Council Up Close is a series of Q&A interviews of Kirkland’s City Council, produced by the City of Kirkland. Each thirty minute interview is conducted by Scott Mullet and is an opportunity to learn more about our City Council members. The first three interviews are in the can and available to watch online (scroll to the [...]
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 [...]
UPDATED
The first Kirkland City Council meeting of 2010 started with the ceremonial swearing in of the the new council members. Kirkland City Clerk Kathi Anderson administered the oath of office to Council Members Joan McBride (Position No. 1), Penny Sweet (Position No. 3), Amy Walen (Position No. 5) and Doreen Marchione (Position No. 7) who [...]
By Robert L. Style
At last night’s Council meeting, the Council approved annexing the PAA 4 to 3. It was one of the most serious breaches of trust between four elected officials and our citizens that we’ve seen in many years. The four did not represent the people who elected them.
How we got to this vote is important. Several Councilmembers lead [...]
Political gamesmanship was again played at last night’s Kirkland City Council meeting. However, that is now par for the course and really no surprise. Of particular interest in this election was the Sterbank Review of the Bank of America fiasco from last year in which actions taken by City Staff were reviewed by outside council. [...]
For those of you who have yet to vote in this election, one lesson to learn is this: do your homework. There are falsehoods and dirty tricks being played to persuade you to vote for certain candidates. Learn about the candidates and the controversies surrounding them. This observer can say that without a doubt, in this [...]
By Martin Chaney, Chair 45th LD Democrats
Editor, Kirkland Views
I write in response to a recent letter published in the Kirkland Views criticizing the 45th Legislative District Democrats’ endorsements in Kirkland City Council races of BRAD LARSSEN for position 3, KAREN TENNYSON for position 5, and TOM HODGSON for position 7. These criticisms include a variety [...]
Katherine Long, Seattle Times Eastside Reporter has filed a story on the four races for Kirkland City Council.
Kirkland has been divided by battles over the size and character of downtown development in recent years. The city is grappling with a budget and the council is so beset by infighting that more than one candidate called [...]
Group urges vote against Councilmemeber Hodgson based upon “his violation of every ethical protocol we know of…”
In an extraordinary plea to the voters of Kirkland, fifteen former Kirkland mayors and city councilmembers have posted an open letter urging Kirklanders to oust incumbent Councilmember Tom Hodgson and vote for Doreen Marchione. Marchione is running against incumbent Hodgson [...]
By J. Donald Dicks
12 October 2009
45th District Democrats
P.O. Box 2784
Redmond, WA 98073-2784
cc: Letters to the Editor at:
Seattle Times
Kirkland Reporter
Eastside Sun
Kirkland Views Blog
This morning I received a flyer on my doorstep from the 45th District Democrats which endorsed certain candidates for Kirkland City Council. I am a democrat but I have to say shame on you [...]
Last night the Holy Spirit Lutheran Church held a well-attended candidate forum at which each of the eight candidates for Kirkland City Council answered both prepared questions and moderated questions from the audience. The event gave the public their last opportunity to see all of the candidates answer questions prior to the election.
The forum consisted [...]
By Robert L. Style
The 3rd Quarter of the City Update was mailed but is not yet on the city’s Internet home page. Page 5 contains threats of reduced services if Kirkland’s Prop 1 doesn’t pass. Most of the threats are just that and will not occur unless Council wants them to because $3.8 million can be saved [...]
Reminder: Monday, October 12th is your last opportunity to attend a public candidate forum for Kirkland City Council. Four of these candidates will represent Kirkland for the next four years. This election will have a profound impact on Kirkland’s future.
On Monday, October 12th, at 7:00 PM a forum open to the public will be [...]
The City of Kirkland is amending the Kirkland Zoning Code to enact provisions requiring affordable housing in new multifamily development.
To find out more, please join us at three upcoming meetings:
Open House
October 21, 2009
7:00 pm · Kirkland City Hall Peter Kirk Room
Houghton Community Council Meeting
October 26, 2009
7:00 pm · Kirkland City Hall Council Chamber
Public Hearing
November 5, 2009
7:00 pm [...]
In an effort to provide a better understanding each of the eight candidates for Kirkland City Council running up to the General Election, Kirkland Views is featuring a four-part series on the following issues:
Neighborhoods vs. Businesses Myth
The Future of Totem Lake
Structural Budget Gap / Sustainable Budget
Population Growth / GMA
Each candidate was asked to provide a [...]
On Monday night, the eight candidates for Kirkland City Council gathered together for the first of several forums to answer questions of the electorate. The venue was Houghton Fire Station #22 where the Lakeview Neighborhood Association hosted a forum with all eight council candidates and two Evergreen Hospital Commissioner candidates, Chuck Pilcher and Rex Lindquist.
The [...]
UPDATED
Oh, Kirkland. Autumn is here and soon it will be time to elect four of the seven Kirkland City Council members. Only two of the four races have incumbents running for re-election so this year is sure to bring change to the council. Our vote will be a referendum on how well the people of [...]
There will be four opportunities to see the candidates running for Kirkland City Council in the next few weeks. Each forum is unique: one is focused on specific issues; another includes only candidates for position 5; and another requires an advanced reservation to attend. The best bet is to attend the October 12 candidate forum [...]
The four open seats on the Kirkland City Council are drawing a lot of attention — and a lot of money. Unlike all too many recent election cycles when there were candidates who ran unopposed, this year there is a healthy stable of candidates wanting to represent you in Kirkland.
Soon the campaigns will switch into [...]
On Monday, October 12th, at 7:00 PM a forum open to the public will be held at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Juanita for all four Kirkland city council positions up for election. The church is located at 10021 NE 124th St., Kirkland, WA 98034.
To date, the forum to be held at Holy Spirit is the only announced city council candidate debate open to the general public.
All candidates for the Kirkland city council in 2009 including challengers Amy Walen, Martin Morgan, Penny Sweet, Brad Larssen, Doreen Marchione, and Karen Tennyson as well as incumbent councilmembers Tom Hodgson and Joan McBride are expected to attend
KOMONews.com has run a story about the recent disclosure of private emails sent by a member of the Kirkland City Council that were discovered as part of a public disclosure request made by Scott St. Clair of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. At the September 1st Kirkland City Council meeting, Councilmember Sternoff admitted to the use [...]
The following text was submitted to Kirkland Views by Martin and Sharon Morgan. It is presented here in its entirety. As with every guest commentary or letter to the editor, the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the owner of this blog.
Our Story … our plight with the City of Kirkland
by [...]
In what was by far the liveliest meeting of the year, the Kirkland City Council displayed an image of infighting, distrust and raw politics
The September 1 Kirkland City Council meeting gave Kirklanders a glimpse of the deep political divide which both cripples our council and makes observers throughout the Eastside wonder what has happened in Kirkland City Hall. There is great division on the council. The division is o
Local news channel says “notorious” Martin Morgan owes the city $20,000 and is on probation for assault
Please visit KOMONEWS.COM for the complete story.
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Kirkland City Councilman Bob Sternoff used city e-mail resources while the council was in session to conduct an intimate personal relationship with his girlfriend, recently released city documents disclose.
From May of this year until early this month, Sternoff, who was divorced 15 years ago, sent scores of messages, some of them sexually explicit, to the woman. In addition, many messages in the same e-mail threads contained disparaging comments about fellow council members and un-named members of the public who attended city council meetings.
In the controversy over LTAC, David A. Alskog, attorney for Les Utley, wrote a letter to the Council requesting an apology for the manner in which his client was referred to at the the August 4 City Council meeting.
Mayor Jim Lauinger responded to the request with this Letter to Alskog.
Fight over Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) goes public
Councilmember Tom Hodgson publicly reprimands LTAC member from the dais prompting request for public apology. Former City employee claims “unethical pressure” from Hodgson
A long simmering feud over the use of funds from a lodging tax has erupted into public view pitting sitting City Councilmember Tom Hodgson against [...]
The City of Kirkland is facing a projected $8 million budget shortfall in the 2009-2010 budget. The City Council is considering placing a voted utility tax on the November ballot and is reviewing the budget to rank services in preparation of another round of budget cuts. To assist the Council in this task, staff created a service matrix indicating all services provided by the city. Councilmembers indicated their preferences by placing an “X” in the row of each city service they deem too important to cut. These are referred to as core services. Services not deemed by the majority of the Council to be core services will likely be subject to budget cuts.
UPDATED: Former Redmond mayor, Doreen Marchione, has filed to run for Kirkland City Council Position #7, bringing the total number of candidates running in the primary to four. In a comment made on the Kirkland Views Facebook post referring to this article, Marchione states, “I filed for this position this morning.”
UPDATED
John Smiley, current Kirkland Park Board member serving in his first year, signaled his intention to run for Kirkland City Council by filing with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) on May 15th.
In related news, the Kirkland Reporter has a story on outgoing Councilmember Mary-Alyce Burleigh, who after serving two terms on the Kirkland City Council, will not [...]
