About 74 percent of Issaquah residents think the city is headed in the right direction and 57 gave the municipality a thumbs up for spending money wisely, according to a recent phone survey
The intent of the survey was measure how residents felt about a parks levy, which would repair or replace the failing Julius Boehm pool. About 85 percent of city residents were for a $10 million levy, and about 61 percent of people who live in the Issaquah School District were for it. When the money doubled to $21 million, support in the city slipped to 74 percent.
The survey also discovered about three-fourths of people felt positively about allowing some businesses to open up at Lake Sammamish State Park. The survey didn’t, however, explore what people felt about a levy that included money to repair the park.
Human service campus effort continues
Plans to create a human services campus continue to move forward under the guidance of the Together Center, which has another year to make the project work, before the city pulls its $1 million.
The campus would provide cheap rent to multiple non-profits at once. John Rittenhouse, a former city councilmember who works with Together, told Issaquah City Council they’re not far from finding a location and several organizations have expressed interest in the project.
County considers consolidating E911
As King County is evaluating its E911 system, it’s considering consolidating its 12 dispatch offices, including Issaquah’s. A report on a recent study of the services is expected to present a recommendation this October.
City Council talked briefly about options, in the event that the county wanted to close Issaquah’s dispatch office, but Police Chief Paul Ayers assured the members it would be a couple years before anything could happen.
“I will be extremely angry if this survey results in the diminution of the outstanding public service that we have,” said Council President Tola Marts. “When people call in (to dispatch) and say there is a shooter between IMS and Clark, I don’t want someone to say what’s IMS and what’s Clark?”
