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| Centro Cultural Mexicano hosted the forum. Plymouth CEO Carol Lee sitting far left. |
Carol Lee, CEO of Plymouth Housing held a forum on April 27 for Redmond business and community members to learn about Plymouth's homeless services and operations. About five businesses showed up.
Plymouth Housing will build a downtown facility for 100 chronic homeless people. It will be sited in a 6-story building near Anderson Park, with completion expected by 2026
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| Redmond Technology Station Train / credit "Experience Redmond" |
Centro Cultural Mexicano invites you to join us at our annual Cinco de Mayo event at Redmond Downtown Park! This free, family-friendly cultural celebration highlights traditional Mexican culture, music, and food through seven hours of entertainment. We welcome you to be part of our event this year!
The City of Redmond's lack of good information on Silver Cloud-Redmond homeless housing and Plymouth Housing prompted this post.
Open Government: The Peoples Right To Know
Redmond has three local governments: The City of Redmond, Lake Washington School District and EvergreenHealth Public Hospital. The public has a "right to know" information about their inner workings. Public Record Request forms usually find the information you need. When you don't get good information or it's a hassle finding it, you may feel like the bearded guy in the cartoon!
Below, are helpful links to the Public Record Request forms for each government. In my investigative reporting, I have some good experience with them and their Public Request Offices. I've found the public records office of EvergreenHealth the most professional, the City of Redmond a close second with LWSD in the rear.
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| Great Blue Heron "Species of Local Importance" Sammamish River, Redmond, WA. |
"I only caught part of your meeting last night, but it sounds like the State is requiring updates to the Critical Area Ordinance?
As a college educated biologist -- similar to Mayor Angela Birney -- Critical Areas are important to me. In the Ives Administration, I made "Species of Local Importance" and "Habitat of Local Importance" comments to the Planning Commission chaired by Mr. Snodgrass. After much discussion, the commission decided on the Great Blue Heron (GBH) and Riparian habitat, in which it lives.
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| Zoey getting ready to enter the small dog side The new Redmond Pop-Up dog park is located behind the Hartman pool and high school baseball field. Follow the signs on 104th for limited parking; it's easily walkable. We talked to Parks staff when it was under construction. Brett Barker 😀 said it will be closed late August to make room for the high school cross country races. Zoey romped happily today with two large dogs! We had nice chats with their owners too! See you there! -- B. Yoder, 4/19/2024 |
Join Plymouth Housing and OneRedmond in a Plymouth Housing-Business Focus Group.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
5:30pm-7:00pm
Centro Cultural Mexicano
16300 Redmond Way, Redmond
RSVP is required due to limited seating. While we welcome attendees from any Redmond businesses, we hope to prioritize space for businesses located close to the Cleveland St. location.
Any questions, please contact RedmondPSH@plymouthhousing.org
More information about the development can be found on the City of Redmond's website here: https://www.redmond.gov/2116/Plymouth-Housing-in- Redmond
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| SafeEastside.com Demands "a Say" on Downtown Homeless Housing |
In a phone call yesterday, Councilmember Steve Fields recommended "neighborhood meetings" as a means to "have a Say" in the downtown homeless crisis. These open meetings will offer Q&A discussions with elected officials, Plymouth staff, stakeholders and community members of various persuasions. Possible meeting locations: the Together Center, Redmond Kiwanis Club, downtown businesses, OneRedmond (City Hall,) Down Pour Coffee and residential neighborhoods.
-- B. Yoder, 4/16. photo Yoder
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| Henry "Hank" Myers holding his Kiwanis Proclamation |
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| Hank's Proclamation (click picture to enlarge) Club President LouAnn Ballew presented the Proclamation, Club Secretary Sue Stewart wrote the Proclamation "with the help of AI," reading it with emphasis on Hank's full name, Henry "Hank" Myers. Blog posts on some of Hank's council work are HERE. |
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A YouTube Video of the Meeting! |
Apr 13, 2024, 10:30 AM
Old Redmond Schoolhouse, 16600 NE 80th St, Redmond
Redmond is home to the headquarters of several major bike manufacturers. However, there’s not one thing that makes Redmond a great place for cycling, but many things put together that has earned Redmond the designation of "Bicycle Capital of the Northwest"―from Derby Days races to “Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day” (RAMROD) to the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome at Marymoor Park. Joe Matthews, President of the Redmond Cycling Club, will give a short history of that organization.
Speaker bio:
Joe Matthews only got into long-distance cycling after his brother challenged him to complete the Seattle to Portland (STP) bike ride in the 1990s. Matthews couldn’t back down, of course. After STP, the Redmond resident wanted more, so he embarked on the Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD―a single-day event that celebrates the beauty of Mount Rainier National Park and features a challenging course of 150 miles and 10,000 feet of climb. He was hooked. Since then, Matthews has cycled in myriad races and challenges and now serves as president of the Redmond Cycling Club (RCC). RCC was founded in 1978 amid increasing popularity of cycling in the U.S. The club began from a core group of friends who were riding regularly. Within a few years, RAMROD founder John Dixon brought the RAMROD cycling event to RCC, which it now stewards.
OPINION: Redmond is in a turmoil. From the blue "Demand a Say" signs scattered all over our city and numerous City Hall meetings over-flowing with protesters, we all know Council (and indirectly the Mayor) made the fateful "Plymouth decision" to welcome 100 homeless to our downtown.
Some background: The King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) is promoting a regional approach to the homeless problem and now taking Seattle's severe homeless to the suburbs. Their disorganized 3-Board strategy didn't work in Kenmore and it's not working in Redmond.
Bellevue accepted the first Plymouth Housing building on the Eastside. It opened on July 23, 2023 and is located in a distant 10-acre low income "ecosystem."
At Bellevue's Plymouth, "three staff members will live on-site and a health care clinic will allow these homeless to meet with primary care and psychiatry providers, and have an option for 24/7 telehealth urgent care." Fantastic! I hope this comes to fruition with many residents exiting.
According to Seattle Times, to qualify for a Plymouth studio in Bellevue, potential residents "must have been homeless for at least a year and have at least one disability." Thus, the conditions of these homeless are severe, by far "not run of the mill."
By 2027, Redmond will have a similar building located in our downtown across from Anderson Park. Hopefully, our downtown homeless will have sufficient Plymouth human services to keep their residents stable and our community safe.
Mayor Birney should speak directly to the public to explain why she's accepting severe homeless in our downtown. By reaching out, she will quell miss-information, calm the public, and stimulate productive, community conversations. Until the Mayor speaks up and leads, the disorder and chaos could continue.
-- Bob Yoder, 4/8/2024, Updated Opinion 5/7/24
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| Canadian goose nesting on tree snag in Redmond / credit John Reinke |
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| Pat Vache' (orange vest) working the water station / credit Pam Yoder |
The City of Redmond's 8th Annual "Beat the Bunny" 5k Run/Walk was a hip-hip hopping success.
There's Pat Vache' -- on the right -- working the water station at mile 3. Pat's the Founder of the Redmond Kiwanis Club (and renowned, past City Council President). The Kiwanians exhibited and volunteered at various stations along the Marymoor Trail.
Over a hundred must have turned out at the Marymoor Community Center for the start, with many families, young children and athletes "competing." Several sights along the way ... the Marymoor Park climbing peak, a cricket game, a goose nest high above, a light rail segment and of course, construction.
REDMOND, WA - The new Redmond Senior & Community Center recently earned the first-ever recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council for sourcing wood from climate-resilient forestry. The Council, which manages the LEED certification process, awarded the building an innovation point during the process and lauded Opsis Architecture and Sustainable NW for verifying that wood came from forests managed sustainably.
“We are honored to receive this historic recognition,” said Mayor Angela Birney. “The senior and community center was designed with environmental sustainability in mind, and it is exciting to know all who walk through these doors will be coming into a place that not only cares about them but cares about the building’s impact on our planet.”
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| 8-story project site and Land Use "invitation to comment," credit Yoder |
Lake Washington School District (LWSD) has proposed redirecting levy funds from the 2022 Building Excellence Construction Levy.
LWSD will hold off construction in Sammamish and will redirect the funds to build 12 classroom additions each, at Eastlake High School and Redmond High School.
In addition, core space modifications will create room for students to move throughout the building, eat lunch and congregate. The additions and space modifications will be completed in the same timeline as before.
-- Shannon Parthemer
LWSD Communications Director
Ms. Parthemer's press release, 3/17/2024, Excerpted and edited.
Posted by Yoder, 3/27/2024
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| One of Many Signs Staked in Downtown Redmond |
https://redmond.granicus.com/player/clip/2809
The video shows a packed house at City Hall with demonstrators peacefully holding SafeEastside signs -- "Demanding a Say on Low Barrier Housing in Downtown Redmond." 40 citizens commented.
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| "Construction Art installation" on Cleveland Street / B. Yoder |
Puzzle: What's inside? 😄
3/22/2024
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| EvergreenHealth Medical Center "Community-owned" |
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| Robin Campbell, PhD |
KIRKLAND, Wash. – The Board of Commissioners of King County Public Hospital District #2 (EvergreenHealth) recently appointed Robin Campbell, PhD, to fill a vacant position on the Board, serving in Position #5 as an at-large representative. Campbell joins the Board effective March 19, 2024, and replaces Commissioner David Edwards, who vacated the position in December 2023 after being elected to the Woodinville City Council.
Campbell is a retired executive and board director with 35 years of experience in life science companies such as Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Aptitude Medical Systems and Pfenex, Inc. He also lectured at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Technology Management Program, focusing on business strategy and marketing for technology-based firms.
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Redmond is in turmoil over Council's decision to allow Plymouth Homeless Housing in our downtown. Blue signs objecting to downtown "low-barrier" homeless housing (where drugs are allowed in the hotel with conditions) suddenly appeared all over Redmond's downtown today (3/12) including this one at Anderson Park.
At no fault of their own, Council wasn't transparent in their decision to house100 homeless and low income people in Redmond's downtown. According to Planning & Community Development Director Helland, a public Hearing wasn't required; and "comment periods" were tabled in the rush to qualify for funding. Thus, SafeEastside activists are demanding "a Say."
Various ways to have a Say:
