The primary election for Position No. 5 on the Kirkland City Council will take place Aug. 18 with Matt Gregory, Karen Tennyson and Amy Walen facing off to decide what two candidates will advance to the general election Nov. 3. Absentee ballots for the primary are scheduled to be mailed out on July 31.
The Kirkland Reporter sat down with all three candidates for a Q&A concerning the issues that surround the Kirkland City Council. The candidates were given the same questions with as much time as they needed to explain where they stand on the issues.
What are your priorities and why are you running?
Tennyson: The first issue that I have is with some of the development that’s taking place across the city. I’m not against development because that would stop everything in Kirkland from economic development. But what I would like is development that would match the Comprehensive Plan, and I know there’s very vague language in the plan that tends to be interpreted a number of different ways. So one of the things I’d like to see done is to have the language tightened up so that everyone has an understanding of what it means and what we can expect from the development instead of some of the development that we’re getting and we’re totally shocked that it’s there.
The other issue for me is the continued budget deficits that we’re having. What I would like to see is our budget process change and I would like us to respond to trends better. I would like us to do a better job of forecasting and I would like us to develop and maintain a sustainable budget.
Walen: To help pick a city manager. Addressing the city’s budget problems. With or without annexation, we need to ensure that essential services are provided to every person. Tackling those things are my first priority.
Why am I running? I think I can do a good job there. We need diversity on the council and I think I bring the skill set that is needed right now. There is a lot of budget stuff right now and I have been a CFO for a long time, I have a legal background, I think it is just a time when somebody with real management experience goes to work for the council. Our business (Ford of Kirkland) does $75 to $100 million a year in revenue. So I have big business experience.
Gregory: I set out a platform right at the beginning when I filed. It was transportation, revitalization, affordability, innovation and neighborhoods, the acronym is TRAIN. We need to get Kirkland back on the train. Transportation-wise my priority is to take a fresh approach, look at what the other cities are doing around us: Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond and Bellevue have all done major circulation changes. And they kind of look at Kirkland as a cog in the wheel. We are still relying on the same transpiration network that was here when I was here 30 years ago. Totem Lake has not been solved. Plus we don’t have 24/7 bus service and we are the fifth densest city in the state.
Revitalization: our economic engine is dead and it needs a jump start. Our sales tax has gone down 28 to 22 percent in the last year. Eighty percent of that sales tax has been auto. We have a dead mall sitting out there and I want to encourage business with proper zoning. I was really encouraged by what Bellevue was doing. They are doing a revitalization program east of the freeway.
Affordability: We have affordable buildings and homes but we need affordable land. We need to look at smaller lots, if possible, not giving away land and right-of-ways that we have.
Innovation: Thinking outside the box with fresh approaches instead of the ways that we have been doing it.
Neighborhoods: There are still some neighborhoods that are over 20 years old waiting for plan updates. They need to be moved to the top of the list and given priority. With potential annexation, they could be still waiting for some more years. Why am I running? I have lived in Kirkland a long time. I thought I was well prepared. I have been on the school board. Many people from different sectors have asked me to run. I have been on the planning commission for 10 years and I just thought it was time.
How is your candidacy going so far?
Tennyson: It’s going really well. We just had a kick-off last night at the Women’s Club and it was very successful. It’s interesting with the contribution cap that the city passed, which I was all in favor of doing that, but it’s been interesting how that’s affecting the different campaigns to do that.
Walen: My candidacy is going really well and I am working really hard by getting out and meeting people. I have this coffee morning thing I do from 8-10 on Wednesdays and a lot of people come see me. You might not think they do but they will. But also, I will meet anybody anywhere. I am trying to be like here is my e-mail, here is my Web site, here is my phone number, call me let’s talk, I’ll meet you. Everyday I have five or six meetings with different people. I feel like I am doing my homework and getting myself where I need to be. I met with the city manager, met with the police chief, I am meeting with the fire chief. I have been meeting with some of the previous council members, and people who have served before, to get their take. I think it is going well. We have raised, I think we are getting close to $10,000. I have been endorsed by the firefighters and the Seattle/King County Realtors. A lot of people haven’t chosen yet. I did not get the Women’s Political Caucus, they chose Karen (Tennyson). And I didn’t get the public employees’ union, which chose Matt (Gregory) and I totally understand why. I am getting my fair share and I am working on it.
Gregory: I haven’t really hit any road blocks. Amy (Walen) started early but didn’t declare a position so she was ahead of it. But she didn’t put out a platform or have a Web site. She and Penny (Sweet) were ahead of everybody on fundraising. When I filed on the last day I came right out with a platform and had a temporary Web site up … before either candidate. Karen (Tennyson) just got hers up recently. I was the first one to get my signs up. I had them up before the Fourth of July. I have some other things that I plan to be first on. From that stand point, it’s going well. I have been able to get volunteers. Fundraising is going to be an effort given this economic climate. I just looked (July 16) and we’re up to $32,000 for nine candidates. Two years ago two candidates raised $75,000 between the two of them – Penny Sweet and Jessica Greenway. We’re all after the same dollar. If you want to do a mailing and it is 50 cents a piece for first class and you have 25,000 voters, its expensive and I am looking for some creative ways to do that. On the fundraising, I am trying to raise all my money in Kirkland and if you go to (candidate) Amy (Walen)’s Web site maybe nine to one is outside of Kirkland and I think Karen is behind the two of us.
What qualifies you to be a city council member?
Tennyson: I started as a neighborhood activist and then moved into being a community activist. I’ve been the chair of the North Rose Hill Neighborhood Association twice, I’ve been a board member over 10 years. I’ve been on the KAN (Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods) group also for about 10 years. I was on the 85th Street Corridor Study on the Community Action Committee and I was also on the North Rose Hill, which was the very first neighborhood comprehensive plan to be updated and I was on that committee.
Then I thought I needed broader experience in that and I needed to get more familiar with the business community. I am a small business owner (she’s a software distributor for educational software and instructional material lines). So I got appointed to the Kirkland Economic Partnership, which was a group that was concerned about economic development. We came up with the recommendation to hire an economic development manager for the city. I learned an awful lot about Kirkland, what some of the constraints are for businesses to be here, got a much better understanding of business issues.
I got appointed to the ARCH (Regional Coalition for Housing) Board, I was on the Eastside Sexual Assault Center Board. I’ve been on the Planning Commission for five years and was the chair for awhile and while I was there I was the commission representative for the Market neighborhood team and worked on the Market Corridor Plan updates.
Walen: I think I have the educational background. I think I have the proven management experience. We have managed to keep a Ford dealership in business and profitable since we started there in 2005. I think I have the qualities as a human being. I am not a neighborhood candidate, a business candidate, a developer candidate. I come into this with a fresh approach and fresh eyes to look at everything. I love Kirkland. This is my future. My husband and I are invested in living here. And now I am getting a really good feel for the vision. I have been reading the Comprehensive Plan. I see why people are passionate about Kirkland. As a good council person I think you have to have a real sense of working for the public good, which I do. And you have to listen really well and have respect for the people you are working for, which are the people in the city. You have to be able to work well with others. I have that. I have done that. I think you need to have a sense of integrity and courage to vote. You can’t try to please everyone, you have to have courage. As long as you are working within the vision of the community that you set forth, you can be brave and get something accomplished on the council.
Gregory: I have been active with the city council as a planning commissioner, appointed three times, served 10 years, which is the maximum. I have chaired the Planning Commission. I have worked with 17 different planning commissioners over that time. Six of those planning commissioners went on to serve on the city council that I worked with. I was also appointed to the Lake Washington School Board. I have already dealt with budgets as large or larger than the city has. The superintendent came on just after I was appointed and so I know about some of the transition things that will happen with the city manager. I think I have the advantage.
Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report
