Tom Hinman, Redmond Activist And Commissioner Passes

Tom Hinman
June 6th, 1945 - July, 24th 2022

Share a memory, expressions of sympathy, or give flowers on Tom's Neptune Society Page.

My sympathies will be shared on Tom's Neptune page.  BY

Dear Friends and Family,

This morning, Sunday, July 24th at 7:00 am, Tom went home to God.  I am deeply grateful for the 42 1/2 years of marriage that we shared. He asked that his memorial service and interment be held at the military cemetery at Mira Mar, near San Diego. All who knew Tom know what a wonderful, loving man he was.  His passing is a deep loss to our family and extended family.

Sincerely,

Monica Hinman

Tom Hinman, was a long-standing Redmond planning commissioner and environmental & community activist. 

He founded "Imagine Overlake" to organize and facilitate resident participation in the redevelopment of Overlake. Tom co-founded "Sustainable Redmond." and was nominated for a "Leadership Eastside" award. Tom's annual meetings were attended by council members, environmentalists and citizens at large. 

Tom loved urban trees and their contribution to our ecology and well-being.  After the Group Health clear-cut he led volunteers in salvaging and transplanting understory shrubs to the Audubon Bird Loop.  Tom activated urban tree conversations at Council meetings.  He pushed for and accomplished a city requirement to map trees on land use notices. 

Tom cited the Overlake Corridor expansion, Group Health clear-cut, and the Nokomis Building dispute as examples of the City’s long-standing disregard for resident and community input on issues of growth; and wrote abundant of emails to change that.

Former Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives' tribute: 

I am so very sad!!! Thought Redmond was blessed to have an outstanding candidate for the Planning Commission when I appointed him!   His participation there in addition to chairing the commission was exemplary! However, no one in recent times could match Tom’s public participation and diplomacy as a citizen activist from the time he left the Planning Commission up to last year. ..a span of 11 years. He was well researched, thorough, providing live testimony with written copies punctuated and substantiated by citations from City of Redmond documents.  From his Sustainable Redmond commitment to unsuccessfully saving 1200 significant and landmark trees at Group Health in Overlake, to updates of the Comprehensive Plan and related planning issues, he was most strident about the City’s less than authentic participation opportunities for the public…it was about a year ago when the “update of the tree protection regulations” was edited to “tree regulations” omitting the word “protection” that he conceded to me that preparation for and providing input to the City was a waste of his time and mine! Never would he or I know what his fate would be just one year later!

Tom and his wife, Monica, and Jon and I discovered that we had sons living in San Diego. There were years where we saw more of each other there than in Redmond! For several years we worked out at KOKO Fit on Cleveland Street too! He was a “go to” guy to discuss some really important city issues… he now joins Richard Grubb…I miss both of them!!! 

-- Former Mayor Ives

More on Tom Hinman