LETTER| Councilmembers blowing smoke

At the last meeting, Councilmember Dave Asher requested staff to come up with the total cost to city residents in its efforts to proceed with annexation. I’m surprised the information was not readily available.

The report should include all the meetings starting in 2005 that staff and council participated in, both in preparation time and time spent in meetings with council, staff, other jurisdictions, consultants, and the public in the PAA and the city including neighborhood meetings.

It should also include the City Manager’s salary at $76 per hour, the assistant manager’s at $69, the manager’s three additional support staff averaging $49 an hour; department head salaries (seven) averaging $62.82 per hour, and five other subordinate salaries at $40 per hour.

The study sessions were very expensive, roughly $3,726 for city staff per four-hour meeting, plus the cost for any consultants and surveys. And, that doesn’t include preparation time, focus group meetings, surveys of the PAA, and what else? Add to that the $200,000 you just took from the citizens at the last meeting. It included footing the election costs for the benefit of the people in the PAA but not for the citizens of Kirkland.

Whatever staff comes up with for costs in pursuing annexation, it will be subject to review by Council and by the citizens of Kirkland. The PAA has paid nothing and doesn’t care. I venture to guess it will be more than a million that could have improved our quality of life rather than reducing it.

Those Councilmembers who said that annexation would not require the citizens of Kirkland to pay more for less are blowing smoke to put it politely, a fact to remember in November.

Robert L. Style, Kirkland

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