UPDATED 6/19: The High Value Of Downtown City Trees

Three landmark oak trees. The Design Review Board says one must go.

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Councilmember David Carson led Council discussion on the Senior & Community Center monthly report.  It was the April 26th "Committee of the Whole" meeting. Councilmembers Varisha Kahn and Steve Fields were absent.

Eric Dawson, Project Manager gave each councilmember a tree heath assessment map  (or something similar.) Thirty-two trees will be removed,  mostly from around the building. 199 replacement sapling trees will be planted.  The high count is attributable to the 128 replacement tree requirements in the "Shoreline jurisdiction."  

President Jessica Forsythe asked "how many trees can potentially be saved, especially looking at the first one nearest the River Trail?  It's a pretty substantial tree and lots of people enjoy the shade. There's about five I'm hoping we can do something." 

Mr. Dawson said mildly, he was looking into small shrubs to give away to homeowners.  huh?  At one time he said the City could afford a "green roof" on the Center.  A sliver of one is planned.

President Forsythe asked about reworking the trail rather than removing the tree.  Mr. Dawson said the Design Review Board studied every angle to find the "best connection point" between the river and the Center. They decided the entrance to the Center near a landmark tree was the most inviting and the tree would need to go; yet he committed to one more look.  

Parks Chair Councilmember David Carson was positive about saving the tree saying "it took 50-60 years to get that tree to where it's at."  He said it was an ideal shade tree for the picnic tables. City planner Cameron Zapata said Red Oaks are sometimes called "Champion Trees." 

Odds & ends:  Vice President Vanessa Kritzer asked about the pickleball courts. Eric said they will stay open until the cranes are up.  "Art Hill" will close for staging.  Late 2022, early 2023 construction cranes will be up.  Councilmember Malissa Stuart got assurances from Mr. Dawson that full programing with some finishing touches will be in place late 2023 when the Center opens.  

I did quite a bit of research on the "inviting entrance" near the landmarks seen in this photo. The OPSIS Health Assessment marked the three trees as "significant" Oaks measuring 24", 20", and 24".  I measured them: all three were a minimum 30 inches ABH while standing on their roots. These Oaks are landmarks.  I fear the the middle landmark will be removed unless Council intervenes. I'm not positive they are Red Oaks. The foliage of  three Oaks looks different from the Heritage tree.

It's interesting four Oregon White Oaks are designated tree replacements.  For more information about the tree replacements.  READ MORE: 

Parks and Trails Commission vacancy hard to find on City Website - deadline approaching

Deliver your Parks & Trails

Commission application

 to City Hall

The City has one opening on the Parks and Trails Commission that must be filled by a resident living outside Redmond’s city limits with a Redmond address.  The Mayor reviews your application and makes the appointment.  The Council approves the appointee.  If you are interested it might be a good idea to contact the Mayor's office to talk to a commissioner.  An excellent contact is Sue Stewart.  She is a candidate for City Council and was Chair of Parks and Trails for 6 years.   

The commission may be looking for someone familiar with trails outside the city ie. horse, hiking, biking, running. The Parks and Trails Commission members advise and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council concerning acquisition, development and improvements to all park facilities.    They also make recommendations and provide input on recreational programming. The Commission meets on the first Thursday evening of the month at City Hall. All board and commission members are volunteers.

Applicants must complete a community service application. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday, August 26.  If you're looking for additional information on the Commission to prepare for the interview visit the new city website:  http://www.redmond.gov/.

The  new city website is challenging to navigate.  If you have trouble, I recommend you write the Office of the Mayor and City Ombudsman at:  mayorcouncil@redmond.gov.  To research this story, I visited the website Search engine and the A-Z Directory. It didn't work, so I emailed the Office of the Mayor and Council for help.  They responded: 

"Bob, if you look at the top of the website and click on Residents, then click down to Volunteer Opportunities and then click to Boards and Commissions, you will see the notice for the opening on the Parks and Trails Commission"    --Talley Hudson, Office of the Mayor

"The press release [link to the job description] was a bit challenging to find, so I've copied it below for your to share with your friend"  

-- Hank Margeson, Ombudsman, City Councilmember

I stumbled on the application on a separate page.  It's unfortunate important commission openings are so hard to find and research.  Those "on the inside" appear to have the advantage.  I'm hoping a Council candidate will address some of these problems in their campaign.

Opinion By Bob Yoder   

Internet photo

LETTER: King County Councilmember Jane Hague explains position on $20 car tab fee

Jane Hague responds to Richard Morris's "Save Your Bus!" query, on the proposed $20 car tab increase to support METRO.  Richard recommends R-Trip incentives.  Mr. Morris, an Education Hill Neighbor, shares Hague's response...

Incumbant Jane Hague, Pos. 6

King County Coumcilmemmber

Dear Neighbor,

Thank you for writing me and voicing your concern over the proposed $20 car tabs fee.

As you may have read, a vote on the “congestion reduction fee” was expected to take place at the July 25th Council meeting. Instead, this vote was unexpectedly delayed until August 15th. I still oppose a councilmanic adoption of the $20 car tab increase. Further, I am concerned by the fact that the $20 fee will still result in a reduction of bus service for the Eastside and that Metro has not fully implemented plans to control its ongoing budget growth.

As a firm supporter of transit, I have said consistently through this debate that I have many concerns about Metro’s future. First, as I mentioned above, significant route eliminations and reductions on the Eastside will occur even if the car tab fee is implemented. These service hours will be allocated elsewhere. Eastsiders will ultimately be paying for service they will not receive. Second, long term solutions for Metro’s future have yet to be discussed. The fee doesn’t solve the underlying issues and uses important reserves to fill-in budget holes.

I don’t think it’s responsible to my constituents in District 6, nor the people of King County, to endorse a weak “band-aid” solution. Again, thank you for writing. Let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. I look forward to continuing this debate.

Sincerely,

Jane Hague

King County Council – District 6

Email: jane.hague@kingcounty.gov 

Phone: 206-296-1006

http://www.kingcounty.gov/Hague  http://www.facebook.com/kccJaneHague

LETTER: Overcrowding at elementary schools may not be real, By Susan Wilkins

OVERCROWDING AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS MAY NOT BE REAL

LETTER:  As a parent of four students currently enrolled in the Lake Washington School District, I have had many years of volunteering and attending events at their various schools. Over the past decade, my children have attended Mann, Rockwell, Einstein and Rush Elementary Schools, as well as Redmond Junior High and Redmond Senior High. I have had the opportunity to observe day-to-day activities first-hand while volunteering and attending events at the schools. I voted for bond measures, EP&O and technology levies and I-728, the initiative that was passed to reduce class sizes in 2000.

We are now being asked to pass a $66 million dollar levy on February 8 to add additional space at Redmond High School and Eastlake High School and to build a new Science and Technology High School out on SR202 on the lot next to Alcott Elementary. The district has claimed through its mailings and speeches that we are almost out of space for students, that more students are arriving every year, and that soon we will be double shifting or transporting students long distances by bus. While some schools, such as Rosa Parks Elementary at Redmond Ridge and Alcott Elementary east of Redmond are extremely overcrowded, most of the schools in the district are overcrowded because of the way the district defines school capacity and not because there are too many students.

Let’s look at how the district determines whether a school is overcrowded. At each school, the facilities department counts all of the homeroom classrooms in the school and portables, and then multiplies that total by a set number of students per classroom. For elementary schools, the set number of students per classroom is 23. So for example, at Horace Mann Elementary, they have 17 classrooms and 17 x 23 = 391*. Enrollment at Horace Mann for the 2010-2011 school year is 483, so by the district’s definition, the school is very overcrowded.

UPDATED: Councilmembers Margeson and Myers explain the uses and meaning of Council Committee voting.

Second update, 9/19:  I met Councilmember Hank Margeson at the "Leadership Eastside" breakfast meeting this morning and he was aware of my struggle to understand the Council Committees' purpose of voting.   Margeson (left) Chairs the Planning and Public Works Committee.  He said he uses the Committee vote mostly to "give direction" to staff.   Hank Myers (right) touches on this in the below letter he just emailed.  

A double thanks to "both Hanks" and especially to Kim Allen who first alerted me and explained the voting process.  Council President Nancy McCormmick and Michelle McGhee, our City Clerk also helped.   

The take-home message is Council Committee voting is "advisory" in nature and  not a Council decision.  The full Council will still have to vote by consent or nonconsent, on committee advise.

Open government is furthered if committee votes are not only recorded but also announced for the benefit of the viewing audience, media and staff.

A paraphrased, excerpted email from Councilman Hank Myers describes Committee process further, as follows:

Mayor Marchione has a policy of trying to give the Council process three touches on significant issues. Certain actions, such as applying for grants, require Council action. ...And in the case of the bike jump grant request we voted to recommend applying for the grant to show that it had been considered and was not controversial in our view. As a result, it was subsequently considered as part of the Council Consent agenda and passed.    

The Committee meetings are advertised as public so that interested members of the Council may attend and even participate in the discussion without violating the open public meetings act. It is my understanding that only members of the Committee may vote, [and the public my attend but not participate] and when we took the vote to approve the application for the bike jumps Mr. Vache', Mr. Carson and I all voted in favor. Councilmember Cole did not vote.

Hank Myers
Councilmember, View Point Neighborhood
Chair of Parks and Human Services Committee
paraphrased and edited by Bob Yoder

Updated: Downtown's Riverpark Apartments are open for business - rent prices & construction update

This "courtesy photo" of Riverpark Apartments was published in the local Redmond Reporter (6/25) with the Press Release. For "real time" photos & clips scroll down.

Redmond REDMOND, Wash. – June 24, 2009 – Legacy Residential, a West Coast leader in residential developments, today announced the formal opening of Legacy at Riverpark Apartments. A new gateway to downtown Redmond, Legacy at Riverpark Apartments includes 319 luxury apartment homes and 5,700 square feet of street-level retail in three five- to seven-story buildings.

Legacy at Riverpark Apartments is part of the expansive six-acre mixed-use Riverpark development, which also includes a 144-room Hotel Sierra, developed by LodgeWorks; a 106,000-square-foot office building anchored by Group Health; street level retail spaces; and secure, underground parking for 750 vehicles. With the 135-unit first phase now completed, Legacy is focusing on completing the second phase, which includes an additional 184 apartment homes. The second phase will open in September.

Legacy at Riverpark Apartments strikes a unique balance between the energy of an urban, mixed-use village and the serenity of a nearby stream surrounded by expansive open spaces and jogging trails. Riverpark is just a half mile from SR-520 and is a five-minute walk along the newly extended and improved Bear Creek Parkway from Redmond Town Center, a lifestyle center featuring a high-end theater, restaurants, and more than 100 shops and boutiques, including REI and Macy’s. Just two miles from Microsoft, five miles from Downtown Bellevue and 15 miles from downtown Seattle, Riverpark offers excellent commuting options.

--Media Contact: Nate Cole-Daum, Nyhus Communications LLC for Legacy Partners Residential, Inc., (206) 323-3733 or nate@nyhus.com

COMMENT:
I visited the apartments, took some pictures and talked to Nichole, Assistant Business Manager at Riverpark. The "Opening Day" 12-month Lease printed prices (dated 6/18/09) range from:

• a low of **$572/month for a 1-BR Studio (10% of apartments are "affordable" )
• to $2810/mo. for a 3 Bedroom Loft + Den, upper story w/view (presently unavailable)
• Two Bedroom/2 Bath range is $933 - 1452/month.
• Daily Special: 1 Month Free w/12 Month Lease. (apparently month-to-month is offered)
• Free Underground Parking, $500 Deposit ($250 refundable), $40 application fee. $300 pet fee (80 pound limit). $300 pet deposit.
• **Price ranges include the affordable housing by city requirement.

Some apartments are still under construction.

Legacy website of Riverpark: http://www.legacyatriverpark.com/

City description and video of the project: http://redmond.gov/community/02RiverPark.htm

some of my comments are opinions - the press release is abbreviated.

Hyperlocal news blogs are becoming an alternative to traditional print media.

The following story on local news blogs was written by Rob Butcher of the Kirkland Views. Rob's blog is being broadcast on the Seattle Times Online and his news aggregator "Eastside TODAY". Hyperlocal news blogs such as Kirkland Views are increasingly a complement, if not an alternative to traditional news media.

Given the the turmoil in the newspaper industry, traditional news organizations are finding it difficult to adequately cover smaller markets such as Kirkland and Redmond. In an effort to improve their news coverage of local communities, The Seattle Times initiated discussions with local in bloggers earlier this year. (The Redmond Blog was one).

The closest thing to a daily paper citizens of the Eastside have is the various editions of the Reporter. These free weekly and semiweekly newspapers are distributed in parts of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah and Bothell/Kenmore. These papers are vital to the local communities they serve, but the papers themselves can scarcely be called “local” as the profits they generate do not stay in the local economy. The Reporter papers are published by Sound Publishing which is owned and operated by Black Press, Ltd., a Canadian firm with 115 newspapers in western Canada, Washington State and Hawaii.

The days of print news in its current form are numbered. The traditional news media needs to adapt to the changing environment. The Seattle Times is attempting to do just that with its pilot program to partner with local blogs.

A little history:

In 1976, Bellevue’s Journal-American was founded as a merger of the Bellevue American and the Eastside Journal from Kirkland. In 1996, the Journal-American was renamed the Eastside Journal. In 2003, the paper morphed into the King County Journal. In November of 2006, the King County Journal was purchased along with its nine sister Reporter publications by the Canadian firm firm, Black Press Ltd. The King County Journal published its last issue on January 21, 2007.

-- story by Rob Butcher, Kirkland Views & Eastside TODAY, 5/18/09

OPINION: Four Mayors and a Clerk - The duties of our City Clerk

City Clerk Doris Schaible's retirement party on 3/22/1995: Selwyn "Bud" Young ('68-'79; d '99), Christine Himes ('80-'83), Doreen Marchione, ('84-'91), City Clerk Doris Schaible, Rosemarie Ives ('92-'07)

That's quite a picture of retired City Clerk Doris Schaible (in green) with Redmond's four most recently retired Mayors. Doris Schaible was our City Clerk for 25 1/2 years and she worked with everyone of these Mayors.  

Did you know that the City Clerk is the oldest of public servants in local government, along with tax collectors?  A case in point is our first mayor, Frederick A. Reil, 1913 -1918. He was Redmond's first postmaster and town clerk before running for mayor, unopposed. (1)

My personal experience with the Office of City Clerk began about four years ago. A large group of Education Hill neighbors were trying to appeal the Camwest, Inc. Perrigo Heights plat Steep Slope and Landmark Tree Exception. We needed ordinances and code information and we discovered the Clerk's office was a big help.  Today, I like to copy the Clerk on important emails to help my correspondence get circulated to the right people and "for the record".  When I want a public record for some information on, say, SE Redmond septic tanks and our aquifer - I submit my written request to the City Clerk.  cityclerk@redmond.gov.    

Our city clerk is the "hub of government" and direct link between "us" and city government. Probably no one knows more about what's going on in the city then the City Clerk. At a 2008 council meeting, Mayor John Marchione likened the Office of City Clerk as "a rock to stand on".  (I'm not sure what this means).  Since then, public records request service has improved dramatically.  Over time the Clerk's knowledge of the city's recorded history builds. The Clerk is highly respected and a certain amount a power comes with that knowledge.

According to various sources, (3) a City Clerk needs to be highly diplomatic, apolitical, unflappable, patient, versatile, and alert. I might add careful and assertive. One understands why a city clerk has these traits when reading their job description, as found on the city website, as follows:

1. supports the Mayor and City Council, oversees the Hearing Examiner function,
2. coordinates City elections and monitors state legislative actions.
3. responsible for coordinating and distributing agendas and information in support of City Council meetings.
4. is the official Public Records Officer of the City and maintains official City records including minutes, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, deeds and titles.
5. In conjunction with the Police Department, the Clerk's Office oversees and responds to public records requests.

This old website description barely describes the duties of the Office of the City Clerk. In  2010, Mayor John Marchione added additional work load to the City Clerk's job.  The Office of the Clerk (3 FTE's) is now responsible for updating the Council portion of the City Web site.  The Clerk is also Program Manager for the new City Hall  Volunteer Front Desk Program.  As the Administration has grown, so have the number of meetings needing a Record by the Clerk.  The record at meetings is taken by notes, recordings, email, and video.

When City Clerk Malissa Files was promoted by Mr. Mayor to Finance Manager, Michelle McGehee was promoted to City Clerk.  I think Michelle was hired by Mayor Rosemarie Ives.  

Our new City Clerk, Michelle McGehee, is a "Certified Municipal Clerk". She is extremely well qualified, friendly, and committed. Michelle moved from Alaska to take the job.  Michelle, or her deputy clerk Liz, can be reached at 425-556-2190 and by EMAIL: CityClerk@redmond.gov.

Michelle's job has definitely grown from the clerking days of Doris Schaible! (2) In 1969, the population of Redmond was 9,213. There were 60 employees. 1 Parks employee. 5 firefighters. 10 police. 1 traffic light (Redmond Way & 164 Ave. NE).  Today, the population is over 50,000 by night and 90,000 by day. 

References:

(1) "Redmond Reflections...from settlers to software", Naomi Hardy, 2006; (2) Doris Schaible, Community Relations, Redmond Historical Society. Photo courtesy of Doris Schaible; (3) Wikipedia - (click title page).

Posted:  June, 2008.  Updated:  5/28/2010

By Bob Yoder
Photo donated by Doris Schaible