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Letter | Council’s Political Poppycock

By on January 14, 2010 in Archived, Opinion

By Robert L. Style
The agenda for the city’s Jan 19th meeting is out.  Staff’s report on annexation reflects just what we knew and the representatives in the PAA and some on the council ignored.  It’s a mess and the consequences are even worse than we forecasted.  We had credibility.
It’s too bad we can hold only the two that remain on council accountable, Sternoff who said he didn’t want a reduction of services and McBride, both voted for annexation.
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For those candidates who supported annexation, we can only illustrate their failure to understand and appreciate what it would do to the citizens of Kirkland. We need them to understand that government should serve the people, not the people serving government.  Now and for at least 10 more years, we’ll suffer greatly.
We’ll have to deal with it – political agendas, services that are being devastated, and questionable reasons for council actions.  This information will also come up if County Councilmember Jane Hague runs for reelection.  She’s done us great harm.  We need creditability, not political poppycock.

Robert L. Style

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  • http://www.tobynixon.com/ Toby Nixon

    Mr. Style makes it sound as though the city staff report on annexation contains some horrible new revelations. He’s counting on most people not having the time to actually read it, so that they’ll take his criticisms as fact. They shouldn’t.

    The real fact is, there’s almost nothing new in this staff report. Anyone who has been paying attention to the annexation issue is aware of virtually everything in it. It is interesting to see it all pulled together in a single document, which will be very helpful for the council and staff in making sure that nothing falls through the cracks now that we’re moving ahead with actual implementation.

    The only thing I see in the staff report that I don’t remember having been mentioned previously is that Waste Management sounds reluctant to take on service in the annexation area. They could, of course, ask for Allied Waste continue to serve the area until Waste Management is ready to take over, and I doubt Allied would decline. I guess we’ll see what happens. Such a “revelation” certainly doesn’t seem worthy of Style’s outpouring of hyperbole.

    The staff report really isn’t THAT long (just 38 pages) and is an interesting read. It’s at http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/Assets/City+Council/Council+Packets/011910/3a_StudySession.pdf. I hope KirklandViews readers will take a look at it for themselves before accepting Style’s alarmism as truth.

    • Bob Style

      If the problems identified in the staff report are old news, they why did Mr. Nixon choose not to inform the public during the annexation meetings. Mr. Nixon and Johanna Palmer played down how serious annexation would be on Kirkland residents. So did staff. Now, they can’t hide it anymore because the problems are real and apparent.

      We worked hard and paid a lot of money for the service levels we wanted and Mr. Sternoff pledged to protect. Now, that’s coming apart thanks to information held back or ignored by the annexation proponents including Mr. Nixon, Jane Hague, Councilmembers Ms. McBride and Sternoff, and political activist in the PAA who produced the pungent smell that now surrounds the city. It stinks. They were not looking out for the citizens of Kirkland. They got what they wanted at our expense.

      Everyone should read the staff report and decide who is responsible for the serious degradation of services.

  • http://www.tobynixon.com Toby Nixon

    Mr. Style makes it sound as though the city staff report on annexation contains some horrible new revelations. He’s counting on most people not having the time to actually read it, so that they’ll take his criticisms as fact. They shouldn’t.

    The real fact is, there’s almost nothing new in this staff report. Anyone who has been paying attention to the annexation issue is aware of virtually everything in it. It is interesting to see it all pulled together in a single document, which will be very helpful for the council and staff in making sure that nothing falls through the cracks now that we’re moving ahead with actual implementation.

    The only thing I see in the staff report that I don’t remember having been mentioned previously is that Waste Management sounds reluctant to take on service in the annexation area. They could, of course, ask for Allied Waste continue to serve the area until Waste Management is ready to take over, and I doubt Allied would decline. I guess we’ll see what happens. Such a “revelation” certainly doesn’t seem worthy of Style’s outpouring of hyperbole.

    The staff report really isn’t THAT long (just 38 pages) and is an interesting read. It’s at http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/Assets/City+Council/Council+Packets/011910/3a_StudySession.pdf. I hope KirklandViews readers will take a look at it for themselves before accepting Style’s alarmism as truth.

    • Bob Style

      If the problems identified in the staff report are old news, they why did Mr. Nixon choose not to inform the public during the annexation meetings. Mr. Nixon and Johanna Palmer played down how serious annexation would be on Kirkland residents. So did staff. Now, they can’t hide it anymore because the problems are real and apparent.

      We worked hard and paid a lot of money for the service levels we wanted and Mr. Sternoff pledged to protect. Now, that’s coming apart thanks to information held back or ignored by the annexation proponents including Mr. Nixon, Jane Hague, Councilmembers Ms. McBride and Sternoff, and political activist in the PAA who produced the pungent smell that now surrounds the city. It stinks. They were not looking out for the citizens of Kirkland. They got what they wanted at our expense.

      Everyone should read the staff report and decide who is responsible for the serious degradation of services.

  • KWinder

    All I know if that repeatedly I heard that annexation would be “no worse” on the budget for the City of Kirkland. As I was looking forward and could see the results of the economy back last April projected in the future, I didn’t see how this was true. Annexation has gone forward, so I won’t live in the past. However, I think it is important the people understand the words directly out of the staff report:

    Annexation Operating Budget
    Staff is currently in the process of updating revenues and expenses associated with annexation.
    Economic conditions have worsened since the last estimates were prepared and the existing
    City’s overall service system was reduced due to continued revenue shortfalls. The annexation
    budget needs to be recalibrated to the City’s new service levels and updated to reflect more
    current revenue trends. Assuming that annexation revenue trends are similar to the City’s
    trends, then it is likely that services to the annexation area will need to be phased in over a
    longer period of time.

    The surprise will come for the people that did believe that they were getting more services from day one. I’d also like to understand how Jane Hague promised funding at an open public meeting, yet the staff is finding that funding not as quickly to steam forward out of King County. The people hear one story in headlines and get delivered another. I don’t have enough hours in the day to keep up with all the double speak. Attempting to read 38 pages is a huge committment to the 9% plus out of work looking for jobs, those struggling with budgets attempting to raise children, and those of us burn out on see one thing in print and then several months later have it morph into “worsen since”. Of course it was going to get worse…. but I remember those words “it will be no worse”… I didn’t believe it then, and obviously the staff sees it the same way now.

    I’m digging out from 38 page documents and going for a walk in this lovely place called Kirkland while it lasts.

  • KWinder

    All I know if that repeatedly I heard that annexation would be “no worse” on the budget for the City of Kirkland. As I was looking forward and could see the results of the economy back last April projected in the future, I didn’t see how this was true. Annexation has gone forward, so I won’t live in the past. However, I think it is important the people understand the words directly out of the staff report:

    Annexation Operating Budget
    Staff is currently in the process of updating revenues and expenses associated with annexation.
    Economic conditions have worsened since the last estimates were prepared and the existing
    City’s overall service system was reduced due to continued revenue shortfalls. The annexation
    budget needs to be recalibrated to the City’s new service levels and updated to reflect more
    current revenue trends. Assuming that annexation revenue trends are similar to the City’s
    trends, then it is likely that services to the annexation area will need to be phased in over a
    longer period of time.

    The surprise will come for the people that did believe that they were getting more services from day one. I’d also like to understand how Jane Hague promised funding at an open public meeting, yet the staff is finding that funding not as quickly to steam forward out of King County. The people hear one story in headlines and get delivered another. I don’t have enough hours in the day to keep up with all the double speak. Attempting to read 38 pages is a huge committment to the 9% plus out of work looking for jobs, those struggling with budgets attempting to raise children, and those of us burn out on see one thing in print and then several months later have it morph into “worsen since”. Of course it was going to get worse…. but I remember those words “it will be no worse”… I didn’t believe it then, and obviously the staff sees it the same way now.

    I’m digging out from 38 page documents and going for a walk in this lovely place called Kirkland while it lasts.

  • Scott Brady

    This article says it all. If this was all so well known, then why didn’t ANY of the ‘YES’ on annexation hype from proponents or the City of Kirkland say it to the voters?

    http://www.kirklandviews.com/archives/13394

    • Bill Henkens

      Good question. I’m sure you won’t get an answer. Toby?

  • Scott Brady

    This article says it all. If this was all so well known, then why didn’t ANY of the ‘YES’ on annexation hype from proponents or the City of Kirkland say it to the voters?

    http://www.kirklandviews.com/archives/13394

    • Bill Henkens

      Good question. I’m sure you won’t get an answer. Toby?