UPDATED Eric Shields, Kirkland Planning Director has written the following to address this letter: Letter to editor: Kirkland City Council – UNLIMITED DENSITY ALONG ALL THE RESIDENTIAL SHORELINE PROPERTIES??? Do you know that you approved this on December 12, 2011??? Many of us doubt that this was your intention… and if [...]
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LETTER | Should Smoking Be Banned in Kirkland Parks? (Poll)
UPDATED To the Editor, On February 7th the city council will be voting on banning cigarette smoking in the parks. Smoking in the parks is not the issue, the real issue is; do you want an outside group to make the rules in OUR parks? Do you want this outside group called CDC, Center [...]
LETTER | Support HB 2610; Ignore the Petition
Please ignore the petition currently being circulated and vote for HB 2610. Citizens of Houghton deserve no more rights than my family and I do. We live less than 500 yards from the border of Houghton in the Moss Bay Neighborhood. We should not have to help pay for their bounty (read “extra rights”) which slows [...]
LETTER | The Houghton Community Council is an Anachronism
Dear Kirkland Views: I served on the Houghton Community Council and the Kirkland City Council for a number of years. For a long time I have believed that the HCC is an anachronism. My wife and I have been citizens of Houghton for just over 37 years. It is time to stop this undemocratic favoritism given to the citizens [...]
Opinion | Councilmember Penny Sweet’s Thoughts on the Houghton Discussion
Dear Kirkland Views: I think it is important that I weigh in on the Houghton Community Council Discussion. To be clear, I did know that there was going to be a bill forthcoming. My husband, Larry Springer said as much last session when the original bill was killed and he told Rick Whitney, HCC President, [...]
Houghton Community Council Meet Your Maker: State Legislature Pulls the Plug with HB 2610 (Poll)
Ralph, you have kids, right? Don’t you hate it when they use your own words to try and outsmart you? One of my kids failed a math mid-term and I didn’t hear about it until I got their report card. Made me so angry, I said “no more surprises!”. Then guess what, younger sibling fails [...]
Snow Day (photos)
Kids and adults alike took advantage of the heavy snow on Wednesday and enjoyed a stroll (or a cross country ski) through downtown, along the boulevard and in Kirkland’s parks. Thank you to Chuck Pilcher and Shawn Thornsberry for sharing their photos.
LETTER | Governor’s tax hike on oil produced in WA is a bad idea
Maintaining transportation infrastructure, funded by fee increases, including a $1.50 per barrel fee on oil produced in Washington State. Dear Editor, What is the difference between a “fee” and a “tax” if the money goes to the government? Our Governor is all about “finding new revenue sources” so the pain of cutting her growing budget [...]
Fire Chief Nalder’s Response to Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance
The following letter is from Kirkland Fire Chief Nalder in response to this letter: http://www.kirklandviews.com/archives/31517/ Good afternoon Mr. Morris, I truly appreciate receiving your letter, dated January 13, 2012, voicing the concerns of the Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance (FHNA) regarding the elimination of the limited emergency medical response by the Reserve program out of fire [...]
A Snowy MLK Day in Kirkland
Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos. Please keep them coming!
Finn Hill Neighborhood Expresses Concerns About Fire Station 24 Closure
UPDATED The following letter was sent to Kirkland Fire Chief Nalder: RE: Finn Hill Fire Station 24 Closure Dear Chief Nalder: On behalf of the Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance (FHNA), I would like to thank you for meeting with Ted Marx, Jeff Hoerth, Jon Pascal and me last week to discuss the upcoming [...]
Public Invited to Olympia Lobby Day Against Costly Death Penalty
Many people don’t know that Washington State still has a death row. On January 25, a coalition of over eighteen organizations will head to Olympia to lobby for an end to Washington’s death penalty and to attend the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate Bill 5456, which would abolish the death penalty. Free transportation is [...]
Kirkland Mayor to Governor Gregoire: “A promise is a promise” regarding annexation funding
Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride addressed the Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce in her annual State of the City speech on Tuesday at the Woodmark Hotel. In the speech, McBride spoke of the achievements of the City Council over the past year on a wide range of issues, but her most somber moments came as she [...]
LETTER | Marina Park aka Grand Central Station
Hello, I apologize if this is a mix of griping and a question. From the department of caveat emptor I bought a condo at the Mariner, a complete newcomer to Kirkland and specifically the neighborhood. I love the area. The shops, restaurants all within a short stroll. Summer was interesting. The courteous boaters partying until [...]
Kirkland Resident Raising Funds for School in War-Torn Liberian Homeland
With your help, kids in Kakata, Liberia can go back to school next fall. Their school was destroyed during a long, bloody civil war that ended not long ago. Now a Kirkland resident who was born and raised in Kakata is trying to provide not only a new school building, but desks, chairs, supplies, and [...]
LETTER | Houghton neighbors oppose ICS High School rebuild
Dear Views, The LWSD would like to tear down and rebuild an expanded ICS High School and the smaller elementary school on a new foot print on its school site in Houghton at NE 65th and 111th Ave NE. Most of the neighbors oppose this project. We oppose this redevelopment for a variety of reasons: [...]
Kirkland City Council votes for yet another building moratorium (poll)
The Kirkland City Council just slapped a 6 month building moratorium on a developer who is trying to build a multifamily unit on Lake Street South. The developer is a nice man named Mr. Lobsang Dargey and his project is called Potala Village. The original project included 143 apartment units and many “green” pluses like [...]
LETTER | There Is An Older Polar Bear Swim, You Know…
Editor, There is a Polar Bear Swim in Kirkland than is much older than the “official” one at Marina Park: My son Tom Lee of Seattle started it 21 years ago for family and friends, who jump off the dock at Marsh Park (AKA “Unemployment Beach”) at 9:30 every New Years Day. Then everyone goes [...]
Locking Mailboxes: A Cheap Solution to Expensive Mail Theft
MAIL THEFT has always been common, but it gets worse around the holidays and at tax refund time. In the past two weeks, over a dozen people in my Kirkland neighborhood have had mail stolen — and that’s just the ones I know about. Mail theft is a huge problem everywhere, and it happens far more [...]
LETTER | Who will be the STRONGEST weak mayor?
Dear Editor: The other day I was informed that the Kirkland City Council does not historically accept, desire or appreciate outside influence or input in their deliberations regarding who will be the next mayor. With that admonishment firmly in mind, here are my thoughts on who should be our next mayor. Kirkland’s form of government [...]
Rob Butcher, Editor
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