

Pruitt, the attorney general of Oklahoma, fought EPA regulations for years. Zinke, a first-term Congressman from Montana, received just s 3% rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

And now they will be in charge of clean water and endangered/threatened species regulations.

There are direct, local implications.

Continue reading →

“Save Sammamish” formalizes, talks growth, trees, roads and budgets at first meeting

Posted on by
1
jennifer-kim

Jennifer Kim

A group on Facebook that has about 1,000 followers formalized last night with its first meeting, at the Klahanie Fire Station 83 at Issaquah-Pine Lake Road and SE 32nd.

“Save Sammamish” is a group that discussed growth issues on Facebook. Created by Jennifer Kim, a two-year resident of Sammamish who moved here from California, the Facebook conversations are active if sometimes heated.

Kim distinguished herself from a large crowd in September when, during public comment at a City Council meeting discussing the prospect of a building moratorium, she came armed with facts and figures on a citywide basis instead of personal stories and emotional pleas.

About two dozen people attended the launch meeting, including Council Members Christie Malchow, Tom Hornish and Ramiro Valderrama. Council members Don Gerend, Kathy Huckabay, Bob Keller and Tom Odell did not attend.

Continue reading →

City dithers while Tamarack suffers

Posted on by
3

The Sammamish City Council continues to dither while residents in the Tamarack subdivision suffer from stormwater drainage from uphill development and fish downstream are threatened by the same drainage.

In a contentious Council meeting last week, accusations flew that a tax hike of 5% for stormwater management was a thinly disguised effort to force the City to accept the entire responsibility for solving the drainage problems affecting Tamarack that have been more than 10 years in the making.

Continue reading →

Sammamish chooses Tacoma for annual retreat

Posted on by
Reply

City_of_SammamishSammamish selected the Hotel Murano in Tacoma for its annual retreat Jan. 19-21. The decision was announced Tuesday by City Manager Lyman Howard.

This was the location last year.

The City was leaning toward returning to Suncadia Lodge in Roslyn, east of Snoqualmie Pass until Sammamish Comment revealed the plans.

Continue reading →

Sammamish Council opposes ST3

Posted on by
Reply

City_of_SammamishOct. 4, 2016: The Sammamish City Council voted tonight to to oppose Sound Transit 3 for the $27bn tax package, a $54bn multi-modal transportation package that reduces service to Sammamish in exchange for citizens paying an estimated $500m-$550m in taxes over 25 years.

The measure is on the Nov. 8 ballot in the Sound Transit area that includes portions of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

Going into the meeting, five Council members told Sammamish Comment they opposed ST3. These were Mayor Don Gerend, Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama and members Tom Hornish, Tom Odell and Christie Malchow.

Members Bob Keller and Kathy Huckabay supported ST3.

The vote tonight was 5-2 against the huge tax package. Keller and Huckabay were the dissenting votes.

Continue reading →