Kenmore Council candidates talk sidewalks, economic growth and open government at forum

Sidewalks, open government and economic growth were just some of the topics at Bastyr University Tuesday night, as five of the six Kenmore City Council candidates participated in the only forum prior to the Nov. 5 general election.

Sidewalks, open government and economic growth were just some of the topics at Bastyr University Tuesday night, as five of the six Kenmore City Council candidates participated in the only forum prior to the Nov. 5 general election.

The event, facilitated by Cascadia Community College President Eric Murray and organized by the Greater Bothell Chamber of Commerce and the Kenmore Business Alliance, gave the approximately 50 residents in attendance a chance to hear two-minute answers to eight questions, an opening and closing statement from each candidate.

Murray announced that council incumbent Laurie Sperry, who is being challenged for position 2 by Bob Black, was unable to attend due to a family medical issue.

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The one topic that most of the candidates kept going back to throughout the forum is the lack of sidewalks in Kenmore.

“It is a shame that kids can’t walk to school or seniors can’t walk to the drugstore because our arterials are not safe for anyone,” said Nigel Herbig, who is running against Patrick O’Brien for position 4. “People want sidewalks now, not in 20 years. It should not take a generation to do it.”

Most of the other candidates agreed that sidewalks is a big issue. The council passed a 20 year plan to install sidewalks but that is not fast enough for some of the candidates. Council incumbent Allan Van Ness, who is being challenged by Ken Smith, stated that sidewalks cost the city $1 million per mile and suggested the idea of a possible bond measure to speed up the process.

With the continued increase in Kenmore traffic, the issue is one of public safety said Van Ness.

“We continue to progress with this issue,” said Van Ness. “But the drainage ditches all around the city are dangerous.”

Black and O’Brien echoed the safety concerns and that the issue needs to be addressed faster.

“People want to know ‘where are our taxes going?'” said Black, who wants to focus taxes more towards infrastructure improvements.

O’Brien said that the best way to find out what residents want is through a vote, calling out the current council as being highly presumptive in their deliberations. He cited the fact that Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn put the deep-bore tunnel on the waterfront to a vote.

“He might not be very popular but he asked the public what they wanted,” said O’Brien.

Van Ness pointed out that it is expensive and burdensome to put things to a vote.

O’Brien and Black would like to see the city send out surveys through the mail to get residents’ opinions.

“It is kind of like a vote and you can get a good idea of what people want,” said Black.

Van Ness mentioned some of the things the council has done to facilitate discussions with citizens, such as Coffee with Council, but would like to see more town hall meetings.

“This is a representative democracy and the council is a conduit between residents and the city,” said Van Ness.

Facilitating better communication with residents was repeatedly brought up throughout the forum. Herbig started live Tweeting council meetings so residents who could not attend could see what was discussed. Herbig and O’Brien are big proponents of televising or streaming council meetings on the web.

Herbig and Smith also advocated readings at two separate council meetings for important topics to give residents more of an opportunity to voice their opinions.

Smith agreed that the council needs to listen more but that process is not always easy. He took issue with some of the budgeting processes the city maintains. Both of those issues converged in Smith’s idea, taken from other city governments, to have participatory budgeting.

“Set aside a small pot of money and have citizens propose and vote on ideas,” said Smith. “The main thing is to learn and listen.”

The city’s role in economic development was a big part of the conversation, including past real estate transactions and how to handle the construction industry properties at LakePointe.

“That land is more valuable for redevelopment than it is for the heavy construction that is there now,” said Van Ness.

A big portion of LakePointe is Lake Washington waterfront property. While most of the candidates want to see the property redeveloped, they didn’t all agree on how it should be done.

O’Brien was glad to get the question on LakePointe last, noting that the property was once a garbage dump.

“There are things in the ground that have not yet been discovered,” said O’Brien. “The land has to be cleaned up to be sold or developed. It makes no sense at all to do anything until you do a study. Let’s find out what is there.”

He also noted that the owner is not in a hurry to sell.

The concerns for environmental safety of the industrial area continue to permeate the political discourse.

“LakePointe is a pile of gravel with a smokestack sending out who knows what into the air,” said Herbig.

Smith also took issue with redeveloping the land, citing a study on the economic viability of the land.

“If you read it with an open mind it says the market has decided what we have,” said Smith. He added that people are hoping and dreaming about something different that may be unrealistic.

Van Ness took issue with that conclusion: “They were concerned about a multi-use development … but once people come to the city the businesses will come.”

While all of the candidates agree that the city should not be directly involved in real estate transactions to lure businesses to the city and should just be a facilitator, they did not all agree what should be the focus.

Smith said that the city needs to be OK with being a bedroom community and focus on building more sports fields and restaurants. O’Brien said that the city needs to do a better job of writing contracts and feels his background would allow him to facilitate that focus.

Herbig and Van Ness want development to be focused in the downtown, while O’Brien and Black were focused primarily on LakePointe. Herbig, O’Brien, Black and Smith were all against the council’s recent passage of the business registration fee, while Van Ness said he voted against the measure.

One of the only contentious moments of the night came between Van Ness and Smith on the issue of whether the business incubator has a written out plan for the public to view and whether it has been a success with only three businesses created.

“I would have done the incubator differently,” said Smith. “They are not the kind of businesses that our tax dollars should be used for.”