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Water and sewer district commissioner is selected

July 6, 2009

By J.B. Wogan

Kathy Lambert has found her commissioner: Robert Abbott.

For the last month and a half, the King County councilwoman was interviewing applicants for a vacancy in the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District. The district serves a population of about 50,000, covering a geographical area that includes Klahanie, part of north Issaquah and most of Sammamish.

Lambert, as the council member representing Issaquah and other parts of east King County, had the responsibility of picking a candidate after the four current commissioners couldn’t agree on one.

To complicate the issue, the vacant position is up for re-election in November. Lambert said she was worried that whomever she appointed would receive an undue edge in the election; the top two applicants, Abbott and Stanley Stone, had filed to run for the position.

So, her solution was to select an interim commissioner until the election. Then, Stone, for medical reasons, withdrew his name from the race.

With only one person running for the position, the ethics of appointing a candidate in the interim changed, Lambert said.

“It would be good to have continuity,” she said. “He knows these issues and he will be there as the interim.”

Lambert submitted Abbott’s selection to the King County Council June 15. Barring some protest from the rest of the County Council, the King County executive will likely sign off on Abbott’s nomination shortly after June 22, Lambert said. The final step would be for the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District to officially swear in Abbott.

Abbott, who has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and genetics, lives in Sammamish. He almost joined the commission in March, when commissioners Tom Harman and Bob Brady voted to appoint him. At that point, commissioners Mary Shustov and Lloyd Warren opposed that, because they preferred Stone.

In past interviews, Shustov, Brady and Warren have said both Abbott and Stone would be capable commissioners.

Reach Reporter J.B. Wogan at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.

By J.B. Wogan
Kathy Lambert has found her commissioner: Robert Abbott.
For the last month and a half, the King County councilwoman was interviewing applicants for a vacancy in the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District. The district serves a population of about 50,000, covering a geographical area that includes Klahanie, part of north Issaquah and most of Sammamish. Lambert, as the council member representing Issaquah and other parts of east King County, had the responsibility of picking a candidate after the four current commissioners couldn’t agree on one.
To complicate the issue, the vacant position is up for re-election in November. Lambert said she was worried that whomever she appointed would receive an undue edge in the election; the top two applicants, Abbott and Stanley Stone, had filed to run for the position.
So, her solution was to select an interim commissioner until the election. Then, Stone, for medical reasons, withdrew his name from the race.
With only one person running for the position, the ethics of appointing a candidate in the interim changed, Lambert said.
“It would be good to have continuity,” she said. “He knows these issues and he will be there as the interim.”
Lambert submitted Abbott’s selection to the King County Council June 15. Barring some protest from the rest of the County Council, the King County executive will likely sign off on Abbott’s nomination shortly after June 22, Lambert said. The final step would be for the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District to officially swear in Abbott.
Abbott, who has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and genetics, lives in Sammamish. He almost joined the commission in March, when commissioners Tom Harman and Bob Brady voted to appoint him. At that point, commissioners Mary Shustov and Lloyd Warren opposed that, because they preferred Stone.
In past interviews, Shustov, Brady and Warren have said both Abbott and Stone would be capable commissioners.
Reach Reporter J.B. Wogan at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.
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Written by J.B. Wogan · Filed Under Local News 

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