As Plateau residents, we have an interesting vote due Feb. 11. We must vote “yes” to annex our 18 jurisdictions in the Klahanie PAA to the city of Issaquah.

Simply put, this is our last chance to do this. The city of Issaquah is prepared to annex us with a “yes” vote, and will not with a “no” vote. We have no guarantees past this, other than to stay unincorporated in King County. The process to get this election has taken over three years and hundreds of volunteer man-hours which your neighbors have conducted.

This is not a comparison between Issaquah vs. Sammamish, and it concerns me that detractors from this effort continue to try and lead you to believe it is. If that were really true, there would not actually be vote on Feb. 11 as Sammamish would have (and should have) gotten the annexation done years ago after the 2005 failed vote to Issaquah. Did they do it? Nope, not even a minor attempt. They are only stepping forward at the 11th hour to protect special interests and block Issaquah. That concerns me even more.

I have been a resident in Klahanie for over 24 years. We deserve to lower our taxes. I can think of dozens of ways I’ll enjoy spending the approx. $1,000/year savings I’ll see in my household. And since we are paying for it, we deserve services we don’t really get today, like police, road services, repairs, and government representation. We deserve to be a city, and the only way to do this is to vote “yes” to annex to Issaquah.

And by the way, two “yes” votes please; annexation and Issaquah school levies.

Rob Young, Issaquah