The race for Kirkland City Council Position 7 this November will pit incumbent Tom Hodgson against former Redmond Mayor and Kirkland resident Doreen Marchione. The Reporter sat down with each candidate for a Q&A and this is what they had to say about the issues facing the City of Kirkland.
What are your priorities and why are you running?
Marchione: Why I am running has to do with my priorities. I am running for the council because of the major decisions that are before the council and coming before the council in the next year. One, of course, is the annexation. Two is the budget deficit, although cities are required to have balanced budgets so in strict terms they can’t have a deficit. And then also the hiring of the new city manager, I think that is one of the biggest decisions the council will be making in the next few years. I feel that they have been dysfunctional the last couple of years and we really need a council that can work together. If we had a council that could work together there is no end to the good that we could do for this community.
Hodgson: I’m running on the issues of open government and controlled growth. And what I mean by open government is that when a citizen speaks at a city council meeting, they have the feeling that they’ve been heard and what they say becomes part of the discussion and is factored in to the vote of the council. That’s just one example of how open government would work.
It also means that city council members make their decisions in open session in the broad light of day at city council meetings, not in backgrounds. All the discussion, all of the policymaking is understandable and out in the open.
Controlled growth has to do with respecting the Comprehensive Plan and our zoning code. We participated in the Growth Management Act, as other cities did, and we’re meeting our housing and employment target. So we have the choice to decide how the city develops – we don’t have to make special deals with outside developers to attract new development. Kirkland’s a special place the way it is right now and it’s a desirable place so we can control our redevelopment.
There are other concerns. We have an ongoing budget situation that we have to resolve. We’re going to need to hire a new city manager next year. Our current City Manager has announced his resignation and we need to make sure the new city manager reflects the values of the citizens of Kirkland and not outside development interests.
I feel that we could be doing a better job with open government and I’ve worked hard to try and be the voice of the people and make policymaking for the city open and transparent. It’s been very difficult but I think it’s very important and I think that’s something we can do a better job with. In terms of controlled growth, I think we can be doing better there also. We seem to be getting into situations where the community is split on a development or a redevelopment project. I think that if we simply respect our Comprehensive Plan and honor the zoning code, it would be a lot simpler and a lot more predictable for both the citizens and developers.
How is your candidacy going so far?
Marchione: I think it’s going fine. I feel I am getting a very positive response from the community. Things are moving along just like we hoped.
Hodgson: I’m working on getting my literature out, meeting people. I’ve attended neighborhood picnics and neighborhood meetings. We have a candidate forum coming up that I’ll be attending.
What qualifies you to be a City Council member?
Marchione: I have 13 years experience in elective office, eight years as the mayor of Redmond, and that is a full-time elected job. You are in effect the city manager. And then, time on the city council there. And then I have 15 years experience as the CEO of Hopelink. Both Hopelink and the city of Redmond, as is the city of Kirkland, are complex organizations to run. I feel that gives me a lot of experience. I also have a lot of policy making experience, not only in government and at Hopelink, but also in serving on other boards and serving in other organizations.
Hodgson: I’ve been involved in city issues for 20 years, starting as a founding member of the North Rose Hill Neighborhood Association, moving on to the Park Board after that and becoming a member of the Planning Commission and serving a term as chair and currently as a four-year member of the city council.
I’ve had a long history in the city of listening to people, learning the issues, being involved in development of policy at a lot of different levels and I feel that qualifies me to continue to work for the greater good of the community and developing policy that reflects the values of the community.
Where do you stand on development in Kirkland?
Marchione: Well, Kirkland, under the Growth Management Act, is required to balance the number of jobs and housing in the community, and from what I understand right now, counting in those projects that will be coming … like Park Place and Google and such that we are doing okay on the jobs but it is the housing where we will need to have further development. But we do need both because right now, for a lot of shopping like clothing and stuff you have to go to Bellevue or Redmond or Seattle to do that kind of shopping. We need to have retail development and certainly I strongly support the redevelopment of Totem Lake and I think that would be a great asset to the city. I think that we can have the development in the city and preserve our neighborhoods. There seems to be a fear that something will happen to neighborhoods if there is any development in the community. Everybody in the community lives in a neighborhood. I live in the Moss Bay neighborhood and we’re probably primarily multi-family so our issues are a little bit different from single family home owners in some of the other neighborhoods. But we all want to preserve our neighborhoods and where we live. I think we can do both at the same time, while allowing development in appropriate places like Totem Lake. I think there is huge potential there because not only is the Totem Lake shopping area there, but because of the industrial park around that area. I think there could be a lot of redevelopment there, maybe for research and development for incubator companies (and) also some other housing around there that would benefit people who work at Evergreen Hospital and in the businesses around there. I believe that Juanita Village has the capacity to be doubled in size if the land is there, and I think that is another great spot for development. And then anywhere we can do it along the transition areas, like 6th street and places like that.
Hodgson: We are experiencing growth throughout the entire region and Kirkland has done a good job of accepting growth. We’re one of the densest communities in the region. We’re meeting our Growth Management Act housing and employment targets and doing a good job keeping the city very livable in the process. So I think that we have a choice to choose what kind of development in the city. We don’t have to make deals to attract development. We don’t have to allow exceptions to our zoning code. I think that we should encourage developers to build within the existing Comprehensive Plan and our zoning code, which allows quite a bit of flexibility in development. A lot of people have spent a lot of time working to develop our Comprehensive Plan and zoning code. I think we should respect that work.
I spent a lot of time on the Planning Commission writing the vision statement for our Comprehensive Plan. I think that when you make a plan, you should observe it and I think we haven’t been doing a good job of observing our Comprehensive Plan and zoning code. What that does is creates uncertainty for the residents and developers. I think that everybody loses when you don’t have a consistent plan to work from.
What do you think of your opponent and why are you a better choice?
Marchione: I think I am a better choice because I think my opponent has shown poor judgement on several issues recently. I disagree with his position when he handed the legal opinion, given to the council in executive session, to the attorney representing the people appealing the Bank of America project. To me that is just wrong. I don’t feel that there is any way to justify that.
In the recent meetings where a member of the LTAC Committee was, basically, publicly raked over the coals, I thought that was just poor judgement. You just don’t do that to people who are volunteering in the community. If you have issues you take care of them privately. That’s one of the reasons I am running.
Hodgson: Doreen has got a long record of service in the city of Redmond, where she brought a lot of development for that community and yet she chose to live in Kirkland, so I’m wondering if she’s not happy with the way the city of Redmond turned out. I am concerned about maintaining the character of Kirkland as we all appreciate it right now. Again, we have a choice to develop and redevelop the city the way we choose and I don’t think that we need to be attracting development. I think that she would be more friendly to outside development interests. I know that her campaign is taking funding from outside developers and actually the casino in Kingsgate and I’m not. I think it’s important to be responsive to values of the city and be true to the character of the city that we all enjoy right now.
What are the hot button issues and where do you stand?
Marchione: I do support the annexation. I think it is the way to go. We wouldn’t have as many cities as we do in King County today if other areas had annexed to their neighboring city rather than form their own separate community. I feel very strong about that.
And I also do support the utility tax. I think anytime you take something to the voters and give them the choice, to tax or not to tax, that is a good thing to do. It is a minimal amount, $6 a month basically for the average person. And you know, Washington natural gas rates are going down 17 percent this year so it could even be lower than what was projected. You can also do whatever you can to conserve energy and that tax will be even lower for you if that is what you do. I think that is a wise choice.
Hodgson: The idea of the utility tax came out of the budget cycle that we’re currently in. We factored that in to our calculation on how we would balance the budget for 2009-2010, so I support it because it is part of our budget planning. You know, I’m always concerned about raising taxes. I don’t think that people ever want to pay more taxes. The good thing about utility tax is it does create revenue from a more predictable source than retail sales tax – it’s not quite as vulnerable to economic cycles as a business tax is or commercial sales tax. So there are positives to having a utility tax increase but certainly planning is not good now to ask for the citizens to vote a little bit more on utility tax, but I do think it’s necessary and I do think that it will be put to good use and I’ve never felt that the city has wasted any of the revenue it’s collected.
Annexation is definitely a hot issue. I feel that we should welcome our neighbors who are really already a part of our community. They currently serve as volunteers on different committees for the city. I’m confident that our public safety level of service will continue without any impacts and I know that because I’ve spoken with police and firefighters and they’re confident that there won’t be any negative impact. We’re going to be gaining new parks for the city and again, I think that these people are already a part of our community, they have Kirkland mailing addresses and we should welcome them as a natural expansion and the last time that Kirkland will annex. This is a positive way for the city to grow.
Kirkland Reporter Editor Carrie Wood contributed to this report.
Q&As with all the candidates
The Reporter has conducted Q&As with all of the candidates for all four positions. To find them, click on the links below:
Pos. 1: Joan McBride (inc.) and Martin Morgan
Pos. 3: Penny Sweet and Brad Larssen
Pos. 5: Karen Tennyson and Amy Walen