Sammamish youth excel in all areas
June 2, 2009
As preparations for Commencement exercises are underway, we can’t help but reflect and marvel at the amazing teenagers of Sammamish.
On the Review’s front page, you read about more Sammamish athletes who’ve won state championships. There must be something in the water when an area as small as Sammamish produces so many talented athletes!
But off the field, the teens in Sammamish do just as much. This year, there were six recognized by the National Merit Scholar program. Each is excelling in the classroom and the library just as their classmates do on the field. Read more
Sammamish Forum June 3
June 2, 2009
Think about Beaver Lake
At 6:30 on June 3 at Beaver Lake Park Lodge, the city of Sammamish is presenting options for improving the park.
Based on the planning meeting I attended on April 15, I believe most of the improvement will involve the city’s agenda to reconfigure, re-turf and extensively light the existing baseball fields – thereby transforming a sleepy little neighborhood park into a busy, multi-sport, continuously used year-round sports complex.
$125,000 has already been spent on consultants and $1,750,000 more has been allocated. And that’s just for Phase I.
And while the city will be quick to roll out various physical configurations of fields and lighting schemes, I suspect what we won’t see is any accompanying management plan. By this I mean a proposed schedule and associated long-term recurring costs of maintenance.
Lights are both intrusive and expensive, and noise and traffic affects us all.
And while the city gets a lot of things right, unfortunately the Parks Department already has a pretty poor track record regarding managing the park. In one case a nearby land owner had to build a gate to deny park access to one whole side of the neighborhood due to security and misuse issues. Then there’s the dog park – go down there any sunny weekend and you won’t have to wait five minutes to see a dog off-leash outside the designated area and their corresponding business scattered throughout the park.
Ask yourself if we need another Marymoor Park smack dab in the middle of our neighborhood. Or, if we can allow the city to capriciously decide when and how these new fields can or should be used with no accountability to the surrounding community. If you think this is a good idea, stay home the night of June 3 and watch TV. Or better yet, go outside and enjoy the peaceful quiet of the evening — while you still can.
Ed Steenman
Sammamish
Council is doing well
As nice a person as John Galvin is, he is misinformed. In his May 27 letter in the Sammamish Review, he stated that the “…citizens who lobbied for the city” 10 years ago wanted to “…stop growth.” Since I was one of the city’s founders, I know this comment has little merit. What we wanted to do was create a city that was primarily a bedroom community.
We knew that large centers of business such as Issaquah and Redmond have put those cities at risk of higher taxes and bonded indebtedness. Such centers potentially require costly services and infrastructure and drive out family businesses.
We favored the bedroom community model because we wanted a place for families to live and thrive – not a destination city for others, which large business, commercial centers and shopping would create. We noted that most people living in the community commute through areas which provide those services. We also noted that bedroom communities like Mercer Island and Hunts Point have been among the most successful cities in the state.
I agree with Galvin that our city is more diverse than when it was new. That means that our council has been doing an outstanding job, not one to be totally replaced, as Galvin seems to want. I fear that his ambitions for his own land may be clouding his reasoning.
Robert Brady
Sammamish
An open letter to Ben Yazici
After reading the May 13 edition of Sammamish Review today, I decided to write a letter of response to the various articles and the opinions/letters in the Sammamish Forum section.
I hope the city never hires Bayley Construction to do another job in Sammamish. I cannot believe they will not be held responsible to fix the driveway problem at City Hall that they caused. Why didn’t they know there was concrete that would not allow for drainage? Aren’t there inspectors to monitor these tasks before they become problems?
I ask for guarantees/warranties on everything before I agree to a contract or purchases. Did the city not know this before you hired him? If the city knew Washington construction laws would not hold him responsible for fixing any potential problems, why wasn’t another safeguard added to the contract to protect us from mistakes? Did anyone ask Sutter Paving if they would guarantee their $16,000 replacement work? Let’s learn from our mistakes.
I hope that the county will desist immediately from spending any more of the taxpayer’s money and county’s time on upgrading protections for already protected wetlands. These properties are already set aside for conservation by the county. Don’t spend extra money putting it on the ballot when you know the voters will vote it down.
Someone needs to stop this ridiculous spending on replacing already-improved, re-surfaced roads and upgrading protection on already protected wetlands and demand work and material guarantees before the work is started. Is it you, our City Manager? If not, who?
Barbara Benson
Sammamish
5 more announce they are running for City Council
June 2, 2009
Five more candidates have announced they will run for Sammamish City Council.
Tom Odell announced his decision to run against incumbent and longtime City Councilman Jack Barry. Mayor Don Gerend also announced he will seek re-election.
Planning Commissioner Erica Tiliacos and John James, a local real estate agent have also announced thier plans to run.
In May, Tom Vance, John Curley and Michael Rutt also announced their candidacy for seats on City Council. City Council-woman Kathy Huckabay and City Councilman Lee Fellinge have said that they will not seek re-election. Read more
Rosemont may be city’s next addition
June 2, 2009
The Rosemont neighborhood, a 14-home subdivision north of city limits, received the City Council’s brief attention at the May 19 meeting.
The 4.7-acre neighborhood is trying to join the city of Sammamish.
If successful, it would be the second annexation in the city’s 10-year history. Read more
Kasen Williams wins state high jump
June 2, 2009
Skyline sophomore Kasen Williams once again impressed with his high-flying abilities by winning the high jump at the Washington State Track and Field Meet in Tacoma.
The standout multi-sport athlete won the 4A competition with a leap of 6-10, a height he had not previously cleared in competition.
Williams said he had been working on improving his run-up to the bar all week.
“I worry about what I need to do and not get caught up in what everybody else does,” he said at the meet May 30.
Williams took second in the boys triple jump, reaching 47-10.25 — a personal best by about a foot and a half — and placed third in the long jump with a measurement of 23-05.
Skyline’s Kasen Williams won the state high jump title with a leap of 6-feet-10 inches. Photo by Don Borin
Sammamish students could get a free ride to college
June 2, 2009
College tuition may seem out of reach for many families as the economy continues its slump and state universities raise tuition.
But college is within reach — even free — to some students who meet requirements.
After hearing the 2006 Washington Learns report, the state Legislature agreed to implement the report’s recommendation of making college more accessible to students of low-income families. In 2007, the Washington state Legislature allotted $7.4 million to fund the College Bound Scholarship Program, which will begin in 2012 and last until 2014. Read more
City to prioritize street repairs
June 2, 2009
As far as Ace Evans is concerned, the city has waited long enough: It should fix his neighborhood’s deteriorating streets.
Evans lives in the Tree Farm neighborhood near Inglewood Junior High School, where the city has identified nine road segments as being in poor or very poor condition.
“It seems to us, you’re going to repair them anyway, let’s get going now,” Evans said, adding that the streets haven’t received attention since they were built in 1983. “It’s been 25 years. They need some help.” Read more
New library close to decision on art
June 2, 2009
Imaginative art was what the King County Library System (KCLS) was looking for to place in the new library. They wanted something colorful and intriguing and they may have found it.
The library system is in final stages of the process of selecting artwork for the new Sammamish Library.
According to Librarian Robbin Gaebler, on January 5 a group consisting of library staff, a member of Friends of the Library, and a member of the Sammamish Arts Commission looked over a selection of artists that had previously been approved by the library’s Art Oversight Committee. The group selected a few artists whom the library is currently negotiating contracts with. Read more
Few watch Sammamish City Council meetings
June 2, 2009
A new survey concluded that only a small percentage of cable subscribers in Sammamish watch the city’s television station.
Hebert Research, a Bellevue-based consultant hired by the city, contacted 361 random residents in April and found 51 people — about 14 percent — said they watched more than five minutes of a City Council meeting in the last month.
Those findings are an increase from an April 2008 community survey that found 10.2 percent of 393 residents had seen a City Council meeting for more than five minutes in the last month. Read more
Canoe carver keeps the ancient traditions alive
June 2, 2009
Snoqualmie Tribe Master Carver John Mullen loves his job. There’s a spiritual element to it most people don’t experience on a daily basis, or ever, for that matter.
His works speak to him.
The Beaver Lake resident hand carves canoes, but the craft goes much deeper than hacking at wood.
Snoqualmie elder Earl Moses, front, and Master Carver John Mullen paddle a dugout canoe around Beaver Lake. Photo by Christopher Huber
