In the tradition of point/counterpoint, I would like to respond to both Mr. Styles and Mr. Taylor. I am a 29-year resident of the formerly-unincorporated-area known as Kingsgate. For about as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve read with bemusement the rants of original Kirkland boosters like Mr. Styles, who shares a kinship with lesser Seattle’s more famous curmudgeon, Emmet Watson. While it is true that, during the era of our city’s namesake, Peter Kirk, our city was indeed a sleepy burg, isolated from the hustle and bustle of Seattle. Mr. Styles must surely know this is no longer the case, yet he rails on against how the City “maneuvered” to (adhere to King County’s Growth Management Plan, reaping $10 million in tax receipts) annex Juanita, Finn Hill and Kingsgate.
As for his specious claim that Kirkland is a city “we made and paid for,” I would remind him of the fact that the city’s tax revenue doubled or tripled when, in the 1970s, the then-City Council decided to annex the area around Totem Lake Mall and Evergreen Hospital while arrogantly leaving out residents literally across the street (Kingsgate 1 and 2, where I now live). That self-serving decision stabilized or reduced city tax rates for decades while neatly shunting urban development and traffic away from their precious Downtown Kirkland core. Why live with the effects of growth when you can just harvest the tax revenue instead? Why indeed. The result was that “new” residents like Mr. Styles thought former City leaders had been courageous and clever in managing “their” tax resources to preserve the Mayberry feel.
Their comeuppance came a few years ago, when the unincorporated just to the north of Kirkland were finally annexed. Kirkland nearly doubled in size and became the sixth largest in King County and the 12th largest in the state. Mr. Styles evidently still harbors considerable resentment that the City Council “let this happen to us.” Wake up, Bob: my family and the other “undesirables” in Juanita, Finn Hill and Kingsgate areas had been subsidizing your recumbent lifestyle for decades.
Turning to our newest curmudgeons: Mr. Taylor and the other seaplane detractors. Like Mr. Styles, a small but vocal group of Kirklanders long for the days when nothing new ever happened in Kirkland. Mr. Taylor asserts that infrequent seaplane takeoffs encroach on his peaceful garden lifestyle, yet I wager the real reason their conversation paused was not due to the noise, but to the fact that everyone stopped listening to Mr. Taylor expound and turned instead to watch the seaplane takeoff. Watching an historic marvel of aeronautical engineering turn from boat to airplane in the span of 15 seconds is a sight to see and never grows old. I would categorize this as a feature of Mr. Taylor’s property location, not a flaw, and so would most of his guests.
Up here in the former Kingsgate neighborhood, we too regularly see and hear airplanes flying overhead, but they are 737s, A320s and 747s flying their northerly approach to Sea-Tac. While still marvels of aviation, these large jets are not nearly as awe-inspiring or picturesque as watching a propeller-driven 1956 Beaver, rising off the lake and heading off to WhoKnowsWhere. Care to swap houses, Mr. Taylor?
Roger Clarke-Johnson, Kirkland
