The city refuses to acknowledge that Snoqualmie development is causing traffic congestion. Residents near the new affordable housing are very concerned about traffic now and are extremely upset about the inevitable congestion to come to just get through their own streets before getting to Snoqualmie Pkwy. People who work in Snoqualmie and travel home on 18 are concerned about the affordable housing traffic impacts. Now, in the mornings around 7 am, traffic is so congested between Jacobia and I-90 residents are unable to get out of their neighborhood without waiting for several signal cycles. Residents are turning away from I-90 from Jacobia and Snoqualmie Pkwy and going to exit 27 in order to go west on I 90 now. Sammamish is experiencing a 30 minute travel time to reach its city limits now. Now imagine this situation impacting the ability of emergency vehicles getting through.

Traffic congestion is fixable; I-90/18 is a

while leaving taxpayers to foot the bills for improvement to infrastructure. It has been said at City Council meetings that the only current traffic issue in the city is the I-90/18 interchange, not so. There are no traffic signals to stop the flow of cars so that those citizens that live downtown can turn onto SR-202. There is increased traffic with no fix on the horizon. There is a planned pedestrian signal downtown on River St. but it is so far down the list, it may be 8-10 years before it will be looked at for funding. This signal is a pedestrian signal not a traffic signal.

The Administration is working on developing of the “mill site” where there are plans for an approximately 12,000 sq. ft. restaurant, amphitheater, warehouses and some housing along with other retail areas. The amphitheater could hold as many as 4,000 people for an event. Where are you going to put the cars?

ways to use the water quantity that we have more wisely. My opponent has said we need the water rights to build. The Urban Growth Area is where the Administration is looking at building more. They say that if we do not annex this area into the city proper that the county will come in take the UGA away and allow what they want to be built without concern for the Citizens of Snoqualmie. This is a legal possibility, however, there is a lengthy process for this and there will be plenty of warning from the county before this can happen. It is imperative that we know how much water is currently available, but it should be used to guarantee the current citizens

I am not No growth, I am slow and planned growth. Building to obtain more tax money and promoting the idea of, if you want to build, come to Snoqualmie because we don’t really care what you build as long as we can get our fees and tax you for the build, is not healthy for Snoqualmie. When it comes to developers, they can come and if they bring a problem they need to pay for the fix.

As we look at our environment around us we should take care of it with our actions focused on the next 7 generations. What are we leaving our children, grand-children and beyond.

We moved here for a reason and for most of us it is the beauty of the Snoqualmie Valley. Our rivers, our open space, our trees and foothills.

Why are we in such a hurry to build, to

clear the land? To add to the strain on the environment?

We can push harder on realistic alternative power like solar, we can eliminate the over use of plastics (plastic bags for example). There are many opinions and many ideas of how to accomplish this and I am ready to listen to all of them and then begin acting on the most prevalent ideas.

An additional $20 car tab idea floated. To re-coop the $598,000 (approx.) for the temporary on-ramp for the I-90/18 fix. The temporary ramp is needed as the final fix for the I-90/18 interchange is being built. The Snoqualmie Tribe and the Cities of Covington and Black Diamond have allocated funds to the city of Snoqualmie to offset some of our cost. This being said the money in the City’s 310 fund is being spent for the project because it is needed and the City Council found it was a good use of the fund. Since it is a good use then the money is spent, I feel that we need to postpone other projects that could have been funded from this fund instead of immediately asking for more fees and taxes to back fill the budget fund.

The current Administration wants to lift or raise the 1% property tax cap, according to an article from Soundcities.org. Currently the City can only raise taxes in any given year by 1%, the current administration feels there is a need to raise taxes higher than that and has asked other cities to consider bringing this idea back up for consideration and hopefully passage on to the State legislature to allow it.

There are 2 ways to deal with taxation, raise taxes and fees or spend less, this is what we have to do in our own family budgets, as we don’t all have the option of telling our boss to give us more pay. Therefore, I feel we need to look at the budget and trim where we can instead of raising taxes and fees.

The City needs a better definition of “affordable”, when it comes to housing. We need to include more varied types and possibilities then just what is set by King County and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As set by HUD, we can have 30, 60 or 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) in King County. The city can use the 80% figure and if you earn approximately $80K a year you can afford to live in affordable housing. For those on fixed incomes

(income restricted) or that earn less than that there is still a need for housing. I believe if we add and champion the ideas of Workforce housing (affordable to those that earn a living, working in the city), ADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units, like a small “Mother-in-law” apartment) income restricted housing (where you can set a level to fit those on fixed income), and smaller foot print homes can be a fix for these taxing times we live in.

Individual line items (more specific line items within each section of the budget) so Council can clearly see where the money is and what it was specifically saved for, or anticipated to spent on. At this time my opponent seems to

feel a budget with less or no individual line items makes the budget easier to work with, it may in some cases be easier to work with but it is also easier to spend funds on items that are legal but were not originally in the budget,

thus when issues come up that were planned for, the funds may not be there, as they were expended on other matters. Individual line items are the transparent way to do things when it comes to the City budget.

We are leasing our City from our youth, we need to listen and understand what their issues are. They are the next generation of voters and taxpayers; their combined vision is our future. I propose working with the senior class once each school semester to have a listening forum with City Council. Where council listens then includes the shared wisdom into the plans for future, everybody’s voice matters.