City Council applicants offer varied skills
January 22, 2013
Members to appoint candidate Jan. 29
The applicants for a rare open seat on the City Council include long-established community leaders — and some candidates from the last time the council accepted applications to fill a vacancy.
The seven candidates offer assorted skills in community, government and military service in the process to succeed Mark Mullet on the council.
Initially, Ken Sessler, a retired Boeing engineer and a prolific letter writer to The Issaquah Press, applied for the vacancy, but withdrew not long after the city released the applicant list.
Issaquah School Board seeks applicants for vacancy
January 22, 2013
A seat on the Issaquah School Board is up for grabs.
Board member Chad Magendanz left the position when he resigned Jan. 9 in order to start his new job in the state Legislature.
The remaining four board members have 90 days to appoint a new representative from Issaquah’s fourth district, from the Issaquah Highlands through the downtown corridor south to Tiger Mountain and Mirrormont.
All voting-aged residents of that area are invited to apply for the position by 4 p.m. Feb. 14. The new member would need to serve the remainder of Magendanz’s term, through November 2013.
Fred Butler launches campaign for Issaquah mayor
January 17, 2013
NEW — 6 p.m. Jan. 17, 2013
Fred Butler, a City Council stalwart for 13 years and a voice in important debates about the future of Issaquah, entered the race for mayor Thursday.
Fred Butler
The contest could hinge on the vision for the decades ahead, as city leaders seek to position Issaquah for redevelopment and attract more jobs to the community.
Butler, 72, served on the council at major junctures in recent history, as members debated the defunct Southeast Bypass road link, how to preserve forested Park Pointe on Tiger Mountain, and late last year, a 30-year redevelopment blueprint called the Central Issaquah Plan.
Sammamish pet store moves to Issaquah Highlands
January 15, 2013
Sammamish pet store Civilized Nature plans to move to the Issaquah Highlands retail center, Grand Ridge Plaza, by August.
Civilized Nature owner D’Arcy Dent has been looking for a new space after learning that Petco would be moving close to its existing location in the Sammamish Highlands retail center.
The developer of Grand Ridge Plaza, Florida-based Regency Centers, is also the owner of Sammamish Highlands.
Expect Grand Ridge Plaza’s initial offerings — Regal Cinemas and some restaurants — to open at about the same time in the spring.
Mark Mullet reflects on City Council term
January 8, 2013
Mark Mullet claimed a historic first in January 2010.
Mark Mullet
The entrepreneur and former banking executive ran unopposed for a City Council seat in 2009 and won election as the first Issaquah Highlands resident to serve on the council.
The highlands added thousands of residents as construction escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the neighborhoods existed for more than a decade before a resident achieved citywide elected office.
In the years Mullet served on the council, members hired City Administrator Bob Harrison, oversaw a major staff reorganization at City Hall, approved a long-term redevelopment plan for the business district, inked development agreements with Lakeside Industries and Rowley Properties, and approved a retail plastic bag ban.
Eastside Fire & Rescue closed station, cut staff in Issaquah
January 8, 2013
Eastside Fire & Rescue closed a fire station in Issaquah on Dec. 19 and reduced staff at another Issaquah fire station Dec. 14 as the agency’s overtime budget ran low.
The agency closed a Sammamish fire station Dec. 16 for the same reason.
Officials closed Station 72, 1575 N.W. Maple St., from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 19 and reduced the staff at Station 71, 190 E. Sunset Way, to two firefighters from the typical three, for six hours Dec. 14. The agency also shut down Station 81, 2030 212th Ave. S.E., from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 16.
The closures and staffing reductions have become something of a holiday tradition at EFR. In recent years, the agency’s overtime budget has become a lightning rod and a target for partners seeking to tighten the belt on personnel costs.
“We’re trying to make the administration and union aware that this is not a fund they can keep coming to,” EFR board member and Sammamish Mayor Tom Odell said.
Joshua Schaer is first City Council member from Talus
January 8, 2013
Councilman Joshua Schaer moved to Talus late last month and, in the process, became the first City Council member from the Cougar Mountain urban village.
Joshua Schaer
The change offers Schaer a perspective on city issues from the quiet urban village perched above state Route 900.
Construction escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Talus and the Issaquah Highlands, both hillside urban villages, but the neighborhoods existed for more than a decade before a resident achieved citywide elected office.
In 2010, Mark Mullet became the first resident from the highlands to join the council. (Mullet, a state senator elected in November, recently resigned from the post to serve in Olympia.)
Who’s News
January 8, 2013
Skyline twins to dance at inaugural ball
Skyline High School sophomore twins Karishma and Aishwarya Mandyam will be performing the Bharatanatyam dance, an ancient classical dance art form of South India, in the rotunda during the Governor’s Inaugural Ball at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 at the Capitol campus.
Fire damages Issaquah Highlands home
January 1, 2013
Firefighters responded to a house fire in the Issaquah Highlands just after 8 p.m. Dec. 27.
Eastside Fire & Rescue reached the empty home in the 1600 block of Northeast 24th Street at 8:22 p.m., five minutes after the call reached 911 dispatchers. Firefighters could see smoke and flames from the street, and worked to extinguish the fire in a second-floor bedroom and protect nearby residences.
Overall, eight units responded to the scene in the highlands neighborhood, and firefighters had the blaze under control by 8:43 p.m.
City Council seeks to fill vacancy left after Mark Mullet’s resignation
December 31, 2012
NEW — 2 p.m. Dec. 31, 2012
From the moment Mark Mullet declared victory in a state Senate race last month, other City Council members started planning for the process to fill Mullet’s seat on the dais once the Democrat departs for Olympia.
Mark Mullet
Now, as Mullet prepares to resign Jan. 8 to prepare for the legislative session, council members put out a call for applicants for the soon-to-open seat.
The city is accepting applications until Jan. 16. The council plans to interview applicants Jan. 22 and, after interviews, members could recess into a closed-door executive session to discuss candidates’ qualifications.
Under state law, the council can discuss candidates’ qualifications in a closed-door session, but interviews and the decision must occur in public meetings. The council is scheduled to vote on the appointment Jan. 29.
