Sammamish Forum July 22
July 22, 2009
Look at the class time, not the sign
I couldn’t believe it when I read that teachers and students use class time to manually update the existing board with messages about non-academic events such as theater productions and athletics.
I was even more astounded when I read that it could take an hour or more to do since the sign is only four lines high with approximately 20 characters per line. Not only is this a waste of class time, but it sounds like “me too-ism” since Redmond and Lake Washington schools have digital signs, but Eastlake doesn’t.
I totally support the Planning Commission’s vote against changing the sign rules, but I also think that how and when the sign is updated should be reevaluated.
Kris Ball
Sammamish
Yes to a senior center
I would like to “second “ the motion that the old library become a senior center.
June Tarsha
Sammamish
Commission does
good work
A recent article in the Review attributed demands placed upon the city’s Community Development Department to the Planning Commission’s propensity to delve into the details of its work. Lost in this analysis was that Sammamish is well served by both bodies.
As an interested neighbor of the proposed Town Center, I have attended several Planning Commission meetings. These meetings are a laboratory for thoughtful policy making, requiring substantial preparation on the part of city planners and the commission, as well as constant, constructive interaction between the two. Without exception, these are serious-minded people committed to drafting durable, well-considered policies concerning the growth, development, and livability of our city—policies that we will live with for decades.
As for the Planning Commission’s attention to detail, would we want it any other way? Small omissions in code can become gaps a developer will gladly drive a backhoe through.
With respect to Town Center, the commission has often drawn important distinctions to ensure its development adheres to the vision articulated by the City Council (and two citizen committees).
To extend from this, two existing planning commissioners — Tom Vance and Erica Tiliacos — have announced their candidacies for open City Council seats. Without detracting from others running, both are concerned, insightful commissioners who would surely do good — and thorough — work for the city as council members.
Michael Mattes
Sammamish
Rotary president’s tenure fruitful
I want to acknowledge the community, national and international contributions made by the Rotary Club of Sammamish during this past year led by our immediate past president, Lisa Kennedy.
During the past 12 months, the 37 members of the Sammamish Rotary provided 8,089 hours of volunteer service in numerous club activities raising over $137,000 for its projects
Funded projects included college scholarships for students from Eastside Catholic, Eastlake, and Skyline high schools; The Soup Ladies; Life Enrichment Options for developmentally disabled adults; Eastside Baby Corner; Rotary First Harvest; SAMMI Awards; July 4th festivities; Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for women and children in safe homes; Third Grade Dictionaries; CHOICES middle school program; Hugh O’Brien Youth Camp; Sammamish YMCA’s Camp Terry; Friends of Youth; Eastside Fire and Rescue; Lake Washington School district and Village Theatre youth programs.
International projects included Computers for the World (Uganda), Polio Plus, Ethiopia Water Project, microfinance programs in Latin America, Asia and Africa; 125 mosquito nets for children in foreign countries; educational resources for children in South Africa through Generation Joy Foundation; food for 1,400 children in foreign countries; shelter boxes (disaster provisions) through Shelterbox USA; and other International Rotary Foundation’s projects worldwide.
Local organizations benefitting from Sammamish Rotary grants during Lisa’s year included Athletes for Kids, Renaissance School, SARGE ham radio operators, High Valley Riders, Sammamish Youth Board, King County Explorers, 4-H Clubs, Issaquah Senior Center, Food Lifeline, Scare Productions, World Vision, among others.
In addition to personal donations, club members held special fundraisers: the eight-day annual Nightmare at Beaver Lake Halloween event, Summer Concerts at Pine Lake refreshment booth, Rotary Roundup, and event sponsorships supported by many area businesses including Challenge Race for LEO.
Norm Bottenburg
Sammamish
Well Well I see we have a real liberal bleeding heart in Micheal J. O’connell. In raising children I raised 4 and all are successful. but did not need all these youth services etc. We took care of our own and they knew what the rules were. The idea of the rod hanging there was enough to ever deter them from doing what was not right. Oh by the way we used to have at least 3 or neighbor hood and other kids around a great deal of the time. Never did we encounter any trouble as I guess we as parents taught them right from wrong. Now does Mr O’Connell know the meaning of the parents managing their kids or does he always want the GOVERNMENT AND OTHER AGENCIES to take care of them. Of course that is the way it seems the liberal think. If you cannot learn to control them and teach them right from wrong as parents, well then no Physiologist is going to help. Your dreaming is just another pie in the sky. Help comes from the home not you shipping your kids off to someone else to do it for you. I think Mr. O’Connell needs to take a visit up to Echo Glen or some other correction institute, and see what happens in the real world. I personally have had quite a few kids work for me in different stages and all of them today are either in their own business or have jobs as leaders in major companies
Urban Masset
The author opines that Republicans are the evil behind 30 years of undermining the American economy, proving once again that ignorance is the most costly commodity we have in America today.
He further asserts that there is a relationship between the time it takes to build something, as compared to the time it takes to destroy something, or visa versa. Therefore, we should give Obama as much time as it takes to destroy the United States as we know it.
We should keep in mind that it took years to build the twin towers, but only minutes to bring them down. And we should also take note that the Obama administration has amassed more debt in six months than all presidents combined from GW, “our first president, to GWB, our 43 president. So let’s just put it on our children’s — and their children’s — backs, for our Obama selfishness.
It may be Pravda – like to ignore the truth for an ignorance of fact, or a refusal to face facts. But, then again, with an education system today that ignores teaching our young civics and history — other than the PC Pravda-like indoctrination version(s), for the art of putting condoms on cucumbers — it is of little wonder that so many are so politically blind.
Blaming the Republicans to excuse Obama and his destructive agenda is chicken.
But, then again, I just read in the “ Review Editorial that, “ Chickens should have a place here”. So, now we can go after those “garden growers “ who are lurking in Sammamish neighborhoods on their 1.89 acres. “ Should Sammamish have urban farms “?.
I’ll go for the farmers over the “ chickens “ but I haven’t checked in with the Obama “Chicken Tzar” yet for a Supreme Ruling. I’ll get back with you on that one.
Larry Davison
Sammamish
These things take time, revisited
I appreciate Mr. Barr’s comments. But, apparently, he does not quite see the forest from the trees. By adhering to the Democrat party line of “we inherited this mess” and not owning up to the following facts of unbridled power gone awry by Mr. Obama and the Pelosi/Reid Houses of Congress, he would rather dismiss political reality as propaganda. And, sir, you seem to miss the fact that the former Communists (Pravda) recognize the U.S. decline into Socialism.
Mr, Barr, can you really support:
1) a $787 Billion stimulus plan that was touted to create millions of jobs and keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent (now 9.5 percent: note that no jobs have been created and the government can’t even distribute the money timely to generate any jobs; less than 10 percent has been distributed)
2) An increase of the annual deficit to $1.8 trillion in this fiscal year alone and an increase in the Obama first term of more debt than all previous administration since the founding of this country
3) a $1.5 trillion expenditure for a takeover of the healthcare system (17 percent of the economy) for the benefit of 7 million citizens, 7 million illegal aliens and 20 million (making $40,000 or more per year, who chose not to enroll or went without health care at some point in a year) with a crippling requirement to small business and an exemption to unions.
And while Mr. Barr is reaching back 30 years to the “undermining of the economy”, lets reach back 40 years to when it was really bad, in the early 1970s when Congress had been controlled by the Democrats since the late 1950s, to the real disastrous problems of stagflation under Jimmy Carter which took Reagan to come in and fix by lowering crushing tax rates from the highest level of 70 percent to 33 percent. This stimulated private sector growth like the world had never seen. The last 30 years, sir, have been pretty good times for most folks within normal business cycles.
The point is you fail to see Mr. Obama repeating the failed Keynesian economic policies (care to witness Japan for the last 20 years?) of the Democrat congresses of the 1970s (now being used in the extreme by the Obama administration and the Pelosi/Reid Congress) which caused stagflation, 21 percent mortgage rates, and the last major recession with 10 percent unemployment.
My point is that there are no checks and balances left between the Congress (all Democrat majorities) and the Democrat Administration. Mr. Obama is jamming through his agenda because he know his party will be voted out in 2010 and the balances will be reinstated. By then, sir, we will be stuck paying for his undermining of the economy in two years for the next 20!
John Burg
Sammamish
Look at the class time, not the sign
I couldn’t believe it when I read that teachers and students use class time to manually update the existing board with messages about non-academic events such as theater productions and athletics.
I was even more astounded when I read that it could take an hour or more to do since the sign is only four lines high with approximately 20 characters per line. Not only is this a waste of class time, but it sounds like “me too-ism” since Redmond and Lake Washington schools have digital signs, but Eastlake doesn’t.
I totally support the Planning Commission’s vote against changing the sign rules, but I also think that how and when the sign is updated should be reevaluated.
Kris Ball
Sammamish
Yes to a senior center
I would like to “second “ the motion that the old library become a senior center.
June Tarsha
Sammamish
Commission does good work
A recent article in the Review attributed demands placed upon the city’s Community Development Department to the Planning Commission’s propensity to delve into the details of its work. Lost in this analysis was that Sammamish is well served by both bodies.
As an interested neighbor of the proposed Town Center, I have attended several Planning Commission meetings. These meetings are a laboratory for thoughtful policy making, requiring substantial preparation on the part of city planners and the commission, as well as constant, constructive interaction between the two. Without exception, these are serious-minded people committed to drafting durable, well-considered policies concerning the growth, development, and livability of our city—policies that we will live with for decades.
As for the Planning Commission’s attention to detail, would we want it any other way? Small omissions in code can become gaps a developer will gladly drive a backhoe through.
With respect to Town Center, the commission has often drawn important distinctions to ensure its development adheres to the vision articulated by the City Council (and two citizen committees).
To extend from this, two existing planning commissioners — Tom Vance and Erica Tiliacos — have announced their candidacies for open City Council seats. Without detracting from others running, both are concerned, insightful commissioners who would surely do good — and thorough — work for the city as council members.
Michael Mattes
Sammamish
Rotary president’s tenure fruitful
I want to acknowledge the community, national and international contributions made by the Rotary Club of Sammamish during this past year led by our immediate past president, Lisa Kennedy.
During the past 12 months, the 37 members of the Sammamish Rotary provided 8,089 hours of volunteer service in numerous club activities raising over $137,000 for its projects
Funded projects included college scholarships for students from Eastside Catholic, Eastlake, and Skyline high schools; The Soup Ladies; Life Enrichment Options for developmentally disabled adults; Eastside Baby Corner; Rotary First Harvest; SAMMI Awards; July 4th festivities; Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for women and children in safe homes; Third Grade Dictionaries; CHOICES middle school program; Hugh O’Brien Youth Camp; Sammamish YMCA’s Camp Terry; Friends of Youth; Eastside Fire and Rescue; Lake Washington School district and Village Theatre youth programs.
International projects included Computers for the World (Uganda), Polio Plus, Ethiopia Water Project, microfinance programs in Latin America, Asia and Africa; 125 mosquito nets for children in foreign countries; educational resources for children in South Africa through Generation Joy Foundation; food for 1,400 children in foreign countries; shelter boxes (disaster provisions) through Shelterbox USA; and other International Rotary Foundation’s projects worldwide.
Local organizations benefitting from Sammamish Rotary grants during Lisa’s year included Athletes for Kids, Renaissance School, SARGE ham radio operators, High Valley Riders, Sammamish Youth Board, King County Explorers, 4-H Clubs, Issaquah Senior Center, Food Lifeline, Scare Productions, World Vision, among others.
In addition to personal donations, club members held special fundraisers: the eight-day annual Nightmare at Beaver Lake Halloween event, Summer Concerts at Pine Lake refreshment booth, Rotary Roundup, and event sponsorships supported by many area businesses including Challenge Race for LEO.
Norm Bottenburg
Sammamish
Many who work for the city can’t live in it
July 22, 2009
This is the third installment of a three-part series that examines affordable housing in the proposed Town Center
By J.B. Wogan
Marina Kearney is the kind of woman who benefits from affordable housing.
Kearney works as a vendor at local farmers markets including the one in Sammamish, and she is a new homeowner at the Koinonia Ridge development in Snoqualmie.
A single mother with a 4-year-old son, Kearney is one of 50 Habitat for Humanity homeowners at Koinonia Ridge.
“Here my son can come out and feel his feet on the grass,” she said. “He can scream. He can jump. He can live in his own room.” Kearney, who moved to the state five years ago from the Ivory Coast in west Africa, also works as an interpreter. She currently rents an apartment in Issaquah.
Kearney is part of Sammamish’s workforce, yet she can’t afford to live on the plateau. That’s something the city is trying to change while drafting its development code for the Town Center. The Planning Commission is finalizing requirements that 10 percent of Town Center’s 2,000 residential units be affordable to a household making 80 percent of the median income in King County. Through building incentives, the city hopes developers will build another 10 percent of the units as affordable housing, rounding out the total amount of affordable units to up to 400.
The commission is scheduled to deliver a recommendation for Town Center by December, which would then come before the City Council for discussion in 2010.
Tim Koch, owner of Ace Hardware in the Sammamish Highlands, said it’s nearly impossible to find people from Sammamish willing to work in retail.
“The wages in retail are relatively low compared to some of the other professional companies like Microsoft,” Koch said.
Koch has owned Ace Hardware in the Sammamish Highlands since 2000 and his staff of 21 people include mostly Sammamish residents who are retired and can afford to live off a smaller salary. The rest are high school and college students looking for a summer job, or employees that commute from places like Renton and Redmond.
Kearney and Koch provide anecdotal information on how people in Sammamish’s private sector can’t afford to live here, but many employees in the public sector have the same problem.
Aside from teachers, the percentage of people who work in the city’s public sector and also live in the city is about 6.8 percent.
Three of 52 employees at the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District live in the city, something General Manager Ron Little said isn’t by choice.
Little, who has worked with the district for more than 20 years, said he recalls when the district had as a policy that its field operations employees live within 20 minutes of the Sammamish Plateau.
The district had to double that time because the price of living near the plateau was beyond a district employee’s income level.
City planners consider a home of up to $200,000 to be affordable. As of July 2, there weren’t any Sammamish houses for sale priced at $200,000 or less, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Among active listings, the city had 324 single-family homes, with a median price of $648,000. The price range was between $295,000 and $4.9 million.
The number of employees who live in Sammamish is similarly slim with other public agencies in the city: About 12 of 65 city employees, one of nine Northeast Sammamish Sewer & Water District employees, two of 19 officers in the Sammamish Police Department and two of 147 firefighters from Eastside Fire and Rescue.
There is one niche of public sector employees that does have a significant number of Sammamish residents: the school districts.
The Issaquah School District employs 227 full-time teachers in Sammamish schools and 145 live here, while the Lake Washington School District employs 280 full-time teachers in Sammamish and 81 of them live here.
Some of those employees could be married to another employed person and the two of them make a combined salary that allows them to afford a Sammamish home. However, based purely on a single employee’s salary, school teachers are far less capable of buying a home in Sammamish than employees in the city’s other public agencies.
Between the two water and sewer districts, the public library, the city and the fire protection agency, 272 employees, or about 92.5 percent, make at least $47,000 per year (80 percent of the county’s median income for a single-person household). As a result, they would not qualify for affordable housing.
But public school teachers represent the bulk of public sector employees in the city and many do not make $47,000 per year.
Of the 997 teachers in the Issaquah School District, about 40 percent make less than $47,000 per year. Of the 1,439 teachers in the Lake Washington School District, about 38 percent, make less than $50,000 per year.
Chris Bede, associate principal at Eastlake High School, said the current high cost of housing in Sammamish takes its biggest toll in teacher retention.
“There are some excellent teachers that we sometimes lose to other schools or school districts because they can’t live near Eastlake High School,” Bede said, adding that a number of Eastlake’s faculty commute from Seattle and at least one hails from Bothell.
Bede said that Eastlake’s reputation attracts young teachers initially, but the challenge is in keeping those teachers.
“Young teachers, when they get married and have kids, they want a house with a backyard,” Bede said. “I just think that with all suburban high schools where housing prices are high, it’s really difficult to retain teachers.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
This is the third installment of a three-part series that examines affordable housing in the proposed Town Center.
Marina Kearney is the kind of woman who benefits from affordable housing.
Kearney works as a vendor at local farmers markets including the one in Sammamish, and she is a new homeowner at the Koinonia Ridge development in Snoqualmie.
A single mother with a 4-year-old son, Kearney is one of 50 Habitat for Humanity homeowners at Koinonia Ridge.
“Here my son can come out and feel his feet on the grass,” she said. “He can scream. He can jump. He can live in his own room.” Kearney, who moved to the state five years ago from the Ivory Coast in west Africa, also works as an interpreter. She currently rents an apartment in Issaquah.
Marina Kearney works on nailing together pieces of wood at one of the Habitat for Humanity housing projects in Snoqualmie. Kearney has been selected to have a home built through the organization. Photo by Adam Eschbach
Access to Sammamish Landing Park discussed
July 22, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The feature that drew the most attention at the Sammamish Landing public meeting was a pedestrian bridge that extended over the East Lake Sammamish Parkway.
“This almost looks like a downhill slide,” commented Bob Hamilton, a resident who lives due south of the 3,000-foot-long park proposed at the northeast end of the city.
Guy Michaelsen, a consultant from the Berger Partnership, said the bridge had a 16-foot height differential from its highest point on the east side of the parkway to the bottom on the west side of the parkway.
“I’m wondering how functional that would be,” said Parks Commission Chair Hank Klein. “I’m thinking, path to least resistance. I’m just going to cross the street.”
The Sammamish Landing Park’s main features would be several pocket beaches, street monuments, a biking trail, restrooms and a 36-car parking lot.
The parking lot would be on the east side of East Lake Sammamish Parkway, and visitors would have to cross the parkway to reach the park and beaches.
Design posters from the Berger Partnership showed two ways for pedestrians to cross the street: one would be with a signalized intersection and one would be with the pedestrian bridge.
Parks Commissioner Nora Whittemore said she did not consider the pedestrian bridge to be accessible for handicapped individuals; while it’s surmountable from a wheelchair, the distance one would have to cover in order to reach the park wouldn’t be worth it, she said.
“We’re confident a surface connection can happen,” Michaelsen said, explaining that the pedestrian bridge was an option, not a requirement.
While Klein criticized the bridge, he also acknowledged that there would probably be residents who wouldn’t like the idea of stopping at an East Lake Sammamish Parkway crosswalk so people could cross the street.
Aside from the bridge, the park design drew little criticism from the sparse audience at the July 15 meeting, with two parks commissioners and one resident. The city has held two other public meetings about the park in September and November 2008.
Michaelsen’s presentation showed a stripped down park with no significant tree removal.
“The intent is for things to weave through the trees,” Michaelsen said.
Previous designs showed an area where bicycle riders would dismount and walk through the park. The new design does not have the dismounting area, due to requests from King County, Michaelsen said.
While the city has jurisdiction over most of the park’s area, it’s technically a hodgepodge of city-owned land, county-owned land, private property and some land that has been given to Sammamish by Redmond.
The county-owned land is part of a larger county trails system that connects with the Burke-Gilman bike trail.
The land from Redmond has a stipulation that if Sammamish does not build a park at Sammamish Landing by 2018, Redmond gets the land back.
Michaelsen and his team from the Berger Partnership are in charge of a master plan design for the park, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.
The Parks Commission and City Council plan to review the proposal at a September meeting, according to Parks Director Jessi Richardson.
The city does not have a funding plan for implementing the park’s design. Officials hoped to use $3 million of a $19 million parks bond, which failed in November 2008, to pay for construction in 2011. The master plan itself is costing the city about $200,000.
To learn about the park’s design and to send comments to the park’s project manager, Anjali Myer, go to http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/SammLanding.
aspx.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
The feature that drew the most attention at the Sammamish Landing public meeting was a pedestrian bridge that extended over the East Lake Sammamish Parkway.
“This almost looks like a downhill slide,” commented Bob Hamilton, a resident who lives due south of the 3,000-foot-long park proposed at the northeast end of the city.
Guy Michaelsen, a consultant from the Berger Partnership, said the bridge had a 16-foot height differential from its highest point on the east side of the parkway to the bottom on the west side of the parkway.
Read more
Sammamish ranked 12th in Money Magazine rankings
July 22, 2009
Sammamish ranked 12th in Money Magazine rankings
For the second time in its 10-year history, Sammamish is on CNN Money Magazine’s Top 100 Towns list.
The magazine released the list in the August issue of Money Magazine. Sammamish was not the top city from Washington. That honor went to Mukilteo, which placed 10th nationwide.
Sammamish was ranked 12th by the magazine out of 2,466 towns with population sizes of 8,500 to 50,000 across the country. Towns where 95 percent or more of the population was white, or that had poor education and crime, or that had a median income much higher or much lower than the state median income, were excluded from the list.
The magazine cited the city’s parks, high-quality schools and proximity to high-tech business districts in Redmond and Bellevue. The magazine also highlighted the city’s median family income, family purchasing power, job growth, math test scores, and air quality, all of which were above the average for the list’s 100 top 100 towns.
Researchers at the magazine compiled data from sources such as the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ACCRA Cost of Living Index and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Sammamish ranked 11th in the magazine’s 2007 Top 100 Towns list. The city didn’t make a list in 2008 because the magazine focused on cities with populations of 50,000-300,000 — bigger than Sammamish — that year.
The cities of Newcastle (17), Richland (51) and Silverdale (92) also made the Top 100 Towns list. To see the full list, go to money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/index.html.
For the second time in its 10-year history, Sammamish is on CNN Money Magazine’s Top 100 Towns list.
The magazine released the list in the August issue of Money Magazine. Sammamish was not the top city from Washington. That honor went to Mukilteo, which placed 10th nationwide.
Sammamish was ranked 12th by the magazine out of 2,466 towns with population sizes of 8,500 to 50,000 across the country. Towns where 95 percent or more of the population was white, or that had poor education and crime, or that had a median income much higher or much lower than the state median income, were excluded from the list. Read more
City hires advisors for barricade removal
July 22, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
City Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay doesn’t think Sammamish should hire transportation experts from Florida.
“I just didn’t think this was good timing,” Huckabay said, explaining her decision to vote July 7 against a $75,000 contract with Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, a national firm with offices in Denver, Atlanta, and Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of the contract. Huckabay was opposed and Councilwoman Nancy Whitten was absent.
Public Works Director John Cunningham proposed the contract, which said that the firm would help the city put together a plan for barricade removal, propose ways to make the future Town Center pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and overhaul the city’s street design standards.
Huckabay said she was alarmed to find out that 15 percent or more of the contract, would pay for the consultant’s travel expenses.
Cunningham said the travel expenses would be closer to 19.8 percent, or $14,875, of the total contract. He confirmed in a later interview that part of the contract would cover flights from Florida and Colorado as well as the cost of staying in a hotel. He added that he hoped Sammamish could share in the travel expenses with other public agencies in the state that were also using the consultant for similar work.
“They’ve got a tremendous amount of national and international experience and exposure, so they can bring a lot of different ideas or alternatives to the table,” Cunningham said.
Aside from the travel aspect of the contract, Huckabay said she had other qualms with it. Huckabay said she was troubled by the plan to provide a barricades poster for future public meetings. She said that residents see posters at public meetings and assume that the drawings mean the city’s plans are already set in stone.
Huckabay said she was also worried that the Public Works Department had too much on its plate already this summer. The department is in charge of a $6.1 million road widening on a half-mile of East Lake Sammamish Parkway and a $9.3 million road connection on 800 feet of what will be 244th Avenue. It is also planning an estimated $3 million sidewalk installment and repaving along a mile of Southeast 20th Street.
“To add one more project at this point in time did not make any more sense to me,” Huckabay said.
The lead consultant would be Dan Burden, who spoke at City Hall in August 2008 about walkable communities. Burden has worked in the past with City Manager Ben Yazici on urban development projects in Gig Harbor and University Place.
When Burden spoke last year, he said the city had too many cul-de-sacs, causing limited connectivity. He also suggested better sightlines at some of the city’s intersections. He commended the city on its efforts to introduce sidewalks and roundabouts, both of which would reorient the area from being car-centric to pedestrian and bicycle-centric.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
City Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay doesn’t think Sammamish should hire transportation experts from Florida.
“I just didn’t think this was good timing,” Huckabay said, explaining her decision to vote July 7 against a $75,000 contract with Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, a national firm with offices in Denver, Atlanta, and Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of the contract. Huckabay was opposed and Councilwoman Nancy Whitten was absent.
Public Works Director John Cunningham proposed the contract, which said that the firm would help the city put together a plan for barricade removal, propose ways to make the future Town Center pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and overhaul the city’s street design standards. Read more
Area musicians will attend major music festival
July 22, 2009
By Lauren McLaughlin
Five local teens have been accepted to the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival presented by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra.
According to Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, music director of both the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Marrowstone Music Festival, the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival is a very prestigious program.
“Marrowstone is the premiere orchestra training program in the Northwest,” Radcliffe said. “We draw students from 20 states and even internationally.”
The two-week program is competitive and allows for 150 students to be accepted each summer.
“It’s particularly competitive for the woodwinds and the brass,” Radcliffe said. “We can only accept as many as we have use for. We want everyone to have something to do.”
Five local teens were accepted into the program.
Ruth Kim a 16-year-old violinist from Skyline has done Marrowstone-in-the-city, a Marrowstone event for younger musicians, but this is the first time she has participated in the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” said Kim. “I’m excited to make new friends and just play.”
“I’m looking forward to learning a lot about violin,” Kim said. “It’s a great opportunity and a great experience for me.”
Kim is in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Evergreen Philharmonic.
Fellow Evergreen Philharmonic and Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra member Ayala Goldstein will join Kim.
Goldstein has been playing viola since she switched from violin in seventh grade.
“It’s my fourth year with Marrowstone,” Goldstein said. “It’s just fun and carefree. It’s the best 2 weeks of the summer.”
“I love the music repertoire and the friends there,” Goldstein said. Goldstein will be playing in the Festival group, the concert group for older musicians and a chamber music group.
“This is the first time I have a pre-made group going in,” Goldstein said. “We’ve already chosen the pieces and practiced some.”
Aric Lee, a 17-year-old cellist from Skyline High School is also a member of the Evergreen Philharmonic and Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra.
“My cello teacher wanted me to do it last year but I was too busy with things at Village Theater,” Lee said. “This is the first year I’ve been able to do it, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Lee is most looking forward to working with the faculty that come from all across the U.S.
“It’s a bit nerve racking because they’re really, really great,” Lee said.
Sammamish residents Karl Ronneburg, percussion, and Alexander Ronneburg, bassoon, from Redmond Jr. High will also be participating in the festival.
“We both did (Marrowstone-in-the-city) and we just wanted to see if we could get in,” Karl said.
The students accepted to the program are kept busy throughout the duration of the program, July 26-August 9.
The day begins with sectionals and a full orchestra rehearsal and is followed by lunch, Chamber music performance and practice, master classes and then another full orchestra rehearsal.
“Master classes are not required, but they are highly encouraged,” Radcliffe said. “The kids learn a lot from them.”
In a Master class the students play a piece in front of their classmates and a faculty member, who will critique the performance.
“It’s highly intimidating but you get really good feedback,” Goldstein said.
Radcliffe said the program is designed to have the students play a challenging repertoire.
“We always play amazing pieces that are like mountains for the kids,” Radcliffe said. “It’s our job to lead them up to the vista.”
Doug Longman, director of the Evergreen Philharmonic, said he would recommend that his students participate in the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival.
“The kids who have gone come back with more experience and it helps the orchestra as a whole,” he said.
Intern Lauren McLaughlin can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 244 or samrev@isspress.com. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com
Five local teens have been accepted to the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival presented by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra.
According to Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, music director of both the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Marrowstone Music Festival, the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival is a very prestigious program.
“Marrowstone is the premiere orchestra training program in the Northwest,” Radcliffe said. “We draw students from 20 states and even internationally.” Read more
Ryan David Robertson
July 22, 2009
Ryan David Robertson
Ryan David Robertson, formerly of Sammamish, loving and precious son to Rob and Linda, beloved brother and friend, died July 16. He was 20. Ryan took his last breath at 4:45 p.m. while being held by his dad and surrounded by his family in his room at Harborview Medical Center after 17 days in a coma.
A memorial service will be at 7 p.m. July 28 at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue. Friends are invited to get directions, view photos and share memories in the family’s online guest book at www.flintofts.com. Flintoft’s Funeral Home 392-6444.
Ryan David Robertson, formerly of Sammamish, loving and precious son to Rob and Linda, beloved brother and friend, died July 16. He was 20. Ryan took his last breath at 4:45 p.m. while being held by his dad and surrounded by his family in his room at Harborview Medical Center after 17 days in a coma.
A memorial service will be at 7 p.m. July 28 at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue. Friends are invited to get directions, view photos and share memories in the family’s online guest book at www.flintofts.com. Flintoft’s Funeral Home 392-6444.
Sammamish artists team up for exhibition in Seattle
July 22, 2009
By Lauren McLaughlin
Anna Macrae and Tif Fussell are two Sammamish women originally from England who have become friends through a shared passion, art.
“Being both English we had a connection,” Fussell said. “But then we found another connection through our creative sides and that has lead to a friendship.”
Now, they will share another bond when the pair is part of an exhibition running through Aug. 5 at the Art Not Terminal Gallery in Seattle.
“I was very excited about the opportunity to bring my craft to a live audience as most of my work is through the Internet,” Fussell said.
The exhibit will feature approximately 30 pieces of Macrae’s artwork.
There will be an afternoon tea from 2-5 p.m. July 26, allowing visitors to meet the artists and discuss their works.
Macrae said she enjoys meeting people at her exhibitions.
“I like meeting people who might be interested in my work,” Macrae said. “You really don’t know what people think of your work until you talk to them.”
For the exhibition Fussell has taken the persona of dottie angel, a character she invented, and created an installation with pictures of her artwork and a vignette of dottie angel’s life, Fussell said.
Fussell said the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to bring what she does to a wider audience.
Fussell considers herself to be more of a crafter rather than an artist like Macrae.
“I create handcrafted wares with a vintage vibe from recycled linens and other thrifty finds,” Fussell said.
Fussell has created bags, cushions, dishtowels and many slips using vintage materials.
“The inspiration for my handcrafted items comes from the old linens and thrift store items I pick up. Due to the nature of using secondhand items, I have to work around imperfections,” Fussell said. “This in turn helps me to be more creative in my approach when using such materials.”
One very unusual aspect about Fussell’s art is that she created a persona for it called “dottie angel.”
When writing her profile for her blog, Fussell tried to think of who would wear the clothing she was making.
“A whole fictitious character appeared inside my head and it was a great way to market myself and my handcrafted wares,” Fussell. “It all seemed to go from there.”
Much of Fussell’s work is shown and purchased online. Macrae’s work is usually displayed in exhibitions throughout the community.
Macrae is an abstract expressionist oil painter. She described her artwork as drawn from emotion and the opposite of realism, something not tangible.
“It’s supposed to draw you in, engage the viewer and explore the canvas,” Macrae said. “It’s quite subjective.”
Macrae said she works in the community with her artwork and children’s arts programs.
She is a regular volunteer, co-chair of the gallery nights and co-runs an art program at Margaret Mead Elementary.
“It’s fun to work with the kids.” said Macrae, who also volunteers in other places. “I like to bring messy art to the school. I bring in the supplies and enjoy watching the children create their art.”
Kent Greene, Sammamish Arts Commission Treasurer, is familiar with Macrae’s work in the community.
“We’re trying to recruit her to be a commissioner,” Greene said. “She’s very talented, well organized and so motivating.”
Greene said that Macrae has helped with many of the Arts Commission events, including the Sammamish Art Fair.
Co-chair of the Sammamish Art Fair Jamie McKay has worked with Macrae before.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Anna. She’s really on top of things with her PR committee for the Art Fair,” McKay said. “She puts in a lot of time, and is very detail oriented. I really like that about her.”
This year and last year Macrae has helped with, and participated in, the Sammamish Art Fair.
“I enjoy (Macrae’s artwork) quite a lot,” McKay said. “There’s a lot going on in her paintings. There’s a lot of depth.”
“It’s nice to see good, high quality art like Anna’s,” McKay said.
Intern Lauren McLaughlin can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 244 or samrev@isspress.com. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com
Anna Macrae and Tif Fussell are two Sammamish women originally from England who have become friends through a shared passion, art.
“Being both English we had a connection,” Fussell said. “But then we found another connection through our creative sides and that has lead to a friendship.”
Now, they will share another bond when the pair is part of an exhibition running through Aug. 5 at the Art Not Terminal Gallery in Seattle.
‘Pastel Woodlands’ by Anna Macrae.
Shirley Dell Johnson
July 22, 2009
Shirley Dell Johnson
Shirley Dell Johnson, of Sammamish, died July 9, 2009, in Bellevue. She was 85.
A private gathering will be held. Call Kurt Johnson at 806-8329 for details.
Shirley was born April 12, 1924, in Tacoma, the daughter of Chauncy and Hazel Lingerman. She was raised in Tacoma, after being born into a pioneer Tacoma family. She lived most of her life on Lake Sammamish, by Issaquah.
Shirley graduated from Stadium High School at Tacoma. She also earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Washington.
She worked for Washington state many years until retirement.
Shirley was married to Edwin Lee Johnson for 61 years.
Shirley was a former volunteer for the local nonprofit group Friends of Youth and a member of Chi Omega Sorority, UW. In her spare time, she enjoyed charity work, aerobics, gardening, travel and pottery.
Her family remembers her as a beloved wife, mother and grandmother.
She is survived by Lee Johnson,Tamis Root-Reber, and Kurt, Amanda and Andrew Johnson.
Memorial donations can be made to Friends of Youth, Issaquah.
Arrangements are by Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home.
Shirley Dell Johnson, of Sammamish, died July 9, 2009, in Bellevue. She was 85.
A private gathering will be held. Call Kurt Johnson at 806-8329 for details.
Shirley was born April 12, 1924, in Tacoma, the daughter of Chauncy and Hazel Lingerman. She was raised in Tacoma, after being born into a pioneer Tacoma family. She lived most of her life on Lake Sammamish, by Issaquah. Read more
Maxine Elizabeth Knowles
July 22, 2009
Maxine Elizabeth Knowles
Maxine Elizabeth Knowles, of Sammamish, died peacefully July 5, 2009. She was 79.
A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. July 17 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Issaquah, with reception following.
Born in Minot, N.D., to Charles and Dorothy McCall on Sept. 27, 1929, Maxine moved with her family to Seattle in 1943. She graduated from Immaculate Conception High School. After graduation, she met Leo Knowles and they were married in 1948 and raised a family.
She had a long career with Sears & Roebuck before retiring to Maxine’s beachside resort on Lake Sammamish.
Maxine is survived by her daughter Vickie Young, of Seattle; sons Michael (Melissa), of Western Australia, and Patrick (Susan), of Orondo, Wash.; sister Rosemary Devino; brothers Charles (Joyce) McCall and George (Eleanor) McCall; two grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; and many caring friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests remembrances be made to Faith in Action, c/o Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, or the American Diabetes Association.
Arrangements are by Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home.
Family and friends are invited to share memories and sign the family’s guest book online at www.flintofts.com.
Maxine Elizabeth Knowles, of Sammamish, died peacefully July 5, 2009. She was 79.
A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. July 17 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Issaquah, with reception following.
Born in Minot, N.D., to Charles and Dorothy McCall on Sept. 27, 1929, Maxine moved with her family to Seattle in 1943. She graduated from Immaculate Conception High School. After graduation, she met Leo Knowles and they were married in 1948 and raised a family. Read more
