Chiming in on the King County Exec race
The new KING 5 poll shows that Susan Hutchison, the former news anchor, is still riding high on her massive name recognition advantage. It appears her notoriety and solid Republican base make Hutchison a near certainty to move past the top-two primary Aug. 18.
This puts Democrats in a difficult position. With the recent initiative to make the office of King County Executive non-partisan, the race will be harder to frame as Democrat versus Republican — playing right into the hands of the well-known Hutchison.
To hold on to this office, Democrats should be trying to unite behind a single candidate even now. The fight to cut into Hutchison’s name recognition dominance and boost from a solid conservative base cannot start early enough for Democrats. The newly non-partisan nature of the office necessitates haste.
Only through unifying can the Democratic majority of King County prevent a candidate out of step with their ideals from usurping a vital office.
Nick Rosellini, Bellevue
Nice job, students
I am glad that I am not alone in helping the community. I am a Boy Scout and I have helped in food drives to support Hopelink and various service projects. Thank you for sharing the article about Heritage Christian kids lending a hand in the May 13 edition of the Bothell Reporter. God bless those kids for what they did. Keep up the good work!
Michael Potter, Bothell
Card-room chatter
on BKR Web site
Incredible letter (“Kenmore City Council should be ashamed,” July 1) with valid points. The owners have done nothing but add to the community. Let’s see the council change their position and do the right thing.
Sandy Powers
Wow, he got his degree from the UW paid for by the money earned from gambling income. That is what I call stand-up business owners in the community, and yet a few politicians took that away from other young people who may want to go to college, but not be able to afford it. Especially now when the cost has been raised because of the deficit.
We, the people, voted the card room to stay. Does our vote count anymore? I’ve see it a lot over the last 10 years. We vote and then government takes our vote away. How long are we going to let this happen? They need to realize that they can’t do this. Remember, there are three seats up for re-election in the fall.
Carol Tover
Honestly, I believe most of Kenmore’s citizens were perfectly happy with the city’s moratorium that blocked new card-room applications while grandfathering in the 11th Frame. For the most part, nobody wants to see this historic part of Kenmore leave as they’ve been a great asset to the community. If we really want to point the finger at why the 11th Frame is now shuttered, I say point it at Kenmore Square’s owner Len Griesel, who in late 2003 challenged the moratorium in court. Apparently, Len thought we needed more gambling establishments in Kenmore when he sought to open his own mini-casino.
I will point one more and final finger at the King County Superior Court, who in December 2004 basically told the City Council that it couldn’t grandfather in the 11th Frame and had to either ban all social card rooms or lift the moratorium and allow anyone to open one. The City Council’s ability to do what was best for Kenmore was shafted by King County.
I for one hate to see the demise of the 11th Frame for the sake of its owners, employees and customers not to mention the tax revenue generated. Given the county’s black-and-white stance on choosing between no social card rooms or opening up Kenmore to become inundated with gambling establishments, I fully support the City Council’s decision on the ban. It’s just too bad we can’t pretend this whole ugly string of events (including the 2004 public “advisory” vote) never happened.
Kyle
