Opinion: We need more school buses

If all students in LWSD who were eligible for school bus transportation were provided bus service and rode the bus to school, the traffic jams around our schools would not exist. The trouble is that our students are not provided with buses so their parents must drive them to school. 

Note that in Washington State, students who must walk more than a mile to school are eligible for bus transportation as part of basic education. (See the section on the 1-mile walk-area in 28A-160-160 in the R C W)

Innovative outdoor education in the school district

I'm so happy our schools are taking this innovative hands-on approach to learning, What do you think?

Lake Washington School District continues to have unprecedented growth

2018-19 brings a 10th year of significant growth to the District

Redmond, Wash. – Lake Washington School District’s (LWSD) official October 1 student enrollment was 29,987 students. This represents 417 more students than last year’s October 1 count.

For the last 10 years, from 2008 to 2018, the district’s enrollment grew by approximately 620 students each year. That is the size of a large elementary school. A total of 6,218 more students are in LWSD schools today than 10 years ago, representing 26 percent growth.

“Our enrollment growth is reflective of our thriving communities,” said Dr. Jane Stavem, Superintendent. “We are grateful for the support of our community as we strive to find solutions to support our rapidly growing student population.”

Enrollment growth is forecasted to continue. The district anticipates growing an additional 2,000 students in the next four years. These forecasts take into account the number of births in our area, current enrollment patterns and planned development within district borders.

LWSD is the third largest school district in Washington state, behind only Seattle and Spokane. The district is projected to be the second largest in the state within a few years.

10/2018

EvergreeenHealth commissioner steps down

EvergreenHealth Board of Commissioners Representative, Jeanette Greenfield, Steps Down Early from Board

I am hopeful the Board will appoint a resident who will move Mental Health care forward.  BY

Kirkland, Wash. – Jeanette Greenfield has announced her plans to resign her position as EvergreenHealth Board of Commissioners, At-Large effective December 18, 2018. Greenfield will be traveling extensively over the next year and unable to fulfill her board obligations.

While Greenfield’s term ends on December 31, 2019, she has opted to end her term this year in order to allow the board to appoint her replacement. The Board will select a representative later this year for the at-large position to fill Greenfield’s post.

Redmond Historical Society marks milestones amid many changes

Redmond Reporter published this thorough and interesting report on the Redmond Historical Society -- an organization embedded into the fabric and culture of City of Redmond and our neighborhoods. Katie Metzgar, the author, graduated from Redmond High School the same year as my daughter Lexie.  Last week she wrote an excellent article about Hopelink's  "Reaching Out event."  

- Bob Yoder
10/23

Water Tenders "Salmon Seeson" Cancelled, No Rain

Water Tender President Susan Wilkins at 
 Issaquah fish hatchery 

My daughter, Lexie, was the youth Water Tender Board Member while in high school.  She wrote a white paper on Bear Creek nimbyism and organized Key Club restoration work parties.  In 2023, she was promoted to Lead Environmental Scientist / Planner for a regional engineering company in Spokane.  Lexie's LinkedIn information.

At tour of the Salmon Fish Hatchery with Water Tender President Susan Wilkins. 

Every year from September - October during the "Salmon Seeson" you will find the Water Tenders at North Bear Creek educating children, families and adults about the life cycle of salmon.  This Fall was the 4-year cycle for sockeye so we were expecting a good run.  The Water Tenders put up sandwich board signs along Avondale Road to direct viewers to the creek. We usually see a lot of  returning salmon but this year owing to a prolonged drought there were none to be seen so the exhibit was shut down. Usually over 100 viewers walk up the trail to see coho, sockeye and chinook salmon.

Every year the Water Tenders pick up 1-2 Chinook salmon from the Issaquah fish hatchery for their Bear Creel exhibit.  Susan Wilkins, Water Tenders President says," this is an excellent way for viewers to see and touch the gills, scaling, and fins for show and tell."  Here's a picture of Susan at the hatchery standing by two chinook she was saving for the exhibit.

Salmon docent holding chinook 

According to their mission statement, "The Water Tenders are a group of individuals who care about the wetlands and streams in King County. We are your neighbors, friends, and family. All of us are willing donate our time and energy to preserving, protecting and restoring the wonderful natural  heritage of Washington State. We believe that it is our community’s responsibility to be good stewards of our natural resources in order to preserve them for the next generations. Water Tenders was founded in 1989 and is proud to have spearheaded and accomplished many efforts towards those ends."

A few other Water Tenders projects are removal of invasive Knotweed and Blackberry shrubs from wetlands and creeks, monitoring the Western Pearl Schell populations -- an indicator of stream health -- measuring rainfall within the Bear Creek Basin, and activism to protect wetlands and streams from proposed environmental sensitive land-use developments.   

If you'd like more information about the Water Tenders or want to join this non--profit ($25) please e-mail Bob at redmondblog@gmail.com  

 -- Bob Yoder, Fall of 2018
    Photos, Yoder

Plant park trees to restore Redmond forests

"yours truly"

Save the date to plant trees with the Green Redmond Partnership!  Join us at Juel Park on Saturday, October 27th, 9 am - Noon to help keep our forests healthy and green. Everyone can help! All ages welcome, no experience necessary. Green Redmond will have all gloves and tools for you to use, as well as coffee and snacks to get the morning started.

Planting events will be held at two other park sites this year. Advanced registration is strongly encouraged as some sites will fill up.  Find your favorite park and sign up via the link below!

We only have a few more spots open to volunteer with us on Oct 27th, so please email us below if you would like to sign up. Sign up at www.greenredmond.org.

-- Bob Yoder

Source:  redmond.gov

Redmond fire department's show of force

Internet photo

At 4:30 pm last week we saw five Redmond fire trucks, a medic truck and battalion SUV adjacent Value Village and Anderson Park on Cleveland and Redmond Way.  Firefighters were walking in full gear with their axes and other tools without a sense of  urgency. Abundant lights were flashing on all trucks but no fire, smoke or fire-hose water was seen. They appeared to be in some kind of "logistical training." 

-- Bob Yoder

Downtown Park pavilion art

Credit:  B Yoder

October 4th

City to raise Police salaries

redmond.gov

The City of Redmond and the Redmond Police Association (RPA) have successfully completed a collaborative negotiation process resulting in the proposed 2019-2021 Labor Agreement.

The Redmond Police Association represents uniformed, commissioned Police Officers, Police Sergeants, and new for 2019, Corporals.

In 2019, Officer base salaries will increase by 4 percent, plus an additional approximate 1.19 percent to move the ranges to be competitive in the market. In 2019, there will also be a one-time cost of $15,249 to add vacation time to 37 employees’ banks so that the Labor Agreement will be consistent with the City personnel manual with regard to vacation accrual.

Police Officer (effective January 1, 2019)
    > $79.608/year 0-12 months
    > $92,916/year 49+ months
Corporal:  $101,424/year
Sergeant:  $108,516/year

As second raise was negotiated effective January 1, 2020.

Police Officer (effective January 1, 2021)
     > $85,272/year 0-12 months
     > $98,760/year 49+ months
Corporal: $108,636/year
Sergeant: $116,244/year

Source:  10/16/18 City Council Regular Meeting Agenda

-- Bob Yoder

Mayor presents $797 million preliminary biennial budget

City Council "budgets by priority" as described by Council President Angela Birney here.  

City Hall credit Redmond Reporter

Redmond Mayor John Marchione presented the 2019-20 preliminary biennial budget on Oct. 2.

• By Stephanie Quiroz
• Thursday, October 11, 2018 12:38pm
• • REDMOND REPORTER

Redmond Mayor John Marchione presented the 2019-20 preliminary biennial budget at the city council meeting on Oct. 2.

“The next six to eight years will be crucial in shaping the fabric of Redmond,” Mayor Marchione said. “Redmond will receive $8 to $10 billion of private or non city investment. We must create the organizational structure and capacity to keep pace and manage growth.”

The $797 million budget will run from January 2019 through December 2020. The city strives to continue providing the highest priority services to the community. Redmond selected the Budgeting By Priorities (BP) process once again because it focuses budget decisions on citizen priorities.

The budget is organized around the city’s six community priorities: vibrant economy, clean and green, diverse and connected community, infrastructure, responsible government and safety.

Mayor Marchione said there is little change in the allocation of resources among the priorities. Infrastructure received 51 percent of the resources, public safety received 19 percent, responsible government received 15 percent, clean and green received 6 percent, vibrant economy received 5 percent and diverse and connected community received 4 percent.

Commissioners propose $1,234,000 to fund human services

According to a City Council 10/9 memo "Every other year, the City accepts proposals from human services agencies seeking grant funding in the next biennium. This past March, Redmond participated with 17 other King County cities, releasing a joint online funding application. This allowed organizations interested in requesting funding support from any of the participating cities to complete a single application. This year Redmond received applications from 91 programs, with requests for almost $2.2 million.

In 2016 Council approved the Mayor’s proposed budget to increase support to the human service fund from $13.25 to approximately $16.90 per capita. This resulted in tangible impacts and improved service delivery in our community. Adjusting for population and 3 percent inflation, the 2019-2020 human services per capita total is now expected to be about $1.21 million each year. Redmond also anticipates about $24,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to allocate to human services in 2019, bringing total available funds to about $1,234,000/year."

###

The Human Services commissioners recommended an additional $422,534 under "Option 1" to  fund some of the smaller non-profits and in response to community budget requests.  The Council left it up to the commissioners to vet the Option 1 requests.

The bulk of the funding was allocated to 12 non-profits, as follows:  Youth Eastside Services ($152,614) Friends of Youth ($138,227) Hopelink ($115,096) Congregations for the Homeless ($89,617) Sophia Way ($62,555) Health Point ($54,000) Lifewire - survivor advocacy ($50,570.) YMCA ($39,140) Chinese Information Center ($24,643) Catholic Community Services ($23,175) NAMI ($21,177.)

One of the commissioners noted Hopelink's large request even though they haven't added services from the prior biennium.  The same commissioner pointed to the $177,000 chamber video screen suggesting those funds could have been better spent in our community for human services.

The Council thanked the commissioners for their hard work and will vote on the requests at a later date. 

-- Bob Yoder

Sources:  Council Study Session memo, 10/9.  Joint meeting with Human Services Commission.
RCTV.