The voter’s pamphlet will be mailed by the 26th so it’s important the information about the candidates be available to the public. Please consider the following:

Are we going to reshape our Kirkland City Council? If so, let’s start with the primary election.

There’s only one position in contention, Position 5 – Ms. Tennyson, Ms. Walen, and Mr. Gregory. Only one represents a change, Ms. Walen. The others are business as usual.

Tennyson and Gregory are Planning Commission members. How did they get there? The council does not appoint members to commissions that disagree with their philosophies. For the most part, commission members become rubber stamps of the council.

Tennyson appears to have an inside track on shared information with the mayor. She might very well think the same way as him. If so, annexation is okay in spite of the serious financial impact and the lessening of expected services to our citizens, uncertainties in downtown development will remain, and she has not ruled out tax increases. Adding more taxes to already rising utility taxes does not benefit our citizens.

Gregory has acknowledged tough times yet he still supports an increase in utility taxes. He says it’s okay to put it on the ballot because it’s giving the citizens a vote. If it’s so important for us to have a vote, why did the council deny us a vote on annexation? Gregory did not mention that. He also hints of doing away with the Houghton Community Council. I wonder if he thinks the same way about not supporting other neighborhoods?

The last thing we need is more of the same. There have been huge mistakes in downtown planning and budget shortfalls. We don’t need more council clones.

Fortunately we’re left with someone who is not a council clone, Walen, a very capable person with integrity, brains, and a concern for the citizens of Kirkland. She’ll give us a fresh new look that will focus on the citizens of Kirkland, someone who will work toward improving our quality of life. Instead of doing things to the citizens of Kirkland, she will do things for the citizens of Kirkland.

Robert L. Style, Kirkland