What Councilwoman Penny Sweet said about one neighborhood – or area – should not have more input or influence than another is true; however, she and her political allies, including her husband, do not practice what they preach.

Whether it was Doris Cooper, Nona Gantz, Sants Contreras, and now Toby Nixon and Penny Sweet – they all treat their neighborhoods differently and it comes at the expense of a reduced quality of life and tax burdens of the other neighborhoods.

Because neighborhoods are not treated the same, neighborhood organizations have been formed to protect their interest. Such is the case of the Houghton Community Council.

In 1968, Houghton became part of Kirkland. It was an agreement the City of Kirkland wanted because without it, Houghton would have stayed Houghton. Houghton protected their interest.

We’ve seen what happened to the Lakeview and Central Houghton neighborhoods. Their desires were flagrantly ignored. At their community meetings, staff listened, but rubber stamped what the city wanted, not what the neighborhoods wanted.

The meetings were a political ploy to give the public the appearance of fairness exploiting the theme of our City Council cares.

They did not. The council failed to protect existing quality of life in those neighborhoods and now the city wants to treat every neighborhood the same with the same potential for failures regarding quality of life and taxation.

If the HCC is removed, so goes the neighborhood.

As referred to in other comments about the HCC, it’s been called out-of-date and hasn’t kept up with the times. It’s legislation worth keeping. Our Constitution is old but not out of date. At least it protects what we have.

Bob Style, Kirkland