All-mail election could keep decision unknown on Nov. 3
October 27, 2009
When City Council candidate Joan Probala and her supporters gather at Gibson Hall on election night, the crowd could be cheated out of knowing how the months-long campaign culminates. Read more
Many memorable mayors managed Issaquah
June 30, 2009
Portraits of Issaquah’s mayors can be found in a display case on the stairwell leading to the second floor of City Hall. The photos tell a great deal about the people and times of the fledgling city.
Some of the city’s early mayors were doctors, including Issaquah’s first mayor, Frank Harrell. During the Great Depression, Stella May Alexander was elected the first woman mayor, campaigning on the Taxpayers’ Ticket.
She was elected to a two-year term, defeating the Progressive ticket candidate, M.H. Clark. Ninety-three percent of the city’s registered voters cast ballots and Alexander won 195-136. She lost in a recall election the following year.
In the last half of the 20th century, mayors such as Bill Flintoft and A.J. Culver had to grapple with the emerging growth of the quiet little burg on Lake Sammamish into a thriving bedroom community to Seattle.
Harrell came to the area as the surgeon of the Seattle Coal and Iron Co. He was elected mayor of Gilman without a dissenting vote in 1892. Seven years later, the town was renamed Issaquah, after the original Indian name Is-qu-ah. Read more
City Council confirms, lauds board appointees
May 12, 2009
City Council members confirmed Mayor Ava Frisinger’s appointees to municipal boards and commissions last week. All told, 41 appointees will fill seats on 11 boards and commissions. Read more
Bypass road riles community again
November 19, 2008
Since voting in February to adopt the no-build option for the proposed Southeast Bypass, the City Council’s meetings have been free of polarizing debate on the subject.
But it all came back to the Transportation Committee Nov. 13, when the final project document came up for discussion. Read more
