Sammamish could be better, but many residents are happy with its autonomy
August 18, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The second part of a two-part series reflecting on the founding of Sammamish.
By J.B. Wogan
In the beginning
Ten years ago, the Sammamish Plateau became a city. The thought had percolated through the community for more than seven years, gaining steam in a failed creation effort in 1992. But by 1998, residents said they were ready for a change, ready to assume command of their high property tax revenues and steer funding to local needs. A second incorporation ballot measure passed with 66.85 percent of the vote.
Seven residents found themselves in charge of making a city out of thin air.
“It was pretty interesting becoming a new city,” remembered Don Gerend, one of the original City Council members in 1999, and current mayor. “I found it very exciting, very stimulating … You were drinking from the fire hose of educating yourself on municipal government.”
“We really didn’t understand where we were going to meet and how to get things started,” said Deputy Mayor Jack Barry, also part of the original City Council.
The council’s first public meeting was held at then-Mayor Phil Dyer’s home, Barry said.
“We mutually all agreed that we were all prepared to work countless hours until we got the city up and running,” Barry said. “It seemed exceedingly overwhelming.”
City Hall wasn’t as it is today. City staff worked in an office at the Sammamish Highlands Shopping Center. Instead of today’s 69 full-time employees, the city had 10 temporary employees.
“I thought the first City Council had a lot of the expertise to put it together,” said former Councilman Ken Kilroy. Kilroy pointed out that the council had a former fire chief, a former law enforcement officer, an accountant, a former high school administrator and a land-use attorney.
“The challenge was getting off to a sound start with your city services,” he said. The city needed to establish fire and police protection, and then it would need to turn its attention to road improvements and adding more parks, he said.
Change came slowly. The city acquired 120 acres of parkland within the city limits, plus another 178 acres at Evan Creek Preserve (outside the city limits). Through partnerships with the Issaquah and Lake Washington school districts, it gained access to seven acres of school ballfields, available to the general public when the schools weren’t using them. The Parks Department added trails at Llama Lake and Beaver Lake Preserve.
The City Council issued a key permit that allowed King County to open the East Lake Sammamish Trail in 2006. In the same month, Sound Transit opened a Park & Ride lot on 228th Avenue.
The city also purchased the Sammamish Commons site, which now houses City Hall, a skate park, a basketball court, a climbing wall and a playground in the lower Commons area. The city jumpstarted community events such as the Sammamish Farmers Market, park concerts, and the annual Fourth on the Plateau fireworks display.
“I don’t regret supporting the incorporation. I think it was really important to draw some political boundaries around our community,” said Leslie Kralicek, who ran and lost in the 1999 City Council election. “It really shined a light on this area to get some significant investments.”
Kralicek said it wasn’t perfect though. She wished the City Council had adopted a different form of government with a strong mayor. Kralicek said the current form of government consolidates too much power in the City Manager position and what’s more, residents can’t vote that person out of office.
“I’m not exactly sure that’s in the residents’ best interests,” she said.
Phil Dyer, part of the original City Council, said he thinks Sammamish of today is “fine.”
“I think the council is a little generous with its spending right now,” he said. He added that he wished the council positions were divided into different districts, an idea he pushed early in his council tenure.
“Right now, the neighborhood doesn’t have any voice,” Dyer said. “Politics is best when it governs closest to the people.”
In spite of those misgivings, Dyer said the situation is far better than if the plateau were still fully under King County’s jurisdiction.
Vicki Baggette, another candidate in the original 1999 election, said she initially had fears that the new city would facilitate growth, and growth in the wrong ways. She imagined strip malls and loads of cement.
“I kept worrying that we were going to turn out like Spanaway,” she said.
She said she was pleased with some of the road projects, like widening 228th Avenue and giving it sidewalks. She also appreciated the city’s work in installing more walking trails in the area, she said.
“It’s still been a long process to see it happen,” she said.
Bob Brady, who also ran in the first election and now sits on the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District Commission, said he’s relatively pleased with how things turned out.
“I was envisioning a bedroom community. That was really the key, which was unlike Issaquah and Redmond,” Brady said, explaining that the city should have enough businesses to reduce people’s trips off the plateau, but not so much that the character of the area would change.
“It’s hard to get people to envision a city that’s different from any other city they’ve ever seen and hang on to it,” Brady said.
Sammamish of today comes pretty close, he said.
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 second part of a two-part series reflecting on the founding of Sammamish. Follow the link for Part I.
Ten years ago, the Sammamish Plateau became a city. The thought had percolated through the community for more than seven years, gaining steam in a failed creation effort in 1992. But by 1998, residents said they were ready for a change, ready to assume command of their high property tax revenues and steer funding to local needs. A second incorporation ballot measure passed with 66.85 percent of the vote.
Seven residents found themselves in charge of making a city out of thin air.
“It was pretty interesting becoming a new city,” remembered Don Gerend, one of the original City Council members in 1999, and current mayor. “I found it very exciting, very stimulating … You were drinking from the fire hose of educating yourself on municipal government.”
“We really didn’t understand where we were going to meet and how to get things started,” said Deputy Mayor Jack Barry, also part of the original City Council.
The council’s first public meeting was held at then-Mayor Phil Dyer’s home, Barry said.
“We mutually all agreed that we were all prepared to work countless hours until we got the city up and running,” Barry said. “It seemed exceedingly overwhelming.”
City Hall wasn’t as it is today. City staff worked in an office at the Sammamish Highlands Shopping Center. Instead of today’s 69 full-time employees, the city had 10 temporary employees.
“I thought the first City Council had a lot of the expertise to put it together,” said former Councilman Ken Kilroy. Kilroy pointed out that the council had a former fire chief, a former law enforcement officer, an accountant, a former high school administrator and a land-use attorney.
“The challenge was getting off to a sound start with your city services,” he said. The city needed to establish fire and police protection, and then it would need to turn its attention to road improvements and adding more parks, he said.
Change came slowly. The city acquired 120 acres of parkland within the city limits, plus another 178 acres at Evan Creek Preserve (outside the city limits). Through partnerships with the Issaquah and Lake Washington school districts, it gained access to seven acres of school ballfields, available to the general public when the schools weren’t using them. The Parks Department added trails at Llama Lake and Beaver Lake Preserve.
The City Council issued a key permit that allowed King County to open the East Lake Sammamish Trail in 2006. In the same month, Sound Transit opened a Park & Ride lot on 228th Avenue.
The city also purchased the Sammamish Commons site, which now houses City Hall, a skate park, a basketball court, a climbing wall and a playground in the lower Commons area. The city jumpstarted community events such as the Sammamish Farmers Market, park concerts, and the annual Fourth on the Plateau fireworks display.
“I don’t regret supporting the incorporation. I think it was really important to draw some political boundaries around our community,” said Leslie Kralicek, who ran and lost in the 1999 City Council election. “It really shined a light on this area to get some significant investments.”
Kralicek said it wasn’t perfect though. She wished the City Council had adopted a different form of government with a strong mayor. Kralicek said the current form of government consolidates too much power in the City Manager position and what’s more, residents can’t vote that person out of office.
“I’m not exactly sure that’s in the residents’ best interests,” she said.
Phil Dyer, part of the original City Council, said he thinks Sammamish of today is “fine.”
“I think the council is a little generous with its spending right now,” he said. He added that he wished the council positions were divided into different districts, an idea he pushed early in his council tenure.
“Right now, the neighborhood doesn’t have any voice,” Dyer said. “Politics is best when it governs closest to the people.”
In spite of those misgivings, Dyer said the situation is far better than if the plateau were still fully under King County’s jurisdiction.
Vicki Baggette, another candidate in the original 1999 election, said she initially had fears that the new city would facilitate growth, and growth in the wrong ways. She imagined strip malls and loads of cement.
“I kept worrying that we were going to turn out like Spanaway,” she said.
She said she was pleased with some of the road projects, like widening 228th Avenue and giving it sidewalks. She also appreciated the city’s work in installing more walking trails in the area, she said.
“It’s still been a long process to see it happen,” she said.
Bob Brady, who also ran in the first election and now sits on the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District Commission, said he’s relatively pleased with how things turned out.
“I was envisioning a bedroom community. That was really the key, which was unlike Issaquah and Redmond,” Brady said, explaining that the city should have enough businesses to reduce people’s trips off the plateau, but not so much that the character of the area would change.
“It’s hard to get people to envision a city that’s different from any other city they’ve ever seen and hang on to it,” Brady said.
Sammamish of today comes pretty close, he said.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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[...] Follow the link for Part II, where residents reflect on the beginning of their new city and whether …. [...]