Sammamish Forum Dec. 16
December 15, 2009
New Council is
a new chance
In response to Donna Martin’s letter regarding a YMCA facility as opposed to beaches and the related parking issues. Ms. Martin asks “what happened to common sense in Sammamish?” There are plenty of residents who have been asking this same question for a number of years because of ill-thought out projects causing checks to be written that citizens can’t afford.
Now that we have elected a few new members to the City Council, perhaps it’s time the council takes the bull by the horns and replace the City Manager with someone who doesn’t have a personal agenda.
Nancy Sinclair
Sammamish
Animal control fix
A simple solution to funding animal control: Tax pet food.
Joyce Kormanyos
Sammamish
New Council is a new chance
In response to Donna Martin’s letter regarding a YMCA facility as opposed to beaches and the related parking issues. Ms. Martin asks “what happened to common sense in Sammamish?” There are plenty of residents who have been asking this same question for a number of years because of ill-thought out projects causing checks to be written that citizens can’t afford.
Now that we have elected a few new members to the City Council, perhaps it’s time the council takes the bull by the horns and replace the City Manager with someone who doesn’t have a personal agenda.
Nancy Sinclair
Sammamish
Animal control fix
A simple solution to funding animal control: Tax pet food.
Joyce Kormanyos
Sammamish
Thanks to officers
Coming from three generations of law enforcement in the Boston area, I want to thank the police and all the people who serve our communities.
Imagine if we all got off our cell phones to have a free hand to wave thanks to our police, firefighters and EMT personnel.
We are not a better society if we can’t take a minute to show proper respect to those who wake up each day “To Protect and Serve” citizens like us.
Now is the time for us to show our strength as a community and a country.
The Dougherty Family
Issaquah
Thanks to all
As the region grapples with some truly horrible events these past few weeks, I would like to take a moment to share some of the good that has taken place in our community this season.
This year, as in many years past, a dedicated team of volunteers provided more than 2,000 volunteer hours to the community, teaching visitors about Pacific salmon and watershed stewardship.
Because of the commitment of these trained guides, FISH (Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery) has been able to tell the salmon’s story to more than 8,000 visitors this fall.
It is truly an honor to work alongside people who give so much of themselves, but ask for nothing in return. I cannot thank them enough for all that they do for this community.
I would also like to thank the individuals, organizations, businesses and agencies that also supported FISH this year,
Thank you all for your invaluable service and contributions this past year.
We are so fortunate to have so many remarkable individuals and organizations making Issaquah the exceptional community that it is.
Gestin Suttle, executive director
Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery
An ode to a soccer field
The (Costco) soccer field is my favorite place to be with all the activity going on around me.
For example, when I step on the field, I can feel the rush of the crowd cheering for me. While I am playing, I feel everything around me, as if I just came alive.
As soon as I arrive at the field, there is something that makes me believe. For instance, the smell of the wet grass, the sound of my cleats and the fresh mud are perfect reasons to love the field.
Once all I hear is the beautiful sounds of my cleats running on the lush grass. As all of that is happening, I take in my surroundings and breathe — this is my life on the field.
Caitlin Looney, age 12
Issaquah
Sammamish budget reflects the new economy
December 15, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
When the City Council passed the city budget Dec. 2, it approved a handful of adjustments that reflect a severely contracted real estate market and some delayed construction projects.
Overall, the council passed a budget that anticipates $72.6 million in spending and $50 million in revenues. The $22.6 million difference is largely money that has been collected and set aside for large projects that will be spent this year.
The majority of spending will come from the general fund, followed by transportation and parks construction projects, which amount to about $17.2 million and $11.4 million, respectively.
The 2010 budget flat lines the salaries of city employees and keeps property taxes at their current level.
A comparison between the 2009-2010 biennial budget passed by the council in December 2008 and the one passed a year later shows greater pessimism about the real estate market and consumerism in 2010.
The original 2010 budget anticipated about $1.8 million in revenues from development impact fees (fees paid by builders for new construction), but after adjustments, the city anticipates only $452,600, a 75 percent drop.
Revenues to be collected through building plan check fees and building permits in 2010 are projected to be less than originally anticipated. Building permits are expected to generate $450,000 instead of $500,000 and building plan check fees are expected to generate $300,000 instead of $350,000.
The budget also makes a conservative guess that local consumerism will be lower than originally anticipated. The original budget pegged sales and use tax revenues at $2.7 million, but the new budget expects $2.5 million, about a 7.4 percent decrease. If the estimate turns out to be correct, then revenues coming from the sales and use tax would be 16.2 percent lower than in 2008.
Delayed construction
projects
Upon first glance, it appears that the city is spending about $25 million more than expected in 2010, but most of that is carryover from 2009 capital projects on East Lake Sammamish Parkway and 244th Avenue.
The city budgeted spending $84.2 million in 2009, but recorded $65.4 million in spending because of those carryover projects.
Construction delays affected the budget in another way. One expected source of revenue in 2010, worth about $500,000, was the sale of the Lamb House, located on the 2000 block of 228th Avenue Southeast. The Lamb House is one of two small facilities currently occupied by the operations and maintenance staff.
Because construction on the new operations and maintenance facility on 244th Avenue (at the north end of the city) isn’t going to begin until the spring of 2010, the budget doesn’t show an expected sale for next year.
After the new building is finished, the house would go up for sale, according to Deputy Finance Director Aaron Antin.
Unexpected income
But there are glimmers of hope in other areas of the budget.
Antin said the state Legislature voted this year to increase the distribution of the state’s Liquor Control Board profits. That means that Sammamish is due to receive about $330,000 from liquor profits in 2010, up from $270,000 in 2009.
The Parks Department should also make more money than the original budget showed.
Parks Director Jessi Richardson pointed out that the city has been underestimating how much the city makes in athletic field-use fees. An adjusted projection shows the city reaping in $250,000 (instead of $150,000) from field-use fees in 2010.
Richardson said the same practice of conservative estimates meant that the city has been making more than expected from renting out the Beaver Lake Lodge each year. That should generate $50,000 (instead of $40,000).
In addition, the cost of King County District Court services is supposed to be $80,000 less than the city originally budgeted, from $105,000 to $25,000. Antin said the drop in cost came from a revised projection from the county.
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.
When the City Council passed the city budget Dec. 2, it approved a handful of adjustments that reflect a severely contracted real estate market and some delayed construction projects.
Overall, the council passed a budget that anticipates $72.6 million in spending and $50 million in revenues. The $22.6 million difference is largely money that has been collected and set aside for large projects that will be spent this year. Read more
EFR hopes union will play along
December 15, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The Eastside Fire & Rescue Board of Directors passed a 2010 budget Dec. 8 that hinges on extracting $241,000 in concessions from the firefighter’s union.
Sammamish’s two representatives, Mayor Don Gerend and City Councilman Lee Fellinge, voted against the budget because it left too much unresolved.
“Lee and I dissented because we felt it wasn’t in balance and we thought that’s what the council would like us to do,” Gerend said at the Sammamish City Council meeting later that same night.
At the time of the meeting, the EFR was still in negotiations with the firefighters’ union to find ways of driving down labor costs for 2010. When the board voted 6-2 in favor of the budget, it did so with the understanding that the EFR administration would need to tap $300,000 in reserve funds and hope the labor union would help make up the remaining deficit.
Gerend and Fellinge were the only board members who expressed reservations about passing the budget.
“I felt awkward being the only one asking questions” Gerend said, adding that as a newcomer filling in for board regular Jack Barry, he had to get up to speed on complex, time-consuming fire protection issues in too short a time (about two days). He said he wished the board packet, which contained a breakout of the budget line items and cost comparisons from 2008 and 2009, had an explanatory section to give the numbers some context.
“You pretty much are taking them on faith,” Gerend said.
EFR is an interlocal fire agency that covers Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, Carnation, May Valley, Preston, Tiger Mountain and Wilderness Rim. Three cities and two King County Fire Districts have seats on EFR’s eight-person policy-making board.
In November, the board passed the revenue side of its budget, which came out to about $20.5 million. The 2010 budget shows no increase to the partners, though the expense budget grew by about $482,000. A variety of redistribution measures, including shrinking the equipment replacement fund and dipping into reserve funds, made it possible not to raise costs to partners.
Fellinge, who was sitting in on his last EFR meeting before stepping down as a councilman and Sammamish representative on fire issues, said the budget needed more dramatic reforms.
“It’s not a balanced budget, of course. We’re using reserves,” Fellinge said. “I just don’t see any changes in the continuing cost structure that say we’re not going to see the same problems in 2011.”
EFR Director Dee Williamson (North Bend) rejected Fellinge’s characterization that the budget was unbalanced, noting that this situation is what a reserve fund is for.
Gerend, as he scrutinized the budget, was concerned in particular with the item that called for EFR to spend $395,000 on overtime pay. If the agency pulls it off, that would mean a roughly 34 percent reduction from the $600,000 the agency has spent on average prior to 2009.
“It’s tough. It’s a difficult goal. We believe we can bring it down really close to this,” Deputy Chief Jeff Griffin said.
Griffin noted that new hires and a promotion of one lieutenant to floating captain had resulted in some cost savings in overtime pay. He said the agency was likely to spend less than $500,000 in 2009.
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.
Budget will hold line on costs to Sammamish
The Eastside Fire & Rescue Board of Directors passed a 2010 budget Dec. 8 that hinges on extracting $241,000 in concessions from the firefighter’s union.
Sammamish’s two representatives, Mayor Don Gerend and City Councilman Lee Fellinge, voted against the budget because it left too much unresolved. Read more
Nora Whittemore appointed as full member of Parks Commission
December 15, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Two years ago, Nora Whittemore applied to be a parks commissioner to give advice on access for people with disabilities at local parks.
Since then, she’s become a go-to person on making sure that local parks have sensible designs that accommodate wheelchairs and strollers.
“If they don’t ask me, I tell them,” Whittemore said.
At its Dec. 8 meeting, the City Council voted to appoint Whittemore to a full-time position on the Parks Commission, a promotion from her previous role as an alternate. She is replacing Commissioner Steve Pelton, who resigned earlier this year.
The experience has been rewarding thus far, Whittemore said. She said one example of how she’s contributed to the commission is at Pine Lake Park. It’s easier to reach the park’s dock than it used to be, she said.
The Parks Commission is a citizen advisory board that makes recommendations to the council about parks and recreation opportunities.
Whittemore’s appointment to a full-time seat was the last move in a restructuring process that established staggered four-year terms for the commissioners and limited the number of positions to nine full-time commissioners and no alternates.
In 2010, there will be one exception. Current alternate commissioner Larry Crandall, whose term was due to expire at the end of 2010, will stay on as an honorary member.
Parks Director Jessi Richardson said Crandall’s honorary membership was a one-time deal.
She added that Crandall had recognized only one full-time position would open for 2010 and deferred to Whittemore.
“I think it was a kind gesture, what could have proven a challenge decision for the council, to choose between the two,” Richardson said.
Crandall will have the opportunity to discuss issues with the rest of the commission, but does not have a vote on policy recommendations to the council.
“Larry was not in any official way appointed to a seat on the commission,” Richardson said. “It was just a courteous way of not eliminating him with the elimination of his position.”
The restructuring also added the possibility of including one non-Sammamish resident to the Parks Commission. This might have implications for Klahanie Park, if King County does transfer the park to Sammamish. Hypothetically, Klahanie could have a representative voice on the Sammamish Parks Commission.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
Two years ago, Nora Whittemore applied to be a parks commissioner to give advice on access for people with disabilities at local parks.
Since then, she’s become a go-to person on making sure that local parks have sensible designs that accommodate wheelchairs and strollers.
“If they don’t ask me, I tell them,” Whittemore said.
Nora Whittemore
Bids for new building are low
December 15, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The city’s engineer had pegged the project at $4.1 million, but the lowest responsible bidder for the Operations and Main-tenance Center came in about 23.2 percent below that estimate.
The latest construction bid continues the streak of pleasant surprises for large projects in 2009, where contractors agreed to charge well below city engineer’s estimates.
The bids were opened at 3:05 p.m. Dec. 3.
Kassel & Associates, a Redmond-based business, said it could build the new operations and maintenance building at the north end of 244th Avenue for slightly less than $2.9 million.
The Operations and Maintenance Department staff currently use two smaller facilities to house their equipment, one at the Beaver Lake Lodge and one on the 2000 block of 228th Avenue Southeast (the Lamb House).
Project Manager Sevda Baran said construction for the new building would begin in March 2010.
“We are trying to avoid the wet conditions,” she explained.
Kassel & Associates was one of 16 contractors to turn in bids for the project. All of the bids were under the city engineer’s estimate, with Aecon Building, of Lynnwood, posting the highest bid at $4.03 million.
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 city’s engineer had pegged the project at $4.1 million, but the lowest responsible bidder for the Operations and Maintenance Center came in about 23.2 percent below that estimate.
The latest construction bid continues the streak of pleasant surprises for large projects in 2009, where contractors agreed to charge well below city engineer’s estimates.
The bids were opened at 3:05 p.m. Dec. 3.
Kassel & Associates, a Redmond-based business, said it could build the new operations and maintenance building at the north end of 244th Avenue for slightly less than $2.9 million.
The Operations and Maintenance Department staff currently use two smaller facilities to house their equipment, one at the Beaver Lake Lodge and one on the 2000 block of 228th Avenue Southeast (the Lamb House).
Project Manager Sevda Baran said construction for the new building would begin in March 2010.
“We are trying to avoid the wet conditions,” she explained.
Kassel & Associates was one of 16 contractors to turn in bids for the project. All of the bids were under the city engineer’s estimate, with Aecon Building, of Lynnwood, posting the highest bid at $4.03 million.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
Business to donate profits to food bank
December 15, 2009
Adam Gentry and Charley Lindsley were having a tough time finding work in this economy. So in August, they started a new business, Easy Oil.
“We invented jobs for ourselves,” Gentry said.
One of the pair will go to you, change your car’s oil and top off other fluids on-site, be it at your home or work.
The pair have been interested in helping the community and donated a portion of their profits to the Issaquah Food Bank, Gentry said.
But this month, they want to step up their efforts.
“We really wanted to get involved,” Gentry said.
So, through Jan. 10, they will be donating all of their profits to the Issaquah Food Bank.
“We wanted to take it to a different level,” Gentry said.
For more information about Easy Oil, visit www.easyoil.org.
Adam Gentry and Charley Lindsley were having a tough time finding work in this economy. So in August, they started a new business, Easy Oil.
“We invented jobs for ourselves,” Gentry said. Read more
Klahanie Park transfer revives annexation discussion
December 15, 2009
By Warren Kagarise
Klahanie residents want answers about what will happen to the community after Sammamish acquires Klahanie Park from cash-strapped King County.
Sammamish wants Klahanie Park and adjacent Issaquah School District property. Klahanie Park and several other county parks were marked for closure in August as county officials worked to cut costs.
The agreement would carve the park and adjacent property from the potential annexation area. Before the transfer, the deal between Sammamish and the county will prompt Sammamish, Issaquah and county officials to redraw planning maps to remove Klahanie Park and the school district land from the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area — about 1,200 acres spread across several subdivisions and home to about 11,000 residents.
The park discussion has also opened a dialogue between Issaquah and Sammamish officials about future annexations, and whether Sammamish leaders would be interested in all or some of the potential annexation area — land bordered by both cities but included in long-term growth plans for Issaquah.
“King County planning policy says within the urban growth boundary, there should be no islands,” Issaquah Planning Director Mark Hinthorne said. “We can’t give up any part of that potential annexation area unless Sammamish is willing to take it.”
Planners in both cities would need to amend the respective comprehensive plans, or growth blueprints, to incorporate a redrawn potential annexation area.
Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici sent a letter to Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger in early December to ask Issaquah municipal staffers to draft a letter to the King County Growth Management Planning Council, the group set up to guide development. Besides approval from the Issaquah and Sammamish councils, changes to the potential annexation area would require nods from the growth management board and the King County Council.
Issaquah officials discussed the proposal at a Council Land Use Committee meeting last week, where members noted how existing growth plans limit options for the potential annexation area.
“As long as that PAA stays in Issaquah’s comprehensive plan, there are only two possible actions — either it stays in the county or Issaquah annexes it,” Councilman John Rittenhouse, the committee chairman, said during a Dec. 8 meeting.
Another remote option exists: Klahanie residents could incorporate the area as a city, though residents at the meeting said the cost to provide municipal services would be prohibitive.
Voters in the potential annexation area defeated a 2005 proposal to join Issaquah, even though 67 percent of voters approved annexation. But the Issaquah City Council balked because fewer voters — 47 percent — agreed to shoulder a portion of the city’s debt.
Issaquah and Sammamish officials discussed redrawing the potential annexation area in late 2007, but the proposal withered in both cities.
Like other King County cities, Issaquah and Sammamish are under pressure to annex developments just outside city limits because county leaders want to shed the role of managers of unincorporated urban areas, like Klahanie.
The park decision became the focus in the annexation discussion in August, when then-County Executive Kurt Triplett announced Klahanie Park would be closed. Sammamish officials then moved to secure the park. Issaquah leaders were uninterested in taking on the park and associated maintenance costs.
Despite the effort to keep Klahanie Park open, neighborhood residents worry about the move by Sammamish into the community — a move some Klahanie residents view as a prelude to annexation.
Klahanie resident Michelle Kolano addressed the Issaquah City Council last week, and said she felt uneasy about changes related to the park transfer. Kolano said residents consider the 64-acre park as a “crown jewel” in the neighborhood.
“We’ve been in existence for 25 years, and to be absorbed or partially absorbed by a city who only has 10 years under their belt, is very alarming,” she said during the Dec. 7 council meeting.
Development in Klahanie started in the mid-1980s and lasted about a decade. Sammamish was incorporated in August 1999.
“We identify with Issaquah, we shop here, we were here before there was a Sammamish,” Kolano said. “It just doesn’t make sense to us for a part of our community to be absorbed by Sammamish.”
In the letter to the Issaquah mayor, Yazici noted how Issaquah officials were uninterested in the park. Negotiations between Sammamish and King County officials will enable Sammamish to acquire the park.
Kolano urged Issaquah officials to reconsider the decision not to acquire Klahanie Park.
“We would really, really appreciate it if that sometime the Issaquah City Council would again revisit the idea of annexation,” she said. “And, in the interim, possibly think about taking over the stewardship of Klahanie Park.”
Reach reporter Warren Kagarise at 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Klahanie residents want answers about what will happen to the community after Sammamish acquires Klahanie Park from cash-strapped King County.
Sammamish wants Klahanie Park and adjacent Issaquah School District property. Klahanie Park and several other county parks were marked for closure in August as county officials worked to cut costs. Read more
Great Waves are ready to make some noise
December 15, 2009
By Christopher Huber
Up until her junior year in high school, Ashley Bullock, a 2007 Skyline graduate, wasn’t really into music. She was a bit shy and was more interested in having intellectual conversations and debates with friends, said her father, Ed Bullock.
But when she sang for her boyfriend Paul Beeman and his band, The Matirns, during a tryout in their practice garage, they made her their lead singer.
Now called the Great Waves, the Sammamish-based band just released its first EP “Blue Blood” Dec. 2.
“It was just kind of a relief,” Ashley Bullock said. “It’s something I’m more proud of than anything I’ve done in my life. It’s something I know I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
The only reason they got it done, though, is because the group (all 2007 graduates from Skyline and Eastside Catholic) took a full year off from college. At first, they were just going to record at the end of the summer, Ashley Bullock said.
“When we decided to expand and take the whole year off, I felt it was a bit more pressure,” she said.
They told their parents in August, saved up thousands of dollars and practiced for three months to record and master the songs.
“It was shocking at first. It was a surprise,” said Ed Bullock. “When they presented it to us they had it pretty well thought through.”
Although the band members — Bullock, Beeman, Will Holmes and Ryan Sprute — had gone off to different colleges, the four had formed a bond in high school that stayed with them as each focused on their studies and tried to play with other bands.
The four would play together during school breaks, while back home in Sammamish, but they didn’t have time to do much else, Beeman said.
“I think they realized that they had something going, that they couldn’t wait two to three years to do, and that this is a unique opportunity to create something,” Ed Bullock said.
The Great Waves reunited last summer and wrote the five songs on the EP. They’ve spent countless hours practicing, tweaking and marketing their music.
“Once we had the songs written, we just practiced like crazy,” Beeman said.
They play all day, hitting plenty of bumps in the music-making road, and work side jobs to try and stay afloat financially, Beeman said. But having a CD to show for it was all worth it.
“There’s definitely that factor in where you have days when you’re not inspired and (have) terrible practices,” he said. “It’s stressful as hell when we’re together, but you play with a lot of people and it’s just not there.”
The Great Waves got its start at Pine Lake Middle School, when classmates Beeman and Holmes teamed up to play in various bands for fun. They brought in Bullock as lead vocals and drummer Ryan Sprute. They have collaborated with musician friends to create certain effects in their alternative-indie-folk-style songs, and have been likened to groups like Allison Krauss and the Pixies, according to the band’s Web site.
Those close to the band said the Great Waves is good live, but is working on its stage presence. Spending so much practice time together and recording a CD seems to be a step in the right direction.
“Think it’s pretty cool that they were actually able to finish something,” Great Waves fan Nick Lee said. He said they have worked well together, “definitely because they’ve been friends so long. Their tastes are able to grow together, so they have a feel for the music better.”
Beeman said the band develops around what styles highlight Ashley’s voice — think a mix of Zooey Deschanel and Regina Spektor.
“For the most part, we want to still focus on what makes Ashley’s voice sound natural while also having the band have some sort of aggression to it.”
As for the future of the Great Waves, Beeman said they are taking it easier for a bit as they market the EP to radio stations and such. With plenty of time left in their year off of school, the group hopes to record more, Beeman said.
“It’s worth staying with,” Ed Bullock said.
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
Up until her junior year in high school, Ashley Bullock, a 2007 Skyline graduate, wasn’t really into music. She was a bit shy and was more interested in having intellectual conversations and debates with friends, said her father, Ed Bullock.
But when she sang for her boyfriend Paul Beeman and his band, The Matirns, during a tryout in their practice garage, they made her their lead singer.
Now called the Great Waves, the Sammamish-based band just released its first EP “Blue Blood” Dec. 2.
The Great Waves band recently released its first EP, “Blue Blood.”
Film tells story of forgiveness after the unforgivable
December 15, 2009
By Christopher Huber
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Narcisse Ruhangintwari, a Hutu, killed his neighbor Pascal Niyomugabo’s wife, who was of Tutsi descent, according to Seattle-based Rwanda Partners. After the 100-days of genocide was over, Niyomugabo had lost 75 other family members.
But when he got remarried years later, Niyomugabo invited Ruhangintwari to his wedding, said filmmaker and Beaver Lake resident Mark Stendal. The two men remain close friends.
You might wonder how anyone could forgive someone for killing a loved one. It happened because of forgiveness and reconciliation that came after working with Rwanda Partners, a Seattle-based nonprofit that works with Rwandans to develop and implement programs for reconciliation and reducing poverty.
“If he can forgive him, then there’s hope for us all,” said Tracy Stone, the organization’s co-founder and executive director.
Stendal and his daughter, Sam Stendal, a Skyline High School junior, spent 10 days filming and traveling in Rwanda last June. The film, “Wounded Healers: How do you forgive the unforgivable?” premiered Dec. 3 at a showing at McCaw Hall in Seattle and, according to Stone, it has already inspired people in Australia, Lebanon and California to show it to audiences there.
Wounded Healers chronicles the lives of five Rwandan genocide survivors and perpetrators through their hurt, hatred and forgiveness, and shows how they are now using their painful experiences to heal other Rwandans.
“It’s a film about forgiveness,” Mark Stendal said. “The people in Rwanda really needed their hearts mended.”
Stendal, who has worked in television and media production for about 25 years, filmed with a small crew from Rwanda Partners, as well as a couple of editors, to make the film. Once back home, Stendal edited the film on the side, as he works full-time for a production company. But the many late nights and long hours were worth it, he said.
“The power of the medium is so strong,” he said. “If I can use my skills to help other people, it’s very rewarding.”
He said he chose to make the film for Rwanda Partners partly because he had done work for them before, but partly because he understood the need to tell the story.
“When you meet people like them, you just sense the content of their character,” Mark Stendal said. “You think you’re going to Rwanda to help the people of Rwanda, but you realize that the people of Rwanda helped you.”
Sam accompanied as an assistant, caring for children at shoot locations and helping with various other things, she said.
The experience — she met survivors and perpetrators — gave her a greater perspective to apply to her life in Sammamish. It helps her more easily deal with American teenage issues, like getting in a text-argument with friends, not getting the car for the night or having to get up early.
“It’s not just about entertainment. It’s a message people need to hear, she said. “It’s too important to hide.”
Sam said her friends were confused about how Pascal and Narcisse could reconcile. She said all you have to do is look at the media and Hollywood to see why people in the West have trouble forgiving even the smallest of things, such as a driver cutting you off on the road.
“I really enjoyed explaining it to them,” Sam said.
Mark Stendal and Tracy Stone said the film is not a happy one, but it will open people’s eyes to the atrocities in Rwanda. They said they hope tt acts as a mirror for viewers and may lead them to consider forgiving people in their own lives.
“It’s not an easy film to watch, but I think it’s important. For good things to happen, it’s not always easy, but it’s worth the journey,” Mark said.
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Narcisse Ruhangintwari, a Hutu, killed his neighbor Pascal Niyomugabo’s wife, who was of Tutsi descent, according to Seattle-based Rwanda Partners. After the 100-days of genocide was over, Niyomugabo had lost 75 other family members.
But when he got remarried years later, Niyomugabo invited Ruhangintwari to his wedding, said filmmaker and Beaver Lake resident Mark Stendal. The two men remain close friends.
Mark and Sam Stendal take a break from filming their documentary.
Heidi A. Raphael
December 15, 2009
Heidi A. Raphael
Heidi A. Raphael, of Providence Point in Issaquah, died Dec. 11, 2009, in Kirkland. She was 60.
A visitation is from 4-7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home, 540 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah, with a vigil service at 7 p.m.
A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Dec. 17 at Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 1011 228th Ave. S.E., Sammamish. A reception will follow.
Heidi was born in Modesto, Calif., on Feb. 22, 1949, the daughter of Carl and Martha Schmidt. After early years in Modesto, the family moved to San Francisco, where she attended St. Stephens Catholic Elementary from first to eighth grade. After graduating, she attended Mercy All-Girl Catholic High School in San Francisco and graduated in 1967.
She married Fred M. Raphael on May 25, 1986, in Fremont, Calif. They moved to Issaquah in 1989.
Heidi A. Raphael, of Providence Point in Issaquah, died Dec. 11, 2009, in Kirkland. She was 60.
A visitation is from 4-7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home, 540 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah, with a vigil service at 7 p.m.
A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Dec. 17 at Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 1011 228th Ave. S.E., Sammamish. A reception will follow.
Heidi Raphael
