Why I'm Running

I am seeking this position because I have a deeply held commitment to government that serves the whole community, not just a few powerful special interests. I have a long record of advocating for and standing up for working families and ordinary citizens, and I will continue to do so. I believe in open, transparent government, conducted in public meetings with adequate citizen input. I will put the interests of Kirkland’s citizens first. That is why I am endorsed and supported by neighborhood and community leaders.

I am committed to serving Kirkland’s citizens by supporting widely-held community values and our strong, distinct neighborhoods. I will work hard to protect Kirkland’s livability, character, and quality of life.

I am concerned by the large amounts of money that have come into local campaigns in recent years from outside business PACs and other special interests. These special interests and developers have paid employees and advocates of their own. It is not in our citizens’ interests to have special interest and developer advocates run the city government as well. I have no vested interests, and no ties to developers. The city council members that you elect should represent the 48,000 citizens of Kirkland, not just a handful of special interests with deep pockets.

The suggestion that neighborhoods are opposed to businesses is just that: a myth, and a distraction – intended to reframe and sidestep the real issue. The real issue in Kirkland is that a few narrowly-focused and well-financed development interests continue to try to develop downtown and certain neighborhoods in excess of our codes, regulations, and Comprehensive Plans.

Kirkland’s citizens love the unique character of our city and want to retain and protect it. Development downtown and in the neighborhoods and commercial zones are issues of great concern not only to all citizens of Kirkland, but also to our businesses. We have the only downtown on Lake Washington – we have no room for error. Our codes and Comprehensive Plan already allow for considerable density. We are already one of the most-densely populated cities in Washington.

We need responsible development, consistent with our Comprehensive Plan and city codes, that benefits our citizens and community. We need development that

• Respects Kirkland’s citizens’ love of our city and its unique character, and
• Keeps the thousands of visitors and customers who bring their business to Kirkland because of our unique character and appeal coming back again and again.

No matter how big we build, we will never compete with Bellevue Square and mega-stores for volume. Our 2-lane streets will not accommodate the traffic of Bellevue’s 8-lane roads to and from these mega-stores and mall.

We need a realistic approach to responsible growth and development that focuses on what brings business and visitors to Kirkland. We need to keep our base and our strengths and build on them. We need to recruit and attract more green businesses such as Google. We need to solve the problem of redeveloping Totem Lake.

Our citizens deserve a local government that respects citizen input, public meetings, and holding projects to local codes and standards. This should be the rule, and not the exception. Developers frequently try to get approval to build over-sized, over-code projects. This is a routine part of their business plan. It is equally standard practice for citizens and community groups to push back and hold these projects to local codes and standards. This is why we have codes. It is also normal and routine for citizen groups to request and receive concessions such as setbacks, parking, and landscaping from developers for every variance allowed.

It is not unusual for special interests to try to control local city councils by financing strong advocates for their interests. It happens in other cities as well. But we are the only city with a downtown on Lake Washington. We have a wonderful variety of parks and a unique community of strong, distinct neighborhoods. My opponent has received large donations from development interests and large business PACs and building industry PACs. A good rule of thumb in politics is to follow the money.

We cannot let it happen here. We cannot afford to lose control of our local city development to special interests.