UPDATED: Steve Fields has received strong criticism and in some cases insult from a few supporters of Mr. Marchione's campaign. This has been evident in Facebook social media, a few Letters to the Editor of the Redmond Reporter and a Letter sent to me by a Downtown developer.
As a supporter and volunteer for Steve Fields I want to share some recent correspondence with Steve that answers criticism and misunderstandings about his views of downtown developers, as follows:
And I quote Mr. Fields: "I have never said and never would say anything against any group or person. What I have said is the city government listens more to developers then they do people in the community. And as a result the outcomes are not very good. My complaint is with the city government. Not any developer. We need balance. And I think that would be better for whoever develops and builds in our city as well. Their reputation would be enhanced."
Please visit https://electstevefields.com for more information about Mr. Field's vision for our city.
Opinion by Bob Yoder
As a supporter and volunteer for Steve Fields I want to share some recent correspondence with Steve that answers criticism and misunderstandings about his views of downtown developers, as follows:
And I quote Mr. Fields: "I have never said and never would say anything against any group or person. What I have said is the city government listens more to developers then they do people in the community. And as a result the outcomes are not very good. My complaint is with the city government. Not any developer. We need balance. And I think that would be better for whoever develops and builds in our city as well. Their reputation would be enhanced."
Please visit https://electstevefields.com for more information about Mr. Field's vision for our city.
Opinion by Bob Yoder
And I quote, from this very blog:
ReplyDelete" The major donors to his campaign are the same out of down developers that sit with him on the OneRedmond board. They are maxing out to the legally allowed amounts, and getting their family members to do the same. So, what are they buying from him?"
That's a flat-out insult to the Nelson family, who have been involved in Redmond since the 50's.
Interesting how stating facts is an insult. Redmond is polarized. No matter who wins, neighborhoods need more representation as the City pursues GMA compliance with abandon. If Marchione wins he needs to break out of the anxiety of his comfort zone and represent people beyond magazine articles and annual surveys.
ReplyDeleteThe Nelson family isn't the only family that's donated to Marchione's campaign OR on the board of OneRedmond.
ReplyDeleteFrom the OneRedmond site, "Our Board of Directors and Investors" page, also on the board are:
Tom Markl (Nelson Legacy Group), Dan Peyovich (Howard S. Wright), Robert Pantley (NBE).
Investors include: Capstone Partners, GLY Construction, Halvorson Construction.
So why is Nelson the only one who thinks he's being singled out?
Why is Nelson the only one who thinks they are being singled out? Because they recognized THEMSELVES in comments about out of town developers. Last I checked Wenatchee and Santa Barbara, CA are not Redmond.
DeleteYou can check the donors for both campaigns HERE: http://www.pdc.wa.gov/
ReplyDeleteThat's not "stating facts". The Nelsons aren't "out of town" developers, and they aren't "buying" something from Marchione.
ReplyDeleteAnd which neighborhoods need more representation? Education Hill? Marchione, Margeson, Allen, Stilin, and soon to be elected Birney all live on Education Hill. I'd call that pretty well represented.
ReplyDeleteIMO,these pubic officials seem more interested in making policy decisions and attending regional meetings than representing residents in the neighborhoods. Mayor Marchione lives on the Hill too. IMO he's more interested in "managing growth his way" rather then listening to the neighborhoods (and this includes the Downtown Neighborhood); he has not reached out to the neighorhood residents so as a result he is unable to represent them.
ReplyDeleteIt's an election for the top elected position in the city; of course there are going to be criticisms and insults. If you can't stand the heat...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what about the unfounded and outrageous accusations from Fields supporters about Mayor Marchione being unduly influenced by developers? You can't have it both ways.
As for Mr. Fields' statement, where is the evidence that the "city government" listens to developers more than people in the community?
Fields states that "the outcomes are not very good." What specifically does he mean by that and even more specifically, what will he do about it? We've heard mostly vague generalities from Mr. Fields about the need to "listen" to the public but nothing specific in his vision as to what he will do to make a positive change.
Frankly, as a long time resident and taxpayer, I'm not interested in on-the-job training for a neophyte.
My personal experience is that the mayor, council, and city employees are desperately eager to hear from the public. There are many ways for a citizen to express his/her opinion including council meetings, informal forums such as Derby Days and National Night Out Against Crime, outreach meetings to get public input, volunteering on a city commission or board, and more.
If you want to be heard and taken seriously, it requires more than grousing on Facebook or a blog.
Some food for thought courtesy of the Seattle Transit Blog:
For Neighborhood Exclusionists, New People are Never in Context
http://seattletransitblog.com/2015/10/24/for-neighborhood-exclusionists-new-people-are-never-in-context/
My experience is the opposite of yours. And sorry, I shouldn't have to wait for some celebratory event to pigeonhole them about a concern. I have an easier time getting our congress woman's attention than I do this council or Marchione. And I find that absurd given that I am both a resident and business owner here.
DeleteThe comment you make about Steve's experience is ridiculous. He has MORE experience than Marchione. If Steve can handle budgets over a billion dollars for King County and Seattle he can certainly handle a puny $150 million dollar budget. We elected a guy who ran a small convention center for goodness sake.
Anonymous - facts have been stated about developers. Period. Boo hoo if big money can't stand the heat in a local election. You can go around in your conjecture just like you do on Facebook. Developers are VERY well represented. I live on EdHill and the lower part of the neighborhood. We can't even get 1960's Era ditches filled in our front yards because somehow we're responsible for regional water quality for salmon. (An actual quote I received after asking the Mayor about this on a Natl Night Out.) I was even going to pay for it myself. Yet new neighborhoods get nice sidewalks and gutters. I get it. 1970's rambler neighborhoods aren't as sexy as the GMA compliant developments. Traffic questions or complaints are reacted to. Levies are brought forward to pay for a new park instead of maintaining our neighborhood parks and when we vote them down, it's because we're satisfied' with current levels of service. Really? That's not representation. That's cluelessness. -Brian
ReplyDeleteNotaNimby: I like Councilmembers' Kim Allen and Hank Myers innovative recommendation to hold Q&A forums featuring our elected officials in the neighborhoods. If the mayor so desperately wants to hear from citizens (because the traditional ways don't work) why hasn't he implemented Kim and Hanks Q&A recommendation? Kim recommended Neighborhood Q&A Forums two years ago, the Mayor ignored her and now he's paying for it with an election. One of Fields SPECIFIC plans is to hold neighborhood meetings quarterly. Marchione has held two "coffee chats" in the Senior Center about 7 years ago. They were useful. He gets out once a year with National Night Out. He was at "the Mayor's Food Drive" for an hour, I heard. But that's as close as he got to personal community outreach other than a few visits to Elem schools. The Mayor is the only FULL TIME representative the city has.
ReplyDeleteIf it were not for this Election hardly anyone would know him. Sad.
I have seen a lot of things in politics but I've never seen a public so cowed by big money donors that they felt they had to apologize to them for noticing they are trying to buy an election. Boo hoo if the NLG is "insulted" that we noticed. And let's keep in mind NLG money is also coming from Wenatchee and even Santa Barbara, CA. That is out of town developer money. Are we supposed to assume that they just have a fondness for their old home town? Or are they simply protecting their investment with a Mayor who has demonstrated that he represents developers over citizens? That's for the voter to decide. The real "insult" is that they are peeved that it might matter to some voters, or again, that we noticed.
ReplyDeleteSome additional facts - there are other out of town developers (and those related to development) putting big money into Marchione's campaign. Robert Pantley, for instance, has several companies, likely so he can confuse people who are unlikely to know he controls all of them. "Sustainable Redmond, LLC", "Muse Management", "New Built Environments" (NBE). He is an out of town developer. And he is on a development spree here in Redmond.
The Washington Builders Association went so far as to do an independent expenditure on Marchione's behalf. They spent nearly $6000 to mail out and 8x10 double sided glossies urging people to vote for him. Washington Realtors also maxed out to him. I, personally, have received 4 different expensive mailers for Marchione. That's what this money buys. And it's a very poor substitute for knocking doors and having many, many open meeting times available that allow citizens to actually talk to the candidate, as Steve has done.
This election is a referendum on what many see as over development - development that has been mismanaged and is out-pacing infrastructure, and mayor who does not engage with the citizens, but seems to have no problem engaging with developers and those that have a vested economic interest in seeing him elected. This money that has poured into his campaign and the mailers the money has bought are being used in place of good old fashioned citizen engagement. And that tends to support the concerns that folks have. The mailers would be more honest if they simply said "please vote for this guy who will help me get richer."
R. Domos
Fields does not have the same experience as Marchione period. Marchione was on council for four years, now 8 years as mayor. Marchione does have a lot more now. I am not a fan of growth either, but after watching the debate on YouTube, thank you Redmond city government, Fields was lost, did not know squat. The mayor had a lot of numbers to back his decisions. Fields experience is that of a staff person. Dow Constantine runs the King county budget not Steve Fields. Constantine did endorse the Marchione. I believe that he was recruited because it was impossible to find a known person who wanted to run against Marchione. Marchione has lots of friends, an army of supporters and quality endorsements. I see him at a lot of Redmond events and he is always friendly and knowledgeable. I wish Fields well, but don't quit the coffee gig.
ReplyDeleteI think it's unfortunate that a strong blog such as this one would give the appearance of censoring opposing viewpoints by not posting the letter from the Nelson's, especially since there was an earlier request to hear more from Marchione's supporters.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (just above my comment): I welcomed ALL Letters but didn't say I'd post them all. The Redmond Reporter "censors" hundreds of Letters. It's the prerogative of the Editor to publish them or not.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how you found out that Mr. Nelson (via his CEO) submitted a Letter to this blog nor do I care. I will go the extra mile and tell you why I didn't post it: It was his claim towards the end of his Letter where he attacked the volunteers of the Fields campaign on an issue. (These were citizen volunteers, not Field's staff)
There was a lot in his letter that I really liked -- his family's long history of successful local development work and the contributions he's made to the Redmond community. I asked the Nelson's via their CEO if I could publish Mr. Nelson's Bio after the election. They were receptive. Stay tuned.
Well, Bob, at least now you've shown us what this blog is. If you weren't willing to print Mr. Nelson's letter, then you don't welcome and encourage anything that doesn't fit your agenda.
ReplyDeleteThat's fine. It's your blog. You can do what you want. But now we know.
Some people can be attacked, and it's okay. Other people can't. It depends on whether Bob likes them or not.
And, by the way, the only campaign that had paid staff was the Fields campaign; everybody who worked on the Marchione campaign was a volunteer. No paid campaign consultants, no paid campaign managers, no paid payroll service; all volunteer. When people like Peter McDonald and Laurie Biethan were being attacked, they as citizen volunteers. When member of boards and commissions past and present who supported John are attacked, they are citizen volunteers, too.
ReplyDeleteMs. Nichols, I don't understand how you can say these things when I published your Pro-Marchione Letter and two others.
ReplyDeleteAs for attacking community volunteers you've just demonstrated that you are pretty good at it too.
This blog isn't a community building blog. It's an advocacy blog. Like I said, I'm fine with that. I'm happy with it being an advocacy blog for positions I don't agree with. Calling it that isn't an attack. Maybe suggesting that you be honest about it is an attack.
ReplyDeleteYes, you published my letter, though with an editorial addendum that you only removed when I pushed back. As I've said, not welcoming. You don't have to be welcoming; this is your space.
And, since this is your space, you get the last word. I'm out of here.
MISSION STATEMENT AND EDITING POLICY
ReplyDeleteThe "Redmond Blog" reports news and opinion of local governments, organizations and neighborhoods so that they can be more responsive and "in touch" with each other. You are invited to send me your news, submit a Letter or write a COMMENT below a post. They are usually published. COMMENTS are moderated and publishing them may be delayed.