There have been a lot of letters lately talking about the problems in Kirkland. To wit: the plastic bag ban, fire protection on both sides for I-405, spending money on frivolous projects rather than concentrating on the essentials. Additionally nothing has been said or done about the apparent hispanic gang problem or wannabes in the Totem Lake/Kingsgate area (we didn’t agree to naming it Evergreen Hills by the way) that we see with all the gang tags that appear.

There are two issues at play here which do not seem to get any mention. First of all, there seems to be a concentrated effort by the majority of the Kirkland City council and the past and present mayors over the years to transform Kirkland into a Seattle clone which also brings to Kirkland all of the problems that Seattle wrought upon themselves. If we wanted to live in Seattle we would be in Seattle. There seems to be a proud tradition in Seattle of electing the village idiots to office there. Seems not possible here? Just look at how Kirkland was when my family moved here in 1991 to what it is now in scope, atmosphere, livability, freedom and how the city government treats us.

It seems there is not a liberal cause or agenda the Kirkland city leadership will not embrace or advance regardless of the cost, impacts, actual facts and science, the will of the people or even common sense it would appear. They have forgotten they actually work for us, not us for them. We have the quintessential nanny state mentality at work against us. Of course they give the necessary lip service to pretend to be responsive or that they are actually listening to their constituents. Then they just do what they want anyway. Merely asking the City Council to consider reversing the bag ban or any of their other forced actions is not going to do anything. The citizenry needs to demand in mass that these things be put in abeyance and put on the ballot for a decision of the people since there are objections by the citizens of Kirkland to them. If the majority of Kirkland says yes to these causes then so be it. That how a republic works when we take issue with our elected servants and their agendas.

Secondly, why do these people keep getting elected? If you had a financial advisor that promised you they would protect your investments, grow them, then repeatedly lost your money while taking their commissions, and then wanted even more funding from you, would you really keep them? Of course not, you would fire them and get someone competent who you agree with and you thought would serve you better. Yet, that’s what happens over and over again in our city, the county and the state. People believe the propaganda and promises that they will serve you, not raise taxes, protect your interests and rights and spend your money wisely. Then they are elected,and they immediately remove their disguises and we all get to watch them totally ignore our wishes, raise our taxes, waste our money, trample our rights and do anything they want even if we object. The people of Kirkland need to actually exercise their rights (while understanding what rights they have), be informed, and demand their elected officials actually practice a government of the people and for the people rather than “at the people and against the people”. Until the City Council and the Mayor are held accountable to us all, or responsive officials elected to replace them nothing is going to change and yes, we will eventually just become just a Seattle East.

Bill Webb, Kirkland