Newly elected
The meeting began with council members Don Gerend, Kathy Huckabay, Bob Kellar and former mayor Tom Odell taking the oath of office. From there, the council proceeded to elect a new mayor and deputy mayor.
Huckabay nominated Tom Vance and Gerend nominated Nancy Whitten. Council member Vance was elected with five of the votes and will serve as mayor for the next two years.
Former deputy mayor Ramiro Valderrama nominated Gerend to take over his position, stating he brings not only the experience but the insight as he continues to work tirelessly for the city. Kellar followed with the nomination of Huckabay. In a vote of 5-3, Huckabay was elected as the new deputy mayor and will serve for the next year.
EFR Interlocal Agreement
The newly modified Eastside Fire and
Rescue Interlocal Agreement has been
modified and presented, but some council members are still concerned.
Council member Huckabay said she is disappointed in the agreement, stating there is no clear understanding of who is going to make key decisions. She said that she has received a lot of feedback from community members who are concerned about the Pine Lake station, wondering if trucks will be able to get to certain remote areas in a timely manner.
“People are very concerned with the reduced service level,” Huckabay said.
Huckabay was also concerned with Section 16.3 that deals with equipment upon a partner’s withdrawal.
“It would seem that this would be an opportunity to take to clarify the language,” she said.
According to the council, District 10 and North Bend have already passed the interlocal agreement. District 38 is in the process of scheduling a vote and the city of Issaquah will vote on Jan. 21.
Mike Kenyon, the Sammamish city attorney, said the main question at this point is whether there are substantive changes that the Sammamish city council wants to make. Council member Whitten nodded her head, saying there are in fact changes in the agreement that she wants to see.
Kenyon mentioned that EFR may form an operations committee to discuss some key concerns.
The discussion was postponed until the council’s special study session next week, where council members will present their drafted questions and concerns.
City Manager Report
City manager Ben Yacizi informed the council that Sammamish resident, Mary Piggott, donated $1 million to the YMCA community center project. She is also the one who donated the land for Big Rock Park which opened in October 2011.
Student Liaison Report
The student representative from Skyline High School informed those in attendance that the school met their goal for blood drive donations. She said that had approximately 60 people donate blood.
The representative also said that Skyline recently raised $3,800 in one weekend for the Ben Towne Foundation, but an anonymous donor decided to match that amount, giving them a total of $7,600 to donate. She thanked the community for their support in their fundraising efforts.
